A Sinful Temptation by Kelly Boyce

Author:Kelly Boyce [Boyce, Kelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kelly Boyce
Published: 2014-11-09T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

January 1st

How easily he had led me away—a lamb to the slaughter. And I, the consummate fool, traipsed along after him as if safety was my due and nothing bad could ever happen. Until it did. And even then I was certain it could not be happening, as if part of my mind had separated from the act itself and went far away to debate the issue, to convince the rest of me the pain and horror was not real. Except that it was and all the debate and denial in the world could not change that. And in the end, all that was left was shame.

But shame will not claim me now. I feel you move about, anxious to make your debut and I will not allow shame to touch you, not while it is within my power to do so.

* * *

Rebecca waited anxiously for Nancy’s mother, Mrs. Faraday, to arrive for her weekly visit. The visit lasted only long enough for mother and daughter to have tea before they both returned to their duties, and Rebecca loathed to rob them of their time together, but her discussion with Lord Selward the day before struck fear deep into her core. Marcus walked a very precarious line between what would be tolerated by the peerage and what would not. If Lord Selward, or his father, decided to make an issue over the matter of the watch and Marcus’s refusal to return it, it could cause grievous problems, the worst of which would see him arrested.

But if Marcus had set his mind to discovering the truth of his birth, he would do what he must to achieve that end. For all his steadiness and respectability, he was not a man who backed down. Nicholas had once told her it was that strength of character more than any other that had made Marcus so successful.

Unfortunately, it may become the same thing that caused his ruin.

Perhaps if she learned something of import with respect to his parentage, she could convince him to give up the watch. He had met a dead end with Lady Ellesmere, but as Lord Selward had taken her home and assisted Nancy down from the carriage upon their arrival, it dawned on Rebecca that Mrs. Faraday had been in the Kingsley’s employ for well on forty years. Perhaps she could shed some light on the mystery. The question remained, however, would Mrs. Faraday breach the confidence of Lord and Lady Ellesmere, even for the sake of Marcus’s safety?

Rebecca wiped the palms of her hands against the deep navy of her dress and fixed a smile on her face as the door to their housekeeper’s small office opened and Mrs. Faraday and Nancy stepped into the room.

Mrs. Faraday stopped short her eyebrows lifting high. “Oh, my lady! I’m sorry. Have we disturbed you?”

Rebecca stood and rushed forward, which only took two steps given the tiny dimensions of the room. Honestly, how did Mrs. Robinson spend any time in here? “No, not at all, Mrs.

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