The Blue Devil by Melynda Beth Andrews

Author:Melynda Beth Andrews
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Pedestal Books
Published: 2011-09-07T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

KATHRYN AWOKE WITH the sun. The first light of dawn was just painting the edge of the sky a breathtaking blue. Nigel. The name stole into her foggy thoughts like a ray of early light. Blue such as Nigel wears. She had dreamt about him again.

In her dream, they had been walking along together over a country hill. He had pointed to the deep blue morning sky, which matched his coat. Then the sky reached down and scooped him up toward heaven, but he had tumbled down and dissolved upon hitting the ground, only to disappear into the earth.

Did he always wear blue? She’d never seen him without it. The color suited him. He had looked so handsome yesterday in his bottle blue coat, a diamond pin winking from the folds of his immaculately tied cravat like the morning star in the sky outside her window.

He was very like a star, she mused. Mysterious and inaccessible.

She tore her gaze from the sky. Yesterday, Kathryn had been shaking with anger as that devil Blackshire had all but admitted to her that he was going to do whatever was necessary to keep Lady Jane from meeting her young man, Bankham. Why would he do that? If he found Jane so tiresome, so difficult to keep in check, why did he not contrive to get her married as quickly as possible? Did he derive too much pleasure from denying others happiness? Or did he gain something else from his continued guardianship of the girl?

The answer came to her in a flash of understanding. Jane was an heiress, or so the loquacious maid Nicolette had informed her importantly. And since Blackshire was Jane’s guardian, he would have control of her inheritance until she married. Of course! That was why he wouldn’t even let Jane meet Lord Bankham. He wouldn’t let her marry until he had to—and then, since he had complete control over her finances, it would be easy for him to force her into marrying a man of his choosing, a man with whom Blackshire would no doubt make a deal, a very lucrative deal for them both. But not for Jane.

She supposed she should not be so very upset about it. Her parents notwithstanding, love matches were uncommon amongst the ton. Marriage was more often than not a simple transfer of wealth.

A few feet away, Jane snored softly in their bed. Kathryn was glad to see the girl sleeping soundly, for she had turned in early complaining of a megrim and had slept fitfully. Too fitfully for Kathryn to escape to the library without fear of waking her, unfortunately, and the topmost shelves of the library remained regrettably un-searched. Kathryn was as quiet as she could be while she dressed. Pulling on the blue-sprigged muslin, she found herself wishing she had something else to wear. He saw me in this yesterday. The thought escaped before it could be tamped down by reason.

Rubbish! She did not care what he thought of her. He was not interested in what she wore, anyway.

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