The Sinister Spinster Read Online Free

said,shuffling. "I was only wondering if you'd seen him, and how he seemed to you."
    The question took Adam aback. "How should he seem?" he asked, frowning in thought. The earl wasn't the most loquacious of men, but as he himself had often been accused of being as closemouthed as a clam, he didn't consider that to be a failing.
    "I don't know," William admitted. "I'm almost certain it's all a hum, but one never knows." He lifted his head to send Adam a strained smile. "Sorry to have bothered you, my lord," he said, bobbing his head in apology. "Enjoy your ride."
    The odd conversation was much on Adam's mind as he rode over the hills and down to the sea. Had it been anyone else, he would have suspected them of deliberately planting the uneasy doubts in his mind, but he didn't think William possessed the cunning. Derwent did, most assuredly, and he didn't trust Colburt so much as an inch. Perhaps there was nothing wrong with the earl, perhaps there was. In any case, it would do no harm to ask. With the Czar's ambassadors due to arrive in London within a week, it was best not to leave even the smallest detail to chance.
    Relieved he'd decided upon a course of action, Adam threw himself into the ride. He spent the next hour riding hell-for-leather across the countryside, taking Shalimar over hedgerows and fences as he raced away from the house. Along the way he lost his hat and the veneer of smooth sophistication he wore as easily as other men wore their fine lawn shirts and elegant velvet jackets. With his black hair tumbling about his forehead and his cheeks flushed from wind and the sheer pleasure of riding, he looked little like the man who had set out from the Hall. The knowledge pleased him on same basic level, and feeling quite satisfied, he turned Shalimar around and started for the stables.
    On impulse he decided to ride through the village instead of the fields, with the idea of stopping for a pint ofale at the tiny inn. He had just dismounted and was about to toss the reins to a linkboy who'd run up to greet him when the door to the milliner's shop across the lane opened, and Miss Mattingale stepped out. The hatbox swinging from her arm explained her presence, and he wondered if she had come in one of the estate's many carriages. When she turned and began walking in the direction of the Hall, he had his answer. His lips thinning in fury, he remounted his horse and set out after her.
    "Miss Mattingale," he called out, urging his horse into a trot. "Hold there!"
    He thought she hesitated for a moment, but when she turned to face him a smile of cautious welcome was pinned to her lips.
    "Good day, Lord Falconer," she said, dropping a graceful curtsy. "You are up and about at an early hour this morning. Did you enjoy your ride?"
    "Very much so," he replied, taking in her maroon cloak and gown of cream-and-gold-striped cambric in disapproval. Although the sun was quite bright the wind was sharp, and the thin cloak looked inadequate to the task of keeping her warm.
    "How did you get into the village, if I may ask? Surely you didn't walk?" he queried, thinking that when he spoke with the earl he would also drop a flea in his ear about the shabby way his wife was treating her companion. As master, it was his responsibility to make certain those under his roof lacked for nothing.
    "No, my lord," she replied, a spark of annoyance shimmering in her silvery blue eyes. "I rode in the gig with Mrs. Keys, the cook. But she is visiting her sister, who is the vicar's housekeeper, and rather than wait for her, I decided to walk back to the manor. It's such a lovely day, even though I fear it may rain again."
    Adam was in no mood to discuss the vagaries of the weather. "It is over four miles to the house," he reminded her, angered at the thought of her walking that distance on what was certain to be muddy and slippery roads. Herecalled his journey from London, when the horses had struggled through deep ruts.
    "Only if one keeps to the