It Happened One Midnight (PG8) by Julie Anne Long Read Free Book Online Page A

barn cat.”
    Jonathan snorted.
    “And you do understand that you were once a child?”
    “Yes, but I had the good sense to grow up into the magnificent specimen of manhood I am today.”
    She rolled her eyes. “And you do understand that I will be having a child.”
    “I will endeavor to tolerate it.”
    She smiled, knowing she could substitute the words “dote upon” for “tolerate,” and it would be closer to the truth. “How do you know you’re happy, Jonathan? Before I married, I wasn’t happy, Jonathan. I didn’t even know it. I could scarcely put a finger on why. It only felt like . . .”
    She stopped.
    “Go on.”
    “Like I would go mad from the constraints of being me. And of forever being watched. Sorry, that includes you watching me! Jonathan, you should know that I’m happy now and never knew this kind of happiness was even possible. And, granted, a portion of that happiness has to do with imagining the expression on Father’s face when Asher asked permission to marry me. But I am. And I think I fell in love with him the moment I saw him.”
    “My guess is you would have needed to marry him whether or not he was right for you.”
    Her silence was truly of the aghast variety. Complete with a dropped jaw.
    “You do get away with saying the most outrageous things! Perhaps mama has indulged you too much.”
    They both noticed she didn’t deny it, however. And maybe it was the mauve crescents beneath her eyes, but he refrained from prying further about how she had come to know the earl, and whether she’d learned anything about Lyon being a pirate, of all things. Because being a pirate seemed the antithesis of everything Olivia Eversea, that embracer of causes, would want in a man, though of course that could be the reason. And besides, if Violet had learned anything about Lyon, Jonathan doubted she’d be able to keep quiet about it. The temptation to gloat about being right would have proved her undoing.
    So he said nothing.
    “All I’m saying, Jonathan, is . . . you’ll know the difference when you truly care.”
    He was genuinely regretful. “Forgive me, Violet. That was a bit beyond the pale, even for me. Maybe Father is right. Maybe I do need reigning in. I’m glad you’re happy. I suppose I could experience a coup de foudre within Father’s time frame. Because destiny is always just that accommodating.”
    “No, Father’s wrong,” she said irritably. “I shouldn’t like you to change. I don’t like change any more than you do. I like you as you are. And I wish you could stay here in Pennyroyal Green longer. Will you?”
    It was alarming, this sudden display of sentimentality and need in Violet. But then she had pregnancy as an excuse.
    “Of course you like me. How could you not like me? I wish I could stay, but I have to go admit a failure to a Bavarian. I’ll return as soon as I can.”
    He kissed her on the cheek and to her surprise, was just able to get his arms around her in a hug. And he didn’t even have pregnancy to blame for that.

Chapter 5

    T OMMY HAD FOUND HIM quickly: the duke of course stood near the racetrack rail, cushioned from the rest of the cheerfully boisterous crowd by a few Weston-clad acolytes, who intermittently nodded solemnly or threw back their heads and laughed, apparently depending upon what His Grace uttered.
    How Tommy yearned to know what he uttered.
    There was to be one race only, an entirely impromptu event organized primarily to persuade the Duke of Greyfolk of the wisdom of buying one of the horses. The track was short, straight, informal; and even though it wasn’t officially racing season, word of a fresh diversion, not to mention the opportunity to place wagers, ensured word of the event traveled swiftly, and a delighted and socially diverse (riffraff and aristocrats were represented in equal proportion) crowd had amassed. A costermonger had even wheeled a cart of apples into their midst, and was doing a brisk business.
    Tommy had