The Lord Who Sneered and Other Tales by Heidi Ashworth Read Free Book Online Page A

said but she saw in his eyes that he knew she lied.
    “What if I were to stay?”
    Anne felt the shock in her face. “Whatever can you mean, Mr. Williams?”
    “Now, now, don’t jump to conclusions. I merely suggest that I might sit here, outside your door, and you might sit on the other side. I expect you are too frightened to sleep, and you should not be alone. Dawn won’t be long in coming; we can wait it out together.”
    “Why, Mr. Williams, what a brilliant notion,” Anne replied with as much enthusiasm as she could manage without the Dowager overhearing.
    “What is this ‘Mr. Williams’?” he asked in extravagant dismay. “I had thought we were more than comfortable with Theo.”
    “Yes, I am. That is; I had thought so, as well,” she added in hopes she had not given away too much of her feelings. “Shall we try it, then? We shall have to whisper so that Grandmama does nothear us.”
    “In that case,” he said as he turned the key, pushed open her chamber door and indicated that she should enter, “perhaps we might leave the door open, just a crack, so as to hear one another without disturbing Her Grace.”
    Anne felt they were skating perilously close to dangerous territory but did not hesitate to fetch Theo a blanket from the bed. They sat as he suggested, he with her blanket and she with another, as they went over the trivia of their respective lives, childhoods and wishes for the future, the door open just enough that they might see one another’s face in the glow of his candle. The time passed as if it were nothing, and the sun’s rays made their way into their dark and comfortable cose far too soon. When Anne could fully discern Theo’s face, she knew it was time to bid one another adieu for the time being.
    “I am forever in your debt, Theo, but the maid will soon be up to light the fires and I had best be found beneath the covers when she does.”
    He rose and passed the blanket through to her with an angelic smile of gratitude that was thoroughly undone by the devilish twinkle in his eye. However, somewhat to her dismay, his words were perfectly innocent. “You must promise to lay abed until you feel rested. The later we commence our ghost hunt, the longer it shall take.” He took her hand and held it in the space that marked the threshold. “I, for one, am eager for it to take as long as possible.”
    Anne felt herself blush. “I had never supposed I should be so glad to have seen a ghost,” she said, hoping desperately that her words communicated her own eagerness without compromising the last of her decorum.
    He said nothing but the expression in his eyes spoke volumes. He stepped closer, drew her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Goodnight, Anne.”
    She wanted nothing more than to prolong the moment, to discover in what direction it might lead, what else might have been said to indicate the state of his feelings, but there wasn’t the time.Regretfully she withdrew her hand and pushed to the door as gently as possible. As she wrapped herself in the blanket that had so recently warmed the tall but tender man with whom she had shared her dreams, she contemplated the happiness she might find in life, if only it included Theo. With a sigh, she returned to bed and was asleep before the maid scratched at the door.
    When she awoke, the room was sunk in the shadows of high noon. Quickly, she rose and dressed for the day. Though she wished to lengthen the time Theo spent at Dunsmere as much as he, she had no desire to waste even a moment of it away from him.

Chapter Four
    Theo sat in the breakfast room, polishing off the remains of a sumptuous feast. He had slept less than he ought but longer than he had wished. He meant to make the most of his time with Anne and he meant to begin as soon as possible. When she came through the door, looking delightfully disheveled, he thought, perhaps, she felt the same.
    Leaping to his feet, he pulled out a chair. “What shall you have to break your