Read Online Once Upon A Wedding Night by Sophie Jordan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sophie Jordan
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measuring look. It took every ounce of will not to squirm beneath his heavy regard.
"As you come to know me, you will find that I rarely do what is expected, nor do I live my life for the satisfaction of others."
She scarcely registered the clench of her fingers around her knife and fork—only heard her biting retort. "How very convenient to live life with no concern save for yourself." The instant the words left her mouth, she wondered what it was about the man that had her blurting the first thing to pop into her head. That had her
reacting
rather than pausing to think.
With narrowed eyes, he replied, "Phrase it however you like. I simply do not subscribe to the hypocrisy of sitting in a church surrounded by an overprivileged Society that sings alleluias on Sunday and practices hedonism the rest of the week."
"I have never heard such sacrilegious drivel in all my life!"
He lifted an eyebrow and asked blandly, "Indeed? Country living has left you quite sheltered, then."
She scowled, not appreciating his insinuation that she was
limited
in some way. "I don't dispute a great many churchgoers fail to practice what is preached on Sundays. They are only human, after all. However, the majority does aspire to live rightly, including members of the very
overprivi-leged Society
you yourself are part of."
"That is where you are wrong. I may have been born to this world, but I don't belong to it. My father saw to that." The sudden angle of his head and angry glint of his eyes should have warned her to let it go, to accept that he was a man outside her realm of knowledge and she had no business tangling words with him. Besides, she was doing a poor job of behaving demurely and modestly, as she had only recently avowed.
Even bearing this in mind, Meredith heard herself saying, "But you are here, acting very much the part of lord of the manor to my eyes."
"Temporarily, I assure you. Even if you should deliver a daughter, I shall find a way out of my obligation to Oak Run, the title… and you."
She experienced a contrary twinge of hurt at that last bit. Which was absolutely absurd. She did not want to be bound to him any more than he to her. He returned his attention to his food, and Meredith breathed a bit easier, released from his intense scrutiny.
"
I
will be free again," he muttered so softly she barely made out his words. They sunk into her head gradually, like a pebble sinking through water and settling at last into a riverbed.
Slumping back in her chair, her eyes narrowed with sudden insight, as if seeing him for the first time.
He really wanted no part of Oak Run
. His apparent indifference to the news that she carried Edmund's child was because he was in fact… indifferent. He did not long to take up the title. For him, it was a yoke about his neck—the shackles and dictates of Society. He lived by no code other than his own. His rules were none but his own. Respectability, responsibility, Oak Run, the earldom… he viewed it all as a prison sentence.
Armed with this knowledge, she idly wondered if he would even care about her deception. Perhaps he would help her carry it out. No, an unlikely possibility and not worth the risk. Still, she felt better knowing she was giving him what he wanted. A way out. Rising to her feet, Meredith dropped her napkin on her plate.
He lifted an eyebrow. "It's not yet nine. Are you off already to join the pillars of Society?" He snorted faintly. "Don't be fooled by them, Meredith. None possess the charity in their heart that you hold in your little finger."
Convinced she misunderstood his words, that he did not mean to compliment her, she gave him a puzzled look. He did not know her well enough to make such a judgment, and he would hardly think her charitable if he knew the fraud she perpetrated against him.
As if to erase his backhanded compliment and remind her of his innate shamelessness, he added, "Was my half brother such a saint too? Did he attend church with you?"
Meredith
"As you come to know me, you will find that I rarely do what is expected, nor do I live my life for the satisfaction of others."
She scarcely registered the clench of her fingers around her knife and fork—only heard her biting retort. "How very convenient to live life with no concern save for yourself." The instant the words left her mouth, she wondered what it was about the man that had her blurting the first thing to pop into her head. That had her
reacting
rather than pausing to think.
With narrowed eyes, he replied, "Phrase it however you like. I simply do not subscribe to the hypocrisy of sitting in a church surrounded by an overprivileged Society that sings alleluias on Sunday and practices hedonism the rest of the week."
"I have never heard such sacrilegious drivel in all my life!"
He lifted an eyebrow and asked blandly, "Indeed? Country living has left you quite sheltered, then."
She scowled, not appreciating his insinuation that she was
limited
in some way. "I don't dispute a great many churchgoers fail to practice what is preached on Sundays. They are only human, after all. However, the majority does aspire to live rightly, including members of the very
overprivi-leged Society
you yourself are part of."
"That is where you are wrong. I may have been born to this world, but I don't belong to it. My father saw to that." The sudden angle of his head and angry glint of his eyes should have warned her to let it go, to accept that he was a man outside her realm of knowledge and she had no business tangling words with him. Besides, she was doing a poor job of behaving demurely and modestly, as she had only recently avowed.
Even bearing this in mind, Meredith heard herself saying, "But you are here, acting very much the part of lord of the manor to my eyes."
"Temporarily, I assure you. Even if you should deliver a daughter, I shall find a way out of my obligation to Oak Run, the title… and you."
She experienced a contrary twinge of hurt at that last bit. Which was absolutely absurd. She did not want to be bound to him any more than he to her. He returned his attention to his food, and Meredith breathed a bit easier, released from his intense scrutiny.
"
I
will be free again," he muttered so softly she barely made out his words. They sunk into her head gradually, like a pebble sinking through water and settling at last into a riverbed.
Slumping back in her chair, her eyes narrowed with sudden insight, as if seeing him for the first time.
He really wanted no part of Oak Run
. His apparent indifference to the news that she carried Edmund's child was because he was in fact… indifferent. He did not long to take up the title. For him, it was a yoke about his neck—the shackles and dictates of Society. He lived by no code other than his own. His rules were none but his own. Respectability, responsibility, Oak Run, the earldom… he viewed it all as a prison sentence.
Armed with this knowledge, she idly wondered if he would even care about her deception. Perhaps he would help her carry it out. No, an unlikely possibility and not worth the risk. Still, she felt better knowing she was giving him what he wanted. A way out. Rising to her feet, Meredith dropped her napkin on her plate.
He lifted an eyebrow. "It's not yet nine. Are you off already to join the pillars of Society?" He snorted faintly. "Don't be fooled by them, Meredith. None possess the charity in their heart that you hold in your little finger."
Convinced she misunderstood his words, that he did not mean to compliment her, she gave him a puzzled look. He did not know her well enough to make such a judgment, and he would hardly think her charitable if he knew the fraud she perpetrated against him.
As if to erase his backhanded compliment and remind her of his innate shamelessness, he added, "Was my half brother such a saint too? Did he attend church with you?"
Meredith
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