Free The Convenient Bride by Catherine Winchester Page A

recovery, he doffed his hat and bid her farewell.
    Lucy went inside and headed straight up to her room, ignoring the staff she passed on the way. She made it to the landing, when a crippling pain in the left side of her abdomen made her cry out and double over in pain.
    The head chambermaid and her lady’s maid were at her side immediately and helped her the rest of the way to her room.
    Lucy cou ldn’t help it; she began to cry almost hysterically.
    The maids undressed her because her skirt was torn and although they tried to hide it from her, she saw the small red stain on her chemise, confirming her worst fears.
    The chambermaid poked her head out of the door and in a hurried whisper, asked someone who was in the hallway to fetch a doctor.

Chapter Seven
    Max threw down the pages he held. “I’m sorry, Marie, but that’s enough. This is the worst play I have ever read and if it ever does get produced, you would do well to avoid being associated with it.”
    “But Max-“
    “No. The whole first act is just a man arguing with his mistress. It’s banal, juvenile and overly melodramatic. I know I said I would help you with your dreams to become an actress but I will not finance this drivel.”
    Marie bit her lip, wondering who might have heard his speech. “Please, darling, just finish the read through with me.”
    “No!” He tried to release some of his frustration and took a deep breath, letting out a long sigh.
    It had been a while ago that Marie had expressed a desire to act. At the time he had assured her that if that was her dream, he would do what he could to help her but she had never mentioned it again. On Tuesday at his club though, she had been insistent that he help her, reminding him of his promise. He had given her his word so although he would prefer to stay home with Lucy, he agreed to meet her at her rooms.
    To be frank, she had been making something of a nuisance of herself at the club recently, constantly trying to entice him into bed, and it was becoming tiresome. He could have reported her behaviour and she would have been banned from the premises, but he was well aware that her only source of income was from the gentlemen she met and serviced from the club, and he didn’t dislike her enough to see her destitute.
    He had arrived about an hour ago, just as a messenger was leaving her rooms, and she had told him that she had a simply marvellous play that she wanted him to finance. Although he had been reticent, she and his guilt had talked him into agreeing to the read through that she wanted, but it had quickly become evident that this was nothing more than the self-indulgent ramblings of a novice writer (and that was being kind).
    She looked so upset that he had stopped however , and he began to feel bad.
    “Max, please, just read a little more, we-”
    She was interrupted by a knock at the door, which Max was surprised to notice was slightly open. Marie went to answer it and the doorman was there with a message. She opened it, read it then slipped it into her pocket.
    “Very well, Max, I know how stubborn you can be when you set your mind to something.”
    Max wondered at her change in attitude but before he could contemplate it too much, she was sitting on his lap.
    “How about if we forget the play for now and enjoy the pleasures that we used to.”
    Max removed her arms from around his neck. “Marie, how many times do I have to tell you, I’m not interested in that any longer.”
    “Until I believe it!” she snapped. “You couldn’t keep your hands off me two months ago and now, suddenly, I am unattractive.”
    “You’re very attractive, Marie, and you know it, but I am a married man now and I love my wife.”
    Suddenly it struck him how similar his words were to the play he had been reading.
    Marie turned her back to him. “Fine, then go!” she snapped.
    Max hated to fight with her ; after all, she had been a huge relief to him before his marriage and it wasn’t her fault that