Never Marry a Stranger Read Online Free Page A

the edge of the desk, watching her.
    Was he deliberately keeping his distance? What a shock he must be feeling, faced with a woman he thought intimately connected to him. But she could not let herself feel sorry for him, or feel sorry about what she was doing.
    “My father and brothers perished in a boating accident on the Channel,” she said.
    Even now the memories of the wind rising up, the waves crashing over the bow, haunted her, distracted her. In her nightmares she could still see her oldest brother swept over the side, vanishing from sight. She did not have to fake these emotions; they pierced her stomach with such sorrow that she’d been unable to come up with a lie for Matthew’s family.
    “I was sailing with my father and brothers when the boat tore apart in the storm. As I clung to the wreckage, I thought for certain I would die. Then Iheard the sound of the ship’s bell and saw the schooner emerging from the mist. Yours was the first face I saw as you leaned out over the water above me, like an archangel come for me. I thought you were—fearless, so brave.” She looked away, swallowing. “You only smiled at me with encouragement, though I clung to your hand so tightly I could have dragged you under with me.”
    She risked a glance at him, but he still watched her with intent.
    Calmly, he asked, “You had no other family?”
    “No one close. My mother died when I was a child. I thought my brothers would care for me no matter what.”
    “How old were you?”
    “Twenty.”
    “And there was no man in your life before me?”
    She shook her head. “I spent most of my time in our small village. I just…assumed I would marry one of the gentleman farmers, a man of my father’s class, but I never found anyone. And then I met you. You were so caring, so concerned about me, making sure I had a place to stay with fellow parishioners. You stood by me at my family’s funeral, came to visit me every day. Talking to you made me remember that Father would want me to go on with my life. To distract me, you told me stories of your family, the cousins who were like brothers to you, the sisters you doted on. Hearing about anotherfamily helped me remember the good times with my own.”
    He cocked his head, his expression interested. “And what stories did I tell as I courted you?”
    She smiled playfully, taking a chance that he would respond to flirting. “There were so many. We even spent our nights on the steamship to India talking under the stars as we related our childhoods. But one story I remember was how you played the big brother when your cousin Daniel was teasing your sister about her obsession with painting. If I remember correctly, Daniel ended up with paint all over him, and you were Susanna’s hero.”
    A half smile quirked his mouth.
    In a softer voice, she added, “As we spent time together, I came to see what kind of man you were, so close to your family, yet wanting to serve your country. I admired that.”
    He looked away then. Was flattery going too far?
    She walked slowly toward him. “I know it happened quickly, but somehow we fell in love.” The lies came out of her so easily now. “I was alone in the world, and I worried that I was clinging to you, my rescuer, but you did not agree. You thought…you thought we were perfect together.”
    “I wasn’t looking for a wife,” he said.
    “You said as much, even then. But what we had…you didn’t want it to end. So you proposed marriage, and wanted to take me with you to India.”
    “And you didn’t mind becoming an officer’s wife, following the drum?”
    She shook her head. “There was nothing in Southampton for me. A distant cousin inherited our family manor, but I did not want to live with strangers. You were all I thought I would ever need.”
    “And we married so quickly that I did not even have my family join us?”
    “You were scheduled to leave. There was no time.”
    Emily held her breath, hoping he wouldn’t ask when