His Party Guest by Melinda Barron

Author:Melinda Barron [Barron, Melinda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blushing Books Publications
Published: 2018-07-11T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

When the Duchess of Stanhope greeted her guests as they came down for dinner, Clarissa searched the crowd for Belinda. The evil witch was smiling into the face of Lord Seaton, an older man whose wife was standing not ten feet away, frowning.

“She’s found a new target,” Clarissa muttered.

“Nonsense,” Andrew said. “Seaton is not rich enough for her. Besides, after tonight she’ll be more than a little angry after our plan is put into play, and she won’t want to be looking at lovers.”

“What about your friend, Barton?” Clarissa asked.

“He said they had an interesting conversation last night, but they did not end up in bed. They talked of the theater, books, and horses. When I asked him he said she did not mention Marks. But he did give me the clue that set us on tonight’s path.”

Clarissa smoothed down her skirts and looked at Andrew from under lowered lashes. She tried not to laugh, when Andrew had told her that Belinda had a penchant for mediums. It was now Clarissa’s job to put the plan in motion. She winked at Andrew. “Wish me luck.”

Alice stood near the door to the dining hall. She nodded at Clarissa, and then took her husband’s arm and went into the dining hall.

Clarissa started across the room, making sure to put herself in Kate’s line of vision. When she drew close, Kate put out her hand.

“I absolutely adore that dress,” Kate said. “Where did you get it?”

“From a small shop in Bath,” Clarissa said. “The seamstress keeps up on all the latest fashions. I’m afraid that my wardrobe needed a bit of updating after my mourning period was over.”

They both laughed, and then Clarissa leaned closer to her hostess. “May I tell you something?”

“Of course,” Kate said, her eyes glittering with anticipation.

“My new group of friends is not going to stay long for the dancing tonight.” She cleared her throat. “We would like to borrow your library so we can host a séance.”

Kate gasped slightly, and then put her fingers over her mouth. “How exciting. Tell me more.”

“Well, Alice, Lady Buxton, she’s somewhat of a spiritualist.” Clarissa looked around as if to see if anyone was listening. “She told me this morning that Taylor came to her in a dream. He has something he wants to tell me, but he wants to do it while I’m there. That means a séance. We don’t want to disrupt the party, so I had hoped you’d let us use the library.”

Kate put her hand on Clarissa’s arm. “I have a better idea, but I won’t do it without your permission. You know spiritual events are quite popular nowadays. How do you feel about offering for everyone to come to the event? We can delay the dancing and everyone could attend to see what your late husband has to say; how do you feel about that?”

Clarissa hoped she didn’t look too triumphant, as Kate stepped right into the play of things.

“Are you certain? Many people don’t want to have anything to do with—ghosts.

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