Bound By Love. Rosemary Rogers
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Название: Bound By Love
Автор: Rosemary Rogers
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Зарубежная классика
Серия: Mills & Boon Superhistorical
isbn: 9781408921258
isbn:
A sour expression settled on the dignified face. “Precisely at a quarter past one.”
Stefan gave a slow nod. He had arrived back at the house at exactly two o’clock.
“So, she was here some time before I returned.”
“You did say that you had invited her to make use of the library. I hope I did not do wrong to allow her to stay?”
“Not at all.” Stefan absently toyed with the gold signet ring that every Duke of Huntley had worn since the time of Henry the Eighth. “I must say I extended the invitation in the hopes of learning more about the chit, but I did not truly expect her to make an appearance. Now I must reconsider my entire theory.”
Goodson frowned. “I beg pardon, sir?”
“I assumed she had come to Surrey with some ploy to lure my brother into Alexander Pavlovich’s schemes. Now I must wonder…” Stefan shook his head in aggravation. He was not accustomed to anyone being capable of playing him for a fool.
Miss Leonida Karkoff would pay.
And he could think of the sweetest of punishments.
“I shall make certain she is not allowed to cross the threshold again,” Goodson swore, thankfully unaware of Stefan’s erotic thoughts.
“No, Goodson. I wish you to make her feel a welcomed guest whenever she arrives.”
The butler scowled. “Are you certain, your Grace?”
“Quite certain.”
“If you do not trust her, then surely she should not be given the opportunity to cause mischief?”
Stefan’s lips twisted. “I have no genuine reason not to trust her, to be honest. She is most likely precisely what she seems to be. A young Russian noblewoman who is anxious to become acquainted with English society.”
“But?”
“But, in the event she is not, then I desire to know precisely what she is doing here. And the only means to do that is to keep a close eye upon her.”
Goodson clicked his tongue. “So I am to allow her to freely roam about your house?”
“Allow her to roam, but I want a close eye kept upon her,” Stefan corrected. “Just ensure she is not aware that she is being watched.”
“As you wish.”
The servant heaved a heavy sigh, but Stefan was confident that the efficient butler would fulfill the command with his usual efficiency.
Of course, efficiency was not all that the delicate situation demanded.
“Goodson.”
“Yes, your Grace?”
He straightened from the doorjamb, his expression one of warning.
“Be sure that Miss Karkoff has no reason to suspect she is anything but an appreciated guest.”
Goodson dipped his head in ready understanding. “Very well.”
CHAPTER FOUR
LEONIDA TOSSED ASIDE PRIDE and even dignity as she scurried from Meadowland and headed back to Hillside at a pace hardly suitable for a proper lady.
She only wished that she could return to St. Petersburg at an equally swift pace.
What a fool she had been to come to England. It was not, after all, as if she had actually believed her mother’s blithe assurances that it would be a simple matter to slip into a duke’s grand manor house filled with a few dozen servants and waltz out with a packet of letters that had been hidden for the past twenty or thirty years. And that was before she had met the Duke of Huntley.
Why did the man have to be so annoyingly perceptive?
From the moment they had been introduced he had regarded her with a brooding suspicion that he barely bothered to conceal beneath his smooth charm. And after today…
She halted just outside the gate leading to Lady Summerville’s private garden, glancing down at the diamond hairpin clutched in her hand. Well, needless to say, she had done nothing to ease his distrust of her presence in Surrey.
And worse, that maddening fascination she felt whenever he was near refused to be squashed, no matter how desperately she warned herself that it threatened to ruin everything.
For the moment, the Duke of Huntley stood between her and those letters she so desperately needed. She had to think of him as the enemy. Not as a gentleman who made her heart race and her stomach churn with a painful excitement.
Giving an angry shake of her head, Leonida reached to open the gate, pausing as she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps from behind her. Turning about, she expected to discover one of the innumerable servants or tenants. Unlike Russia’s vast expanses, the English countryside seemed to be crowded with people.
Strangely, however, there was no one to be seen. It was as if whoever was there had hastily ducked behind one of the numerous trees.
“Hello,” she called, decidedly unnerved by the sensation of being watched by unseen eyes. “Is anyone there? Hello.”
“Miss Leonida, whatever are you doing?”
With a squeak of alarm, Leonida whirled back to the gate, discovering her maid standing there with a frown on her round face.
Pressing a hand to her pounding heart, Leonida sucked in a steadying breath. “I was certain I heard someone following me.”
“The Duke?”
“I…” She shook her head, reaching to pull open the gate. She did not believe that Stefan would lower himself to sneaking behind her, but she did blame him for putting her so on edge that she was jumping at shadows. “It was probably just my imagination. My nerves are rather unsettled.”
“And no wonder.” Wrapping a protective arm around Leonida’s shoulders, Sophy led her toward the nearby house. “Your mother has no right to involve you in such foolishness.”
Leonida hastily glanced around the empty garden. “Shh, Sophy, you must take care.”
Sophy snorted. Leonida had been forced to reveal that her mother had sent her to England to discover a hidden object, but nothing more. It was not that she did not trust her maid, but the fewer who knew the better.
“Did you find what you were searching for?”
“No.” Leonida reached to pluck a pink rose from a nearby bush. “I shall have to return.”
“Not today, you will not,” Sophy muttered. “You look in need of a long nap.”
“I hoped you packed my headache powders.”
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