Unveiled by Courtney Milan Read Free Book Online Page A

me, better than me. And I’ll do anything —cross anyone, steal anything, destroy whatever I must—to give them what they deserve.”
    Margaret dropped her eyes from that fervor. She felt strangely small and intensely jealous.
    She had never felt that sort of ardor about anything—or anyone—in her life. The table seemed even tinier in that large room, a tiny craft adrift on a wide sea of parquet. Behind her, the stares of her painted ancestors bored into her back.
    She drew in a deep breath and turned to his younger brother. He looked a little embarrassed at that out-burst—but not surprised or uncomfortable. Just as if his brother had ruffled his hair.
    â€œSo, Mr. Mark Turner. What is this book you’re writing?”
    He leaned back in his chair. “Just Mark will do. It’ll be confusing enough if you have to call us both Turner.”
    Both the Turners were rather too casual. But as a servant, Margaret could hardly object. She inclined her head in acknowledgment.
    â€œI’m writing about chastity.”
    She waited for him to guffaw. Or even to give her that mischievous grin again, signaling this was another of his schoolboy pranks.
    He didn’t.
    â€œChastity?” she repeated weakly.
    â€œChastity.”
    He hadn’t said it as one would expect to hear the word—with serious overtones, in a humble, reverent voice. He said it with a sparkle in his eye and a lift to his mouth, as if chastity were the best thing in the world. Margaret had met a great many of her brother’s friends. This was not an attitude that was common among young gentlemen. Quite the opposite.
    â€œYou see,” he continued, “the focus in all the works on chastity to date has often been so philosophical that it fails to engage the general populace on a moral level. My goal is to start with a practical approach, and…” He trailed off, with the air of someone realizing that his enthusiasm for a subject was not matched by those around him. “It’s enormously exciting.”
    â€œI can see that.”
    Mr. Mark Turner was the same age as Edmund, a few years younger than Richard. She couldn’t imagineher brothers—or any of their friends—writing a philosophical defense of chastity. They likely couldn’t even speak the word without laughing.
    Her lip curled in memory.
    â€œChastity,” said the elder Mr. Turner in a dry voice, “is not one of the things I’d planned for my younger brother to embrace.”
    An uncomfortable silence settled over the table. The two men exchanged level glances. What was encoded in those looks, Margaret could not say.
    â€œThis isn’t a conversation for mixed company,” Mrs. Benedict put in.
    Mark shook himself and looked away. “Too true. Alas, my work is by necessity aimed at men. If I were to write about chastity for women, it would no doubt slant towards a different sort of practicality.”
    â€œOh?” Margaret asked.
    â€œDon’t encourage him,” Mr. Turner warned. “When he has that gleam in his eye, no good can come of it.”
    Margaret turned to Mark. “Consider yourself encouraged.”
    Beside her, Mr. Turner made a noise of exasperation.
    â€œI was thinking more of a compendium. ‘Places to strike a man so as to best preserve one’s virtue.’”
    â€œWhat?” said Mr. Turner. “There’s more than the one?”
    â€œGentlemen,” pleaded Mrs. Benedict, but to no avail.
    â€œWhat do you say, Miss Lowell? Would ladies have any interest in such a guide?” Mark smiled at her. “Ash tells me you’ve no family to speak of. Does that mean no brother has ever taught you to defend yourself?”
    Edmund had taken her aside when she turnedfourteen and advised her that if she kept her legs and her mouth clamped shut, she might land a marquess. That had been the end of his helpful advice. She shook her head.
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