Through the Smoke by Brenda Novak

Author:Brenda Novak
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: mom 03/21/2014
ISBN: 9781477808764
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 2013-10-15T05:00:00+00:00

Rachel was so sure it was the storm that disturbed her sleep, she almost rolled over and drifted off again. Rain slashed the windows and wind howled through the eaves but, despite the intense weather, she heard a far more subtle sound: a key, turning in the lock on her door.

At first, she thought the earl was coming in. He’d been awake when she left the study. But she couldn’t figure out why he’d be entering from the hall. She almost called out his name, but a sense of foreboding snatched her words away. She didn’t even have the chance to sit up before the hinges on the door whined.

Mouth dry, pulse racing, she blinked repeatedly, trying to make out the shape of her intruder. She wanted to believe it was Mary coming to avoid the dampness of the attic. But when a bolt of lightning zigzagged across the sky outside her window, she realized who her visitor was.

“Wythe?” she whispered.

He moved more quickly once he realized she was awake and knew he was there. “What you’re trying to do will never work,” he whispered harshly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He was drunk again. She could smell the alcohol on him, remembered how he’d treated her that night she’d been coming up the road from Creswell. She hoped this wouldn’t be a repeat performance.

“You think you can pretend to be a lady? That some coalminer’s daughter can keep company with the Stanhopes?”

She drew the covers up under her chin. “You have no business here. Get out.”

“Or what?” he taunted. “You’ll call my cousin? Do you realize how easy it would be for me to break your neck? I could throw your body into the ocean and tell my dear cousin that you ran away in the night.”

“Except I wouldn’t believe you.” The earl’s voice shot through the darkness. It came from the far corner of the room, but Rachel couldn’t see him.

“My lord?” she said.

“Go back to sleep, Rachel,” he replied. “You have nothing to fear. I will walk Wythe to his own room. It appears that drink has gotten the best of his judgment once again.”

At first Wythe seemed too stunned to speak. But he soon rallied. “You are making a mistake, Truman. She’s a poor village girl, not worth what she will cost you.”

“I will be the judge of that.”

“But you’re not thinking with the correct part of your anatomy. She will lead you right to the noose!” he responded and stormed out.

Rachel jumped when the door slammed, but only because she was on edge, not because she was still frightened.

“My lord?” she whispered to make sure he hadn’t left too.

“I’m here.”

“How did you know he would come?”

“I didn’t,” he said. “That’s what worries me.”

Before she could say more, the door opened and closed between their rooms and he was gone.

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