Read Still in My Heart for Free Online

It was an odd ability for someone she hardly knew. True, she had known enough of him to accept his offer of marriage many years ago, but the offer came after but a few weeks' acquaintance. Neither of them had been exactly green, but their courtship had swept both of them away on a giddy tide. It happened so quickly, but it had felt so right.
     
     
Which made finding him with Lydia in such a shocking manner all the more painful.
     
     
And now he wanted to apologize? Now? What was he, mad? Whatever had possessed him? And why would he possibly think she'd want to hear his explanation after all these years? There was no explanation he could offer.
     
     
The change of his countenance when she informed him that she had seen him and Lydia was so horrific, it could mean only one of two things: that he had been foxed and had no recollection of the night, or that he had meant to lie to her about what had happened, and she had ruined it by revealing the truth.
     
     
It was no doubt the latter, even though a tiny voice in her head suggested the former. No matter that he had betrayed her in the worst possible way, some small part of her never missed a chance to defend his actions. She didn't like to think ill of people, even those who deserved it.
     
     
Well, if Brahm Ryland had something to prove, he could prove it elsewhere. If she had her way— and as mistress of the house she always did— he would be gone before the hour.
     
     
Her slipper caught at the carpet as she misstepped, almost causing her to tumble to the floor. Her sisters, chattering like magpies behind her, luckily didn't notice, otherwise Eleanor would have to think of an explanation for her stumble. The truth would not do, for the thought that had occurred to her was something she could never voice without revealing everything.
     
     
What if the invitation hadn't come from her father, but from Lydia? What then? What if her sister had orchestrated his appearance? What if Brahm and Lydia planned to continue their affair? Eleanor would not stand for it— never mind that what they did was none of her concern.
     
     
But if she confronted her father and he hadn't sent the invitation, he would want to know who had and why…
     
     
And that would be Lydia's problem, not hers. Eleanor's jaw tightened with conviction even as her insides warred against it. She'd been like a mother to her sisters and just as sheltering, resolutely doing all she could to keep them from harm.
     
     
But Lydia was a grown woman now, not a young girl. Eleanor had protected her younger sister once where Brahm Ryland was concerned. She would not do it again. For once, she was going to ignore her maternal instincts.
     
     
Just as she had ignored them when she noticed that Brahm was still using a cane to walk. Many men used canes as fashionable accessories, and when she first saw him in public she thought perhaps he was just another affected fop, but then she remembered that his leg had been shattered in the accident that had claimed his father's life. Brahm was very fortunate that he had managed to survive. She tried not to remember her own relief when she heard that he had recovered from the ordeal. For a while it had been unclear whether his wounds would kill him, and as much as she resented him, she had secretly prayed for God to spare him.
     
     
Her prayers had been answered. Why couldn't God have been so obliging when she begged him to make Brahm's betrayal nothing more than a bad dream?
     
     
And why had her heart given such a traitorous leap when their gazes met? She'd wished she'd worn a better dress— to make him see what he'd lost, of course. She'd wished that the years had been as kind to her as they had to him. He was such an unfairly handsome man. He had the kindest face, marked by the humor and bitterness of life. There were lines of laughter around his whiskey brown eyes and lines of sorrow around his always-poised-on-the-brink-of-a-smirk mouth.
     
     
His eyes.