The Deception at Lyme: Or, the Peril of Persuasion (Mr. And Mrs. Darcy Mysteries) Read Online Free Page A

hold. Tired of being carried, she was growing restless, but Elizabeth wanted to provide Georgiana a few more minutes’ uninterrupted conversation. Sir Laurence was pointing toward the ship still approaching port. Though it was a good-sized vessel, with cannons lining its sides, its progress appeared hampered by the strong eastern wind.
    She took Lily-Anne into her own arms. Lily rested her chin on Elizabeth’s shoulder and stilled, content—at least for the moment—to gaze at the view behind her mother, but the tranquility would not last. In truth, the sea had temporarily lost its allure for Elizabeth, as well.
    “Given the weather, we need to cancel our plans to go seabathing this morning and find some other diversion,” Elizabeth said. “Have we any other engagements today?”
    “Only my appointment with Lieutenant St. Clair, but that is not until evening.”
    “Where are you meeting?”
    “He will call at our lodgings at half past seven.”
    Sir Laurence and Georgiana returned, retreating from the Cobb’s point more hurriedly than they had walked out to it. Georgiana held fast to the baronet’s arm.
    “The wind has shifted,” Sir Laurence said. “Storms can arise very quickly in Lyme, and those from the east are the worst. You can see how that ship struggles to make port. I advise walking back to town without delay.”
    Scarcely had he uttered the words than an enormous crack rent the sky. A lightning bolt struck the mainmast of the struggling ship. Aflame, the mast fell toward deck but got caught in the rigging of the foremast, igniting that, as well. Suddenly, the ship was a fiery spectacle of burning sails, ropes, and wood. Smoke billowed up from the lower decks and out the gun ports. The blazing mast, having incinerated the ropes that trapped it, crashed to the quarterdeck.
    But the worst was yet to come.
    In seconds that seemed to stretch to eternity, the flames reached gunpowder.
    The explosion was so forceful that Elizabeth felt its thunder ripple past her. Instinctively, she tightened her hold on her daughter, who cried out and clung to her. Had the ship been closer, all on the upper Cobb would have been in serious danger from flying debris.
    The Cobb erupted in motion. Those who knew the sea hurriedly prepared to search for survivors—futile though their efforts might prove—or to scavenge the ship’s cargo. Everyone else rushed to get out of the rescuers’ way and find safety for themselves.
    Another thunderbolt lit the sky. Elizabeth’s heart raced so hard that surely Lily-Anne could feel its palpitations. “Sea, Mama! Sea!” She practically climbed up her mother’s chest and over her shoulder toward the harbor. Even the child realized that her former source of delight now posed peril.
    Elizabeth felt she could not get off the exposed seawall fast enough.
    Before she even turned to Darcy, he was taking their daughter into his own arms. “Come.” His voice was calm, but she heard the underlying urgency. He motioned toward the steps Sir Laurence had ascended but a few minutes ago. “We must move to lower ground.” Georgiana and Sir Laurence were right behind them.
    The steps were narrower than Elizabeth had realized, and water puddled in their crevices and depressions. Under other circumstances she would have eschewed them in favor of the broad stairs at the other end of the Cobb, but they had not that luxury—the sky threatened greater hazard than the stone.
    Father and daughter descended first, followed by the ladies and Sir Laurence, and their party hurried along the lower Cobb toward shore. Though they were now alee of the upper wall, the breakwater offered only partial shelter, for the harbor opened to the east whence the wind blew from Charmouth along the cliff face. The wall’s bend at this section restricted their view of a considerable portion of the Cobb ahead. Elizabeth was anxious to reach the point where this particular curve ended; from there she would be able to see the