Read Online Dangerous by Amanda Quick - Free Book Online
Authors: Amanda Quick
Tags: love_history
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the doorframe and continued to gaze out into the darkness. "The fact is they would all be alive today if I had not asked them to join me there in Saragstan."
She touched his sleeve. "You must not assume the responsibility for what happened. You did not destroy your family. The bandits did that. Were they ever caught and punished?"
"Yes." Sebastian looked down at her. "They were punished." His mouth curved in his chilling smile. "Now, Miss Merryweather, I suggest we change the subject. I would rather not discuss such unpleasant matters with you."
"I quite understand, my lord," Prudence said seriously. "I do not think it is a good thing to dwell too much on the past. It is the present and the future that are important. Don't you agree?"
"I have no idea." Sebastian acted as though the question bored him. "I'll leave such philosophical decisions up to you."
The devil was up to mischief tonight. Prudence was certain of it an hour later when Sebastian took his leave of her and started toward the door.
During the past few days she had come to feel that she had gotten to know this enigmatic man quite well. There was a sense of recognition deep inside her. She did not fully understand it, but she knew it was there.
She thought she could see past the cool facade he showed to the world. She believed she could even read the small signs that indicated the subtle changes in his dark moods.
Tonight, Prudence decided, there was an air of keen alertness about him, a sense of barely suppressed anticipation like that of a predator on the hunt. It worried her. Sebastian had been in the same strange mood for the past three nights.
She watched him make his way through the glittering room. He would soon be lost from sight in the throng of guests that filled the Thornbridge house.
This was not the first time this week that she had watched him quietly disappear from a crowded ballroom. He had vanished from three different ballrooms last night, two others the previous night, and two more the night before that. On each occasion he had reappeared a short while later acting as if he had never been gone. No one but Prudence seemed to have noticed. After all, the rooms were so crowded that it was nothing to lose sight of a person for a while.
But Prudence was very aware of Sebastian's presence whenever he was around and she sensed his disappearances instantly.
Anyone who noted his progress tonight would assume he was leaving. It was past midnight, after all, and Sebastian had already spent more than an hour at the Thornbridge ball. The earl was well known for his propensity to become easily bored.
Prudence had begun to suspect that Sebastian's restless nature had led him to amuse himself in some rather unfortunate ways. She knew he liked puzzles and she could not forget that he had shown a keen interest in her search for the Pembroke jewels. Indeed, his questions about her investigation had been extremely specific in nature.
Prudence put the two facts together and came to the uneasy conclusion that Sebastian might have developed a penchant for opening closed doors and prowling through locked safes in crowded houses merely because it amused him to do so. Perhaps he enjoyed the thrill of discovering hidden jewels even though he was richer than most of his hosts.
Sebastian surely wouldn't steal whatever valuables he chanced to find, Prudence assured herself. But he might very well revel in the dangerous business of searching for them.
The game he was playing involved far too much risk. He needed to be stopped before he got himself into trouble.
She took a last swallow of her punch and put down her glass with a firm resolve. Tonight she was going to find out just what sort of unholy business the Fallen Angel was engaging in when he disappeared from a crowded ball. When she discovered the exact nature of his amusements, she was going to give him a stern lecture. Boredom was not an excuse for engaging in mischief.
It was a simple
She touched his sleeve. "You must not assume the responsibility for what happened. You did not destroy your family. The bandits did that. Were they ever caught and punished?"
"Yes." Sebastian looked down at her. "They were punished." His mouth curved in his chilling smile. "Now, Miss Merryweather, I suggest we change the subject. I would rather not discuss such unpleasant matters with you."
"I quite understand, my lord," Prudence said seriously. "I do not think it is a good thing to dwell too much on the past. It is the present and the future that are important. Don't you agree?"
"I have no idea." Sebastian acted as though the question bored him. "I'll leave such philosophical decisions up to you."
The devil was up to mischief tonight. Prudence was certain of it an hour later when Sebastian took his leave of her and started toward the door.
During the past few days she had come to feel that she had gotten to know this enigmatic man quite well. There was a sense of recognition deep inside her. She did not fully understand it, but she knew it was there.
She thought she could see past the cool facade he showed to the world. She believed she could even read the small signs that indicated the subtle changes in his dark moods.
Tonight, Prudence decided, there was an air of keen alertness about him, a sense of barely suppressed anticipation like that of a predator on the hunt. It worried her. Sebastian had been in the same strange mood for the past three nights.
She watched him make his way through the glittering room. He would soon be lost from sight in the throng of guests that filled the Thornbridge house.
This was not the first time this week that she had watched him quietly disappear from a crowded ballroom. He had vanished from three different ballrooms last night, two others the previous night, and two more the night before that. On each occasion he had reappeared a short while later acting as if he had never been gone. No one but Prudence seemed to have noticed. After all, the rooms were so crowded that it was nothing to lose sight of a person for a while.
But Prudence was very aware of Sebastian's presence whenever he was around and she sensed his disappearances instantly.
Anyone who noted his progress tonight would assume he was leaving. It was past midnight, after all, and Sebastian had already spent more than an hour at the Thornbridge ball. The earl was well known for his propensity to become easily bored.
Prudence had begun to suspect that Sebastian's restless nature had led him to amuse himself in some rather unfortunate ways. She knew he liked puzzles and she could not forget that he had shown a keen interest in her search for the Pembroke jewels. Indeed, his questions about her investigation had been extremely specific in nature.
Prudence put the two facts together and came to the uneasy conclusion that Sebastian might have developed a penchant for opening closed doors and prowling through locked safes in crowded houses merely because it amused him to do so. Perhaps he enjoyed the thrill of discovering hidden jewels even though he was richer than most of his hosts.
Sebastian surely wouldn't steal whatever valuables he chanced to find, Prudence assured herself. But he might very well revel in the dangerous business of searching for them.
The game he was playing involved far too much risk. He needed to be stopped before he got himself into trouble.
She took a last swallow of her punch and put down her glass with a firm resolve. Tonight she was going to find out just what sort of unholy business the Fallen Angel was engaging in when he disappeared from a crowded ball. When she discovered the exact nature of his amusements, she was going to give him a stern lecture. Boredom was not an excuse for engaging in mischief.
It was a simple
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