The Marriage Ring Read Online Free

was—
    The knife was taken from her hands.
    She looked up, startled. She’d been so lost in her anguish, she’d forgotten she wasn’t alone. She now reached for the knife. “That’s mine .”
    He held it away from her. “I’ll keep it for the moment. I don’t want you to hurt someone with it.”
    “You don’t know what I’m thinking.”
    A sharpness came to his eyes, a moment of quick understanding, and she realized he had known. She shook her head. Impossible. No one knew the dark thoughts that haunted her.
    “You are afraid I’ll hurt you,” she declared, hiding any vulnerability behind bravado. “And I might if you don’t give it back to me.”
    He laughed, the sound not particularly nice. “You’re a kitten. I’m not afraid of you with a knife.” He tossed the knife onto her dressing table, almost as if he dared her to go after it.
    “Who are you?” Grace demanded. She’d never set eyes on him and yet there was something familiar about his features.
    “What? No thank-you for intervening and tossing that scoundrel out of your room?” He had a deep voice, a melodic one. “Or perhaps my interruption was not appreciated? Perhaps that was the sort of play you two enjoyed?”
    Grace reached up to slap him, even as she was mortified to her soul that she should appear so ungrateful. She caught herself in time. Lowered her hand. “You are right, I am less than gracious. I do appreciate your coming to my rescue.”
    She ran a distracted hand through her hair and realized only then it was falling around her shoulders. In the short span of violence, the pins had come undone in her struggles and Mr. Drayson had ripped her sleeve to expose half her breast.
    Embarrassed, she pulled the fabric up to cover herself. Anger gave way to fear. The stage manager had come very close to raping her. She’d been raped once and had promised herself it would not happen again. Mr. Drayson’s attack left her vulnerable and feeling very foolish.
    Tears choked her throat. She held them back. She never cried in front of anyone. She had too much pride.
    “Thank you,” she managed to say. “I mean that truly. I fear what would have happened.”
    “There is always a price to pay for women like you who live on the outside of society.”
    Women like her…
    Once again branded. Her good will toward him evaporated and she gave him a hard look, truly seeing him for the first time and noting the harsh lines around his mouth. This man didn’t trust anyone.
    She could respect that. She felt the same way.
    “Again, I thank you,” she said stiffly. “Now, if you will excuse me, I need to pack.”
    “I have a note for you,” he replied, pulling a folded piece of paper from the inside pocket of his black greatcoat. “It is from the Duchess of Holburn.”
    Grace grabbed the note and opened it, turning so he could watch her reading it. She immediately recognized Fiona’s handwriting. Her friend apologized because she could not stay. A situation had arisen with a friend and she had to accompany her husband, but wanted Grace to know just how uniquely talented and gifted she was.
    Dear Fiona. Grace folded the note and pressed it between her palms. She faced the gentleman. “Thank you for delivering this. The duchess is very close to my heart. I shall value her friendship always.”
    “You sound as if you will not be able to convey that message to her yourself?” he observed.
    Grace frowned. This man paid close attention to her, but it wasn’t the sort she usually earned from his sex. She sensed he didn’t like her.
    “For all of your great height and breadth, you are not a dullard, are you?” she said. “You pick up on every nuance…or is that something you are doing only for me?”
    He smiled, his eyes going hard. She knew then her instincts were right—this man was not to be trusted.
    “You’re not a dullard either, Miss MacEachin,” he said. “Let me introduce myself. That might explain a great deal. My name is