A Kiss In The Dark Read Online Free

square-jawed face, those firmly chiseled lips, the aristocratic blade of a nose. Even at the young age of twelve, Deirdre had been aware of the sheer masculine beauty of his features, and the impact of his appearance hadn’t diminished at all in the intervening years. Towering well over six feet, he was a veritable giant, and his mere presence seemed to fill the entire foyer with a crackling magnetism.
    It was his striking violet eyes, however, that truly convinced her. The same deep purple as the sky at dusk, they were utterly compelling—and unforgettable.
    One of the man’s dark eyebrows rose with impatience. Realizing he was awaiting an answer to his question, Deirdre cleared her throat and forced out a reply. “Yes. Yes, I’m fine, my lord. You just … startled me.”
    “Then I must apologize,” he said, his tone coolly civil. “For that and for the lateness of the hour, but my business is most urgent and it couldn’t wait until morning.” He sent a brief glance in Mrs. Godfrey’s direction. “Is there somewhere we could talk privately?”
    Why? So he could have her dragged off to Newgate without the interference of her servant? Deirdre wasn’t certain what game he was playing with her, or why he hadn’t had her arrested the moment she’d stepped inside, but she was very much afraid he held all the cards. For now her only option was to play along. “Of course. Mrs. Godfrey, could you please excuse us?”
    The housekeeper gasped and started to protest, but Deirdre forestalled her by laying a hand on her arm. She had no doubt what her faithful servant was thinking. A proper lady would never even consider entertaining a gentleman alone in her home in the middle of the night. But what choice did she have? Something about the stubborn set of her visitor’s jaw told her he wasn’t about to take no for an answer.
    Besides, she’d never professed to be a proper lady.
    “It’s all right,” she told the housekeeper, struggling to sound more confident than she felt. “Truly.”
    Mrs. Godfrey looked unconvinced, but with a shrug of her shoulders, she turned and marched off in a huff, muttering disapprovingly under her breath.
    Longing to call the woman back, Deirdre watched her until she’d vanished from sight. Then, taking a deep breath, she once more faced the object of her distress. “If you wouldn’t mind stepping into the parlor?”
    The man gave an abrupt nod, his gaze hooded, then he bowed and indicated with the sweep of one arm that she was to precede him.
    Eyeing him with suspicion, she did so, and as she brushed past his solid form, she became aware of a faintly pleasant aroma, a blend of bay rum and spice that sent her already scattered senses reeling.
    That’s enough, Deirdre , she scolded herself as she led the way across the foyer. Now wasn’t the time to lose her head merely because he smelled nice. If she was to have any hope of getting through this, she had to keep her wits about her.
    After all, she hadn’t survived three years alone on the streets of London for nothing.
    Following along in the wake of his hostess, Tristan found himself wondering once again what the bloody hell he was doing in the home of one of the most infamous widows in London.
    It was a question he’d been asking himself ever since he’d arrived on Lady Rotherby’s doorstep, and he was no closer to answering it now than he had been to begin with.
    He’d heard a great deal about Viscountess Rotherby, very little of it favorable. It seemed her marriage to the viscount three years before had caused quite the scandal; speculation had been rife ever since the elderly gentleman had first taken her into his home as a young girl. Her origins and true identity were a mystery, and her strange comings and goings in the year since her husband’s death, not to mention her odd practice of hiring disreputable-looking characters onto her household staff, had only added to the whispers.
    Tristan had to admit that when Archer