Stroke of Midnight Read Free Page B

to Alex, and she thrilled to the unexpected prospect of seeing him so early in the day. Was it possible he’d come to ask Papa for her hand in marriage? Oh, she hoped so! She could scarcely breathe for the tangle of love and longing in her heart …
    Then Laura froze in the doorway, unable to believe her eyes. Alex was twisting her father around to face a wall of bookshelves. Papa didn’t resist; his craggy features bore a look of dazed shock. With a length of cord, Alex proceeded to tie her father’s hands behind his back.
    Horrified, Laura rushed toward the two men. “What are you doing? Stop that at once!”
    She thrust Alex away, seized the cord, and tugged at the knot. He caught hold of her wrists. “Forgive me, Laura. I’d hoped you wouldn’t have to witness this.”
    “Witness what? Why are you treating Papa like … like a criminal?”
    “I was seeking notepaper and pen to leave a message for you a few moments ago when I spied those earrings in his drawer.” He nodded toward a pair of large, bluish diamonds sparkling atop the desk. “They’re so distinctive, I recognized them at once. They were stolen from the Duchess of Knowles, along with the Blue Moon diamond necklace.”
    Laura stared in disbelief at the precious stones, unable to fathom how they’d come to be here. The robbery had been the talk of the ton for the past fortnight. “You must be mistaken. My father is not a thief.” She grasped her father’s coat sleeve and implored, “Tell him, Papa! Tell him that you didn’t steal those earrings.”
    His gray eyes clouded with bewilderment, he shook his head. “I’ve already done so, my dear. But he won’t believe me.”
    “Someone else left the jewels here. To make you look guilty of the crime.” She spun toward Alex. “You must listen to him, help us find out who did this. Please, the least you can do is to give him a chance.”
    Those dark eyes held hers for a moment as if he were wrestling with an inner dilemma. He glanced away, and then looked back at her. “I’m sorry, but he’ll have to be taken to Bow Street for questioning. The magistrate will decide how to proceed.”
    She could scarcely believe Alex was the same man who’d amused her with his charming banter, who had kissed her so tenderly and made her ache with desire. “And what will happen to Papa then? He’ll be found guilty on your testimony. He’ll be sentenced to die.”
    With the bleak chill of a stranger, Alex regarded her. “That remains to be seen. In time, I hope you’ll realize that I’ve no other choice. Please try to understand, I’m obliged to do my duty.”
    As he turned away to secure her father’s bindings, she realized with a cold knell of shock that Alex cared nothing for her father—or for her. He wouldn’t shed a tear even if Papa were to swing from a hangman’s noose. A frantic fear choked her throat. She couldn’t let this happen, she mustn’t. In wild desperation, she snatched up a penknife …
    Laura took a deep breath to clear her mind of the vivid memory. Even after the passage of a decade, she still felt a sense of sick betrayal at Alex’s unwillingness to trust in Papa’s exemplary character. The earl had not been interested in finding any other explanation for the presence of the jewels. He had treated her father as a common thief who was subject to his lordly judgment.
    She glared through the crack in the curtains. If only it weren’t a vastly stupid thing to do, she’d relish flinging open the coach door, witnessing his startled expression, and giving him a severe tongue-lashing in front of everyone on the street. Many a time she’d imagined that confrontation, planning in her mind precisely how she would cut him to shreds with sharp words in retaliation for his treachery.
    But not now when he could thwart her plans. The Blue Moon diamond was still missing. If he learned she was back in London, he’d likely haul her off to the police station and accuse her of being her