The Mad Lord's Daughter by Jane Goodger Read Free Book Online

“Yes. I was.”
    “Men want only money and to fornicate?”
    It was his turn to blush, something that Melissa found extremely satisfying. “I suppose that is putting matters a bit simplistically, but yes, that’s about right.”
    “So I cannot expect a man to fall in love with me?”
    “Love between a man and a woman does not exist,” he said.
    “That’s not true. My father loved my mother very much. He spoke of her all the time, spoke of how he loved her. And I loved my father. I am a woman, and he is a man.”
    “Paternal love is a different thing entirely. We are conditioned to love our children. I am speaking of romantic love. I don’t mean to be cruel or indelicate, but it is far easier to love a ghost than a real woman. Love, or what we think of as love, does not last longer than the day your heir is born. And then you find what real love is.”
    Melissa smiled and shook her head. “Do you truly believe that? That all these people who pair up are doomed to be unhappy and live a life without love?”
    “Yes. And that such a life is not the tragedy romantics like you make it out to be. The real tragedy is the poor souls who believe in love wholeheartedly, only to be bitterly disappointed time after time.”
    Melissa tilted her head. “An interesting theory, but I think it’s complete hogwash. I think you believe this only because you have not fallen in love yourself.”
    “Not theory. Fact. It’s been proven again and again. And I refuse to fall in love, for I recognize that state of mind for what it is, a transient emotion fueled by lust.”
    “So all the poets, even Shakespeare himself, were wrong. Everyone who believes he or she loves someone is delusional. Is that what you are saying?”
    He shook his head, his gray eyes sparking with passion for his subject. “Not at all. People do believe they are in love. What they don’t recognize is that real love, such as the love of a mother for her child, lasts. But the love between a man and a woman is a fantasy, and one we cling to rather pathetically while our souls slowly wither and die from our disappointed expectations.”
    It was Melissa’s turn to laugh. “You cannot be serious. You are jesting with me.”
    “Not at all,” he said with complete earnestness. “I am a man of science. I observe behaviors, of animals, of humans. And my conclusion, and that of my father as well, is that the idea of romantic love is false. It simply does not exist.”
    For some reason, Melissa felt unaccountably sad. Not because he had convinced her—he had not—but because he seemed to believe this nonsense so wholeheartedly. He was dooming himself forever to be unloved.
    “I think you are wrong. I think you cannot escape love. Even you. I do hope I’m around to watch it happen. I shall delight in it.”
    “You will have a long wait, I fear. In the meantime, I shall help you find your own path to disillusionment and heartbreak if you wish. I know quite a few eligible bachelors who are certain to fall at your feet and beg for your hand in marriage.”
    Melissa smiled. “Will I have to actually give them my hand?”
    “I’m afraid, dear cousin, you will have to give them more than that. But for now, let’s work on your not flinching when a man escorts you about a room.”
    She wrinkled her nose at him, but couldn’t help smiling. She only hoped that all young men were as entertaining as her cousin.

    Lord Braddock found the recent turn of events extremely unsettling. For years, it had just been himself and John, and he was happy for it. His wife, God rest her soul, had died more than twenty years ago, and he’d had no desire to go out and find another. Henrietta had been a mistake and it was more than that she had not enjoyed the marriage bed. The thought of begging another wife to lie with him was quite more than he could bear. It was humiliating, unmanning, and frustrating beyond tolerance. He’d never forced her, but rutting above a woman lying unmoving