The Elusive Heiress by Gail Mallin Read Free Book Online Page B

more than any quarrel with Redesmere could.’
    Her conscience hurting, Kate forced herself to smile back. She was beginning to wish that she had never conceived this plan to help Kitty!
    ‘There!’ Alicia gave her hand a final pat and let it go. ‘I do not mean to embarrass you, my dear, but truly I cannot think of anything which would give me greater pleasure than to have you as my guest.’
    ‘I, too, should like that above all things.’ Kate’s unease was chased away by a sense of triumph. Let Randal Crawford chew on the news that she was accepted in Abbey Square! With any luck, he might choke on it!
    * * * *
    ‘Shall I remove the covers, my lord?’ Blake enquired with a discreet cough.
    ‘What? Oh, yes. Thank you.’ Roused from his brown study, Randal Crawford sat back in his carved chair, pushing it away from the long oak dining table.
    The butler bowed and waved the footman who accompanied him to begin clearing the table. Most of the dishes served for his lordship’s dinner were untouched. Even one of his favourites, a harrico of lamb cooked to tender perfection, hadn’t tempted his appetite.
    Blake’s expression creased with concern. His lordship had made poor work of his breakfast too. It wasn’t like him. He didn’t look ill though. A mite troubled perhaps…
    Blake brought a crystal decanter of port over to the table and, setting it down, cleared his throat in a preparatory fashion.
    ‘Light the candles before you go, there’s a good fellow.’
    There was an implacable note of dismissal in that request! Deciding discretion was the better part, Blake took the hint. Whatever it was that was bothering him, his master plainly didn’t want to discuss it.
    Speedily, Blake completed his tasks and, ushering his minion before him, quit the room.
    Light spilled from the tall candelabrum which his butler had set on the table. Randal poured himself a glass of port and lifted it up to survey its deep colour before conveying it to his lips. Its taste was rich upon his tongue, but his mind wasn’t on wine.
    How long had he sat here lost in thought? Dusk had crept unheeded into the room and he hadn’t even heard his butler enter. Randal frowned. Such careless inattention would have cost him his life once upon a time, aye and on more than one occasion that he could remember!
    ‘Blister it!’
    He wasn’t in the army now, but still it irked him that he seemed to have lost control over his thoughts. His mind kept spinning off, returning endlessly to that strange encounter yesterday with the woman who had pretended to be his long-lost cousin Kitty.
    Her dark beauty had touched off a chord of response in him, awakening desire and a memory which had never died. Once, years ago when he had been campaigning in Egypt, he had been offered a small painted alabaster figurine. The fellah selling it had sworn it was that of an ancient queen. Enchanted by the delicate perfection of the little statuette, Randal had bought it.
    Later, it had been stolen from his lodgings, but every detail of its rare beauty remained clear in his mind. His unknown visitor had the same elegant swan-neck and the same long eyes as that ancient queen. They slanted above those marvellously sculpted cheekbones, as black as a Stygian night and as mysterious!
    Who the devil was she?
    Randal shrugged his shoulders impatiently. Her name scarcely mattered. She was an adventuress and a damned clever one. If he hadn’t had that letter from Gerald Sullivan he would have been taken in by her poise and confidence.
    The thought rankled, but Randal strove to ignore it.
    ‘What will she do now?’
    He spoke the words aloud, but found no answer in the quiet silence. Would she really dare approach his lawyers as she had threatened?
    A reluctant grin touched his well-cut mouth. Unless he missed his guess, that little baggage had the nerve to try anything! And if she had the proof she claimed, their office must be her next port of call.
    Draining his wine, Randal