Mistress by Amanda Quick Read Free Book Online

fear you must allow me to stay here for a time tonight. It is expected, you see."
    "Expected?" She stared at him with dawning hope. "Do you mean that you're willing to allow me to continue posing as your mistress?"
    "Why not?" Marcus moved through the door and closed it with a solid thud. "You can hardly carry out your inquiries if your identity is revealed at this point. If you are unmasked, you will be cast out of Society and there will be no way to reenter it."
    "Very true. Sir, I cannot tell you how grateful I am. I realize that you do not yet believe my explanations. I want you to know that I find your open-minded consideration of the situation extremely admirable. It confirms everything I have learned about you."
    "It's quite all right, Mrs. Bright. I am willing to go along with the masquerade for a while, at least until I have satisfied all of my questions. Is this your library?" Marcus walked through the doorway on the left side of the hall.
    "Yes, it is." Iphiginia picked up her skirts and hastened after him. "My lord, this is really most generous of you."
    "I know." Marcus could see nothing but dark, looming shapes. He aimed for what he assumed was the fireplace.
    "As you are apparently not one of the blackmailer's victims after all, you really do not have any obligation to assist me in my inquiries."
    "I ceased doing anything out of a sense of obligation years ago. I found it rather pointless. However, occasionally I do things because I am cursed with a deep sense of curiosity about the oddest… Damnation." Marcus winced as his booted toe rammed a large, unyielding object.
    "Do be careful, my lord." Iphiginia held her candle aloft. "This room is a bit crowded at the moment."
    "So I see." The taper threw dancing shadows across a chamber full of broken statuary, sepulchral masks, strangely designed urns, and huge vases.
    The furniture was even more bizarre. Chairs with clawed feet and griffin-headed arms were arranged near the windows. A massive Grecian-style sofa finished in green velvet and gold fringe sat grandly in front of the fireplace. It looked sensual and pagan in the candlelight. The tables placed on either side of the sofa were decorated with lions' heads and sphinxes.
    "I told you that my cousin and I have only recently returned from a most educational tour of the Continent," Iphiginia said. "I purchased a great many antiquities during our journey."
    Marcus peered down at the jagged chunk of marble which had marred the glossy polish on the toe of his black Hessian boot. here was just enough light from Iphiginia's candle to see that it was a portion of a statue of some mythical winged beast. "What the devil is this?"
    "I bought it in a shop in Rome." Iphiginia set the candle down on her desk. There was a scratching sound as she fit a lamp. "Fascinating, is it not? I made several other equally interesting purchases at the same shop. I'm especially fond of this Roman centurion."
    The centurion, Marcus saw, was nude, except for his helmet, sword, and shield.
    "It looks as though you've transported a complete archaeological ruin into your library," Marcus said.
    "Yes, I am rather pleased with the effect." Iphiginia glanced around with satisfaction. She drew her gloved fingertips lovingly along the arm of the naked centurion. "It both excites the senses and stimulates the intellectual faculties at the same time. Don't you agree?"
    Marcus could not take his eyes off her fingers as they glided over marble muscles. He felt an instant and dramatic effect on his already stirring manhood, the centurion, he reflected, be was not made of stone.
    "What do you intend to do with all of this, Mrs. Bright?"
    She leaned pensively against the statue, one elbow propped on the warrior's shoulder. She rested her chin on the heel of her hand. "I'm not entirely certain yet. At the moment I am merely studying these items and making sketches."
    "Studying them?" Marcus watched her skins drift over the statue's hare thigh. He could