A Bride for Noah Read Online Free Page B

in her upstairs sitting room until after lunch, when Evie could clear the lunch tray and begin her afternoon duties cleaning the bedrooms.
    Mr. Coffinger hummed a monotone tune as he descended the stairway. He nodded absently toward Evie, who was sweeping the hallway carpet runner, and continued past her to the library. A moment later the heavy oak door closed behind him with a soft click.
    Particles of dust rose in puffs from the carpet as Evie changed the direction of her efforts and swept toward the closed door. Sleep had eluded her last night, so tumultuous were her thoughts. In the past five days she had become more certain that James’s true intention in marrying her had been to gain control of Grandfather’s house. One moment she’d berated herself for her uncharitable attitude toward him, but the next she remembered the neighbors selling their properties one by one to business owners as the railroad track down Mulberry Avenue had neared completion. She remembered the men who knocked on Grandfather’s door with their offers, which he had sternly refused to entertain. And James’s words from that night had echoed in her mind. You’re attractive enough. I’m fond of you. And, of course, the ones that rankled. Are you so ignorant? Foolish is as foolish does.
    James was a fine man, not afraid to work. He had goals, and ambition enough to attain them. She also had to admit that he was something of an opportunist, no doubt a necessary quality for a man with lofty aspirations. He would make a fine husband for someone.
    But not for her.
    The realization brought with it a curious sense of relief. The fact that she was not devastated at the idea of ending her relationship with James proved that what she had assumed to be love had been something else entirely. Fear, perhaps, of being alone in the world after Grandfather’s death. Anxiety at the approach of her twenty-third birthday, an age at which most young women were safely wed and raising a family. Marriage had seemed a logical step to relieve her of the looming fear of a lonely spinster’s life. But not marriage to a man she did not love and who described his affections for her as mere fondness.
    With the coming of dawn this morning, clarity had arrived. Why must she rely on anyone else to make her future? Many women made their own way in the world without the benefit of a husband. Look at Mrs. Browning, the widow who ran the boardinghouse where she lived. Evie was certainly as capable of earning her way.
    Leaning her broom handle against the wall, she paused for a moment in front of Mr. Coffinger’s library to gather her thoughts. Swallowing past a lump of nerves, she lifted her hand and rapped quietly on the door.
    â€œYes?” came the muffled reply from inside.
    She cleared her throat and cracked open the door enough to stick her head through. “Might I have a word with you, sir?”
    He was seated behind the big wooden desk, his head bent over a paper. Dark pouches dragged at the skin beneath red-rimmed eyes. He must have had as restless a night as she.
    She looked around the room, curious. Her housecleaning dutiesexcluded this room, which was Mr. Coffinger’s domain. Bookshelves lined the walls, though most were only half-filled with bound volumes. Stacks of papers occupied much of the writing table and many of the shelves as well. Though sunlight filtered through the tall windows behind the desk, the odor of lamp oil clung to the air.
    He raised his head to look her full in the face and leaned back in the tall leather chair. The mustache twitched, indicative of a hidden smile.
    â€œOf course, Miss Lawrence. Come in and be seated.” He gestured toward a wooden chair resting against one wall.
    Evie lowered herself into the chair, nerves doing battle in her stomach. In the predawn light, her resolve had been firm. Now she wasn’t so sure. Perhaps she really was the fool James claimed her to be.
    â€œIf