Darkest Dreams by Jennifer St Giles Read Free Book Online Page B

around. I’ll have to investigate further, but I’d wager he killed her.”
    Cassie gasped and I shivered, my stomach wrapping into a quick knot.
    â€œDamnation,” Sean said. “What madness could drive a man to kill the very woman he’s sworn to protect?”
    â€œBetrayal would be my guess. Seen it more times than I care to say,” replied the constable.
    â€œNothing will send a man to anger quicker than an unfaithful wife,” Sir Warwick added.
    â€œYou all sound as if you’re worthy enough to cast stones,” the earl said. “I for one won’t be throwing any, gentlemen. Let’s get back to topic. Constable Poole, are you saying there is no family we need to make condolences to, then?”
    â€œQuite right. I’ll let you know if we learn differently. Odd thing, you know,” the constable added.
    â€œAnd what’s that?” Sean asked.
    â€œThe woman who claimed Miss Andrews chased the man to his death thought she overheard what Miss Andrews said to him.”
    The men were silent, and I thought they could hear the pounding of my heart through the wall.
    â€œShe said Miss Andrews cried out ‘killer’,” the constable reported.
    â€œAndromeda chased the man into the street shouting that he was a killer?” Sean’s incredulous demand drowned out any other response there was to the constable’s revelation except Cassie’s.
    She clutched my arm, her eyes wide with horror. “You should have told me, told someone.”
    I bit back a groan and tried to minimize what I’d seen. I didn’t want her to know how bad it had been. “I wasn’t sure. I could have been wrong.”
    The constable drew our attention back to their conversation. “Ahem, I beg your pardon, Mr. Killdaren, I didn’t mean to imply that at all. In fact, I have it on good authority from your brother that Miss Andrews tried to stop the man from running into the street. As for what the woman overheard, she must have mistaken the incident. I just thought the account strange.”
    â€œAlex was there?” If possible Sean’s voice grew even louder and more incredulous. Cassie and I both winced. Considering all that stood between Sean and Alexander, we’d stand a better chance conquering the whole of the British Empire than the brothers.
    â€œYes. He received a delivery of a prized horse at the same time as Mr. and Mrs. Andrews’s ship set sail and took a moment to exchange a few pleasantries.”
    â€œIndeed,” Sean said. “I’ll trust, Father, that you’ll let him know his efforts to associate with my wife and her sisters are unnecessary and unappreciated .”
    Cassie sighed, a soft whisper of despair that tugged at the very center of my heart. She had her hand pressed to her stomach, as if she could already feel the babe within. Concerned, I set my fingers upon the back of her hand and heard the cry in her heart.
    Twins. Dear God, what if I have twins?
    â€œHush,” I whispered. “Don’t borrow tomorrow’s worries. The Killdaren stubbornness has yet to encounter the Andrews sisters’ forces combined as one. The Trojan Horse Plan begins tomorrow.”
    â€œHe agreed to let you catalogue the antiquities, then?”
    I only nodded, unable to give breath to my lie. She clasped my hand in hers and drew comfort from my words. Comfort I couldn’t find for myself later that night, for I dreamed of myself unclothed and bound, a prisoner of Captain Black’s on the high seas where he ruled as a pirate king.

Chapter Four
    At first light, I sent a footman to Dragon’s Cove, informing the viscount that I would be arriving at his castle midmorning, for I needed to speak with him about a matter of importance. His return message said that he would await my visit.
    I then spent the next two hours pacing, trying to determine how to best approach him. Any other time I’d seen