The Christmas Secret Read Online Free Page A

her, Tolly? Come now, I thought better of you! You cannot demean yourself to marry her—she is ruined,” he said, as if explaining why Mr. Tolly should prefer whiskey over gin.
    “ No, Mr. Tolly,” Olivia said quickly. Her heart was pounding frantically now. “It is a truly noble offer, but—”
    “I won’t marry him!” Miranda wailed. “I cannot marry him, I do not love him!”
    Mr. Tolly put his hand under Miranda’s chin and forced her to look up at him. “Please listen to me, Miss Hastings,” he said quietly. “For now, we shall say we are to be married, until we can devise a plan that protects you and the Carey family from certain scandal.” Miranda started to shake her head, but he dipped down a little and looked her in the eye. “Be strong now, lass,” he said kindly. “Now is the time you must think of the child you carry and be strong.”
    Miranda’s hand fluttered to her abdomen. She seemed to consider what he said as she sniffed back her tears. She conceded by sagging helplessly against Mr. Tolly, looking as if the slightest touch would cause her to collapse into pieces.
    “Tolly, you astound me,” Edward said, almost cheerfully. “I do believe there is little you won’t do to protect the good Carey name, but in this case, I think you are a fool. She will do as well in an Irish convent as she will do as a wife to you.”
    Mr. Tolly did not smile. He looked as grave as Olivia had ever seen him. “If you will permit me, my lord, I shall address this unfortunate complication so that you may turn your attention to more pressing issues.”
    Edward gazed skeptically at Mr. Tolly for a long moment, but Mr. Tolly steadily held his gaze, not the least intimidated. Edward finally shrugged and turned away. “Do as you wish. But keep her out of my sight,” he said. “I don’t want to be reminded that I have a slut wandering about Everdon Court.”
    “My lord,” Mr. Tolly said, and wheeled Miranda about, moving her briskly to the door.
    Olivia tried to follow, hoping to reason with Mr. Tolly—but Edward stopped her with a hand to her arm. “Lady Carey,” he said sternly. Olivia closed her eyes a moment before she turned back to him. “I did not give you leave,” he said, then settled back against the desk, his arms casually folded over his middle. “Go on with you now, Tolly,” he said dismissively. “Take her from my sight.”
    Olivia glanced over her shoulder at Miranda, but it was Mr. Tolly’s gaze that met hers, and she thought, as he ushered her sister out, that she saw a flash of anger in his eyes.
    The door shut behind Mr. Tolly and Miranda, leaving her alone with Edward.
    Edward gazed at her for a long moment, his eyes wandering over the peach-colored gown she wore. “How is it,” he said at last, “that your sister is with child after spreading her legs to God knows who in Spain, and you are not?”
    The question did not surprise Olivia in the least, but it nonetheless snatched her breath as it always did. He spoke to her as if there were some defect in her, something less than human. He never considered that he could be the reason they had yet to produce a child.
    “I asked you a question, madam.”
    “I cannot say,” she said tightly.
    “Perhaps it is because you take some elixir to abort my seed,” he suggested. “Brock said some old crone called on you recently.”
    Confused, Olivia thought back to her recent callers and remembered Mrs. Gates, who had come on behalf of the charity they had begun for the poor. She was elderly, with a shock of gray hair that seemed as unruly as her wards. “If you are referring to Mrs. Gates, she is a patron of the parish workhouse.”
    “She is a crone.”
    “She is not a crone. And she did not bring me an elixir. I find that accusation absurd, Edward. You must know that I would never indulge in such tactics; I cannot bear to even hear you speak of it. I want a child every bit as much as you do.”
    He laughed at that and shoved away