Double Deceit by Allison Lane

Author:Allison Lane [Lane, Allison]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Regency Romance
Publisher: Belgrave House
Published: 1999-08-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Tony awoke before dawn with a raging headache. A largely sleepless night had contributed, but the real cause was the admission that his scheme was doomed to failure.

Last night had been a disaster. He had done everything he could to convey his interest – touching her, whispering compliments in her ear whenever he turned a page, suggesting the most romantic songs he knew. She had reacted, displaying what he first thought was nervous anticipation. Not until she refused his escort to the drawing room had he realized that she was afraid rather than titillated.

Why? He’d mulled the question all night. Yet every possibility raised more questions.

He shook his head, then wished he had been more careful.

Perhaps fresh air would clear his mind. Shrugging into his work clothes, he headed into the Park.

The autumn air had a decided bite to it this morning, but he did not mind. Emptying his head of Miss Vale, Miss Merideth, and even the villa they were excavating, he concentrated on dawn’s play across bronze and gold trees, on a flock of waterfowl arrowing south for the winter, on the musical flow of the stream bubbling along its rocky bed…

The pain gradually eased behind his eyes. By the time he turned back, it was gone. He could finally think.

Miss Vale was sheltered, an innocent with little experience of the world. Yet he could not believe that his courtship had scared her. The time period he had originally envisioned might have, but he had been here for nearly a fortnight. And he had hardly pressed.

Had she realized that Jon was going to keep Miss Merideth in the music room, so they would be alone? Some girls panicked at such a situation, but only if they expected either unwanted advances or an unwanted proposal. Neither applied to Miss Vale. She believed he was a vicar. After spending so much time with a supposed rakehell, attended only by a lady’s maid, she would hardly cavil about him. He was an innocuous character, his only oddity an interest in antiquity. Since she’d encouraged her companion to follow the same pursuit, she would not object to him. And unless she knew his true identity, she would hardly expect an offer.

Miss Merideth.

He swore. Surely Miss Vale wasn’t playing matchmaker for her companion! He would have to set her straight on that score. Miss Merideth had made her own disinterest abundantly clear. And he had no choice in the matter.

Appalled … she has no power to change the agreement…

“Devil take it!” he swore, suddenly recalling Miss Merideth’s words. He’d hardly heeded them at the time and hadn’t thought of them since.

The answer had been staring him in the face from the beginning, but he had been too stupid to see it. She had been appalled at what her father had done to his. Perhaps she even suspected chicanery about the game, but investigating the trust had proved that she could not even allow his parents to remain in residence. So she had

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