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

your reputation?”
    She sighed, and he had his answer.
    “If people find out about what happened…”
    “I’ll be ostracized. My life as I know it will be over. Everyone in the village will whisper behind my back, if they don’t spit in my face.” Her anger held him immobile and stunned him with its viciousness. She whirled around. “I’ll lose the only thing I have, my home. Happy now, Mr. Lord Ware? I understand exactly what my choice has cost me.” Unshed tears glittered in her eyes.
    A beat of silence followed her tirade as Sebastian tried to formulate an answer. He understood her anger, but it did not change the situation.
    “Miss Macgregor…Colleen…I—”
    “Just go back to your estate and your strumpets, and leave me alone! I should have left you in the snow to die.”
    The last ended on a sob. She covered her mouth, as if ashamed the sound escaped. He looked at her but said nothing. The woman had saved him. If it had not been for her, he would have surely died, and now his presence would very likely cause her to lose her home.
    Marriage. He had never thought to marry again. Being second in line for an earldom there was no need. His cousin had married recently and was in good health. Sebastian’s marriage had taught him that he was not cut out for a long-term commitment. But…
    She turned back to the window, her arms crossed beneath her breasts.
    “You want to tell me why you disdain marriage?”
    Her voice was wooden when she spoke, the earlier emotion drained. “My parents had a wonderful marriage, but when my father died, my mother was lost. Two years later, she met the drunk. It was horrible, but she was stuck with him. Then there is Deidre.”
    “Deidre?”
    “My sister. She became a mistress for a nobleman who was here for a while. When she became pregnant, she was so sure he would marry her.”
    “What happened?”
    The laugh that escaped reeked of bitterness. He found himself longing for the joy he’d heard earlier, even if it was at his expense.
    “It seems he forgot to mention he was married to a woman he left behind in London. There was no way he would leave his wife for a tramp like her. When she threatened to tell his wife, he beat her. She lived long enough to lose the baby.” She glanced at him, then looked away and swallowed. “So you see, I’ve not seen a pretty picture of marriage.”
    “No, I suppose not.” How could he convince this woman to let him do this? He understood her unique position. She had an independent life with no apparent need to marry. She had money to survive, a home, and that meant that she did not need a husband. It would take a miracle to change her mind. As he thought the situation over, an idea formed, one that would work if she were to agree to the deception.
    “No one will know we married.”
    She turned, her eyes narrowed. “Isn’t that the idea?”
    He glanced at the opened door. “Colleen, why don’t you come closer?” She shot him a suspicious look. “I just thought we should discuss this between ourselves, without others being able to hear.” He waited for her to draw closer. Lowering his voice, he continued, “I mean no one in London would know. I wasn’t planning on marrying again. But no one there would know.”
    “And?”
    “Well, I could leave, make up some story about having to go home, then I can send some sort of message that I died. You’d regain your respectability.”
    She stared at him as if he had lost his mind. “Really, and once you have me sign the papers and say the vows, what then? You forget to leave, keep my house and expect husbandly rights?”
    He chuckled. “No need to worry about that, love.”
    She frowned harder.
    “I have plenty of land to keep me happy and plenty of women to keep me busy.”
    “Hmm. So, you would sign a contract allowing for me to keep the house?”
    “No problem. It will work, Miss Macgregor.” He could see her contemplating her fate. She was going to take the bait, he just knew