When the Rogue Returns by Sabrina Jeffries Read Free Book Online Page A

Vauxhall glass, I assure you.”
    “Is that what you do, Mrs. Franke, make paste jewelry to fool people?” Victor asked in that faintly accusatory tone that was beginning to get on her nerves.
    She stared him down. “No. I make beautiful works of art for women who wish to dress well for dinner and the theater, but who would rather spend their funds on more important pursuits than adorning themselves.”
    “So you actually sell your imitations?” He smiled thinly. “I would have thought the only people making imitation jewelry are those who do it for some criminal purpose.”
    Rage boiled up in her. The blackguard had the audacity to hint at her involvement in the theft, after he’d taken advantage of her skills? “Actually, I learned from my father, a respectable clockmaker. He liked to embellish his works with gems, but not everyone could afford clocks so elaborately decorated, so he sometimes resorted to imitation diamonds made of a higher-quality glass called strass. He always delineated which was which, of course.”
    “Of course,” he echoed with faint sarcasm.
    She glared at him. “He taught me the rudiments of crafting them, but I soon learned there were ways to improve them. Which I did. And I, too, always delineate which is which in my shop.”
    “So they’re clearly not intended for a criminalpurpose,” he said with a joking air, though his eyes weren’t joking in the least.
    “No,” she shot back. “That would be wrong, sir.”
    “Certainly, no one here is accusing anyone of wrongdoing, are we, Mr. Cale?” her ladyship put in, clearly bewildered.
    Isa feared she couldn’t contain her temper much longer. Setting down her empty cup, she rose. “I don’t wish to be rude, my lady, but if I am to attend the theater tonight, I must return home. My gown required some alterations, which my maid is working on, and she may need to make additional ones after I try it on. It’s not every day I go out with such fine companions.”
    “I understand completely,” Lady Lochlaw said. “And I do look forward to our little expedition. Mr. Cale is joining us as well. We’ll make a merry party.”
    “I’m sure we will,” she lied. If she could keep from throwing him off a balcony.
    “How are you getting home?” Victor surprised her by asking.
    “I’ll take a hackney.” Mr. Gordon had been kind enough to bring her here, but she didn’t want to impose upon him for the return trip since he had things to do.
    “You can’t take a hackney around the city alone,” he said. “You must allow me to accompany you. I have my phaeton waiting right outside.”
    That was his phaeton she’d seen? Lord, he really was living high. She was surprised he still had any stolen funds left.
    Or perhaps he’d found a more lucrative way to addto his income—like insinuating himself into the life of a rich and lascivious widow like Lady Lochlaw.
    Hope filled Isa. What if he hadn’t come for her? What if this was just a chance meeting born of some other scheme?
    Well, she would find out. And she’d start by letting him drive her around a bit. She did not want him to know where she lived—not with Amalie still home.
    “Thank you, Mr. Cale,” she said brightly. “That is very kind of you.”

3

    V ICTOR FOLLOWED I SA and Lady Lochlaw downstairs. Isa had said that she’d thought her husband was Belgian. He’d forgotten that he’d never told her about his parents, ashamed of his father’s madness and his mother’s early life as a tavern wench. She’d seemed so sweet and gentle that he hadn’t wanted to reveal anything of his sordid past, afraid she would recoil.
    But he saw nothing of that in her now. This Isa was a stranger. Lady Lochlaw was right: She did walk like a man, and it only made her more attractive. This Isa was bold, fearless, independent. There’d been no panic in her face when she saw him, just contempt. She’d actually acted as if he had been the one to wrong her. It infuriated him.
    It shook