Face Down among the Winchester Geese Read Online Free Page A

not help but make comparisons. The best that could be said for Susanna was that she was comely. She bore an unfortunate resemblance to her late father, having inherited his height and his sturdy build and his square jaw, as well. She was feminine enough, soft where a woman should be soft, and rounded in all the right places. He'd never had any difficulty performing a husband's duties. On the other hand, no one would ever make the mistake of thinking Susanna weak and in need of protection ... as Diane was.
    "Do you know her, Robert?” Her capable hands held the goblet in her lap, clasping it as if she feared to spill the contents did she not hold on tight.
    "Only a little."
    Skepticism lurked in Susanna's eyes when she lifted her head to stare at him. ‘Twas obvious she thought Diane had been his mistress, but for once his conscience was clear. He met her gaze and held it.
    "If this is the same Diane, I met her nearly four years ago. Do you recall my last mission to France, at the time when Walter Pendennis was in Paris?"
    "How could I forget? You journeyed to France and I made my first visit to our lands in Lancashire."
    Robert winced. He preferred not to think about that particular venture or its outcome. Better to focus on Diane. “I was sent to meet with a rebel leader named La Renaudie. He's dead now, poor fool. His mad scheme to take control of the French government never had much chance of success. But he had a mistress named Diane. A widow. La Renaudie and I met at her estate outside La Rochelle."
    She'd spoken charmingly accented English, he recalled. And had she not been La Renaudie's woman, he'd have responded to the invitation in her dark eyes. But what did her reappearance in his life at this juncture mean? Simple coincidence? He hoped so, and hoped, too, that she would not make demands on him.
    Just at present, he could ill afford to call undue attention to himself.
    "La Rochelle was a Calvinist stronghold in those days,” Susanna mused.
    She understood much more of politics than was normal for a woman. Most of the time, her insight annoyed Robert. In this instance, he found it useful, saving him the trouble of long explanations of French intrigues. Susanna knew already that Catholic and Huguenot factions had spent the last few years trying to massacre one another.
    "Before civil war broke out, La Rochelle was a safe refuge. I doubt it is now.” He cleared his throat. “If this woman is the same Diane, I once told her she might come to me for assistance should she ever feel obliged to flee her homeland."
    "It appears she has taken you up on your ... generous offer."
    "Aye.” And her timing could not have been worse. He did not need such a complication. He heartily wished the woman would just disappear, but he supposed that was unlikely. “Did she say what she wanted from me? Money? Introductions?"
    Susanna seemed edgy again and Robert wondered idly if she was jealous. He quickly discounted that notion. She'd never shown evidence of the emotion in the past. Most like she was put out because he'd refused to share his plans with her.
    Truth be told, she'd disapprove of his current scheme for advancement. Mayhap she'd even attempt to thwart it.
    After a pointed hesitation, Susanna answered his question. “She asked that you meet her at the Falcon Inn near Paris Garden."
    The location surprised him. Paris Garden was in Southwark, at the edge of the most notorious brothel district in all of England.
    "Will you visit her?” Her voice level, her expression unrevealing, Susanna again gave Robert the impression she hid her true feelings.
    Once, he thought, he'd have teased and tormented her until she exploded, and likely they'd have ended up laughing at the absurdity of their quarrel, but over the last few years he'd found little humor in anything, and no advantage at all in relaxing his guard with his too intelligent, too perceptive wife. Although he wondered what she was thinking, he had neither the patience nor