Read Online Beguiling the Earl by Suzanna Medeiros - Free Book Online

reason for his close scrutiny. She smiled brightly at Kerrick before turning back to make small talk with Louisa, but in the back of her mind she was formulating a plan.
    ooOoo
    His search that evening had proved fruitless. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected to find in Worthington’s study, but he’d hoped to stumble upon something—anything—that would bring him closer to ending this inconvenient investigation. Correspondence, perhaps, or even a name scribbled on a piece of paper. It had been risky slipping away from the performance to do a quick sweep of Worthington’s papers, but he’d had to chance it. He hadn’t had enough time to do a thorough search, however, and frustration had weighed heavily on him when he realized he’d already been away too long.
    Seeing Catherine again had renewed his determination to put this whole matter behind him. He’d been successful in avoiding her for the past few days, but that had also meant avoiding the various evening entertainments Rose Hardwick had attended. He’d sought out other opportunities to engage Worthington during that time. They were both members of White’s, but despite the fact he’d all but haunted the gentleman’s club on St. James Street, he hadn’t run into the man once.
    He’d hoped to accomplish much that night when he accepted the invitation to the musicale. As Nicholas had suggested, he had little doubt that it had been held for his benefit. An effort on her parents’ part to showcase Rose’s many talents. The way Worthington and his wife had fallen on him when he’d arrived, as though he were the answer to every last one of their prayers, had almost been more than he could bear. He’d accepted their fawning as a necessary evil, hoping to find an opportunity to investigate. Brantford had supplied the distraction that had allowed him to leave the room, and it had been an easy task to slip back in and join the group of men standing near the back of the room. But in the end, the only thing he’d accomplished that evening was to make Worthington believe that a union between Kerrick and his daughter was all but certain.
    How he’d ferret out Worthington’s guilt was anyone’s guess. He was beginning to think the man was innocent and his efforts an exercise in futility.
    Something in Catherine’s expression after the performance had concerned him when he’d seen her watching Brantford. He couldn’t help thinking that she’d somehow seen through the other man’s pretense. Of course, Kerrick had involved Brantford in that matter concerning Overlea the previous fall, but he’d been sure to tell her Brantford was merely a friend. It wasn’t possible that she’d discovered that the perpetually bored earl had a set of skills that made him very dangerous to his enemies.
    He forced his thoughts away from Catherine and back to the task at hand. His investigation had so far had turned up nothing, and he was no closer to ending it than when Brantford had approached him. And so, desperate to find something concrete either way about Worthington’s guilt or innocence, he left the man’s home as soon as politeness allowed and made a quick trip home. When he went out again, he was dressed appropriately for a visit to the more seedy parts of London. It was time for him to call in a favor and arrange to have Worthington followed.
     

Chapter Six
    Catherine waited for Kerrick a few houses down the street from his town house, the shadow of a tree obscuring her cloaked figure. It hadn’t taken her long to find the address in Nicholas’s study after he and Louisa had gone to bed. She’d been relieved to discover that Kerrick’s house was but a few minutes’ walk away.
    She knew that what she was doing was foolish and more than a little dangerous, but she was no longer content to sit back and wonder where she stood with Kerrick. After he had kissed her, she’d been so certain he felt something for her, something that went beyond mere fondness. But