A Stolen Season by Tamara Gill Read Free Book Online Page A

for you to associate with Lady Anita. She is a duke’s daughter, you know.”
    Sarah’s eyes narrowed at the woman’s implication that she was beneath such people. “Lady Anita is my friend, and one I will continue to see. Should Lord Earnston wish to speak or dance with me, I will not deny him as he seems a nice enough sort of fellow. If you have a problem with such facts, Lady Patricia, it is not my concern.”
    Sarah curtsied and walked away, grabbing a glass of champagne from a passing footman. The audacity of the woman! Had she not left at that moment, Sarah wasn’t sure what would have come out of her mouth next. For all her angelic looks, blond hair, and alabaster complexion, Lady Patricia was the devil’s spawn.
    • • •
    “Are you okay, Sarah?” Richard asked, coming to stand beside her.
    Sarah filled him in on her conversation with Lady Patricia.
    “She could be a complication we don’t need,” Richard said practically.
    “Yes,” Sarah said looking away. “I believe I have an enemy.”
    “And an admirer, if Lord Earnston’s besotted gaze is anything to go by.” Richard elbowed her. “Don’t worry, rumor has it Lord Earnston isn’t interested in Lady Patricia.”
    “Gossiping already. How vulgar.”
    Richard laughed. “Vulgar, maybe. Amusing, yes.” Richard pulled her toward a group of chairs and sat. “Lord Earnston is unattached and looks to be for some time. And while you were dancing with his lordship, I snuck out and had a look about.”
    “Did you find anything?” Sarah asked, unable to disguise the hope in her voice.
    “Lady Cottlestone’s collection seems to sway toward furniture — pianos and pianofortes to be precise. She has hardly any trinkets at all.” Richard sighed. “Keep with the plan. We’ll be home before you know it.”
    Sarah nodded, trying to keep the disappointment from her face. Keep with the plan. Simple enough, or perhaps not. Not when every time she was beside the delicious Lord Earnston, she had an overwhelming urge to beg his forgiveness and throw herself against him. Such specimens of men shouldn’t be allowed in history. It didn’t make a twenty-first century time traveling archaeologist’s job at all easy.
    And judging by the heated gaze from his lordship at this moment, he would be an easy conquest.
    Sarah sculled the last of her champagne. What a conundrum.

Chapter Five
    The Bow Street Runner flipped through his notepad, his pasty face pinched in serious contemplation. Eric wondered if he’d have been better off doing the job himself. The runner, for all his contacts, hadn’t produced one ounce of information worth Eric’s trouble.
    “Lord Earnston, thank you for seeing me on such short notice.”
    Eric nodded. “From the missive I received, am I to believe you have procured a lead into my brother’s death?”
    “I have, my lord. A most promising one.” The runner stopped on a page. “Last evening at the Cottlestone Ball, I was informed items in her ladyship’s parlor were moved about and not returned to their original positions. Also, papers on her writing desk had been shifted. This, of course would not normally raise concerns, but as the room was off limits to guests, I thought it best to bring this to your attention.”
    Eric sat forward and frowned. “Lady Cottlestone notified you of this?” Blood raced through his veins at the possibility the culprit was finally back in town among them.
    “I received a note this morning. I hope that was suitable, my lord. You did instruct your closest acquaintances to be mindful of anything out of the ordinary.”
    “Yes, that’s fine.” Eric tapped his fingers against his desk. “Could not a maid cleaning up have done this?”
    “That was a possibility, but her ladyship asked the staff who service those apartments, and all said they had not been into the room since yesterday morning.”
    “Hmm.” Eric stood and walked to the window overlooking Belgrave Square. “No one saw anyone