Behind the Mask (House of Lords) Read Online Free

over the last two days, but there was no earthly way he was riding inside with four curious women for three days.
    There were voices out in the hall. Lady Sidney turned to the door. “Shall we?” she asked.
    Colin opened the door for her and followed her out.
     
    Eleanor came downstairs to find everyone waiting for her in the hall. The twins, Georgina and Maris, were both talking animatedly at the same time. Clearly Lord Pierce had asked them something about the season, because Eleanor caught the words “gowns” and “balls” amidst the jumble of words. Lord Pierce seemed to be listening intently, though she was sure he was going slowly mad inside.
    “Ah, Eleanor,” her mother said. “There you are at last.”
    “I am sorry for the delay,” she replied. “I was writing to the Duchess of Danforth that we will have another member of our party.” They were planning to stop at Starling Court, the country seat of the Duke and Duchess of Danforth, for a night on their journey.
    Lord Pierce followed them out to the carriage. A groom was waiting with his large gray charger, but he helped the ladies into the carriage before mounting.
    As they rolled down the street, Maris said, “He is handsome, isn’t he, Eleanor?”
    She smiled. There was no point in denying it. “Very.”
    “Do you think Leo means him for one of us? If he does, it must be you.”
    Eleanor looked at her mother, who was staring very fixedly out the window. Lady Sidney pursed her lips but said nothing. It was just as well. Arguing with Maris or telling her that her behavior was inappropriate only seemed to make things worse. “Honestly, Maris,” Eleanor said calmly, “I don’t think Leo planned this in advance at all. Lord Pierce wrote to him and asked to see Sidney Park, and Leo invited him up. Apparently Lord Pierce is a friend of the Duchess of Kent.”
    “Still, we’ll have him all to ourselves for almost a week before anyone else starts arriving.”
    Eleanor nodded, turning her attention out the window. Nearby, Lord Pierce was riding, his attention fixed on the road. He had singular focus, she decided. What was it that had caused him to affix himself to their party? As they traveled further and further from London, the anticipation with which Eleanor had looked forward to this journey began to fade in the face of her dread. What sort of danger were they all in?

THREE
     
    Colin only glimpsed Strathmore once during the day’s ride, and that was when the man rode up through the thick woods at mid-afternoon to give him a curt wave before disappearing again. Otherwise, it was as though they were a perfectly ordinary party, the ladies riding in the carriage, a gentleman astride trailing close behind.
    He doubted they were being watched, anyway. Strathmore confirmed it when they stopped at a coaching inn. He and Colin met behind the stables an hour after the Sidney carriage had pulled into the inn yard.
    “Well?” Colin asked.
    The young man brushed a horsehair off his sleeve. “I saw no one all day. We are not being followed, nor were we looked for here.”
    “Good.” Colin hadn’t really expected the family to be followed. It was the princess the White Hand and his men wanted, and they wouldn’t bother with a party of travelers, even if they were headed for the same destination. It was far more likely that they were already in Norfolk, planning their means of attack. He highly doubted they would see anything suspicious until they neared the path of the princess’s progress. Still, they were close enough to the sea that the assassins might have put ashore nearby. “Do a lap through the taproom, would you, Strathmore? General questions: suspicious persons and the like. You know what to do.”
    Strathmore nodded and disappeared without another word. Colin made sure the horse he had borrowed was bedded down properly and then went inside.
    Upstairs, he nearly collided with Miss Georgina, who seemed rather surprised when he called her by