Never Wager Against Love (Kellington Book Three) Read Free Page B

sight by posing as maids, shop girls and seamstresses.  The peerage
rarely noticed when servants were in a room.  They spoke freely and revealed
much.  Vanessa was amazed by the information she’d collected simply by standing
in a room and being ignored by its occupants.  Some of what she’d heard had
been quite helpful to the Crown.   She’d also heard more ton gossip than
even the most well-connected society matron.  She had very little taste for
it.  But given her exposure to the scandalous on dits , she’d have been
one of the most sought after guests at any ton event.
    If only she were a lady. 
    Not that she couldn’t pass for one.  Despite her birth,
she’d become adept at acting like a lady when it was required.  She’d been
exposed to the manners and idiosyncrasies of the aristocracy through her missions
with the Home Office. And she’d been given a close-up look at their many faults
in the years before that.  She had very little use for toffs, although her most
recent assignment was an unsettling reminder that there were worthy souls even
among the peerage. 
    The dowager Marchioness of Riverton had given a house party. 
Vanessa had needed to gain access to the estate, so she’d posed as a poor,
distant relation from the north.   Her assignment was to recover a small chest
hidden away by a French operative who’d been tracked to the general vicinity of
Riverton Farms.   It was hoped that the chest contained papers that would
reveal the identity of one or more officials in the British government who’d
secretly been allied with the French.  The war might be over, but there were
still traitors to be found.
    No one in the Riverton family had been under suspicion, but
the only way for her to search the property had been to have complete access to
it as a guest.  Her mission had taken on even greater urgency when two mercenaries
arrived at the party, posing as a visiting scholar and his sister.  Frederick
Mortimer and Portia Cassidy had attended the party under assumed names, then
escaped with the chest.  Vanessa was well acquainted with both of them.  She
knew the chest was now on its way to the highest bidder, which almost certainly
wouldn’t be His Majesty’s government. 
    There had been another guest at the Riverton party who’d
attracted Vanessa’s interest, but for a wholly different reason.  Lord Arthur
Kellington had accompanied his sister Elizabeth to the estate.  Vanessa was
well aware of the man’s reputation.  Arthur Kellington, like his brothers
William and Henry, was one of the ton’s most eligible bachelors.  He was
handsome, charming, popular among ladies both young and old – and all ages in
between – and liked by just about everyone, save for the occasional jealous
husband.  He had a reputation as a gamester, but he rarely played deep and
always paid his debts on time.  The worst that could be said about him was that
he drifted through life.  Perhaps it was because he lacked the responsibilities
of his brother the duke.  But so did his second eldest brother Ned, who had recently
settled into the existence of a prosperous landowner with his wife and daughter
in the country.  And from all accounts he was more than happy with his lot in
life.  Now, with Elizabeth’s recent engagement, it seemed just about everyone
in the Kellington family was settling down or, at the very least, growing up. 
Except for Lord Arthur.
    Physically, the man was just as handsome as he’d been
reported to be.  He was well over six feet tall.  The top of Vanessa’s head
barely came up to his shoulder.  He had light brown hair and brown eyes that
were ringed with amber.  He was thin, but his body was highly conditioned.  His
thighs were muscled and he moved with the lean grace of a predatory cat.   Even
if Lord Arthur didn’t always temper his gaming impulses, his body was a prime example
of discipline and control.
    The first time they’d met, he’d interrupted her