Candice Hern by Once a Gentleman Read Free Book Online Page B

dreamed of. Prudence and I have been in love for some time now, have we not, my dear?”

Chapter 4
    P ru was stunned into silence. How to respond to such a bouncer? But she had heard her cousins commiserating with Nicholas on his misfortune. He must have known she’d heard their barbs. It was not pleasant to hear oneself spoken of as a sad bit of dowd, even though she knew it to be true. And knew, too, how unfair it was that Nicholas was now stuck with her. That did not make it any easier to hear it spoken aloud and laughed about.
    But he knew she had heard and tried to make amends. Dear Nicholas. She looked at him and smiled, unable to offer any coherent words of confirmation.
    He pulled her closer. “We had planned to wait,” he said, “but circumstances forced an early marriage. Your cousin, gentlemen, is a priceless little jewel. I suggest you remember that.”
    He turned and led her away from them. Never one for discretion, her cousin Rupert was clearly heard to say, in a typically loud voice, “Well, if that don’t beat all.”
    She could not suppress a giggle. “Nicholas, what a whisker. How could you say such things with a straight face?”
    “I could not bear them another moment.” His voice bristled with anger. “They were downright insufferable.”
    “I daresay they were. But that surely was not reason enough to tell such a ridiculous lie. No one will believe it.”
    “Then we shall make them believe it. I do not care to have your hundreds of cousins feeling sorry for us.”
    Such consideration made her almost want to cry. “That is very kind of you, Nicholas, but truly not necessary. There are far too many other interesting people in the family for anyone to spend time feeling sorry for me.”
    “I suppose your female cousins wanted all the details. What did you tell them?”
    “Not much. Everyone had heard of the rushed wedding, of course. That sort of news spreads like wildfire in this family. Most of them just wanted to know who you were, and how was it that someone like me had been able to entrap someone like you.”
    “Someone like me?”
    “Someone so…handsome.”
    Her cousin Beatrice had stated quite boldly that she and Nicholas were horribly mismatched. Of course they were. No one knew that better than Pru. He was gorgeous; she was ordinary. He was charming and gregarious; she was shy and diffident. He was brilliant, with a mind that could tear apart a political argument with ease and formulate new and profound ideas with persuasive eloquence. And she was…average.
    No, she was no proper match for Nicholas. He ought to have been embarrassed by her shortcomings. And yet he was willing to pretend a love match.
    He gave a little growl of frustration. “Pru, I swear I do not understand how you have managed to live with these people all your life.”
    She shrugged and smiled. “I get along.”
    “By remaining invisible to them?”
    “I suppose. But I don’t mind, really. I am not like the rest of them, you know. I’ve never…fit in.”
    “I can see that. Well, everyone is noticing you today. Let us give them something to notice. Look at me like you love me, Pru.”
    He took her hand to his lips and kept it there longer than was proper, all the while gazing at her as though he wanted to devour her on the spot.
    Lord, how she had longed for him to look at her like that. It was sheer heaven. Of course, it was mock desire. There was a hint of laughter in those dark eyes. But it was easy enough to pretend, if only for a moment, that it was real.
    She wanted that moment to last foever.
    “Keep looking at me, Pru,” he said as he tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and laid his other hand upon it. “Let them think you’re in love with me. That’s it. Oh, very nice. You almost convince me, my dear. I do believe you might have had a career on the stage, Pru.”
    “So this is the handsome bridegroom.”
    Pru pulled her gaze from Nicholas’s—just in time, too, before he realized