The Reluctant Widow Read Online Free Page B

be left with the burden of a wife on his hands. Or have you also undertaken to provide for this unfortunate female, sir?” “Of course,” he said matter-of-factly. “There has been no suggestion on my part that the marriage should be more than a form. Indeed, I would ask no woman to live with my cousin.” She wrinkled her brow and said with a faint flush, “Can your purpose be achieved so? Forgive me, I think you cannot have considered, sir! To exclude you from the succession must there not be an heir?”
    “No, it is immaterial. The property is most foolishly left. My cousin inherited it from his and my grandfather, through his mother, but her marriage to Lionel Cheviot had so much displeased my grandfather that he was at pains to prevent its falling into his hands or into those of his family. With this aim, he settled it upon his grandson, with the proviso that if Eustace died unmarried it must revert to his younger daughter or her eldest son: myself, in fact.”
    “It is entailed, I collect?”
    “No, it is not an entail precisely. On the day Eustace marries he may dispose of the property as he wishes. It is an awkward arrangement, and I have often wondered what maggot can have entered my grandfather’s head. He had some odd fancies, one of them being a strong persuasion that early marriages are beneficial to young men. That may have been in his mind when he made these provisions. I cannot tell.” He paused, and added calmly, “You must acknowledge, ma’am, that my present scheme is not as fantastic as it may at first appear.”
    She could not help smiling at this, but merely said, “Will you find any female ready to lend herself to such a marriage? I must hold that to be in grave doubt.”
    “On the contrary, I hope I may have done so,” he retorted.
    She resolutely shook her head. “No, my lord, you have not, if you have me in your mind. I could not entertain such a notion.”
    “Why could you not?” he asked.
    She blinked at him. “Why could I not?” she repeated. “Yes, tell me!”
    She found herself quite unable to comply with this request, although she was sure that she knew her own reasons. After struggling to put these into words, she sought refuge in evasion and replied crossly, “It must be perfectly plain why I could not!”
    “Not to me.”
    Apparently he was not to be so put off. Eying him with some resentment, Miss Rochdale
    said, “You do not appear to me to want for sense!”
    “No, nor am I so set up in my own conceit that I cannot be convinced. I am wailing for you to do so.”
    This very reasonable speech caused Miss Rochdale to feel a quite unjustifiable annoyance, She said coldly, “I cannot undertake to do so. You may say, if you please, that I still have enough pride to recoil from such a contract.”
    “What I please to say cannot possibly signify,” he replied patiently. “Is this all your reason?” “Yes—no! You must know that it is impossible to put into words what I feel! Every feeling must be offended!”
    “Are you betrothed?” he asked, “No, I am not!”
    “You are perhaps in the expectation of becoming so?”
                “I have told you that I am six and twenty,” snapped Miss Rochdale. “It is in the highest degree unlikely that I shall ever be betrothed!”
    “In that case,” he returned prosaically, “you might do very much worse for yourself than to strike this bargain with me.” He saw how her color rose, and smiled with a good deal of understanding at her. “No, do not fly out upon me! Consider for a moment! You appear to be committed to a life of drudgery. I do not even know your name, but it is apparent to me—was apparent from the outset—that you were not born to the position you now occupy. If you are without the expectation of contracting an eligible alliance, what does the future hold for you? You must be too well aware of the evils of your situation to make it necessary for me to point these out to you. Many my