Page 118 of The Lyon Whisperer
Her chin wobbled again as she nodded, placed her velvet-trimmed marker in her book to keep her place, and set the novel aside.
He expected her to perch on the bench beside him. To his surprise, she dropped onto his lap and flung her arms around his neck.
His arms went around her in an instant, pulling her close. He breathed in her sweet scent, freshly washed hair, and a faint floral essence. “What is it? What’s happened?”
“It’s the book.”
“The…book?”
She nodded, her smooth, cool cheek snugged into his neck.
“Is this one of your Ladies’ Literary Society books?” He stroked one hand down her back.
She sniffled. “Yes.”
He said nothing because he hadn’t a clue what to say.
She tilted her head back and gazed up at him. “You see, in volume one, which I finished last week, the heroine, Adeline, makes a bold decision, socially speaking.”
“Such as?”
She bit her lower lip. “You won’t like it.”
He said nothing. Instead, he waited, bracing himself for whatever it was.
“Believing marriage to be a social construct, designed by men to control women, she flouts the institution altogether, opting instead to cohabitate with the man she loves outside of marriage.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The rumble ofthe carriage wheels filled the carriage, as Chase sat, dumbstruck, digesting Amelia’s words.
Never taking his arms from around her, he contemplated her upturned face. “You’re telling me the novel you’re reading describes a once-perfectly respectable woman who insists she and her lovernotmarry, butliveas man and wife?”
His wife nodded.
“Why on earth would your club choose such a book in the first place? Perhaps Ishouldmonitor the novels you come home with.”
She scowled at him. “Sir, must I remind you, I have your word of honor that will do no such thing?” She made a half-hearted effort to push away from him. “If you’re going to be difficult—”
He pulled her pliant form back into his chest. “I shall abide by our agreement,” he grumbled, silently addingfor now.
Evidently mollified, she rested her head on his shoulder and toyed with the buttons of his waistcoat.
He did not like the subject matter. On the other hand, she was soft and warm, and he was in need of a break from studying the endless rows of numbers written in small print.
“At first, all goes swimmingly, but then…” She paused to draw a shaky breath. “But then society shuns her. They’re horrible to her.”
“This surprises you?”
“I suppose not. It’s just so unfair.”
“How do you mean?”
“The man she lives with is accepted in society, while she is treated as a social pariah.”
“I see.” He did. What he did not see was why she would take the fictional woman’s hardship so to heart.
“The worst part is, the notion came initially from her mother, but later, her mother practically disowns her.”
