A Little Mischief Read Online Free

him? Why did you hit him? Tell me, did he accost you?” she asked again.
    Isabella felt she couldn’t ask the questions fast enough. But Gretchen made no attempt to answer. She only looked at Isabella with pale, trembling lips and wild, teary eyes that were made even larger by her spectacles. Isabella was perceptive enough to know the answers to some of her questions without Gretchen saying a word.
    Maybe she should be more specific. “Did you plan a rendezvous with Mr. Throckmorten in my garden?”
    Gretchen nodded.
    “Sweet mercies. This is scandalous. We will both be ruined if your brother doesn’t kill us first. How could you do this? Why did you—?” Isabella stopped herself. She didn’t want to make things worse.
    She needed to think, but for the moment her mind seemed blank. Reluctantly she looked at Mr. Throckmorten again. His body appeared so lifeless. What was she going to do?
    “Why did you strike him? Did he try to compromise you?”
    That seemed a foolish question the moment she asked it. Just meeting the man in the garden would compromise Gretchen beyond saving if the right people found out about it.
    “You must answer me,” Isabella insisted firmly.
    Gretchen’s eyes remained wide with fear. “I don’t know why I hit him.”
    “Of course you do,” Isabella said, trying not to lose patience with Gretchen and trying not to panic. “Did he try to kiss you or… or force his attentions on you?”
    “I just remember being so angry that I picked up the cherub and swung it. The next thing I knew, he was lying on the ground just like that.”
    Isabella saw she was getting nowhere with the young lady. She had obviously arranged a tryst with Mr. Throckmorten and for some reason had struck him. Why didn’t matter right now. They had bigger concerns.
    “What are we going to do?” Gretchen asked in a childlike voice.
    We?
    Yes, Isabella supposed she was a part of this misfortune whether or not she wanted to be. She had to concentrate on what they should do now.
    She took another deep breath and rubbed her icy hands together against the chill. First, she should alert Auntie Pith, and then she must tell Gretchen’s aunt, but both those ideas were frightening. What would she say to them? What would they think? Would she and Gretchen be thrown in Newgate?
    No, Isabella wouldn’t let that happen.
    Gretchen was the sister of an earl. Best she let Gretchen’s family handle this. They would want to be the first to know, and they would see to it not a word of it got out. Besides, Isabella was quite eager to turn this situation over to someone else. And on further thought, perhaps she should keep this from Auntie Pith, too, if possible.
    “I must take you home immediately and tell your aunt what has happened.”
    “Not her,” Gretchen said. “She won’t know what to do. My brother arrived last night. We can tell him. Danny will know what to do.”
    Isabella hesitated. A dry lump swelled in her throat. She’d seen the impressive-looking Lord Colebrooke two years ago at a party, but she’d been much too shy to gain an introduction to him. This was not how she wanted to meet the new earl, but did she have a choice?
    “All right, we’ll go to your brother. Is he at your town house in Mayfair or does he have a house of his own?”
    “He’s with us now because he just arrived, but he is arranging for his own place.”
    “Good. Your aunt will be there in case he wants to tell her about this.”
    She had to think quickly. Should she try to cover the body or hide it? No, it would be easier to leave him be and to find a reason to send Mrs. Dawson, the other servants, and her aunt away from the house so they wouldn’t happen upon the dead man lying in the garden.
    “Let’s go back inside and get our wraps. I’ll ride with you to your home, and we’ll tell the earl what happened.”
    “Danny will take care of everything,” Gretchen said, as if she were trying to reassure herself.
    They returned to the