Read Online To Tame A Countess (Properly Spanked Book 2) by Annabel Joseph - Free Book Online Page B

“Josephine is a little upset,” he admitted to his sister. “But I had to marry her. You must trust me when I tell you there was a very good reason to do it. A marriage to Lord Stafford would not have suited her at all.” He smiled at her. “And you dreamed of having Lady Maitland for a sister-in-law.”
    “She’ll come to love you, even if she doesn’t yet,” Minette said staunchly. “I’ll tell her you’re ever so sweet and kind, and that you’re a crack of a horseman, and jolly fun to be around, and that the both of you will have a wonderful marriage.”
    “How kind of you to try to comfort her, and to speak so highly of me. And you’re perfectly right. When she knows me better, everything will be well. Will you do something for me in the meantime, sis? It’s very important.”
    “Of course,” she said, nodding. “I’ll do anything you need.”
    “You must stay here with the Baxters while I take Lady Warren away to Oxfordshire for a while.”
    “For your honeymoon?” she asked, blushing.
    “Yes, exactly. And while we’re away, you must whisper a very romantic tale in all your friends’ ears. You must say how Josephine and I fell madly in love at our first acquaintance. You must speak to them of passion and desire and other such scandalous, silly things, and tell them we simply couldn’t wait to wed one another and be joined for life. Perhaps you can allude to the lady’s exotic upbringing to explain the impetuousness of this whole affair. Can you do that, Minette? If we’re to come back to London and face everyone afterward, we desperately need your help.”
    “I’ll do my best. But, oh, will people say mean things? You won her from Stafford fair and square.”
    “Stafford will spread the worst gossip of all, because he’s a heartless, petty man. But you must tell everyone the truth, that Josephine and I fell in love.”
    God forgive him for telling such tales. Minette smiled at him with so much trust. She either truly believed, or wanted to believe.
    “Felicitations on your marriage,” she said, grasping his hand tight. “I’m sure mama and papa are looking down from heaven, and feeling ever so proud of you, and thinking this the most lovely and magical day.”
    He glanced up at the gray sky. “Yes, probably.”
    This was not the way he’d pictured his eventual wedding day, but he supposed that could not be helped.

Chapter Five: Complexities
     
    Josephine startled awake. She had dreamed of her tiger again, lithe and snarling in the humid night. She tensed as someone shifted beside her. “Are you all right?” a deep voice asked. “Did you have a nightmare?”
    It took a moment to remember where she was, and who she was with. She couldn’t see Lord Warren’s eyes in the dark carriage, only the tall, broad shape of him silhouetted against the silk paneling. “Go back to sleep,” he said after a moment. “I’ll wake you when we get to the inn.”
    She wasn’t sure she could go back to sleep now. “It’s so dark in here.”
    “Yes, and quiet.”
    Lord Warren had been exceptionally quiet on the trip. He only looked at her every so often, as if surprised to find her there. She wondered if he was sad to be married to her. She didn’t know how she felt anymore. Sad? Not exactly. Angry, frustrated? Yes. And fearful. She hardly knew this man she was married to.
    “You should have allowed Minette to come,” she said as the silence stretched out. “Then it wouldn’t have been so quiet.”
    He laughed at that. “I love my sister, but she’s not the sort of person you want along on your honeymoon.”
    He stretched his legs to the opposite bench, stretched his whole body in fact, reaching his arms up and puffing out his chest. It alarmed her, this display of masculine physicality. While he flexed and sighed, Josephine sat very still and thought about a
honeymoon
. The word always made people smile, and sometimes blush. She knew a honeymoon was something newly married people