Guilty Series by Laura Lee Guhrke Read Free Book Online Page B

elaborate moldings of angels on the ceiling, the malachite-topped dressing table where she sat, and the painted urns of peacock feathers. Like all the other rooms at Tremore Hall, it was large and overpowering, conveying immense wealth and a true sense of history, but it was a house with little warmth. Rather like its owner , she thought. He thought to marry without any sort of love or affection. How cold he must be, and how blind she had been never to have seen that aspect of his character before.
    Daphne returned her attention to her reflection in the mirror, met her own gaze, and made her first decision about her future. She had to leave Tremore Hall. She could not stay here. To be near that wretched man, to continue to work for him like a slave for the next five years, knowing the disdain with which he regarded her, was an intolerable prospect.
    But where else could she go? What could she do? She had done excavation work all her life. For the first time, she began to wonder if there were other possibilities for her future.
    I should love it if you could come with me to Enderby.
    Daphne remembered the viscountess’s words of yesterday in the antika. She also went over what she had overheard of Viola’s plans for her, and she felt a spark of excitement. The viscountess had admitted being lonely. She envisioned Daphne as a sort of protégée, and wanted to find her a husband. Perhaps she would agree to allow Daphne to stay with her for a time, introduce her to people, help her form some connections. Who knew what might happen? With the viscountess to guide her, she could gain a great deal of experience with the ways of good society, ways she had only read about in books.
    Perhaps this opportunity would enable her to become a governess to a wealthy family. Or perhaps she should swallow her pride and make another attempt to unite with her grandfather. She might even fulfill Viola’s matchmaking hopes and find someone to marry, someone who truly loved her and wanted her.
    Daphne decided it was time to stop believing she had no choices for her future. It was time to begin deciding her own destiny. Perhaps it was even time to have a bit of fun.
    She would leave here and enter the glittering world of English society. As for Anthony, he could go hang, and his opinions with him.
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    â€œI beg your pardon?” Viola set down her quill and stared at Daphne in complete astonishment.
    Daphne knew she was being quite bold, but she was desperate. “Yesterday you mentioned how you wished I could go with you to Enderby when you leave here. Given our short acquaintance, I know it is presumptuous of me to ask, but did you mean it?”
    Viola recovered herself and gestured to the chair opposite the writing desk in her room. “Do sit down, Daphne.”
    Daphne took the offered chair, crossed her fingers in her lap, and waited for an answer.
    â€œOf course I meant it,” Viola said, “but what about your position here?”
    â€œI intend to resign my post.”
    â€œI thought you loved it at Tremore Hall.” Viola stiffened in her chair and gave Daphne a sharp look. “Has something untoward happened since yesterday?”
    â€œNo, not at all,” she hastened to assure the other woman, hoping she sounded convincing. She could not bear it if Viola or Anthony learned she had overheard their conversation and the duke’s low opinion of her. “I have enjoyed it here, but your words of yesterday about London have made me realize all that I have missed.”
    Viola leaned back against the mahogany chair in which she was seated. “My dear Daphne, I am all astonishment. I had no idea my words would provoke such a reaction.”
    There was a hint of dismay in the other woman’s voice, and Daphne’s heart sank. Perhaps the viscountess’s words about friendship had been lightly spoken. Perhaps she had been talking about herwith Anthony for obscure reasons of her own.