How I Married a Marquess Read Online Free Page A

associates in the area to gather for a sennight and break up the boredom of the country season. An irresistible target for the highwayman, I presume.”
    Thomas rose to his feet, his mind already whirling with this new assignment. “Make certain the guest list is common knowledge to your household staff.”
    Incredulity flashed over Royston’s face. “You think the highwayman could be someone within my own home?”
    “I think he could be anyone.” Fighting down the excitement that coursed through his blood and replaced the anxiety that had clawed at him less than half an hour earlier, Thomas slapped him on the shoulder and walked him downstairs. “See you next week, then.”
    With a grateful expression, Royston took his hat and gloves from Jensen and headed out the front door. “My thanks, Chesney.”
    And mine to you . More than the earl would ever know. His chest pulsed with the first real hope he’d had in a year. A highwayman in Lincolnshire…not exactly an enemy to the crown . But at this point, with all other avenues blocked, he would claim whatever small victories he could.
    Small victory? He laughed. Whom was he trying to fool? He knew the truth, no matter how reluctant he was to admit it.
    A week at a boring Lincolnshire house party might just save his life.
    Emily looked up from her book as he sauntered into the morning room and slumped down next to her on the sofa. “Business concluded, then?”
    “Not business.” He grinned, feeling like the cat who’d gotten into the cream and the closest he’d been to his old self since the shooting. “Pleasure.”
    Her lips twitched mischievously. “Hmm,” she commented with mock innocence, “and here I’d thought Helene had already departed.”
    He shot her an icy look that made grown men quake in their boots but seemed only to amuse her. Brat . “Royston invited me to a house party at Blackwood Hall.”
    “Oh?” Her single bewildered word spoke volumes. She blinked, incredulity visible on her face that he would so eagerly gallop off to a party certain to be filled with dull dandies and old gossips.
    He dissembled by adding, “The earl has political aspirations and wants counsel on some recent matters which have been troubling him.”
    “And he picked you ?” Astonishment rang in her voice. “He wants to succeed at these aspirations, does he not?”
    He grimaced at the teasing insult. She was needling him, trying in her own fashion to get the truth from him, but he would keep this investigation to himself. If the trip to Lincolnshire went as well as he hoped, it just might prove his salvation, and he would tell her afterward when all was set to rights again.
    And if not…well, there would be little she could do to help fight back the demons that would come for him, the suffocating blackness that would eventually devour him whole.
    “Getting away from London might do you good after all,” she added thoughtfully. “You might be introduced to a whole new group of potential wives.”
    Stifling an exasperated groan, he kicked his boots onto the tea table. “You know, brat, when you were a child, I sold you to the Gypsies,” he told her bluntly. “I’m still waiting for them to take you away.”
    Emily laughed, her blue eyes shining, and offered him a cup of tea.

C HAPTER T WO
                              
    The following week
Islingham Village, Lincolnshire
    J osephine!” Elizabeth Carlisle waved her fan high in the air to catch her daughter’s attention across the crowded ballroom at Blackwood Hall. Every inhabitant of every household in Lincolnshire seemed packed into the room for the opening night soiree of the Roystons’ annual house party. “Over here!”
    With a smile Josie squeezed her way through the crush.
    Countess Royston had topped herself this year. Complete with orchestra, free-flowing wine, and sugared fruits at the refreshments table, the evening would be the center of gossip for months to come. Even the