The Six Month Marriage Read Online Free PDF Page B

my dilemma?’ she asked. She did not like the idea of a sham
marriage but in her desperate situation she was forced to consider it.
    ‘Because once
you are my wife you will be able to escape from your uncle. As a married woman,
he will have no more power over you,’ he said.
    ‘But you will.’
She jumped up and paced the room. ‘No,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘No. I
cannot do it.’
    ‘I would have
power over you as your husband, it is true. However, it would only be for a
short time. Once the marriage is annulled, no one will be able to have any
power over you ever again. If you agree to my proposal I will make you a
handsome settlement when the annulment takes place. You will have a home of
your own, and an annuity which will bring in enough money for you to live on
comfortably for the rest of your life. But you look close to exhaustion.’ He
stood up. ‘You don’t have to decide now,’ he said. ‘Why not think it over and
give me your answer in the morning?’
    ‘It’s no good,’
she said with a sigh. She shook her head. ‘Even if I could bring myself to
agree, my uncle would never give his consent. He has . . . other plans for me.’
    ‘Your uncle
has no control over my life. I would not ask his consent.’
    ‘But I am
under age.’ Her shoulders dropped. ‘My birthday may be only a week away, but it
may as well be five years away if my uncle finds me. And once he reads the
banns he will be sure to do so.’
    ‘Then we will
not publish any banns. We will marry by special licence. It has been done
before, and will be done again. Young ladies don’t always marry with their
guardians’ approval. You simply ran away before you knew you were to be
married, instead of afterwards.’
    There was a
laughing glint in his eye as he said it, and Madeline realised that he was
teasing her. It had lightened the atmosphere and to her surprise Madeline felt
the corners of her mouth tugging themselves into a smile. She had had so little
to smile about of late that she had almost forgotten what it felt like.
    Even so . . .
    Even so, the
Earl was a man, and she knew from bitter experience that men were not to be
trusted.
    ‘I can’t,’ she
said, shaking her head. Once again she waited anxiously for an exclamation of
impatience, expecting him to be angry or jeering because she did not fall in
with his plans. But again, to her surprise, neither anger nor jeers came.
    Somehow, she
found it unsettling. She had always know how her uncle would react, even if she
had been afraid of him, but with the Earl she was off-balance, never knowing
what to expect.
    He put his
finger under her chin and tilted her face towards his. ‘You are tired,’ he
said. ‘You will find your bed has been made up. Go and get some rest.’
    She looked up at him uncertainly.
Consideration and gentleness were not things she was used to, and for a moment
she allowed herself to wonder what it would be like to be the Earl’s wife.
    But then she bid him goodnight. Because
there was also a hardness and a frisson of danger about the Earl, and she could
not marry him, no matter how desperate her situation – or how short-lived the
marriage would be.
     
    Philip stood watching the door when Madeline
had left the room, lost in thought. Her reaction to his proposal had surprised
him. He found himself wondering why she thought of marriage in terms of power.
It was not a normal reaction, particularly in one so young, and despite himself
he was intrigued.
    Just what had happened to her to make her so
distrustful, and so afraid of marriage – and of men? Was it just her uncle, or
was it something else?
    He shook the thought away. It really was
none of his concern.
    If she declined his proposal he could not
force her to marry him, but he found himself hoping, for her sake as well as
his own, that she would accept.

Chapter Three
     
    Once
back in her room, Madeline sat down in front of the inlaid dressing-table and
stared sightlessly into the