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

support! The populace finds the prince at fault. There are many who have begun to question the necessity of the monarchy itself!”
    “How can they? He wasn’t accused of bearing a bastard child,” she shot back.
    “Don’t be naïve,” Nathan said curtly. “His by-blows are all over this town. And the Lords Commissioners found no evidence to support the claim that Caroline bore a bastard child, but they found plenty of evidence to support the claims of bad behavior, and adultery by the Princess of Wales, which is still a treasonable offense with or without a child!”
    “What has that to do—”
    “If the king so chooses,” he continued brusquely, “he could have her tried in a true court of law for adultery, among other things. Not by the Lords Commissioners, but in a court, before a judge, where she may know details about the private lives of those who testify against her and may respond in her own defense. The longer the king delays in making that decision, the more frantic Caroline becomes. She stands to lose everything! She is mounting her defense now, Evelyn. There are spies everywhere. The slightest event might be turned round to suit her defense. In the meantime, if the prince can’t obtain the evidence he needs for a trial of treason, he will at least have enough evidence to bring about a parliamentary dissolution of his marriage.”
    Evelyn turned away from him, trying to absorb that news.
    But Nathan tightened his grip of her arm and forced her around. “This scandal will ruin everyone who comes near it, do you understand? It will echo across this nation and you, my darling, will be forever ruined, because you are suspected of witnessing or knowing of some debauchery in which the prince was engaged while in the company of your lover! Do you think Princess Mary will want you waiting on her then?”
    “That’s not true,” she said, trying to pull her arm free of his grip.
    “For some reason, Caroline seems to think you do know something. What do you know, Evelyn?”
    “Nothing! On my honor, I know nothing!”
    His eyes narrowed.
    “On my word!” she said again.
    He suddenly released her and turned away, pushing his hands through his hair. He looked over his shoulder at her. “Then there is nothing to be done for it.”
    “Pardon?”
    He abruptly pivoted and took her face in his big hands, his fingers splayed across her hair and her ears. He was so close that she could smell the spicy scent of his cologne and see the little flecks of gray in his eyes. But it was his mouth that drew her attention. His lips…
    “The troubles of the Greys are rather minor in comparison to those of the royal family, but there is nothing to be done for it. You must come home.”
    Damn it, she could feel tears suddenly begin to well. “No,” she said, and wrapped her hand around his wrist. “I won’t abide it, all the hunting and gaming and Lord knows what.”
    “And here in London you, my pet,” he said, slipping one arm around her shoulders, drawing her closer, “will be no more than a step or two from the nearest fashionable salon or soirée, hoping to ruin me.” He bent his head toward her. “It seems we cannot escape one another,” he murmured, and kissed her.
    His lips were soft and sultry on hers, sparking a deep, hot flame. But anger quickly followed; anger that he could provoke such longing in her, anger that he had come and ruined everything. Evelyn opened her mouth beneath his…and bit his lip.
    “Ouch!” he snapped.
    She slipped out of his embrace. “You don’t know me anymore, Nathan. I won’t go.”
    Nathan put his finger to his lip, then slowly dropped his hands to his side. “Pack your things, Evelyn,” he said curtly. “We leave this week.”
    “Will you force me to return knowing my feelings?” she cried incredulously.
    “It seems so,” he said bitterly. “I wish that it were not this way, I wish I could trust you to conduct yourself properly, but as you give me no