Too Wild to Wed by Jayne Ann Krentz Read Free Book Online

from me, Letty, no one gets as rich and successful as our Saint Augustine without leaving a few bodies buried somewhere along the way."
    Letty turned that over in her mind. "Like some landless medieval knight who decides to make his fortune by becoming a professional mercenary."
    "They did that back then?"
    "Certainly. There were a lot of knights who had no fortune or land of their own. The only way up in the world was to sell their swords to some lord who needed manpower to defend his castle or raid his neighbors' property. When the mercenary had enough money and power of his own he got himself some land, selected a wife suitable to his fine new status as a respected man of property and went about siring as many sons as possible."
    "A lowly, landless knight who had been able to turn himself into a powerful lord would probably have had all sorts of unpleasant little secrets in his past
    — " Molly observed " — human nature being what it is and all."
    "You know, I'm beginning to think my knight in shining armor may be more like the original version than I initially thought. The real thing was a tough, arrogant warrior who would have done all sorts of horrid things himself, but insisted upon having a wife who had a spotless reputation."
    "A little unreasonable, to put it mildly."
    Letty shrugged. "Of course it was. Typically male, though, isn't it? The reasoning behind it was that a man's honor was tied up with that of his lady. If she brought dishonor on herself, he was dishonored. So he protected her honor as fiercely as if it were his own, which was very fiercely, indeed. Castration was a common punishment for a man who dared to seduce a lord's wife."
    "The lord, of course, got to run around to his heart's content, though, I'll bet."
    "Right. While he was watching over his wife like a hawk, he took a little time out to seduce all the pretty castle servants and the daughters of the peasants."
    Molly's mouth tilted wryly. "Well, that's one thing you don't have to worry about. Xavier hasn't seduced anyone around here as far as we can tell. And in a small community like this, believe me, we'd know if it happened."
    Letty groaned. "True. He hasn't even seduced me. Nevertheless, I have a hunch you're right. I doubt that Xavier Augustine is quite the saint he tries to make everyone think he is. Molly, I want you to do it. I want you to run an investigation on him."
    "Why bother? You already said you were canceling the wedding."
    Letty felt a wave of depression sweep over her at that thought. "I know. I guess I just want some vengeance."
    "Have you considered the fact that he may be right? That you are overreacting because you feel hurt? Letty, you told me, yourself, that you loved him. Are you sure you want to give him up?"
    "No," Letty admitted candidly, aware of tears welling in her eyes. She blinked them back. "But it's done. I told him this morning I was calling off the wedding. Molly, I can't marry a man who doesn't trust me. What kind of marriage would we have?"
    "You might be able to teach him to trust you."
    "I will not prove myself to any man, damn it. I fell in love with him and trusted him completely. I deserved the same degree of love and trust in return."
    "True. But men can be a bit weird, Letty. Let's face it. They don't always think the way we do. They get all muddled up when it comes to dealing with emotions."
    "I realize that, but it's just not fair. Molly, I feel so terrible. I really thought Xavier was the right man for me. I was so sure of him."
    "I know," Molly said gently. "Have some more wine and pizza. You'll feel better. Are you really going to go off to one of those meetings of that society Sheldon Peabody joined last year?"
    "Yes, I am."
    "I'm not so sure it's a good idea." Molly looked seriously doubtful. "From what little I've heard about the Order of the Medieval Revelers, it doesn't really sound like your kind of thing."
    "You're talking about the old, dull Dr. Letitia Conroy. The new fast-forward