Garden of Lies by Amanda Quick Read Free Book Online Page B

alone but other journeys cannot begin unless one has a companion of the heart.”
    He picked up the lantern and let himself out of the chamber. He paused to lock the door and then he went up the stone steps.
    There was something to the gossip about exotic rituals in the basement of his mansion. Not all of the rumors about him were wrong.

SEVEN

    L illy Lafontaine banged the delicate china cup into the saucer with so much force, Slater was mildly surprised that both the cup and the saucer survived the impact.
    â€œI cannot believe what you just told me,” Lilly announced. “What on earth did you do to my Mrs. Kern that caused her to terminate her employment with you?”
    Slater winced. He was on the far side of the drawing room, standing near one of the tall Palladian windows but Lilly’s voice had been trained for the theater. It was rich, resonant and inclined toward melodramatic undertones even when she whispered. When she was annoyed—as she was now—she could infuse her words with enough power to reach the cheap seats in the last row of any theater in London.
    Lilly’s drawing room complemented her strong voice. It was decorated in a lavish, ornate style that put Slater in mind of a stage set or a very expensive bordello, depending on one’s taste in interior design. Heavy crimson velvet draperies were tied back with thick gold tassels. The background color of the patterned carpet matched the red drapes. The graceful settee and the gilded chairs were covered in red velvet and satin.
    A portrait of Lilly, done at the height of her career as one of the most celebrated actresses in London, hung above an elaborately sculpted marble mantel. She had been a raven-haired beauty in her younger days—her fine-boned features enhanced with mischievous eyes and a glowing personality that had evidently attracted everyone in her orbit, male and female alike.
    There had been a time when most of the wealthy, distinguished gentlemen in town had vied for an invitation to Lilly’s exclusive salons. Edward Roxton, heir to a fortune and a title, had been among that crowd of men.
    Edward had been married when the liaison with Lilly had begun. Ten years ago the first Lady Roxton had died, leaving Edward without a legitimate heir to the title and the fortune. Although everyone knew that he would do his duty by the family name, there had never been any question of him besmirching the distinguished Roxton lineage by marrying an actress. In the eyes of the Polite World it would have been tantamount to wedding a courtesan. He had, instead, married a young woman of impeccable breeding. The second Lady Roxton had fulfilled her marital obligations, providing Edward with an heir and a spare—Slater’s two legitimate half brothers.
    As the sole offspring of the decades-long love affair that had existed between Lilly and Edward, Slater had been born with an entrée into two very different worlds. His mother’s extensive connections in the theater and the less-than-respectable classes of society known among the elite as the demimonde ensured him a welcome in that sphere.
    The fact that his father had always acknowledged him and had provided him with both an upper-class education and a sizable inheritance had been enough to guarantee that he would be received in most upper-class circles. True, the inheritance had been cut off for a time, but that situation had changed dramatically upon the death of Edward Roxton. In his new position as the sole trustee of the Roxton fortune, Slater knew that most of Polite Society was happy to welcome him into its drawing rooms and ballrooms.
    But it was his complete lack of regard for the opinion of the Polite World combined with the mystery of his long absence from London that rendered him fascinating to those who inhabited the more rarified reaches of the social universe.
    â€œKindly lower your voice,” he said. “You know I am a great admirer of your