The Reluctant Reformer by Lynsay Sands Read Free Book Online Page A

Wentworth?” his butler asked in confusion as he followed James out of the library.
    â€œShe is in the blue room. A…guest. You are to be sure she remains one while I am gone.”

Chapter Three
    Sighing, Maggie shifted in her seat and again glanced toward the door. It was past the supper hour. She had awoken around noon to find a new gown lying at the foot of the bed in which she had slept so poorly.
    Her lack of rest was no fault of the bed’s—it had been as comfortable as a mattress of clouds, which was the only reason she had eventually fallen asleep at all. Nay, her inability to sleep had been due purely to her anxiety and nerves about her host’s intentions. He claimed to be Lord Ramsey, and that his intentions were to aid her, but…Well, how could she be sure he was who he claimed? Or if his intentions were pure? After all, he had kidnapped her.
    She plucked fretfully at the soft skirt of the light blue gown she wore and grimaced. Despite Lord Ramsey’s telling her to ring the bell when she awoke so that appropriate clothing could be brought to her, Maggie hadnot had to do so. She had risen to find this gown across the foot of the bed. Someone must have slipped in while she slept. But who? Had it been the man calling himself her brother’s friend or one of his servants?
    One of his servants, she decided. Delivering gowns didn’t seem a likely task for a lord. Besides, the idea of Ramsey slipping into the room while she slept was completely unnerving.
    Maggie had checked the door this morning before she’d tried to sleep, only to find that there was no way to lock it. She had made a halfhearted attempt to barricade the portal with the chair she now sat in—the only one in the room—but its back was too short to be jammed under the doorknob. It was also too light to be any sort of bar to the door’s opening. Every piece of furniture in the room had proven to be similarly too small or too large and heavy to be used in such a manner. Maggie had been forced to resign herself to the fact that there was no way to prevent anyone from entering. Which was why she’d had such trouble sleeping, despite her exhaustion. Her unconsciousness during the journey here had not, apparently, been restful. She was as weary when she awoke at noon as if she had never slept, and she’d spent the better part of this afternoon nodding in this chair, waiting to be retrieved.
    It was evening and she was still waiting. Was Lord Ramsey never going to come? She shook her head and almost managed a smile. First she had been trying to find a way to barricade the door against his entry, and now she was impatient for the rascal to come around. Nonsensical, she supposed, but the waiting in itself was driving her mad. Besides, she was growing quite hungry.Nay, she corrected herself, she had awakened hungry; she was growing famished .
    Her stomach rumbled as if in agreement, and Maggie suddenly thrust herself to her feet. Enough was enough! She could bear the waiting no longer. If the rude man had no intention of coming for her, she would go and confront him.
    â€œHe’s probably a madman,” she muttered under her breath as she crossed the room to the door. “Ready for Bedlam.”
    Such thoughts, she decided as she found herself standing before the bedroom door but hesitating to open it, were definitely not reassuring. She had just managed to shore her sagging courage and reach for the knob when a tap from the other side made her pull back with a squeak of dismay. Heart racing and mouth dry, she stared at the blank surface of the door with apprehension until a second tap came; then she swallowed and called out in a voice so high and squeaky that she hardly recognized it as her own, “Yes?”
    Maggie scooted back several steps as the doorknob turned and the door swung inward. Her alarm eased somewhat, however, when a petite young maid stepped in.
    â€œOh, ye’re