House of Dreams Read Free Page A

are cut so slightly and so primitively that the average person would assume them to be glass. I can’t wait to actually see the piece tonight.”

    He was nodding. “Rubies were very rare in the sixteenth century,” he said, his gaze directly on her again. “Only the most wealthy and powerful possessed rubies. This necklace might have belonged to a queen or a princess. That the Hepplewhites discovered it in their possession is rather amazing.”
    â€œCan you imagine if Lady Hepplewhite had thrown it out as she first thought of doing, assuming it to be a costume piece?”
    He was smiling, shaking his head. Cass was smiling, too.
    â€œI’m writing a novel set during Bloody Mary’s reign,” she said impulsively. “It was a fascinating period in time, and Mary has been so stereotyped and so gravely misunderstood.”
    Both of his dark brows lifted. He stared. “Really.”
    Cass bit her lip. “I can’t help it. My imagination runs away with me. That necklace could have been a careless gift handed down by Mary to one of her favorites. She was very loyal and generous to those in her household.”
    â€œYes, it could have been.” Their gazes locked. “Or it could have been a gift from her father to just about anyone—one of his wives, one of his daughters—or perhaps his son Edward passed it along in a similar manner.”
    â€œIt would be very interesting to trace the lineage of the necklace,” Cass mused.
    â€œVery interesting,” Antonio de la Barca agreed, his gaze still focused entirely on her.
    There was something in his tone that made Cass tense. She could not look away, and now she remembered talking to him after a lecture and being as mesmerized by the brilliance in his hazel eyes. The brilliance and the intensity.
    She had to take a step backward, away from him. Even if he was a widower, he was way out of her league. Besides, she had learned her lesson years ago. Eight years ago, to be exact—just before Alyssa was born. When you fell in love, all good judgment flew out the window, and the result was tragic. Having had her heart broken once and forever was enough. The man who broke it was a college love affair—but it had apparently been more important to her than it had to him. She knew she had moved past the heartbreak. She just never wanted to go there again. “It’s raining,” she said, to break the moment, which had somehow seemed far too intimate and even awkward.
    He glanced up at the sky, smiled slightly, as the skies opened up and it began to pour. “Indeed it is,” he said.

    â€œC’mon,” Cass said, turning to lead him inside.
    But he was shrugging off his designer sport jacket and draping it over her sweatshirt-clad shoulders. Cass did not have time to gape. Talking her elbow very firmly, he hurried her back inside.
    Once out of the rain, Cass handed him his nearly soaking jacket. “I hope you haven’t ruined that.”
    â€œIt hardly matters,” he replied.
    Cass hesitated, aware of the darkening shadows of the late afternoon, and as suddenly aware of the fact that this particular guest was several hours early. What was she to do with him?
    Clearly her thoughts were written all over her face, because he said, “I am meeting Senora Tennant here, but apparently she is somewhat late.”
    Cass stiffened. He’s meeting Tracey here? “Tracey is my sister.”
    He started. “She never mentioned that she had a sister. I was assuming you to be her cousin.”
    How did de la Barca know her sister? “No, we’re sisters, even if we look nothing alike,” she said slowly. A new sense of dread, very different from the one that had been haunting her all day, was filling her.
    Why was he meeting Tracey? Before Cass could even begin to sort out what was happening, Alyssa came pounding down the stairs, crying out in excitement that her mother had