A Double Deception (Regency Duo #2) by Joan Wolf

Author:Joan Wolf [Wolf, Joan]
Language: por
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Laura was deeply upset by Lord Monksleigh’s revelation. She got through the rest of the day in a daze, her body going efficiently through the motions that had to be done while her mind was in a chaotic whirl.

Her first impulse was to dismiss Lord Monksleigh’s words; he was mistaken, she told herself. He had to be mistaken. There was no reason for anyone to want to harm her.

But Lord Monksleigh had said that Mr. Bertram had also seen what he had. The shaft had been tampered with. That was evidently a fact, and she must accept it as such.

But why? And who? And why had Mark not told her?

The children eventually departed, tired and happy, and she and Mark were left alone together. They went by mutual unspoken consent into the yellow saloon. Laura sat down in a comfortable chair and Mark went to stand by the chimneypiece. Now, she thought, now he will certainly say something. He must know that the Monksleighs would have told me about the wheel. “The party went very well, I thought,” he said in a cool level voice.

“Yes,” returned Laura. She folded her hands in her lap and sat very still, her eyes on her husband. He looked very tall as he leaned against the graceful marble chimneypiece.

“Dr. Norris appears to be a thoroughly decent man. He’s new since I left. A distinct improvement over our former rector, I thought.”

“Yes,” she said again. “He is a very fine person, an excellent clergyman and scholar. We are fortunate to have him.”

A silence fell and Laura thought to herself incredulously: He isn’t going to mention it. She looked searchingly at his face and he returned her look calmly, his face without expression but for a light, watchful look in the eyes. For a long moment they looked at each other across an invisible barrier of apprehension and constraint. Then he pushed himself away from the wall and came across to where she was sitting. He held out a hand to her and she put her own in it, very conscious of his closeness, of the lean strength of his body as she rose to her feet and found herself beside him. For a brief second his hand tightened over hers, and then he released it. “Shall we go up to bed?” he asked.

“Yes.” Her voice was a little uncertain, a little breathless. “I suppose we should.” As they went up the stairs she could feel his hand, possessive and demanding, on the small of her back.

If Laura had had any doubts about the opinion of her friends and neighbors in regard to her accident, they were resolved the following morning. It was Easter and she and Mark and Robin went together to church. It was clear, from the moment they alighted from their carriage, that Mark was persona non grata. There were warm smiles for Laura and Robin, frosty nods for Mark. No one quite dared to cut him completely, but it was obvious everyone would have liked to.

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