Tempting a Sinner by Kate Pearce Read Free Book Online Page B

ladies realizing it, he would be in a better position to run when the occasion arose.
    By God, it was good simply to be free. He took a moment to stretch his cramped muscles and then crawled back into bed. His energy was low and he was afraid he’d be discovered before he worked out how to reattach the chain. It took him a while, but he eventually lay back down, his chest heaving as though he’d run a mile. He allowed his thoughts to wander as to what Mally would do when she discovered he could overpower her with ease . . . well, perhaps not with ease, she had shot him in cold blood after all, and he still didn’t really know why.
    He heard Jim’s low voice out in the corridor and the higher-pitched tones of a flustered Doris. He found the spoon, laid it on the bedside table, and closed his eyes.
    Doris crept up to the side of the bed and he heard the soft clang as she picked up the spoon.
    “Oh, thank goodness,” she whispered. “As if you would be able to use such a thing as a weapon. Mally’s imagination is really too wild sometimes.”
    She retreated with a soft rustle of petticoats until he heard the door open. This time Benedict really did fall asleep, only to be awakened by the sound of raised voices outside his window.
    Heart beating wildly, he removed the chain and hobbled over to the nearest open window that looked down onto the side of the house and the stables beyond. Below him stood Mally, with a shotgun aimed at two strangers who were wisely holding their hands up. One of the men was a redhead; the other had crow-black hair and was dressed like a fashionable country gentleman. He was the one doing all the talking. Despite his charming smile, Benedict could’ve told him he’d get nowhere with his hostess.
    He couldn’t hear what they were talking about. The fact that Mally considered them a threat might mean anything. She guarded her home with the ferocity of a mother bear. Should he call out? If he did so, would they hear him, or even know who he was? And what if Mally shot them both because of him? While he was frozen with indecision, the men began to back away and disappeared into the undergrowth that choked the once-formal gardens and the long drive.
    Mally whistled once and the household dogs emerged from all directions and set off in pursuit of the two hapless men, barking loudly. Whoever they were, he hoped they made it safely over the high wall that surrounded the estate and also had the means to get away. He leaned against the windowsill and studied the terrain. How had he known the estate was walled? Had he ridden up that driveway?
    He touched his still-bandaged shoulder. He must have done so to fall far enough from his horse to lose consciousness. Where was his horse now? If it was in the stables, he had the opportunity of retrieving it when he made his escape. His gaze came to rest on a stone fountain on the edge of the driveway facing the front of the house. Its classical lines were covered with ivy, but he remembered it flowing with water, the naked goddess pouring water from a large urn at the center.
    Alford Park.
    He smiled.
     
    Mally stared at the door to the crimson bedchamber. She supposed it was time to check on her patient, but she was increasingly reluctant to do so. On the last occasion she’d seen him, he’d given her immense pleasure and then deliberately insulted her. She sensed the latter had more to do with his loss of control than his true feelings about the sex they’d shared. It had been quite extraordinary, after all.
    She squared her shoulders and went in. Perhaps it was time to end the charade. She could hardly keep him chained up forever, and she had questions for him. The visit from the two men had shaken her resolve. The one who claimed to be a secretary to the Honorable John Lennox had asked for her by name. She’d hoped that no one apart from Benedict knew she was even in the country, let alone at Alford Park.
    Had the men really come in search of Lord Keyes,