Lady Thief Read Online Free Page A

already know my lovely
daughter.”
    The warm, confident grin with which Lord Gray
greeted her unsettled her deeply. She had to avert her eyes and
giving him a proper curtsy, one much more deep and polite than the
rude thing she’d performed back at the church. Back when she
thought he was Blaise.
    The humiliation was nearly unbearable.
    Then it occurred to her. After weeks of
brooding over her foolish choices and the day when she would come
here she had not once thought of Blaise, and the color drained from
her cheeks.
    Blaise would be here. She would have to greet
him and behave as a lady towards the one responsible for her
current state.
    She wanted to blame him for everything, all
her misfortunes since she first heard his name and even the ones
before then, even though the fault was entirely hers.
    Because of her, she was married to a lord and
put everyone she involved in her plot in danger. She did not even
know what Blaise looked like so she could not make a point of
ignoring him. What if Lord Gray had regular guests to his castle?
She could not snub everyone in proper dress just because there
would be a possibility that it was Blaise.
    Turning her head ever so slightly, she caught
sight of Archer, struggling to help the other servants remove the
luggage and other things she was to keep at Graystone. She wondered
if his wife had time to put any salve on his back, and her face
softened apologetically. He was too occupied with his task of
lifting heavy trunks to pay her any mind.
    The look did not go unnoticed by Gray, whose
eyes shot towards Archer and noticed him for the first time.
Another dark eagerness flashed in their blue depths.
    Marianne froze, her heart picking up speed as
she waited for him to speak, but Gray did not draw attention to
Archer.
    Marianne stood tall but struggled to breathe
as she wondered whether or not he would keep his promise.
    Her father spoke. “My lord?”
    Just as quickly, William’s attention was
focused solely on her. They had both forgotten his question.
    “How could I ever forget such a vision?” His
arm flew out, captured her hand before she could pull away, and
drew it to his lips.
    Marianne’s face became hot at the lie that
fell so easily from the lips that gingerly kissed her hand. He
spoke softly and his manner was gentle, but his eyes bore hard into
hers. She saw the angry soul hidden within. It consumed her like a
hissing fire she could not escape, suffocating and destroying her
hope.
    Finally Marianne jerked her hand away and
stepped back, only to realize the servants were still watching.
    Lord Gray acted as if naught was amiss and
continued to smile at her, though despite the glow it emitted she
could never believe it to be genuine with his inflamed eyes.
    He rested his palm on the small of her back
and drew her forward, she did not put her heels into the ground
this time, and Marianne realized that she still had to go through
the horrors of being introduced to the servants.
    She nodded and smiled to them and they bobbed
and bowed in return. Their smiles were as nervous as hers, and just
as false as her husband’s. Marianne knew why. A new mistress could
change the way the entire household was run. They thought she could
make their lives miserable, but Marianne knew she would never be
able to utter a word to them.
    William would never allow it after what she
had done.
    William hesitated, one side of his lip
upturned. He was enjoying her torment. After a long moment he
clapped his hands and called for attention. “Return to your work,
we have much to do before tomorrow night! More guests will be
arriving any minute now!”
    “Yes, yes! The party!” Sir Holton said with
much enthusiasm. “We must celebrate the wedding of the earl and his
new countess!”
    Despite the commanding tone in William’s
voice and Holton’s excitement, Marianne took curious note of how
the servants hesitated, looked at each other, and slowly made their
way back to their respective