The Seduction of Lady X by Julia London Page A

table.
    “Pardon?” she asked.
    “I cannot imagine that Scripture puts such a lovely smile on your face. You have never struck me as the sort of woman moved to happiness by the good word.”
    Olivia didn’t speak; she hadn’t heard a word he’d said.
    “I should like to know what you think of the passage.”
    He knew very well she’d not paid him any heed. Olivia sighed. “I beg your pardon, but I was not listening.”
    Edward cocked a brow in amusement. “Quite obviously. And why not, Olivia? Do you find me tedious? Am I so uninteresting to you?”
    “Not at all,” she said, and thought quickly how to smooth over his ruffled feathers. “I’m afraid my thoughts have been occupied with concern for my sister these last few days.”
    “I see,” Edward said, nodding thoughtfully. “Your sister holds a place of greater significance than your husband in your thoughts.”
    “On this particular occasion, yes,” Olivia brazenly agreed.
    Edward arched a brow, peering curiously at her, as if surprised that she would admit it. “I am sorry if she causes you distress. But it would seem that your distress is even more reason to banish her from our lives.”
    “She is my sister,” Olivia said. “I want her here with me, as any sister would. She is in an awful predicament, Edward. She will be shunned and ridiculed and disparaging things will be said of her. All she has is her family.”
    Edward sat back, studying her. “That is precisely the reason we cannot have her here, and well you know it. The association with her would taint this family’s reputation.”
    “I understand,” Olivia said carefully. “But I thought perhaps no one would need to know.” It was a slim hope that he might agree, but a hope nonetheless.
    But Edward rolled his eyes and said, “You are either naïve or simple. Frankly, I cannot believe you would even ask this of me. If you were a loving wife, you would seek to remove this blight from our lives by any means possible. If you truly loved me, you would have sent her away instead of bringing her to me. It’s as if you forget who I am.”
    “Of course I haven’t, Edward. I brought her to you because I thought you would be very unhappy to hear of it otherwise.”
    He shook his head. “You have a mountain of excuses at hand. If you won’t send her from us, I shall do it for you. I will make sure that she does not disgrace us ever again.”
    “But Mr. Tolly has offered to give her his name.”
    Edward snorted and turned a page of his Bible. “She is comely, your whore of a sister. I am certain he looks forward to the pleasure he will find in his marital bed.” He glanced up at her. “Pleasure I have been denied in mine.”
    Olivia’s face flamed. She couldn’t look at him.
    “Tolly knows what he is about,” Edward said laughingly.
    “Did I hear my name?” Mr. Tolly asked, striding into the room at the moment with his easy smile.
    Olivia could feel the tension instantly leave her.
    “Ah, Mr. Tolly!” Edward said, his smile brightening. “Thank you for coming. Sit, and allow Lady Carey to do something useful and pour you tea. Olivia?”
    Olivia bit her tongue and obediently rose to pour tea for Mr. Tolly.
    “I was just asking my wife’s opinion on some Scripture,” Edward said as she moved to the sideboard.
    “I did not mean to interrupt,” Mr. Tolly said.
    “You did not interrupt,” Edward assured him.
    Olivia poured the tea and turned around; Edward’s eyes were locked on her. He chuckled. “In fact, my dear wife confessed that she had paid little heed to my reading. What do you make of a wife who blatantly ignores her husband’s Scripture reading?”
    Olivia set the tea before Mr. Tolly. “Thank you,” he said, and glanced up at her with a ghost of a smile.
    “It is my pleasure.” She took a seat directly across from him; his gray eyes remained intent on her.
    “I was reading from Ephesians, Tolly. Are you familiar with the disciple Paul’s letters to the