Lyon's Bride: The Chattan Curse by Maxwell Cathy

Author:Maxwell, Cathy [Maxwell, Cathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harper Collins, Inc.
Published: 2012-04-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Thea nodded at the footman already at his station at the top of the stairs as she turned down the connecting hallway. But before she’d gone too far down the hall, a precaution struck her. She reapproached the servant.

“Is everyone still downstairs?” she asked, knowing that he would answer because of her close friendship with Mirabel.

“All but yourself, ma’am, and one of the young ladies.”

“Which young lady?” Thea tried to smile and take the edge off her question.

“I don’t know her title, ma’am, but she had dark hair.”

Only Lila had dark hair. The game was on.

“Thank you,” Thea said, almost relishing the challenge. She knew which room was Lyon’s. Mirabel would place him in her best suite.

She knocked on his door.

There was no answer.

Boldly, she entered. A lamp burned on a side table. The sheets on the bed had been turned down. There was no one in it.

That was a relief, although Thea had been looking forward to snatching Lady Lila up by the scruff of her neck and escorting her out of the room.

Thea walked over to a chair beside the cold hearth and sat, her arms and ankles crossed. Lady Lila was going to be in for a surprise when she put her little plan in motion.

The clock on the mantel ticked away the minutes. Thea waited, impatient.

Ten minutes.

Fifteen—

The door opened.

Thea rose slowly to her feet as Lady Lila backed into the room. The girl was trying to be very quiet and had her attention on not being seen by someone in the hallway, so she didn’t realize she wasn’t alone inside the room until Thea said, “Hello, my lady.”

Lady Lila jumped straight into the air. Her dark, curling hair was down around her shoulders, and Thea doubted that she had anything on beneath the dressing gown she wore. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you,” Thea informed her smartly. “And now I’m going to escort you back to your bed.”

“I’m not going,” Lady Lila announced. “The Lyon asked me here. We’ve been meeting every night.”

“And I know that you haven’t,” Thea responded. “I have servants who will corroborate my story if you should be so unwise as to persist with your lies.”

Anger flared in Lady Lila’s eyes at the mention of the servants.

“Now,” Thea said, advancing on the girl, “if you are wise, you will return to your room and say nothing of this to anyone, because if you do, I shall put the word out about your schemes and you will be ruined. Do you understand—?”

She wasn’t able to finish her sentence because Lady Lila doubled a fist and smacked her against the side of the head. Thea’s world spun. She couldn’t think, could barely see. She went to her knees and reached for the floor for balance.

“No one tells me what to do. Especially if she is some ratty nobody who threw away her pride. No one cares about you. No one.”

From the corner of her eye, Thea caught the movement of Lady Lila raising her hand to strike her again.

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