Page 97 of His Accidental Duchess

We are already separated, though. I left. What if he shrugs his shoulders and lets me get on with it?

Anna groaned aloud and lowered herself onto the sofa. Perhaps she ought to have gone out with her mother to fetch her sisters. The fresh air might have done her good. Perhaps…

“Knock-knock.”

The voice was familiar. It sent ice-cold chills down her spine. She glanced up, slowly and painfully, panic bubbling in her stomach.

The Earl of Downton stood in the doorway, grinning down at her.

Anna was on her feet in a flash, diving for the bell pull in the corner that would summon the servants.

Lord Downton, unfortunately, was faster.

He intercepted her, grabbing her around her waist and hauling her away, pushing her behind him. She tripped, landing with athumpon her backside in the middle of the rug, knocking the wind out of her.

She sat there for a breathless moment, her head spinning. Lord Downton stood between her and the bell pull. The parlor door was open, but there were long, empty halls between here and anybody who might help them. He’d already proved that he was stronger and faster than she might have imagined. Running did not seem like a good idea. He might catch her.

That made her shiver.

Get up,urged a voice at the back of her head.Get on your feet.

She forced herself up, her head spinning, and met his eyes squarely. “It’s polite to be announced, I believe,” she said shortly. “How did you get in?”

He grinned wider. “You have your dear mama to thank for that, actually. Whenever I would pay her a visit, she was keen that the servants were not aware. You know how finicky women can be about matters of propriety. So, she directed me to a neat littleside door that led into the house and was generally left unlocked. And so here I am.”

Anna swallowed. “I see. Well, you’re not welcome here. And I believe our debt to you is paid. Neither I nor my mother have any desire to see you.”

His smile soured a little. “Yes, she was clear about that. But I feel as though I haven’t really gotten my money’s worth from your family, if one can be vulgar. After all, mere cash is neverquiteas satisfying, is it?”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”

Lord Downton’s face brightened. “Then I shall be able to tell you. How lovely! Well, let me explain. Firstly, congratulations on your marriage. A duchess, eh? A stepmother, too. Of course, dukes and duchesses walk on a knife’s edge when it comes to reputations and such. And so do their children, as a matter of fact.”

Anna clenched her jaw. “What are you getting at?”

“Well, I read a hint of something terrible in one of the scandal sheets, about that dear little girl of the Duke’s. Something that happened… oh, eight years ago, was it? Seven? The scandal sheet didn’t go into detail, but I’m sure whoever tipped them off would have the full story ready to hand. Ready to reveal. It’s a shocking one, I just know it.”

A cold feeling coiled in Anna’s gut. Of course, if anyone would know that secret—and she was fairly sure she knew what it was—it would be Lord Downton.

Of course.

She closed her eyes momentarily, conjuring up a picture of Kitty’s sweet, innocent face. Nothing that had happened was Kitty’s fault, and yet it seemed that she was suffering more than anyone else. A child could easily be ruined at her age, her life blighted before it had even begun.

If Kitty was illegitimate, there would be nothing for her in Society. Oh, Theo’s money would keep her comfortable, but legally she would be entitled to nothing. She would not be alady, nothing beyond a plain oldmiss. She would have no friends, no society—no place in the world they inhabited.

She would be nothing and nobody, all for the sins of somebody who came before her.

“What do you know, and how did you find out?” Anna asked, meeting the Earl’s eyes.

He only chuckled, tapping the side of his nose. “That’s for me to know and you to keep your pretty mouth shut about. Let’s talk about something more relevant… how do you intend to convince me to keep this information to myself?”

She lifted her chin. “A gentleman wouldn’t need to be told.”

“Your idea of a gentleman, my dear, is a dated one. Gentlemen do whatever they want, in point of fact. And I intend to get what I want.”

He took a few steps closer. Anna’s skin crawled, but her feet seemed to have rooted themselves to the floor, forcing her to stand still as he approached. When he was about an arm’s length away—she could smell the alcohol on his breath—he lifted his hand, his clammy fingers brushing her cheek.

“Such beauty,” he said thoughtfully. “Such auniquebeauty. I have been watching you for quite a while. I think your younger sister—Daphne, is it? Or perhaps Emily. They are both remarkably pretty—will follow in your footsteps soon enough.”

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