Once Upon an Accident 01 - The Accidental Countess by Melissa Schroeder Read Free Book Online Page A

think I wanted to trap you into marriage.”
    “I don’t see why that is funny.”
    Her laughter had finally died, and she wiped the wetness from her face. She looked up at him and started laughing again.
    “That is quite enough!” Really, who did the woman think she was? She calmed down, but amusement still danced in her eyes. “I am more than suitable for a woman of your station.”
    “No.”
    “Why not?”
    A snort of laughter escaped, but she controlled another outburst. “No, and I don’t want to marry you.”
    “Really, what’s so wrong with me?”
    She grunted. “You’re a rake with a harem full of women. You had a bad marriage, and you probably think that all women are like your deceased wife. I’m not interested in being someone’s chattel.”
    All true, but it didn’t change the predicament they were in. “A harem full of women… How did you know about my wife?”
    She glanced away and then met his gaze. “You talked while you were sick.”
    Lord only knew what he had said to her while he’d been sick. Apparently, it was enough to make her not want to marry him. She might be opposed to marriage, but marriage to him wasn’t a worse prospect than losing her reputation.
    “We have to do something.”
    All humor fled from her face as she sobered instantly. Her eyes lost their twinkle, her posture tensed and her lips turned down in a frown. He almost regretted dashing cold water on her merriment but, bloody hell, he could not let the woman ruin her good name.
    “We don’t have to do anything. I’ll live with my actions.”
    He studied her brave face, knowing he would be dead if she had not risked everything. But reasoning with her would not work, nor would being nice.
    “Well, Miss Macgregor, you do wear your martyrdom well.” He didn’t try to hide his sarcasm. It dripped from each word. She flinched, and a jolt of guilt clenched his gut. However, he didn’t regret the comment or the coldness of his voice. Truth be told, it bothered him more than he wanted to admit that this woman would rather be an outcast than his wife.
    Her eyes narrowed, color rushing to her face. “What are you talking about?”
    “Where are you going to go when people stop talking to you? Or maybe they won’t ignore you, but they will hurl nasty comments in your direction.”
    Her face paled with each remark. His assault was calculated, hitting every fear she probably held, but it had to be done. The woman needed to realize what she was going to face. Sebastian saw it as his duty to save her from herself.
    “You have somewhere else to go, Miss Macgregor?” He gave her his best sneer. “I know you don’t. You know you don’t. What will you do when no one will sit next to you in church or men in town begin to think of you in different terms and decide to visit you when they know you are alone?
    “We have to do something because your reputation is at stake here. Living in a little village like this, there is no way you can survive this kind of scandal.”
    “Don’t worry. I’ll think of something. I always do.” Her laughter had died and her tone turned frosty and distant. She walked away and looked out the window.
    She’d been so warm when she laughed, and remorse sliced through him anew, knowing he was to blame for her change. He stamped it down, understanding this was for her best interests. “What will you do?”
    She chewed on her thumbnail as if contemplating the fate of the world. Well, she was. Her world.
    “I don’t know. Mr. Pearson wouldn’t say a word, but John…” Her voice trailed off as she succumbed to her thoughts.
    John was probably formulating his story as he sat in her house. He would relish telling every person in town about what he witnessed. A woman, no matter the age, no matter her station in life, had to hold herself above reproach. It wasn’t fair, but it was the way of English society.
    He forced the earlier sarcasm from his voice and gently asked, “Can you afford to lose