Read Never Less Than a Lady for Free Online

he’d suffered at Turville. She had listened quietly. Most important, she told him that he had good reason to be angry. After that, he had started to heal.
    “I used to wonder if Branford’s behavior was my fault. That something about me triggered that violence in him. But it wasn’t me, was it? He was always brutal.” Julia sighed. “I wonder how many other people he injured. Too many, I fear.”
    “I know you didn’t intend to kill him, but you did many people a favor when that happened.” Randall smiled wryly. “There is justice in the fact that he died by accident at the hands of one of his victims.”
    “I wish it had been other hands. Daventry is a formidable enemy.”
    “I was in the army and estranged from the family for years, and had only a vague knowledge that Branford married, then died a year or two later.” Randall searched his memory. “His wife was Lady Julia Raines, daughter of the Duke of Castleton?”
    “Your memory is good.” She smiled mockingly. “I can’t say that being a duke’s daughter has done me much good.”
    A startling idea struck him. He had been attracted to her since the moment they met. He desired her, but he also respected her strength and he had a powerful desire to protect her from the threats she didn’t deserve. God knew that she needed protection. “I have a solution to your situation,” he said slowly. “You could marry me.”
    She stared. “Are you mad? Even if you aren’t insane, your Uncle Daventry will go berserk if you marry me.”
    “When I was badly wounded in Spain, I was sent to London and placed in his care,” he said with acid amusement. “I would have died of neglect in his attic if Ashton hadn’t invaded Daventry House to rescue me. The idea of enraging the old devil does not distress me.”
    Expression horrified, she said, “I understand your anger, but I do not wish to be the instrument of your revenge on your uncle, Major.”
    “That is only a minor reason,” he said seriously. “The Randall family has treated you abominably. Because of Branford, you lost your name, your rank, your home, and your child. As my wife, you could regain all those things, as is only just.”
    “So you would marry me for justice’s sake?” Her smile was twisted. “That is honorable, but a marriage is made between a man and a woman, not two principles. We don’t even like each other, Major Randall. Thank you for your most flattering offer, but I must decline.”
    Her refusal hurt far more than it should have. So much that he recognized that his offer had not been casual. “You have reason to dislike me, Lady Julia. I was appallingly rude to you in the past. But not because I don’t like you. Rather…the contrary.”
    They stared at each other and the unspoken emotions both had tried to ignore flared to insistent life. She swallowed hard. “I admit that since the first time we’ve met, there has been this—this connection between us. But it is awkward and difficult, and not the basis for marriage.”
    “No?” he said softly. “The connection is attraction. The difficulty has come from fighting it. Perhaps it will become easier if we stop fighting. Our mutual attraction might become the foundation of an admirable marriage.”
    She frowned. “Why did you fight that attraction, Major Randall? You’ve acted as if you hated me from the moment we met.”
    “As a serving officer, I was in no position to marry.” But that answer wasn’t good enough. He forced himself to go deeper. “And…the degree of desire was alarming. I’ve never been drawn so strongly to a woman. It was profoundly unsettling. But I find that the idea of marrying you feels very right.”
    Tears glinted in her eyes. “You leave me no choice but the ugly truth, Major. Perhaps if we had met when I was sixteen, simple attraction would have been enough. We might have married happily and had a nursery full of children by now.
    “But I am not that girl any more.” She closed her