Call Down the Moon

Read Online Call Down the Moon by Katherine Kingsley - Free Book Online Page A

Book: Call Down the Moon by Katherine Kingsley Read Free Book Online
Authors: Katherine Kingsley
Tags: FICTION/Romance/General
Ads: Link
stunning creature. Then once he was married he couldn’t be expected to marry anyone else, which took care of that problem. He’d look like a martyr.
    He supposed children were inevitable, since he didn’t plan to keep his hands off her, and he could only pray that they wouldn’t be born with her affliction.
    But if they were, he’d look even more like a martyr. How much more respectable could one get?
    Hugo almost started believing in the power of prayer, for this was surely deliverance.
    How he was actually going to persuade the befuddled Miss Meggie Bloom to marry him was another question, but Hugo had no doubt that he could find a way. After all, she didn’t have a lot of options—or sense, common or otherwise, for that matter.
    He quickly resumed his seat, attempting to look lost in thought. As soon as Gostrain returned, Hugo looked up and sighed heavily.
    “I must thank you for your time, sir, and your advice. For after due consideration of everything you have told me, I’ve decided that I cannot marry this particular woman after all. The truth is that I do not love her, and I do not think I can marry without love. The idea is far too unsavory.”
    Gostrain scratched his head with one finger. “Begging your pardon, Lord Hugo, but if that is the case, then why did you consider marriage to her at all?”
    “I suppose because I thought it was what was expected of a man in my position,” Hugo said, knowing it was essential that he set up his story now if he was to be believed later. “Her breeding, her connections are impeccable and as I said, her dowry extremely large. Nevertheless, the prospect of living out my life with someone I do not care for repels me. I think I must put aside the expectations of others and follow my heart.”
    He paused for a long moment as if hesitant to continue, and then he lowered his voice. “The real truth of the matter is that I am in love with someone else, although I have hesitated to propose marriage to her.”
    “Ah. Is this other young lady perhaps not as well connected as the first?” Mr. Gostrain asked, his tone infinitely tactful.
    “My dear Mr. Gostrain, as far as I know she is not connected at all. She is an orphan, utterly penniless, and without protection in this world.”
    Mr. Gostrain’s mouth dropped open.
    “Yet she is the sweetest, most gentle of creatures, kind and good,” Hugo continued blithely. “My mother recently encouraged me to marry for love—nay, practically insisted on it. And so I shall. So I shall! My good man, I cannot thank you enough for preventing me from making a terrible mistake.”
    “But I—“
    “Good day, sir. I hope to speak with her shortly and can only pray she will accept me. Naturally I shall notify you when the happy event occurs. It will be a quiet wedding, of course. I think that best under the circumstances.”
    Hugo made his bow, collected his hat and cane, and left, fully enjoying the expression of blank astonishment on Mr. Gostrain’s usually composed face.

5
    O h God. Oh God, oh God, oh God. Hugo didn’t actually know what he was praying for, unless it was divine protection. He couldn’t believe that he was back at the asylum, a place he’d sworn never to go again.
    But he was desperate, and desperation had a way of urging one forward no matter how fiercely the body and mind resisted.
    He clutched his hat in his hands as he waited for the summons to Sister Agnes’s office, silently rehearsing what he intended to say, all of it untrue.
    Still, he was an expert at appearing to be sincere. He’d been doing it for as long as he could remember and usually successfully. In any case, he doubted a nun would know the difference between truth and fiction when it came to affairs of the heart.
    As before, he was led to Sister Agnes’s office by way of the long corridor. He drew in a deep, steadying breath, then knocked lightly and pushed the door open.
    “Lord Hugo,” the nun said, looking up at him over her spectacles

Similar Books

Jerusalem the Golden

Margaret Drabble

Breaking the Rules

Suzanne Brockmann

Karma for Beginners

Jessica Blank

Wild Years

Jay S. Jacobs

In the Forest

Edna O’Brien

Fiasco

Stanislaw Lem

Crystal Clear

Serena Zane