The Widow Wager Read Online Free PDF

as Kate stepped inside. Her maid rushed on Gemma, dark hair flying back from her face as she wrapped her arms around her and hugged her hard and long.
    “Oh miss,” she cooed against Gemma’s hair. “I was so afraid for you.”
    Gemma drew back, smiling to reassure her longtime servant that she was well even if it didn’t feel entirely true at present. “I’m sorry.”
    “You shouldn’t apologize, it isn’t you who did this,” Kate fumed as she paced away. The door behind them opened again to reveal two of Crispin’s servants with her bags. They set them at the door as Kate ordered and left them.
    Gemma stared at the four medium-sized portmanteaus and sighed. “What a tiny little life I have left that it can be fit into four bags carried by two servants. Some women would take more than this to a weekend in the country.”
    “Some women are frivolous and empty,” Kate said as she looked Gemma up and down. “Now would you like to tell me what that… that man did to you?”
    Gemma smiled at the maid’s motherhenning and relaxed for what felt like the first time in a very long time. Relaxed, that was, until she caught a glimpse of Crispin’s cravat draped over a chair, caught a whiff of his scent as she picked up a pillow from the bed and held it to her chest.
    “He didn’t do anything,” she reassured Kate softly. “Although he seemed to be just as afraid that he had done exactly what you imply.”
    “Rape you?” her maid said mildly.
    Gemma flinched. “Yes, to put it bluntly. Or at least something close to it. But he didn’t. We all went to a vicar’s house, Mr. Howe—do you remember him from his visits to my father’s home?”
    Kate’s lips pursed. “I do indeed. He pinched the bottoms of all the maids. Not a very godly man, for a vicar.”
    “Apparently not, since he was willing to take what I think amounted to a fairly substantial bribe to marry us. Once it was done, we were returned here by my father. And then he left and we were alone.”
    Kate leaned in. “And?” There was a knock on the door from the adjoining chamber and both women jumped. Kate scowled as she opened it, “Yes?”
    A footman stood in the entryway. “Mrs. Flynn’s bath.”
    For a moment, Gemma swayed at the idea of a bath to wash away the grime and pain of the previous night. As if cleansing her body would cleanse her soul of her father’s betrayal, of her own impossible situation.
    “Thank you,” Kate said with a nod to dismiss the servant. Once he had departed through another door, her maid turned to her. With swift efficiency, the other woman stripped the buttons along the back of her gown open. “I’ll lock all the doors while you undress.”
    Gemma did so and walked into the adjoining dressing room. The water steamed and something fragrant had been added to it. Oranges and vanilla swirled into her nostrils. Kate took her hand, steadying her as she stepped into the water with a hiccup of breath.
    “A hot bath helps everything,” her maid said with a smile as she handed over the soap.
    “Not this,” Gemma murmured, though in truth the warm water did ease her tight muscles and slow her tangled thoughts for a brief moment.
    “You came back here and your father left you,” Kate said. “What happened then?”
    “He insisted on escorting us to this chamber. Servants were making a fuss, it was chaotic. He shut the door behind us and we stood there, staring at each other. Mr. Flynn was swaying on his feet. He moved toward me.”
    She squeezed her eyes shut as she pictured that moment. Gripped by both fear and anticipation, her heart had stuttered. She hadn’t known if he would attack her or kiss her.
    “He put his face very close to mine,” she whispered. “And he said, ‘You’re too beautiful. This will not do.’”
    Kate drew back. “What?”
    Gemma shrugged. “It’s what he said to me. And he hesitated a second more. Then he went to the settee and promptly passed out. I had little choice but to