The Convenient Bride Read Online Free

her as he dressed but she began to stir as he tied his shoes.
    “You are leaving?” she asked in French accented English. “I thought that we could have some fun this morning.”
    Max turned to her and smiled. She really was very pretty, and physically, with dark, almost black hair and an olive complexion, almost the exact opposite of Lucy.
    He came and sat beside her on the bed. “I’m sorry, my sweet, but I have to get home.”
    “What for? You spend all your time with me complaining about your family. Stay with me a little longer, I can help you forget all about them for a while.”
    He leaned down to kiss her goodbye and she wound her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. The passion of her embrace almost made him change his mind; almost but not quite. He couldn’t run from his problems forever.
    “I’m sorry,” he said when he pulled away, “but I really do have to go.”
    She pouted, stretching languorously, the swell of her breasts peeking out from the covers, tempting him. Marie was a skilled lover, knowing exactly how to tempt a man. The very artifice of her actions however, made them easier to resist; or at least it did once you recognised her for the skilled manipulator that she was.
    “I’ll be by in a few days,” he said, placing a quick kiss on her forehead before heading home.
    He was pleased to see that it was still early and luck was on his side when he got home, with only the servants being about. He washed and dressed for the day, smiling as he noticed Lucy’s surprised expression when she entered the breakfast room, to find him sitting at the table.
    “I am capable of being up at a decent hour,” he said, clearly enjoying her shock.
    “Are you certain that you actually went to bed?” she asked. “Because it wasn’t slept in last night.”
    “Making a midnight run to my bedroom again?” he teased. “I thought you said we were too old for that?”
    Lucy couldn’t help but smile at the memories of their childhood antics. They didn’t creep into each other’s rooms very often but when he had just returned from school, or was about to leave once again and time felt short, they would often risk it. She had put a stop to that after they had made love, too afraid of giving into her desires once more.
    “I just wondered if you came home last night, that’s all, so I looked in on my way down.”
    “Jealous?” he teased but as the breakfast room door opened and drew his attention, he missed the look of pain that crossed her face because yes, she was jealous.
    Charles paused on the threshold as he saw Max.
    “I won’t change my mind,” Charles said by way of greeting.
    “I know,” Max agreed, getting up to help himself to the hot plates on the sideboard, while Lucy served tea and coffee to everyone at the table. When he returned to the table and handed her a plate, she looked surprised again and he realised that it had been an awfully long time since he had been up early enough to eat breakfast with her. As children, he had always got her breakfast for her, it was just one of their ways.
    When his mother entered and also looked bewildered by his appearance at the breakfast table, he began to feel a little bad. It didn’t feel like that long ago since he had shared breakfast with his family, although he couldn’t quite recall when that might have been.
    Conversation flowed as they discussed various topics, from the news in a letter Eleanor had received yesterday from her sister, to local politics and the next Ball.
    Max just listened, feeling a little uncomfortable.
    When the meal and conversation was over, his father excused himself to open his correspondence in the study and his mother headed to the rear parlour, where she usually spent the mornings. Lucy picked up her post and went to follow Eleanor.
    “Can we talk?” Max asked her.
    Lucy nodded and followed him through into the library, where they would have some privacy.
    “Have you had a chance to consider my