Read Online The Reluctant Bride by Beverley Eikli - Free Book Online Page A

Jack was so charming that the Delons considered him like family after his first stay with them.’ Emily shifted and stared at the ceiling. ‘If the child is a girl I want to call it Madeleine. The Delon family had a daughter Jack was fond of. She chose the ribbons Jack used to send me. He said if we had a daughter we would call her Madeleine.’
    â€˜If it’s a girl you can call her anything you like,’ Angus murmured. ‘But if it’s a boy, we must choose a name together, for it will be a McCartney and we McCartneys have a proud naming tradition for our sons.’
    â€˜But—’
    He put a finger to her lips to stay her protest. Forgetting his diffidence, he leaned over her and cupped her face. ‘Emily, like it or not, your child will be a McCartney.’
    No, he was not a true McCartney, but he’d been reared as one. He drove his point home. ‘Regardless of how many children we have, Emily, they shall all be reared without distinction but with love and affection. You surely didn’t imagine it would be any other way when you married me?’
    He’d hoped for a flicker of appreciation. Resting her hands on her swollen belly she said woodenly, ‘Papa says I am beyond redemption and you will forever despise me.’
    â€˜It’s not true.’ Before he could reassure her further she twisted her head away from his touch.
    â€˜I thought I’d found happiness and a few days wouldn’t matter. Now,’ she lowered her voice to a whisper, ‘I’m in Purgatory.’
    He gripped her wrists almost roughly so that she opened her eyes in surprise.
    â€˜Purgatory is when there is no hope, which would indeed be the case if I despised you. Now count your blessings, Emily, for here is the doctor.’ He put his hand around her waist to support her into a sitting position and drew back the curtain to confirm the truth of his words.
    â€˜Forget about what your father says and start believing what I say, for like it or not, I am your husband.’
    He was not ashamed for the rough edge to his voice. Though her slavish devotion to her dead betrothed was understandable there was a limit to how long he’d indulge her.
    Angus had his pride.
    Emily awoke to the sound of splitting wood outside. She raised herself, blinking in the light that gleamed through the curtains from a sun that was high in the sky. She was not usually such a late sleeper, but then she’d been in bed for five days and her life and that of her child had been hanging by a thread.
    Her hands went to her stomach. It was huge and taut. And she felt movement.
    Joy battled with grief. With a shuddering breath, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, silently blessing the conscientious young doctor who had attended each day. Jack’s baby lived. Her last link with the man she loved still breathed within her.
    She managed to dress herself unaided, tidied her hair which Miranda had freshly braided two days before, then went in search of Angus.
    He was working near the wood shed. Emily hesitated upon the back step, reluctant to approach him and ask whether she were required to provide breakfast now that she was up. She wanted to thank him for all he’d done but hadn’t the words. Angus had stayed with her, reassured her and tended to her physical needs. Angus, more than the doctor, had ensured she’d kept her child, but Angus was still a stranger.
    â€¦Â Though not such a remote one.
    Stripped naked to the waist, her husband wielded the axe with strong, rhythmic movements.
    First glance caused her to blush and lower her eyes, but then she strained for a closer look. She was surprised at the bulk of muscle, and the thick sinews of his arms which stood out at each stroke. This almost ascetic man was unexpectedly the athlete beneath his uniform.
    Unconsciously she stroked her stomach as she leant her weight upon the door frame, watching him. There was something