Lady In Distress (The Langley Sisters Book 3) Read Online Free

stand in your way, if that is your wish.”
    The anger that rose inside Bella nearly made her breathe flames. How dared he doubt her. “Do you believe my love is so fickle that a few months spent amongst strangers, dancing and being a lady, will banish it? Am I such a shallow person then, Luke Fletcher, that the love that has burned in my heart for many years can be extinguished in a matter of days? Will my head be turned so easily by a handsome, rich man?”
    “Bella—”
    “You’ve never reciprocated my love. Not once have you promised a future, or talked as if we could ever have one. Yet you stand there judging me. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps someone will sweep me off my feet and I will forget about the surly man who has occupied my heart for far too long!”
    Bella pulled her arm free and continued slowly down the road with Sally. She kept her back straight and her arms swinging, just as Doctor Abernathy had told her to.  
    “You know my feelings, Bella.” He took her arm once more.
    “I have no further wish to discuss this, Luke. I will enter society, and we will see what happens, and after…if I have not fallen madly in love several times, fickle female that I am, then we shall see how you feel.”
      He made a sound that spoke of his anger, but she ignored him. Turning at the little bush, she started back towards the posting house. It was so quite out here. Beyond the fences on both sides of the road she could see fields and hills. She’d come to love the small part of Scotland that she’d lived in briefly. Loved the thick brogues of those she met and became friends with at the clinic. She would miss them dearly, but was also longing to see her sisters and her home.
    “You will see the difference once you enter society, Isabella. The things you will have to give up to be with me. I cannot ask that of you. You will be shunned and set aside. Invitations will stop arriving.”  
    “Well, that is a decision I will be informed to make after I have entered society. So, like I have already stated, we will talk on the matter no further.” You foolish, bloody man! How could he think her love for him could ever be lost?
    She shot a quick look at his face and saw the anger and confusion. Luke was not a man who liked to discuss his feelings or emotions and Bella almost felt sorry for him…almost. He had doubted her love, and that hurt.  
    “Yes, I think that is an excellent plan. After all, I may wish to marry another,” Bella said.
    “You will not!”
    She gave him an innocent look. “But you have just stated that it will be hard for me to give up the luxury of life in society to share yours.”
    “You are already talking like every other empty-headed debutante whose sole purpose is to flaunt themselves in the London ballrooms in the hope of catching an eligible, rich peer.”
    The disgust in his tone cut through Bella but she did not show it. How dare he judge her when he had made the choice to put the distance between them? More than just her leg had changed in the last few months. She had lived without him, and had realized that to do so she needed to be strong, even if inside she was hurting. Before, pain had ripped away her strength and left her weak and needy, but now she was stronger she could hide her emotions.  
    “Isn’t that the difference between us then, Mr. Fletcher? Haven’t you always highlighted our birth as the reason we are not equal in your eyes? Surely my entering the ranks of the debutantes—I   shall not say empty-headed, as that was uncalled for—is   what you expect of me?”
    He was silent, and she could feel the anger and frustration coming off him in waves. She had always been able to feel his moods, and she hated that she still could. Although this time it was different; she would take no steps to lighten it as she once would have.  
    “I had no right to say what I did. Forgive me. I hope you know that I have only ever wanted your happiness, and it was never my