Read Online To Rescue a Rogue by Jo Beverley - Free Book Online Page B

he shook his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t talk about that now.”
    Mara looked down at her gloved hands. Something dark lurked and the truth of it was now crucial to her. Her reaction to the thought that Dare was married had been like the ripping of a curtain, revealing truth.
    She wanted to be married to him herself.
    She supposed that meant she loved him, but her emotions were too tumultuous for that sweet label. He was hers. For better or worse, for richer or poorer, till death do them part. No wonder men had seized women through the ages. If she could, she’d toss Dare to the croup and ride off with him.
    She fought laughter at the image. She was neither Ellen nor Lochinvar. What was more, there was no reason that she and Dare couldn’t court and marry.
    A startled joy turned her to him, but his tense features reminded her all was not well. She did not speak. She had time and she needed to know more.
    All the same, as Dare drew the horses to a halt in front of Ella’s door, Mara felt as if he were slipping away from her, as if he might drive out of her life into the hovering gloom. She’d never been given to that sort of fancy, but she could taste dark drama in the air.
    â€œWhat shall we do tomorrow?” she asked brightly. “You did promise to provide entertainment.”
    â€œLike a performing monkey?” If he smiled, it was very wry.
    â€œIn a red tasseled cap,” she agreed, “dancing to a hurdygurdy. I hear there are performing monkeys at the Adelphi Theater.”
    â€œA push too far, Imp.” The groom was at the horses’ heads, so he climbed down and came around to assist her.
    Mara was feeling daunted, but she would not give up. Once she was safely on the ground, she said, “If not the theater, then perhaps Monsieur Dubourg’s corks?”
    She caught his interest, at least. “What on earth are they?”
    â€œModels of antiquities all made of cork. It’s supposed to be splendid.”
    â€œCorks?” he asked doubtfully.
    â€œPlease.”
    She thought he was going to refuse, but then he said, “Very well.”
    She had to work not to let out a whoosh of breath. “Tomorrow? At ten?” Giving him no time to back out, she said, “Thank you!” and planted a kiss on his cheek, exactly as little Delphie had done.
    But she wasn’t little Delphie, and surely he’d not looked at Delphie with shock. Mara sent him another bright smile and escaped before she did anything else stupid. Once inside the house, she ran up to watch from her window. The phaeton was just disappearing from the square, and so she had only a glimpse of Dare.
    It was enough to show her that he was no longer driving.
    She’d been right. He’d taken a turn for the worse. It might simply be a headache. Did he get headaches because of his head wound? She suspected, however, that it was something to do with opium. He was not free of it. He was not well.
    It had seemed only reasonable to tease Dare out of his shell, but this was all more complex than she’d imagined. He was deeply troubled and she already felt inextricably bound to him.
    Heart pounding from more than a race upstairs, she wrote his name in the patch of mist created on the window glass by her breath.
    Dare.
    Lord Darius Debenham. Lady Darius Debenham. That would be her married title. Lady Dare.
    She’d urged Simon to come to London and she wanted him here to explain and advise. His arrival would change everything, however. Dare would no longer be isolated, so she’d have no excuse to badger him for outings.
    Mara moved away from the window, unpinning her hat. She wanted to be alone with Dare every day and to wave a magic wand that would restore him. All in all, however, she had to hope her brother came to London posthaste.

Chapter 6
    D are shuddered with relief at not being in charge of the prime bits of blood anymore, but that counted as another test