Seduction by Amanda Quick Read Free Book Online Page B

it to me. I am afraid I must insist, Sophy. I am your
    husband."
    "Do stop using that fact as an excuse for indulging your curiosity," she
    snapped.
    He slanted her a considering glance and considered the defiant tilt of her chin.
    "You insult me, madam."
    She shifted uneasily, attempting to straighten her skirts. "You are easily
    insulted, my lord."
    "Ah, yes, my excessive arrogance. I fear we must both learn to live with it,
    Sophy. Just as we must learn to live with my excessive curiosity." Julian
    studied the broken feather shaft and waited.
    Silence descended on the swaying coach. The sound of creaking wheels and harness
    leather and the steady beat of the horses' hooves suddenly became very loud.
    "It was not a matter that affected me, personally," Sophy finally said in a very
    small voice.
    "Yes?" Again Julian waited.
    "It was my sister who was the victim of the seduction." Sophy stared very hard
    at the passing scenery. "But she had no one to avenge her."
    "I understood that your sister died three years ago."
    "She did."
    Something about Sophy's clipped voice alerted Julian. "Are you implying that her
    death was the result of a seduction?"
    "She found herself with child, my lord. The man who was responsible cast her
    aside. She could not bear the shame or the betrayal. She took a large dose of
    laudanum." Her fingers clenched together in her lap.
    Julian sighed. "I am sorry, Sophy."
    "There was no need for her to take such a course of action," Sophy whispered
    tightly. "Bess could have helped her."
    "Old Bess? How?" Julian frowned.
    "There are ways that such situations may be remedied," Sophy said. "Old Bess
    knows them. If only my sister had confided in me, I could have taken her to
    Bess. No one need ever have known."
    Julian dropped the feather shaft and leaned over to capture his wife's wrist
    once more. This time he deliberately exerted pressure on the small bones. "What
    do you know of such matters?" he demanded very softly. Elizabeth had known such
    things.
    Sophy blinked quickly, apparently confused by his sudden, controlled rage. "Old
    Bess knows much about medicinal herbs. She has taught me many things."
    "She has taught you ways to rid yourself of an unwanted babe?" he demanded
    softly.
    Sophy seemed to realize at last that she had said far too much. "She… she has
    mentioned certain herbs that a woman can use if she believes she has conceived,"
    she admitted hesitantly. "But the herbs can be very dangerous to the mother and
    must be used with great skill and caution." Sophy looked down at her hands for a
    moment. "I am not skilled in that particular art."
    "Bloody hell. You had best not be skilled in such things, Sophy. And I swear, if
    that old witch, Bess, is dealing in abortion, I will have her removed from my
    land immediately."
    "Really, my lord? Are your friends in London so very pure? Have none of your
    amours never been obliged to resort to certain remedies because of you?"
    "No, they have not," Julian rasped, thoroughly goaded now. "For your
    information, madam, there are techniques that may be used to prevent the problem
    from occurring in the first place, just as there are ways to prevent contracting
    certain diseases associated with… never mind."
    "Techniques, my lord? What techniques?" Sophy's eyes lit up with obvious
    fascination.
    "Good God, I don't believe we are discussing such matters."
    "You opened the discussion, my lord. I collect you do not intend to tell me
    about these techniques for preventing the, er, problem."
    "No, I most certainly do not."
    "Ah, I see. This is yet another privileged bit of information available only to
    men?"
    "You have no need of such information, Sophy," he said grimly. "You are not in
    the one business that would require that you learn such things."
    "But there are women who do know such things?" she pressed.
    "That is quite enough, Sophy."
    "And you know such women? Would you introduce me to one of them? I should dearly
    love to chat with her. Perhaps she