Read Online Forbidden Love by Karen Robards - Free Book Online Page B

his expression softening. “I’m not,” he assured her, and might have said more if a brief knock on the door had not distracted them.
    It was Mrs. Donovan.
    “I brought you your supper, Master Justin,” she told him as she entered. “It’s a bit early, but I thought you might be feeling hungry since you ate so little of your luncheon.” Her faded blue eyes sharpened at the sight of Megan perched comfortably on the side of Justin’s bed. The girl’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkled with laughter, and the Earl himself looked much more cheerful than he had earlier. The cards that littered the coverlet between them told their own story.
    “You don’t want to be playing them devil’s gameswith the likes of him, now, lamb,” Mrs. Donovan said to Megan with the merest suggestion of a smile. “The Brants have always had the devil’s own luck with cards. It’s in their blood.” She put the tray on the small table beside the bed.
    “I always heard it said that the devil takes care of his own, Mrs. Donovan,” Megan said with such an angelic air that Justin burst out laughing.
    “That’s right, my lamb, and you remember it, too,” Mrs. Donovan said, glancing at Justin. He was still chuckling.
    “Thank you for bringing up my dinner, Mrs. Donovan,” Justin said.
    Mrs. Donovan eyed the steaming tray complacently. “You can best thank me by eating it all up, Master Justin,” she told him with a stern look. “It’s good food, and it will do you good. You need to keep up your strength.”
    With a nod and a wink at Megan, she left the room. As Justin lifted the cover off the tray, Megan stood up, smoothing her skirts rather self-consciously. She remembered how he had warned her that first night about letting the Donovans find out that she had visited him in his bedroom, and wondered what that good lady might be thinking.
    “Well, I’ll leave you to your meal,” Megan said, feeling a surge of color creep up her face. Justin paused to look up at her. Faint rays of light were still wandering in through the windows, but her face was inshadow, and he could not read her expression. Something in her stance, however, told him that she was uncomfortable.
    “Why don’t you draw the curtains, light a couple of candles, and join me?” he suggested casually, wondering what he might have said to disturb her. She hesitated before answering. Justin peered at her closely. “Is something the matter, Megan? You’re not still worried about these damned I.O.U.’s are you? I was only joking. I wouldn’t take your money.”
    “I know that, my lord,” she answered quietly.
    “Then what’s wrong?” he demanded, impatience plain in his voice. “And don’t tell me, nothing! You’ve gone as quiet as a bird when a hawk flies over!”
    Megan smiled a little at that.
    “It’s only—the first night I was in here—you remember,” she hesitated, then finished in a rush, “you were afraid that if the Donovans found me in your bedroom, they might think it wasn’t perfectly respectable. But last night, and just now, Mrs. Donovan didn’t appear to mind at all. I was wondering what the difference is.”
    Justin looked at her, his mouth slanting wryly.
    “The difference, my child, is quite simple. On the occasion of your first visit I was in perfect health. Now I am incapacitated, to all intents and purposes, which puts quite a different light on the matter. It’s perfectly respectable for you to visit your guardian in his chamber when he is ill; in fact, it wouldn’t be proper if youdidn’t. The servants would think you unfeeling. And if you want it in plainer terms, now that I am a broken man, the consensus will be that I won’t be thinking in terms of making improper advances to you.”
    Megan looked both amused and faintly incredulous.
    “You wouldn’t anyway,” she stated positively.
    Justin regarded her a little ruefully. “No, I wouldn’t,” he agreed, and if there was anything odd in his tone Megan