Sin With a Scoundrel: The Husband Hunters Club Read Free Page B

and attempted to touch her in places no gentleman should touch. He had been rather drunk, and Maria had escaped without harm, but she’d never forgotten the angry twist to his mouth and the ugly look in his eyes when he’d been thwarted.
    Maria had traveled from Spain to England as a very young girl, and yet she had vivid memories of the home she’d left behind. The first position she had held in England was as a scullery maid in a big house in the country. She considered herself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to train as a lady’s maid, but that lady was now long dead, and Maria had been with Tina’s family for over ten years, first looking after Lady Carol, Tina’s mother, and now Tina herself. Maria was comfortable here, protective of her young mistress, and she loved being in London although she did still long for her childhood home.
    Perhaps, she mused, if Miss Tina married, she would travel—perhaps even to Spain— and Maria would travel with her. But not to Lord Horace, she decided firmly. No, not him.
    “There. All done, miss,” Maria exclaimed.
    Tina gave a final glance at her reflection and hurried to the staircase, stopping there to catch her breath before she walked sedately down to the drawing room. The tea had already arrived, and Tina poured for them all. She knew very well how Horace liked his tea and made sure to add one lump of sugar with oodles of milk.
    “So where have you been today, Tina?” asked Horace as he sipped his tea with evident enjoyment.
    “Just visiting a friend.” Tina gave her prepared answer. “An old school friend,” she added firmly.
    She’d decided on the old-school-friend story on her way home. She knew that her brother would not be particularly interested in her activities, but if her parents were at home, they would have asked questions. If they knew where she’d really been . . . well, it was just best if they didn’t. Tina told herself she wasn’t lying, not exactly, just keeping her own counsel. Mr. Eversham was a means to an end, and once she and Horace were wed her parents would be too ecstatic to care about the twists and turns of just how it had all come about.
    Now, she watched Horace furtively, trying to imagine them together in their own house. She’d be curled up by the fire with a book, while Horace sat nearby in his armchair, reading aloud to her snippets of daily news from the newspaper. It was a very cozy scene, but for some reason just as she had it fixed in her mind the man in the armchair changed, became more muscular, his hair darker, his eyes with a warm, teasing look that brought a flush to her cheeks.
    “Oh!”
    It was Mr. Eversham!
    “Did you say something, Tina?”
    Charles was giving her an odd look, and Tina realized she’d spoken aloud. She really had to stop this living in her head. Time to concentrate on the here and now. On hunting Horace, her future husband.

Chapter 3
    R ichard climbed the narrow staircase to the heavy door at the top and entered the dark, smoky room. There was a large table in the middle of what were somewhat austere surroundings. The windows were opaque with dust, and lit candles threw flickering shadows. The five men who called themselves the Guardians sat, all but one of them puffing on cigars; all but one looked up as he entered. Sir Henry Arlington, the gentleman at the head of the table, shuffled his pile of papers and spoke in a quiet but commanding voice.
    “Ah, Richard. Lock the door. We are all now in attendance.”
    Richard bolted the door and sat down at the far end of the table, as far from the smoke cloud as he could. For a moment no one spoke, and there was some important throat clearing.
    Here in this room were some of the most influential men in the government. They dealt with the shadowy issues, matters the British public were completely unaware of, matters that could undermine society and potentially bring down the Prime Minister and his cabinet. That was the reason they were