Lord of Secrets: A Historical Regency Romance Novel (Rogues to Riches Book 5) by Erica Ridley

Author:Erica Ridley [Ridley, Erica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781943794089
Publisher: WebMotion
Published: 2018-06-14T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Days later, Nora had just finished playing an after-luncheon round of Casino with Lady Roundtree when a footman came to announce that Mr. Grenville had come to call and had been shown into the front parlor.

Her stomach immediately filled with both dread and excitement. All she could think about was how much she truly liked him, and how furious he would be if he ever found out who she really was.

“Show him to the front parlor,” Lady Roundtree ordered. “We’ll be there presently.”

Nora looked up from the cards she had been straightening. “We?”

Lady Roundtree frowned. “You are my companion, are you not?”

Nora gulped. That was indeed one of the things that she was. She was also in deep trouble.

For the past week she’d found herself sketching fantasies of Mr. Grenville when she should be doing other things. Drawing impossible dreams. Him, as her suitor. Her, attending his sister’s well-publicized wedding. She and Mr. Grenville, locked in an embrace.

Nonsense, all of it. Nora knew better. Her days here were numbered.

No good could come of any relationship between them, no matter how platonic and benign. Yet the more fervently she resolved to keep her distance, the more irresistible the idea of him became.

Was he not perfect in almost every way? Clever and kind, handsome and happy, popular and powerful. It was that last point where things got sticky. Even without the shameful secret she must keep from him at all costs, his title elevated him well out of her grasp.

And yet, her sketchbooks overflowed with moments they would never share.

“Perhaps I should stay here,” she suggested. “Didn’t you say he was working on something for you? I’m sure you don’t want anyone to overhear.”

“Come, come,” Lady Roundtree said in bafflement. “A servant can put away the playing cards. You are meant to be accompanying me.”

Nora rose on unsteady limbs. Yesterday, she had become “Miss Winfield.” Today, she was not a servant.

Mayhap it was not quite the same thing as “cousins” but it was an acknowledgement so much greater than Nora had ever hoped for.

Even if such praise was only in private, it meant more to Nora than brand new boots and pretty gowns. For a baroness like Lady Roundtree, money was meaningless. Until recently, Nora had been meaningless, too.

Today, she mattered more than before.

After ringing for footmen to help the baroness with her wheeled chair, Nora nervously smoothed the soft pink percale of her day dress.

Mr. Grenville was waiting on the other side of the townhouse. He might think of Nora as Lady Roundtree’s servant, but he had never failed to address her as Miss Winfield. As if she deserved the same courtesies as any other young lady of his class.

How she wished it were true. That she were of his class, that she were like all the other young ladies.

Instead, she was a simple country girl with a complicated double life. A secret that would erase the warmth from Mr. Grenville’s hazel eyes forever.

As she followed Lady Roundtree and the footmen from the room, Nora glanced at the Ormulu clock upon the mantel.

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