The Rebel Bride Read Online Free PDF

yelled at the murderer, who now stood in shocked silence, as if aware, finally, of the enormity of what he had done, “You damned idiot! What in God’s name have you done, man?”
    The man raised his hand in a helpless gesture, but seemed unable to come forward and speak.
    To Julien’s shock, the slight figure in his arms began to struggle violently, and he gazed down for the first time into the face of the fallen man. A startled pair of the greenest eyes he’d ever seen stared up at him.
    Those moss-green eyes didn’t waver from his face, but they did blink in rapid succession. Pale lips parted in surprise and then two dimples peeped through on white cheeks.
    “Good grief, it’s a stranger. Why, sir, I think you have much mistaken the matter.”
    “My God,” Julien said, so taken aback he nearly dropped her. “You’re nothing but a damned girl.”
    “Well, I am a girl, that is true enough, but I’ve never thought of myself as nothing. Also, I don’t believe you need to damn me for it.” Her damned dimples deepened.
    Finding himself without a word to say, Julien instinctively dropped his arms from about her shoulders. With the utmost unconcern she pulled herself away and came up to her knees, her hands resting lightly on her breeched thighs.
    “Harry,” she called, laughter lurking in her voice, “Ido believe we’ve given the gentleman something of a shock. Stop standing there like a half-wit and come here. Thank the Lord he didn’t interrupt our duel. That would have been beyond what I could have accepted.”
    Julien, finding that his addled senses were returning to normal, looked up to see a young man coming toward them, a sheepish grin on his cherubic face. He rose slowly and turned to look down at the girl. He was not happy. He was beginning to feel very much the fool, a condition that made his innards cramp. His eyes narrowed on the girl’s face, and he said in a voice colder than the St. Clair lake in January, “Are you in the habit, my girl, of playacting at such deadly games?”
    The dimples quivered and his indignation grew. She turned to him and said, calm as a nun at her prayers, “When you have recovered from your very slight embarrassment and obvious mortification, dear sir, you will realize that it was not we who interrupted you. This is Brandon land, and how my brother and I wish to spend our time is certainly no concern of yours, whoever you may be.”
    “Now, Kate,” the young man said, “Don’t get yourself into an argument, else you just might find yourself fighting a real duel. The gentleman was understandably worried. I did fire at you straight on. It would scare the devil out of any man.” He planted himself neatly in front of the girl.
    To Julien he said, “I do beg your pardon, sir. Kate here must needs know all the masculine sports. I must say she did overdo it a bit, died much too lavishly this time, with much too much drama and flourish. Come on, Kate, don’t bounce around and pretend you’re angry. Stand up here and pretend rather that you’re a lady, if you can even begin to manage it in those wretched breeches.”
    The girl, who had jumped to her feet with more speed than grace, now turned on her brother. “Dammit, Harry, there’s no reason for you to apologize or explain anything. The gentleman was trespassing, clear as the wart on Aunt Mildred’s face. I believe he should explain hispresence here. And I wasn’t too dramatic this time. I thought flailing the arms a bit was a nice touch.”
    “I do beg your pardon, ma’am,” Julien said easily now. “Who the devil are you two?”
    Harry cast a quelling glance at his sister and quickly extended his hand to Julien. “Harry Brandon, sir. And this is my sister, Katharine.”
    Julien grinned down at the young man and extended his own hand. “I’m St. Clair, you know. My lands lie not far distant from yours.”
    “Goodness, what an honor for us. So you’re the absent landlord, the most noble earl of