Passion Becomes Her by Shirlee Busbee

Author:Shirlee Busbee [Busbee, Shirlee]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2010-06-30T22:00:00+00:00

In his rooms upstairs at Fox Hollow, Asher stared at the long, oilcloth packet he had laid on the table next to the chair where he sat. He had stripped down to his breeches and shirt and was sipping from a snifter of brandy. Set on the table next to the packet, a large candelabrum, all six candles lit, cast a bright, flickering light over the oilcloth parcel.

Feeling as if he was confronting Pandora’s box, Asher put down his snifter and gingerly picked up the packet and after only a moment’s hesitation, opened it and began to study the letters and notes it contained. The contents were revealing and his assumption that Thalia wasn’t the only person to be bent to Ormsby’s will because of indiscreet and foolish scribbling was made apparent.

He didn’t read the entire contents of each letter, just enough to confirm his suspicions, but it still took time. Several minutes later, he had two stacks of paper on the table beside him. The shortest contained only Thalia’s letters, the other and far larger, the remainder. Thalia’s he picked up and, walking over to the small mahogany chest positioned near the door to his bedroom, with a bit of muscle, he lifted the chest, knelt down and ran his fingers over the stretch of wooden floor he had exposed. Feeling the very slight edge he was looking for, he worked at it, until he was able to pry it up. A narrow space beneath the floor was revealed and he placed Thalia’s letters in it. He carefully replaced the short section of oak planking and tamped it down to hide its location, then replaced the small chest. Everything in place, he considered the placement of the chest, making certain that no sign that it had been moved was apparent. Satisfied that Thalia’s letters were safely hidden until he could give them to Juliana, he turned away and walked back to his chair.

Picking up his snifter, he swallowed some brandy and looked at the remaining stack of letters, thinking of his next move. While all of the letters would be damning and embarrassing to the individuals who had written them, only the scribblings of two of the people troubled him and he again divided the stack into two. The larger stack of letters he would see was returned to the various owners. He would have preferred to use Hannum to deliver the individual letters, but his butler’s features were too distinct and Asher was determined that the return be done anonymously. Still Hannum would prove useful in selecting which of the servants from Fox Hollow could be entrusted with the delicate task.

His gaze settled on the other two letters and he sighed. One was from a prominent member of Parliament and the other from a well-known general currently serving at the Horse Guards in London: both verged on treason and Asher knew just the man to take care of the problem. These letters he dared not trust to a servant.

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