Page 68 of Black Widow

She was so excited, she’d been unable to sleep the night before their scheduled departure. Not that Gideon allowed her much opportunity for sleep atnight.

What good was a brand-new marriage bed if one didn’t use it?he’dasked.

The rogue, she thought with a small private smile. It had become necessary to nap for several hours each afternoon to keep up with his demands. And the reason their bed hadn’t seen much use was because Gideon was usually too impatient to go upstairs. The staff had quickly learned to make themselves scarce when they weretogether.

Blushing at her memories, she hurried to the library to say goodbye to their friends. But Amelia found Gideon alone, his face granite-hard. He spun around to face her, his hand in afist.

“Gideon, what’swrong?”

Relaxing his fist, her husband made a visible effort to calm down. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “Nothing.”

Dread pooled like bile in her stomach. “Don’t—I could hear the voices from the hall. It’s happening to you now, isn’tit?”

It was as if Gideon closed in on himself. She could see him withdrawing, his expression metamorphosing into a carelessmien.

“Of course not,” he said dismissively with a hint of a smile. “What you heard was the servants speaking upstairs through the chimney. I told you this place was in bad repair,” he added, gesturing at the hearth. “This needs to be rebricked, that isall.”

Well, she supposed that could be true. The renovations were taking longer than she’d assumed they would. It was such a large house, and like all of Gideon’s properties, it had been neglected for sometime.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at her from head to toe. “You were ill this morning. How are you feelingnow?”

She waved away his concern. “Much better. It’s just taking a little time to grow accustomed to your French chef. His meals are delicious but too rich… Are you certain it was the servants? The voices were loud as if there were multiple people in here withyou.”

“Darling, the maids are busy closing the rooms upstairs. Now, have you finished packing,love?”

“I have. My apologies for the delay. I didn’t realize how many trunks I would need and had to send out for another from my formerresidence.”

“Well, if you didn’t insist on taking so many books with you… We have to use a second carriage as itis.”

Crestfallen, she stepped closer to him. “Oh Gideon, I need all thosebooks!”

Gideon put his big hands on her upper arms. “Amelia, darling, I know what those books are for. And we don’t need them. Notanymore.”

But what if he was wrong?It really sounded as if the voices were coming from the library.“I need them,” sheinsisted.

“My lord!” Footsteps pounded in the hallway. Young John, Gideon’s tiger, and Adolfo appeared, sweaty andwinded.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, rushingforward.

“It’s the grey mare, one of the matched pair. It’sdead.”

Amelia coveredher hand with her mouth. She wanted to weep. “That pooranimal.”

Gideon hadn’t been able to keep her from the stables. Intent on seeing the horse, he’d given up trying to make her stay in thelibrary.

“Don’t look at it,” Gideon growled, shoving her behind him to obstruct her view. “Was itpoisoned?”

“No, my lord,” the stable master said in disbelief. “Can’t yousee—”

“I think it was poisoned. The same thing happened to Lord Stanley’s last month when he didn’t pay the staff’s wages for the quarter and he dismissed a groom for complaining. Notify the relevant authorities and have it hauledaway.”

“But, mylord—”

“I said have it taken away.Hitch the chestnut to the carriage instead. It’s the closest in size to the dappled grey. We leave within thehour.”

The stable master tried to hide his dubious expression. He and his subordinates hurried to their lord’sbidding.

“Gideon!” Amelia scolded. “You know very well the animal was strangled. Look at itsneck.”

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