Major Wyclyff's Campaign (A Lady's Lessons, Book 2) by Jade Lee Read Free Book Online Page A

the same."
    "But Major Wyclyff has left the army. He is to be a diplomat."
    Sophia fell silent. She had no answer for that, only a numbing coldness and the memory of a nurse telling her that Major Wyclyff was dead.
    She felt her aunt's hand on her chin, gently drawing her back to the dear lady's earnest expression. "There is still time to change your mind about the major. You need not write to him, you know. I am positive he shall be back. He does not seem a man who gives up easily."
    Sophia bit her lip and considered her aunt's comment. It was true. Even feverish, with the doctors and nurses all waiting for him to die, the major had a power in him. It was the most overwhelming reason she had said "yes" in the hospital. His strength had enveloped her even when he was wracked with fever. Though he was thin, wasted even, moaning in pain, she still could not deny him his last wish—their engagement.
    She never thought he would survive. But in the end, he'd defied them all—doctors, nurses, even Death. He'd risen from his hospital bed and, assuming he did not re-injure himself, was now beginning a respectable diplomatic career. No, the major was not a man who gave up easily.
    "You think he will come back for me?" Sophia asked softly.
    Aunt Agatha shifted uneasily on the bed. "He will act according to his nature."
    Sophia looked up at her aunt, unable to fathom what she was suggesting. "What?"
    Her aunt gave a fond smile, pushing up as she prepared to leave her niece's bedroom. "He is a military man. Think, Sophia; what does a good officer do when faced with clear defeat?"
    "Retreat."
    The older woman nodded. "And then what?"
    Sophia shrugged. She had not the slightest clue.
    "He tries an oblique assault, my dear. If I were you," the woman added with a slight wink, "I would prepare for a flanking maneuver."
    "But whatever is that—" she began.
    Agatha waved her to silence. "And when he does," she continued, "perhaps we could arrange a simple test, a way for him to prove his commitment to you. You find him arrogant and demanding? Perhaps we could force him to serve—with constancy and humility." Then before Sophia could demand an explanation, Agatha rose and wandered from the room, a pensive smile on her face.
    Sophia frowned at her aunt's departing form, wondering what test the dear lady could devise. It did not matter, she decided. She had her own plans for thwarting the major.

 
     
     
    Chapter 3

     
    Anthony's leg was stiff as he dismounted in front of the Rathburn house, but it was not the pain that made his movements so awkward. It had been years since he had brought a gift to a lady. In fact, the last time had been when he was no more than fourteen, carrying a bunch of wildflowers to his mother for her birthday.
    This time, he was bringing a whalebone corset to the woman who had summarily dismissed him only three days before. Still, he reminded himself, he had no cause to be awkward. She was a reasonable woman who no doubt had come to see the error of her earlier decision.
    He did not come to this conclusion lightly, but had spent a great deal of thought on the probability of it. If he guessed correctly, Sophia had spent the first day after his appearance in righteous indignation. His continued existence had obviously come as a shock, and her reaction had been one of confusion and distress at so unexpected an event. In his experience, it generally took women approximately a day to calm their emotions.
    The next twenty-four hours had likely passed in silent thought as Sophia's temper cooled and reason once again asserted itself. It would have taken a little less than another day for her to step logically to the realization that she had made a mistake in trying to cry off their engagement.
    So it was this midafternoon, three days after Sophia's refusal, that Anthony arrived with corset in hand, intending to once again ask Lady Sophia to set the date of their wedding.
    "She will not receive you."
    Anthony paused in the