Read Online An Unexpected Gift by Katherine Grey - Free Book Online Page B

slowed his pace. He had no wish to approach the man. Yet.
    He halted a few feet away, willing the man to face him. The man turned. It wasn’t Sandhurst after all. Frustration ate at him, but he didn’t allow it to push him into making foolish mistakes. He would bide his time. He needed to keep his wits about him if he hoped to find Mary; he could wait a little longer.
    He stood there long after the person he’d mistaken as Sandhurst walked away. The mass of people ebbed and flowed around him. Will moved in a slow circle, looking about him.
    Olivia stood near Lord and Lady Riverton as they conversed with an elderly couple. His gaze nearly completed its circuit of the room when he froze. There near the entrance of the ballroom. Lord Sandhurst. There was no mistaking him this time, puffed up with self-importance, he smiled at a young girl who looked to be no more than sixteen and her very happy mother.
    Will headed toward his nemesis. A sense of calm settled over him. He’d waited far too long for this moment. He would finally meet the Duke of Sandhurst as an equal. Not in social standing, but in something much more important—power. And then one day, one day soon, he would kill him.
    He stopped directly behind the blushing young girl, certain Sandhurst could not help but notice his presence.
    His Grace looked up, and their gazes met. The duke stumbled over his words.
    A slow smile curving his lips, Will nodded in acknowledgement and walked away. Sandhurst knew he had gained entrance to his world. And for tonight, that was enough.
    Drifting from one group of people to another, he listened to the conversations, hoping to learn something useful about his enemy. Even with Hargrove’s introduction, he was treated with distant politeness. He knew he only had to let it be known that he possessed a modest fortune, and he would be as fawned over as the Prince Regent himself.
    Unfortunately, he didn’t want that information bandied about. Especially now that he was trying to leave his criminal past behind. Having to explain how he had amassed those first few hundred pounds would ruin his reputation as a legitimate businessman.
    “Excuse me, sir.” A hand tapped him on the shoulder.
    Will turned.
    “Mr. Prescott?” the footman asked.
    “Yes.”
    “I have a message for you.” The footman held out a folded sheet of parchment.
    Will glanced at the servant’s outstretched hand. “Do you know who it is from?”
    “His Grace, the Duke of Sandhurst.”
    “This should be enlightening,” he murmured, taking the note.
    The footman bowed and walked away. Will moved to the edge of the ballroom. He flipped the folded sheet of vellum over. There was nothing written on the outside. For a long moment, he stared at the wax seal depicting the duke’s crest.
    The lion standing on its hind legs, a bird crushed under one paw reminded him of a time he’d rather forget. He rubbed at the sudden burning sensation at the back of his neck and closed his eyes for a brief moment. He hated the insignia almost as much as the man it stood for.
    Feeling curious and a small sense of dread he refused to acknowledge, he snapped the wax seal in half and unfolded the message.
    “Laz—”
    Will looked up at the sound of Olivia’s voice. “Mr. Prescott,” he corrected quietly.
    “Mr. Prescott.” She glanced toward the doors leading to the terrace. “I wonder if I may beg a favor of you,” she finished in a rush.
    Fear lurked in her eyes, her face pale. Her agitation was palpable.
    “What has happened?” he asked.
    She looked to the French doors again.
    He reached out to touch her arm, remembered at the last moment that the familiarity of the gesture wasn’t proper, and dropped his hand.
    “Would you be so kind as to allow me the use of your carriage?” She twisted her fan in her hands. Will heard the delicate ivory ribs snap and doubted she was even aware of it.
    “You don’t have a carriage of your own?”
    “Lady Riverton sent her coach to