The Book Of Scandal by Julia London Read Free Book Online Page A

discomfort that it was not a gift from Princess Mary.”
    Evelyn suddenly moved forward. She swept past Nathan, picked up the music box, and moved it to the mantel and out of his reach. She turned around. “What do you want?”
    His eyes were shining with amusement now. He casually took in her gray and white gown. “Frankly, what I wanted when I entered this room and what I want now are not the same thing.”
    His words stoked a familiar heat in her. “I have a day full of appointments, my lord,” she said, trying to put some distance between herself and his words.
    “You may return to your appointments when I am gone.”
    “Well, there is some news, at least. You will be leaving. Perhaps we might hasten that along if you will but tell me what you want.”
    He grinned and moved closer. Too close. “There are many things I want, love,” he said to her breasts, and shook his head. “You are lovelier than I’ve ever seen you.” He touched her collarbone just above her décolletage.
    Evelyn drew a sharp breath. “Don’t, Nathan. You have no right.”
    “No right to admire my wife?”
    “You have intruded into my private chambers—”
    “As is my right as your husband—”
    “Perhaps at Eastchurch. Not here,” she said angrily.
    “Darling,” Nathan drawled, and brazenly laid his hand against her neck. “I may have access to your private chambers whenever and wherever I please until one or both of us is dead and buried.”
    “I beg your pardon? What now, Lindsey? Will you resort to badgering me?”
    “Badgering isn’t precisely what I had in mind,” he murmured.
    Evelyn whirled away from him.
    He chuckled low. “In all honesty, as much as I should like to ravish you, I’ve hardly the time for it at the moment. I’ve come only to see if you have reclaimed your senses and see clearly the situation in which we find ourselves.”
    “Reclaimed my senses, as if my refusal to return to Eastchurch means I have lost my mind?” She laughed wryly. “How boorish, how very male of you, Nathan.”
    “Have you considered it?” he calmly pressed.
    “Oh, I’ve considered it, yes I have,” she said with mock cheerfulness that did not belie her anger. “And I find it is precisely the same situation in which we found ourselves three years ago. We are still on opposite ends, and always will be.”
    “Meaning?”
    “Meaning, you betrayed me, Nathan.”
    “For the love of God,” he said, and sighed heavenward. “Not that again.”
    “Yes, that again. Admit it—you abandoned me for Mrs. DuPaul.”
    “That is absurd! I did no such thing!”
    “I saw you, Nathan, have you forgotten? I saw you with her! At the lowest point in my life, you were in the arms of another woman!”
    “You saw nothing, Evelyn. At the lowest point in my life, you were cold and distant and would have dragged us all into hell if we’d allowed you!”
    That admonishment drew Evelyn up.
    “And what does it matter now?” he demanded. “Three years have passed and for better or worse, you and I are different. But need I remind you, Mrs. Grey?” he said angrily. “We are still married!”
    “In name only.”
    Nathan’s gaze darkened; he suddenly caught her arm and pulled her so close that she had to tilt her head back to look at him. He studied her face. “I cannot help the fact that we are still married any more than I can help the fact that your name is my name. Your scandal is my scandal. Your actions are considered my actions, and I cannot protect us from ruin if you are in London consorting with God knows who! Is that clear?”
    He must have thought she would crumble under his censure and his authority. Evelyn lifted her chin and looked him squarely in the eye. “I have not sullied your name. I do not consort. And I certainly do not fear the empty accusations made about me by the Princess of Wales. She has no credibility here.”
    “Here? Evelyn, have you no sense of the people? The Princess of Wales has widespread public