Double Deception by Patricia Oliver

Author:Patricia Oliver [Oliver, Patricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Usenet, C429, Kat, Exratorrents
Amazon: B007HF31XY
Publisher: Signet Books
Published: 1997-12-14T22:00:00+00:00

Ten minutes later, after having donned her habit in record time, Athena found herself being tossed up onto her fidgety mare's back amid the garrulous protests of the head groom.

"There ain't no cause for alarm, ma'am," old Bates assured her, his shaggy eyebrows drawing together over the bridge of his large nose. "Master Peregrine ain't no fool. A tad rash at times, I'd 'ave to admit, but no fool. 'E'll be back with the ladies before ye get to Hanging Wood, ma'am. See if 'e ain't."

The old man appeared to be severely put out that she paid no heed to his advice, but Athena had ceased to care about anything except Penelope. Impatiently, she waved him away from the mare's head and urged her into a canter.

Once she was out of sight of the Castle, the sky seemed to become darker and the wind made an eerie moaning sound as Athena forced Tarantella into the Hanging Wood. It was even darker under the trees, and the mare became increasingly unmanageable, shying at every windswept leaf, snorting at every bramble that lashed across their path.

When she emerged from the wood, Athena felt the first heavy drops of rain on her cheeks. If only there was no lightning, she thought, urging the reluctant Tarantella past the elaborate summer house erected, according to Perry, by his great-great-grandfather. She spared hardly a glance for the clean marble columns of the classical structure, but kicked the mare into a faster gallop past the heavy growth of rhododendrons and up a sharp incline to the top of the hill. She paused for a moment, suddenly remembering that she had sat in this same spot with the earl, revealing to him more than she had intended about her need for a home.

Angry at herself for allowing Lord St. Aubyn even that brief confidence, Athena pushed on. She could not see the lake from here, but she knew it lay about two miles beyond the summer house on the estate lane, less than that if she could cut through the orderly plantings of apple trees laden with their ripening fruit.

Those first scattered drops became heavier and more frequent as she made her way through the estate orchards. Tarantella protested the rough ground, and Athena began to regret that she had not chosen the longer, more accessible lane that meandered past the tenant farms, the mill, and hot-houses before leading down to the lake.

Athena's exasperation grew as the minutes flew by and she realized that what she had imagined would be a short cut had turned into a confusing maze of fruit trees that obscured her view and distorted her sense of direction. After what must have been a full fifteen minutes of wandering through rows of fruit trees that stretched endlessly in all directions, Athena came across a wagon track that led her back to the lane.

By the time she forced the recalcitrant mare to push through a low hedge and scramble up a ditch, the rain had increased to a steady downpour, and Athena felt the panic fluttering in her stomach.

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