A Clandestine Courtship by Allison Lane Read Free Book Online

murder. John’s claims could have ruined her.
    Stupid! This was getting him nowhere. No evidence connected Mary to John’s death. He was as bad as Isaac, chasing after phantoms – and with even less cause. Imagining her guilt was a way to dissipate the lust that had gripped him from the moment she had ridden around the corner.
    He did not want her to be guilty, he realized with a sigh. But he could not ignore the possibility until he had disproved it. The uncertainty was already eating holes in his stomach.
     * * * *
    Mary set aside her mending as Justin crossed the drawing room. He had grown four inches since she had last seen him. His shoulders were broader and his face shockingly tanned. But every remnant of childhood was gone, leaving him too much like Frederick despite their difference in coloring. The length of his hair, the pallid blue eyes, the square chin, the oversized hands – all the same.
    She shivered.
    There were differences, of course. His nose was longer, his face narrower. His light brown hair had been bleached nearly blond by the tropical sun. He was muscular instead of paunchy, and smelled of horses and sandalwood rather than stale wine.
    But the most obvious difference was demeanor. Justin exuded a confidence Frederick had never managed. He knew what he was doing and why, with neither the dithering nor the arrogance Frederick had employed. Justin would never need a mentor to point the way. Then there was expression. Frederick’s face had always been furtive, as if it concealed vast stores of secrets. Justin’s face was open.
    Or seemed to be. Some men hid secrets behind charm. Others were cordial in public but brutal in private. So she must tread warily. He was Frederick’s brother, which already gave him one black mark. And after years in the military, he would be accustomed to rough company and gruesome sights.
    He also controlled her future. If he chose, he could turn her off or demand she remain here as a virtual slave. Even the jointure her father had negotiated as part of the marriage contract was worthless if the estate had no funds. All her hopes rested on him. A reasonable man would find a way to buy that cottage she wanted so badly.
    “You look wonderful, Mary,” he said, bowing over her hand.
    “As do you. India obviously agreed with you.”
    “I wouldn’t go that far, but I survived with my health intact. How are the girls?”
    “Charming, as you will see for yourself. They are in town just now but should be back shortly.”
    They discussed his trip and his relief at having escaped India’s sultry heat. But he skirted all topics of import. Was he trying to gauge her reaction to his return, or did he believe she was of no account? He would have to accept at least a temporary alliance, though. Even the steward did not know everything about the barony and the estate. But that could wait.
    “I have scheduled a dinner party tomorrow, in honor of your return,” she finally said. “The Earl of Ridgeway and two of his friends are visiting the Court, and the Holcolmes are entertaining an unmarried cousin. Perhaps one of them will find Amelia interesting. She is rapidly approaching the shelf.”
    He frowned. “I had not considered that. How is it that she is twenty and still unwed? Is there a problem?”
    “Only money. She has no dowry and no means of staging a come-out. You know your father left little beyond the estate.”
    “So Frederick always claimed.”
    “It’s true, as the banker will confirm when you meet with him.”
    He snorted. “Frederick lied to everyone, may he roast in hell. He had several accounts in London and investments unknown to the local banker. Remember Uncle Horace?”
    “His guardian?” And Justin’s, she recalled. “The man never cared a whit for how the estate was run.”
    “Lazy.”
    “I know that well enough. He forced Frederick into wedding me so he could wash his hands of the lot of you.”
    “But that was not all. He transferred most of the