A Lady Betrayed Read Online Free Page B

Miss Applegate’s chamber. Adrian laid her gently down after the maid hastened to turn back her covers, then the servant fussed about to bring a damp cloth to lay on her forehead.
    With no excuse to linger in the lady’s bedchamber, he could only cast one last glance from the doorway. Adrian thought that Madeline might have opened her eyes again for an instant, in time to look up at him before he left the room. Did she smile just slightly?
    He came slowly down the stairs.
    Mr. Applegate was waiting, as Adrian had been sure he would be.
    â€œI believe we have matters to discuss,” he said, his tone formal. The older man’s body might be weakened by whatever accident or illness had wasted his legs and twisted his hips, but his expression showed resolve. “If you would accompany me to a more private setting?”
    â€œOf course.” Adrian followed him down the hall to a small room lined with bookshelves.
    Rolling across the wood floor, his host poured them both glasses of wine.
    â€œI am John Applegate. And you are?” Mr. Applegate wheeled his chair behind a small desk and circled to face him.
    â€œViscount Weller, at your service, sir.” Adrian accepted the glass and took the seat that the older man waved him toward.
    â€œFirst, of course, I must thank you for giving aid to my daughter and for bringing her home. She is my eldest and very dear to my heart. I spent a sleepless night, concerned that we did not know where she could be or what could have happened. The moor is a dangerous place, and even more dangerous men sometimes roam the land. A young lady unprotected—”
    â€œI would have done no less for anyone I found in such distress,” Adrian said. “Certainly I would always render aid to a young lady, alone and unconscious and in such need.”
    Mr. Applegate winced, no doubt at the picture of his daughter in such straits.
    His voice firm, Adrian continued, trying to stop the accusations before they began. “And no doubt you also wish to ask me if I have taken advantage of Miss Applegate while she was in such a vulnerable condition. I came across your daughter in the woods, lying unconscious on the floor of the gazebo. Wanting shelter from the rain, I had turned in when I saw the structure. Fearing she would fall ill from cold and damp, I tried to help her. I did nothing that a gentleman would not, should not do. I have no way to prove it; I can only give you my word as a gentleman, sir.”
    He met the other man’s gaze and held it for several long moments, then continued into the silence. “The problem, of course, is that I understand that the world is not given to accepting such explanations on faith—even when they happen to be true.”
    Mr. Applegate’s expression was grim. “Indeed.” He took a gulp of his wine. “Which leads us—”
    â€œTo my comment to the villagers,” Adrian finished for him. “About being your daughter’s betrothed.”
    â€œAye,” the older man said, his eyes hard. “So you admit it was—is—a lie? Because I happen to know, for a fact, that my daughter is most certainly not betrothed.”
    â€œI’m afraid I knew that the local gossips would put the worst interpretation on the circumstance, no matter how many oaths I swore,” Adrian said. “I admit it was a concoction of the moment. But I am willing to make it the truth, if your daughter will agree.”
    His expression hard to read, the man behind the desk stared at him.
    â€œI am a man of good character,” Adrian continued, his voice steady. “I have an old and respected title, an estate of some value, and I will make sure she would have a considerable and comfortable inheritance when I am not around to take care of her.”
    â€œYou are a stranger. I do not think she would easily leave her home for a man she does not know,” Mr. Applegate said slowly.
    â€œI can