An Invitation to Sin Read Free Page A

Jeffrey grinned at Anna. “Well, what plans for today, Pippin? Let me guess. An attack on the book emporiums of the Metropolis?”
    Anna grinned back as she helped herself to eggs. “Most certainly. I am hoping you will direct me to the best lending libraries in town, Papa.”
    Since Sir Jeffrey was a Member of Parliament, he knew London quite well and obligingly wrote out a list of the best book suppliers while his wife and older daughter planned their assault on modistes and haberdashers.
    Folding the list, Anna asked casually, “What was Mrs. Postle referring to when she mentioned an incident concerning our neighbor, Papa?” She had reason to hope that her liberal-minded father would give her a straight answer.
    However, his only response was, “Never you mind, Pippin. London isn’t like the country. It is quite possible to ignore neighbors.”
    “But Papa, the doors are only feet apart. What if we encounter people coming and going?”
    Her mother had picked up on the conversation and now a look flashed between her parents. Anna’s curiosity expanded to a bursting point. What had the earl done?
    “Anna,” said her mother, “if you should happen to encounter any of our neighbors, a distant nod will suffice until you have been formally introduced. Which is unlikely since you are not here to be introduced.”
    It was Maria who let the cat out of the bag. “Martha said that number 10 had a murder there some years back. Can you imagine? It makes me feel quite faint to think of it!”
    Lady Featherstone began to say something sharp about the maid, but her husband overruled her. “It is perhaps as well, my dear, that the girls be prepared. Maria, Anna, it is true that an irregular death occurred at the Earl of Carne’s house some years ago, but it was suicide, not murder. It is an old matter and need not disturb you at all, but you should know that the earl, despite his rank, is not the sort of man who is introduced to young ladies. I am assured that he lives abroad, but if you should encounter him, you will ignore him entirely.”
    Anna stared. “Cut an earl?”
    “If the man has a scrap of decency that will not be necessary. But if he should turn up and approach you in any way, yes, you must refuse to acknowledge him.”
    This was hardly the sort of talk to calm Anna’s bubbling curiosity, but she could see she would get nothing more out of her parents. She would have to hope the servants would be more forthcoming. It was typical, though, that Martha had told more to Maria than she had to Anna. It was so tedious being a schoolroom miss.
    Immediately after breakfast Maria and Lady Feather-stone embarked on matters to do with Society. Sir Jeffrey warned Anna to go nowhere without both maid and footman, then went out to Parliament. Anna obediently summoned Martha and a footman and set out for the best lending library in London, her main intent being to bring home a copy of Forbidden Affections.
    As they walked, Arthur, the footman, pointed out the sights, and the occasional famous person passing by.
    Anna was interested in London, but she could not stop puzzling over the matter of number 10. “London seems so crowded,” she said at one point. “I’m surprised the house next door to us is allowed to stay empty.”
    “Criminal waste of a house, I ’d say,” Martha remarked with a sniff.
    Arthur shrugged. “It’s the earl’s to waste, Miss Anna, and he’s rich enough not to care.”
    “But there must be servants,” Anna probed.
    “Just a couple who keep the place up. The Murchisons have got it easy, and that’s the truth. The whole place is under covers, they say.”
    Anna waited, hoping for more, but it became clear that if she wanted more information, she’d have to dig for it. “And no one has lived in it for years?”
    “That’s right, miss. Ever since the earl’s ladybird was found dead there.”
    “Arthur!” exclaimed Martha. “I’ll thank you to remember that Miss Anna is still a