Read Online The Black Widow by Charlotte Louise Dolan - Free Book Online Page A

up playing knight-errant and return to Devon before he did something even more rash.
    * * * *
    Although the day was overcast, the park was crowded, and shortly after they entered Hyde Park, Meribe was asking herself why she had ever thought her situation might have changed since the last time she had walked along Rotten Row. Had she been secretly hoping that Lord Thorverton’s efforts might already have convinced people that she was not all that dangerous?
    If so, it had clearly been wishful thinking, because the stares were still quite rude and the people moved out of her path just as rapidly as they had done when she had come here in the beginning of April. After that first expedition, she had decided that nothing would induce her to repeat the experience.
    So why had she given in to Hester’s importunities? With Jane, their abigail, feeling too poorly to walk in the park today, Hester could just as easily have stayed home for once, rather than persuading Meribe to accompany her.
    “Look over there—Lord Thorverton is just driving through the gate,” Hester now said in a sharp voice. “Although I must say I am not surprised to see him. He manages to turn up wherever we go. I begin to suspect that you are secretly sending him notes informing him in advance of all our plans.”
    “Hester! That is a terrible accusation to make. I would never dream of behaving in such a brazen manner. How can you even suggest such a thing?”
    “Well, perhaps you have not, but the only other explanation is that he has set one of his servants to spy on us. Well, this time his deviousness is not going to benefit him in the slightest.” Hester grabbed Meribe’s arm and began to hustle her along the path away from the approaching carriage.
    “Release my arm,” Meribe hissed, pulling back. “You are only making us conspicuous by charging along at such a reckless pace.”
    “I? It is not me everyone is staring at. And if you do not wish to be gawked at, you should have stayed home today. I could have brought one of the other maids in your place.”
    Which was not at all what Hester had asserted earlier when she had insisted that she would be utterly cast down if Meribe refused this one tiny favor. But at least her sister now moderated her pace somewhat, for which Meribe was thankful. “Oh, Hester, must we always quarrel?”
    “As long as you keep seeing that man, we must.”
    “What do you have against Lord Thorverton?”
    “I strongly suspect he is playing you for a fool. Everyone knows that Diana Fairgrove broke his heart when she eloped with Lord Hazelmore. You delude yourself if you think Lord Thorverton will marry an insignificant little nobody like you after he has been betrothed to such a beauty. After all, if it were not for the fact that all your suitors have met untimely ends, you would be quite overlooked by society.’’
    Meribe dug in her heels and stopped so abruptly she managed to pull her arm free from her sister’s grasp. “You go too far this time,” she said in a choked voice.
    Turning around, she began to walk as quickly as possible in the opposite direction, her only intention being to put as much distance between herself and her sister as possible. The tears in her eyes made it difficult to see where she was going, so it must have been fate that led her directly past Lord Thorverton’s carriage, which was stalled behind another phaeton and two landaus.
    “Good afternoon, Miss Prestwich,” he said politely, his familiar voice halting her headlong flight. “Would you care to join me for a turn around the park?”
    About to make her usual excuses, Meribe abruptly changed her mind. The opportunity to spend a little time with a person who did not fuss and crab at her—with someone who seemed actually to enjoy her company—was too tempting to refuse.
    Amid murmurs and gasps from the passersby, she allowed his groom, who had sprung down from the back of the phaeton, to assist her into the carriage. Then he