Read Online The Black Cat by Hayley Ann Solomon - Free Book Online Page B

bride?” Camden’s words were cool and smooth. He hoped the appellation would at once save the lady’s blushes and spare him the necessity of uttering her name.
    In the event, it did both. Mr. Pelliat was too stunned at the revelation to inquire any further.
    Melinda, it must be said, did not even think that the stranger was not possessed of her name or ancestry. She merely blinked in stunned disbelief. The earl grinned at her reaction. He would have to, he could see, kiss her adorable little lips shut again.
    Then the world, for both of them, was shattered.
    â€œYour lordship, this cannot be! You are aware—that is, I have explained—that is. . . . My lord, there is no getting around it. I have checked and double-checked. Ethically speaking, your lordship, you are already betrothed.”
    Miss Melinda St. Jardine felt ready, this time, to swoon in earnest. She teetered a little in the saddle, feeling unaccountably foolish and more than a little humiliated.
    When the magnificent man she had unthinkingly flung her heart to did not deny the charge, she knew it to be true.
    A quick look into his sardonic brown eyes confirmed the fact. Obviously, he had a short memory. She wondered what rosy beauty could proudly count him as hers. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that it was not her. He had trifled with her, aroused strange passions in her, and now she, at least, would pay the price. She remembered her own arranged betrothal and straightened up with pride.
    If she could not have her heart’s desire, then at least she would fulfill the terms of her grandfather’s will. If it hurt the insufferable man at least a pinprick, it would be worth it. Fury overtook softer reason. She steeled her heart. The marquis would have been proud of her. She owed him that much, at least.
    No more than a moment had elapsed, but the moment was sufficient. She straightened herself up and announced, in ringing tones that she, too, was similarly circumstanced. With a brief crack of the whip and a curt nod of the head to Pelliat, she galloped across the verdant green grass farther than even the earl’s keen eyes could discern. He would have been surprised to learn that keener eyes than his followed the galloping figure long after he had turned in polite but unanimated discussion with the lawyer. Venus, it should be noted, did not blink once.
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    â€œBeg pardon?” Vivid eyes blazed in disbelief. The lawyer cleared his throat nervously. “Madam, it is monstrous but I have it on the best authority!”
    â€œAnd what authority may that be, pray?” Melinda was always at her haughtiest when troubled.
    â€œI was sent the communication through his lordship’s own man at law. He is, I assure you, a most eminent colleague. I cannot think that he has not outlined the implications to his lordship.”
    The elegant grandfather clock chimed the hour, but Melinda hardly heard it. She was regarding her man of law with interest.
    â€œIs he aware of the settlements?”
    â€œI believe he is, Miss St. Jardine.”
    â€œThen the man has whistled away a fortune.” Her tone was disbelieving.
    â€œIn truth he has, but I believe I may account for that, ma’am.”
    â€œHow so?”
    â€œLord Santana is one of the wealthiest men in all England, Miss St. Jardine. He can afford to be . . .” The lawyer cleared his throat awkwardly. He had been about to make a most miserable blunder.
    Miss St. Jardine, astute beyond her years, understood at once.
    â€œChoosy, you mean?”
    The man opened his mouth to think of some wild explanation, then gave it up as hopeless. He nodded.
    Melinda stared at him thoughtfully. “May I see the letter?”
    Mr. Pendleton shrugged. If the cursedly abrupt missive would serve to convince her, so be it.
    Melinda trembled as she read the note. He was a beast, this Camden! To write so scathingly of someone he had never met, to impute the