Celeste Bradley - [The Liar's Club 01] by The Pretender

Author:The Pretender
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

The next morning, Agatha sat alone in the breakfast room and toyed with her eggs. Loss of appetite was not at all usual for her. Another reason to be angry with Simon. He’d put her off her feed completely, and while she had the finest cook in London, too.

She forced herself to eat a bit, for she didn’t want to hurt Sarah’s feelings. But the last bite turned to sand in her mouth when Simon sauntered into the breakfast room, his hair still damp from his morning ablutions, his hands busily adjusting the sleeves of his coat.

“Good morning, pigeon.”

Her throat was too dry to swallow and the sand had turned to gravel in her mouth. Finally, she choked it down.

“What—”

“Eat up, pidge, your eggs are turning cold.”

“Did you stay here last night?” She had meant to shout, but her voice scarcely managed a horrified whisper.

“Oh, yes. I’ve quite moved back in. The rear bedchamber is a bit small, but I’ll share Button with James, so there’s no need to put my own valet up as well.”

He filled his plate from the sideboard and took the chair opposite her. When he took his first bite of eggs and made that all too familiar sound deep in his throat, the pain broke Agatha’s paralysis.

She shoved her chair violently away from the table, putting distance between them. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m guarding you.”

“Me? I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I’m safeguarding you, against whoever kidnapped James.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no connection between James Cunnington and Agatha Applequist.”

“I made one. Others might as well.”

There was no denying that. She tried another tack. “Well, I won’t have it. I’m perfectly safe in this house. And if I’m not, I’ll hire guards of my own.”

“Will you be sure they’re not working for the opposition? Your servants are loyal, but new staff in the house won’t necessarily be.”

Agatha cast about for any possible argument. “You’ll ruin my reputation!”

“As if you gave a fig about that.”

Blast. He knew her too well.

“And I’ve covered that contingency,” he said. “I’ll play the attentive brother-in-law by day, then make the appearance of leaving for the night. Then I’ll return covertly, and no one will be the wiser.”

“Jamie won’t allow it!”

“Sorry, pidge, he’s already seen the logic of it.”

“Why are you calling me that?”

“Pigeon? Well, you said I should come up with my own pet name for you. Don’t you like pigeon?”

“No, I most certainly don’t.” She struggled to keep her voice cold. He would not charm her.

He raised an eyebrow. “Pity. I thought it suited you quite well.”

“Not a bit of it. Pigeons are common and rather nasty.”

“I find them endearing, and very pretty in their own way.”

He would not melt her anger; she would not allow it. It was the only thing holding her spine erect.

“A pet name is out of the question. You have no place giving me one.”

He stretched lazily, leaning back in his chair. “I’ll just keep at it then. I’m sure to find the right one eventually. Perhaps ‘pumpkin.

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