How to Marry an Earl by Harvey Alyxandra

Author:Harvey, Alyxandra
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2022-04-21T00:00:00+00:00

The last time Persephone had been on the roof of the Culpepper country house was when she was eleven and Henry was ten. They had evaded his tutor and a battalion of nursemaids in order to hang over the balustrade and throw raisins down on the guests arriving for a winter ball. They’d managed to elude capture until a raisin had struck an elderly man in the eye. He’d been so incensed he’d hit the guest standing next to him with his cane. That man had landed in a pile of snow, shrieking. At the time it had been entirely worth the scolding.

“The terrace is over here,” Persephone said, leading Conall to the scrolled stone edge. “I didn’t even know Lady Culpepper kept pots up here. Only Henry and I ever bothered to climb all those stairs on a regular basis.”

Conall walked to the edge and looked down. “None of the balconies line up right so it has to have been from here. It’s quite a distance.” His jaw hardened as he noted the angle of the roof and the terrace below. “This was no jest. Nor an accident, not with the weight of the urn. It wasn’t windy enough by far and I’ve never heard of a squirrel big enough to move something like that.”

Persephone stepped up beside him, looking over the edge. She had just enough time to take in the guests still eating their breakfasts, the footmen carting away shards of clay and clumps of potted dirt before vertigo gripped her. Her knees went watery, her stomach wobbled. Conall’s big hand caught her around the waist. “I’ve got you.”

She wanted to lean into the heat of him, the strength of his arms. She didn’t allow herself to give in. It would set a bad precedent. And if he grew concerned that she might forget their engagement was a sham, the humiliation would do her in far more effectively than any traitor. Never mind the urn, she’d jump.

“This seems like an awful lot of trouble,” she said, dubiously instead. “To create an accident that doesn’t look terribly accidental after even the briefest investigation.”

“As you can see, no one else is investigating.”

“True.” She turned her head. “That’s the other reason you announced our engagement,” she accused. “You want to draw the fire onto yourself.”

He didn’t look sorry in the least. “The traitor might be getting desperate.

She swallowed. “I gather that’s not a good thing.”

“It might well be,” Conall said. “It could mean we’re closer than we think.”

“Closer to a murderer,” Persephone said blandly. “Splendid.”

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