A Study in Darkness: Book Two in The Baskerville Affair by Holloway Emma Jane

Author:Holloway, Emma Jane [Holloway, Emma Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780345545664
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2013-10-28T23:00:00+00:00

London, September 27, 1888

HILLIARD HOUSE

2:15 p.m. Thursday

ALICE YEARNED TO GO HOME. SHE COULD SNEAK OUT, SLIP back to her pretty bedroom in her father’s house, and pretend that nothing had happened. In that dream place, she’d never met Tobias, never heard of Evelina Cooper, and would never have a baby. She could be innocent again.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

Her tan leather suitcase yawned open on the bedspread, half filled with clothes. She’d left behind everything purchased for her trousseau, and just packed the things bought before she’d lost her mind and fallen in love. She would have preferred to leave the suitcase as well—she’d purchased it thinking she’d have a honeymoon in Italy—but there was nothing else to carry things in.

This was the second time she’d packed since her wedding, and it would be the second time she unpacked. Her father had made a deal, and he would keep his part of the bargain. She belonged to Tobias now and would not be going home. Her father had told her as much in no uncertain terms on her wedding night, when she’d wept so hard that Lady Bancroft had feared for the child.

The only thing that had changed in the last five days was that Tobias had finally tired of the hotel and moved her to Hilliard House. There would be no honeymoon, but she didn’t mind. In truth, she had started to dread the idea of being alone with her husband.

Alice pulled a shawl out of the suitcase and wrapped it around her shoulders, snuggling into the fuzzy blue wool. She didn’t feel well, the baby inside her objecting to anything approaching solid food. It was raining outside, the dripping of rain on the window echoed by the tick of the longcase clock on the landing. Last year, I would have been at a tea, or a lecture, or a musical performance. I always had the best gowns, my choice of entertainments, and a steady stream of pretty young men with an eye on my father’s gold. She’d thought she’d found something more meaningful than an endless parade of expensive novelty, but she’d been wrong.

I started out this wedding with a husband, a honeymoon, and a set of emerald jewels. I must be a dolt to lose all three.

Something had to change, and soon, before she lost her mind—and before she became so bitter it poisoned her entire future. But today she couldn’t think of a thing she could do.

Alice lay down on the bed, curling around the suitcase so her head reached the pillow. She could have moved the case, but that would have meant standing up and she didn’t have the energy.

It was only when she rolled to face the door that she realized Tobias was there. The sight of him filled her with a profound dislike she’d felt for very few people—a far cry from the adoration that had once left her breathless every time he walked into the room. Or maybe a person needed one to really dig down to the other.

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