0764213512 (R) by Roseanna M. White

Author:Roseanna M. White [Desconocido]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC042030, FIC042040, FIC027200
ISBN: 9781441229458
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2016-02-19T22:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

Catherine, Lady Pratt. The lady behind the name hadn’t disappointed. Lovely. Charming. Seemingly sweet.

But Stella Abbott didn’t miss the cold calculation in the lady’s eyes. The steely, unrelenting something in Lady Pratt’s stare said clearly she would do anything—anything—to have her way.

Exactly the sort of something needed in a good ally.

Stella cast one more glance over her shoulder to be sure no one followed her and turned down the quiet corridor. Lady Pratt had excused herself half an hour before, and Stella had noted where she went, though she didn’t follow immediately. Best to go unnoticed.

The house party had spread itself over the entire estate. Some of the guests were out on a foxhunt, others putting together a play they would enact the final night. Others probably taking advantage of the plethora of open rooms at Delmore to betray their spouses and pretend it didn’t matter, since their spouses were likely betraying them too.

Sickening, all of them.

But it meant Catherine, Lady Pratt was alone—or mostly. She sat in the solar at a small writing desk, her brother resting in an armchair near at hand, a book open in his lap. The brother, if Nottingham’s word on the matter could be trusted, was as dangerous as the lady. Another good ally, in that case.

Stella tapped on the open door, making sure her face reflected what it should. A sweet smile, a bit of the bashful guest who knew well she was inferior to her hosts.

But not for long.

Lady Pratt looked up, lifted her brows, and put on that careful society smile that perpetuated the lie that she was an innocent. “Good morning. . . . Miss Abbott, isn’t it? Have you lost your way, or can I help you with something?”

Stella closed the door behind her with a satisfying, muted click. Her smile faltered though. If Nottingham discovered she had sought out his enemies, purposefully to cause him trouble . . . But it was for his good, their good. She must remember that, must keep her focus on the goal. “It is I who can help you, I think.”

The lady put down her pen and turned on her chair, a bit of her feigned innocence eclipsed by calculation. “Oh, really.” Condescension dripped from her tone. “And how, pray tell, can you do that, my dear?”

Chin held high, Stella took a few more steps into the room—she would have to let Catherine think herself superior, but Stella knew better than to show any intimidation. Not in the company of a predator. “Perhaps I should say we can help each other. If you meant to unnerve Nottingham last night with that search of his room, you’ve missed the mark. He was expecting something like that, I think.”

The lady’s gaze flicked to her brother, though other than that she made no response. “I’ve no idea what you mean. Cris, dear, have you heard of anything that transpired in the duke’s room last night?”

Stella looked to Lord Rushworth, but he didn’t so much as glance up from his book in response to his sister’s question.

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