One for the Rogue (Studies in Scandal) by Collins Manda

Author:Collins, Manda [Collins, Manda]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781250109927
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2018-06-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Gemma luxuriated in her deliciously hot bath for far longer than was sensible, and her fingers and toes were wrinkled by the time she climbed out and was bundled into a thick towel.

She was wearing a flannel nightdress and seated at the dressing table brushing out her hair, having sent Tillie away with instructions to bring her a tray in her room for dinner, when Serena knocked on the door.

“Is something amiss?” Gemma asked, turning away from the glass to better see her.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Serena said with a tilt of her head. “I don’t think you’ve asked for a tray in your room in all the time you’ve lived here.”

Gemma let out the breath she’d been holding. She’d been afraid someone had sent word of what she and Cam had got up to at Pearson Close that afternoon.

“If you must know,” she admitted, “I’m exhausted. What with finding Sir Everard’s body, then questioning the others at the house party, and of course the cold on top of it all, I simply want to climb into my bed and sleep for days.”

“It’s funny you should say you were questioning people at Pearson Close,” Serena said as she sat down on the bench at the foot of Gemma’s canopied bed, “because I shouldn’t think that would be a particularly muddy activity.”

Gemma bit back a curse. Of course Tillie would tell Serena about the state of Gemma’s gown. Though in her defense, it also could have been George.

Thinking to evade more questions, Gemma decided to confess to part of what had happened. “We liberated some of Sir Everard’s papers from his bedchamber and we … may have dropped them out the window to avoid being caught taking them out the front door.” This last she said in a rush, as if saying it faster would make it sound less scandalous.

Of course that wasn’t possible with Serena, who was above all things proper, and would never expose her legs to a gentleman in the course of theft.

“Oh Gemma.” The disappointment and exasperation in her chaperone’s voice was enough to make Gemma want to scream.

“We needed the papers, Serena,” she said with more vehemence than she’d intended. In a more moderate tone, she said, “I need them to find out where my fossil is. And to find out who killed Sir Everard.”

“I was hoping you would listen to Mr. Northman’s warnings to stay out of the investigation into Sir Everard’s murder,” Serena said with a sigh. “I do not know why my aunt was so intent upon giving you all quests that led you into danger. It was most inconsiderate of her.”

“But she didn’t arrange to have Sir Everard murdered,” Gemma protested. “Indeed, I’m the only one of the four who hasn’t been left some sort of puzzle to solve by Lady Celeste.” This was something she’d only admitted to Cam before now. Somehow telling him made it easier to reveal her conclusions to Serena now.

“Of course

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