The Widow Wager Read Online Free PDF Page B

get into the bed—fully dressed, of course—and stare at the ceiling all night, listening to him mutter in his sleep.”
    Kate motioned her to lean forward and began to wash her back. The swirling motion made Gemma shiver with pleasure and released tension.
    “What did he mutter about?” Kate asked.
    “I don’t know. It was gibberish.” Gemma pursed her lips. That wasn’t exactly true. She had been able to make out some words in Crispin’s broken speech. Words like sorry and betrayed you .
    It seemed they both had their secrets.
    Of course, hers could be rooted out very easily, as she had no doubt they would be soon. What would Crispin’s reaction be?
    “Let me brush your hair, my lady.”
    Gemma flinched. “ My lady . He has been calling me that, but if this marriage sticks, you realize it will not be my title any longer. I will be Mrs. Crispin Flynn.”
    “ If it sticks. I have a feeling Mr. Flynn is not the kind of man to get forced into anything.”
    Gemma rested back against the tub as Kate brushed her tangle locks gently. “I don’t know what kind of man he is,” she admitted. “When he was deep in his cups, he was silent, even sullen. His character was utterly unreadable. But he didn’t take advantage of his claim for husbandly rights, when he could have very well done so. And this morning he is…”
    When she trailed off, Kate filled in the space. “Is?”
    “He is different, that’s all. There’s a light to him I didn’t see last night. He said he was sorry. Perhaps he meant it.”
    Kate barked out a laugh. “Sorry doesn’t help much now, does it?”
    Gemma didn’t respond to the question. In a way, the apology did help. No, it didn’t fix what had already happened, or mitigate the scandal that would follow when the circumstances of their “marriage” came out and Crispin’s drive to end it became public.
    But the apology was certainly better than anything she’d ever get from her father, orchestrator of this madness.
    She sighed. “What happened when my father returned? Is Mary all right?”
    Kate’s movements fumbled, giving Gemma the answer she needed even before she spoke. “Your father came back full of swagger, of course. And your sister was waiting for him. They had it out.”
    Any relaxation Gemma had found in the bath bled away at that statement. She moaned. “Oh, Mary. I asked her not to do it. Father will punish her, especially if I’m not there.”
    “He railed at her quite cruelly,” Kate confirmed. “And offered that she could be sold to someone far worse for a better price if she would like to continue to defy him.”
    Gemma sucked in her breath. There was her very deepest fear. She had hoped her first marriage would shield Mary, but that hadn’t gone to plan at all. Her return home in disgrace and poverty had only heightened her father’s drive to marry his younger daughter well.
    But she knew from experience that the man wasn’t below exactly what he threatened if Mary would not “do her duty” and find a husband of his liking.
    “I will write to her as soon as I can today,” Gemma whispered. “So she won’t be afraid for me. And perhaps I will be able to see her.”
    That hadn’t always been the case in her first marriage, but if Crispin was busy trying to dissolve their union, perhaps he wouldn’t care if she had a visitor. Perhaps he would forget about her entirely.
    “Until then, what is your plan?” Kate asked, offering her a towel. Gemma rose from the water, wrapping it around herself before she stepped out of the steaming heaven of the bath and back into reality.
    She shrugged. “My plan is to have breakfast with the man as he has requested and see where it goes.”
    Kate pursed her lips. “The best solution, of course. I only wish everything weren’t so out of your control.”
    Gemma laughed, though the sound was bitter and hollow. “It is the way of the world, Kate. The way of my world at any rate. We can only hope this man will prove