Free The Perfect Scandal by Delilah Marvelle

against her crutches, trying to give herself a more regal stance. “I am Countess Kwiatkowska. But you may call me Zosia.”
    â€œZosia.” His brows came together, his attention shifting away from her lips. “Are you Russian?”
    She snorted and rolled her eyes. “I would sooner hang myself. No. I am Polish. And as for who I am,I am the granddaughter of King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Sadly, my poor grandfather was forced to abdicate his throne after Russia partitioned the last of our land.”
    His dark eyes brightened with keen interest as he searched her face. “Might I inquire as to why a royal descendant from another country would journey all the way to London in search of a husband? Are there no men where you come from?”
    Her throat tightened, knowing she had yet to understand why she’d been banished, although she sensed it trailed back four years earlier to the death of her mother. After all, that was when everything had changed. Her cousin, who had become her guardian, had grown cryptic, constantly checking her correspondences both coming in and going out, while forever warning her not to associate with men she didn’t know. Which was laughable, since after her amputation even the men she did know didn’t want to associate with her. She always had to force men to associate with her.
    After four annoying years of that, Karol had suddenly insisted that an impending uprising was going to endanger her life, since she was a descendant of the former crown, and it was best she relocate. Considering Karol and the rest of her cousins were all royal descendants themselves, yet had all remained in Warszawa without any concern for their own safety, sheknew there was far more to the story than was being told. For if her safety was of any concern, guards would have been assigned. And yet…not even His Majesty had favored her with a single one.
    She sighed. “In truth, I have yet to understand why I am really here and what is expected of me.”
    He shifted toward her. “I find that very odd and unconvincing. What little I do know about your grandfather is that he wasn’t very popular with anyone, let alone his own people. I imagine someone connected to a man responsible for the demise of an entire country is likely to have a few enemies.”
    She lifted a brow. “I am impressed you know anything about my grandfather. I always thought you British kept your noses too close to your own coats to ever notice the struggle of others in the world.”
    â€œI happen to specialize in history and world politics.” He lowered his voice to a lethal tone of seriousness. “Why are you here? Are you in some sort of peril? Answer me. I want to know.”
    He really was rather serious and imposing in nature, wasn’t he? She couldn’t decide if he tried to be or simply was. “Peril? No. Not likely. Otherwise I would have been assigned guards, as opposed to annoying servants. As for why I am here…?”
    She shrugged against her crutches. “The saints above are only privy to that. Since the passing of my mother four years ago, I have been the victim ofbroken half truths spooned to me by my overly patriotic cousin. At first, I was told I needed to escape an impending uprising, only to arrive in London and discover I am being forced to wed instead. Though I sought to oppose it, my cousin threatened by courier that I would be escorted to France by summer’s end if I did not cooperate. And so here I am, cooperating.”
    He hesitated. “And what in France are you so opposed to?”
    She sighed, dreading the thought of it. “There is a convent in Amiens. Karol wishes to place a habit upon me.”
    â€œA habit?” He eyed her. “That is preposterous. A beautiful woman such as yourself deserves to be admired by far more than God.”
    Zosia let out an astonished laugh, amused by the dry deliverance of his flattery.