A Perfect Scandal Read Online Free PDF Page A

familiar with the titled nobility.
    Dante blinked. “I must ask, Lady Isabel, how do you know Mr. Hawksley was not involved in the disappearance of the painting at issue.”
    “I’m sure you can surmise the truth.”
    Dante’s bold gaze raked over her figure, noting the low-cut bodice of her gown, the dark disheveled hair brushing her shoulders and flowing down her back. He smirked.
    “No, Lady Isabel,” Dante said, “I dare not surmise anything without proof. But perhaps you’re mistaken. After all, the painting was insured by Lloyd’s of London, and the company will promptly send an insurance investigator who will want to take your statement, to question you. Your father, the earl, will undoubtedly be notified. Everyone will know, especially Lord Yarmouth, the Regent’s own art agent who wanted the painting for Carlton House. Even Lady Yarmouth, whom I understand is firmly entrenched in the ton, accompanied him today. Is that what you want, Lady Isabel?”
    He’s trying to intimidate me! she thought.
    The implication was clear. Dante was threatening her with social ruin if she continued to act as Marcus’s alibi. But what the arrogant auctioneer didn’t know was that Isabel had planned and failed to achieve such a fate only moments ago.
    Tossing her head, she eyed Dante with cold challenge. “Mr. Hawksley was with me the entire time. We are lovers, you see.”
    “Isabel,” Marcus growled. He spun to face Dante. “She’s lying.”
    “I am not.”
    Dante’s cold eyes clawed her like talons, and his narrow, pinched face twisted in anger. She was taken aback at the auctioneer’s fury.
    Shouldn’t he be relieved to know that one suspect was cleared and to start searching for another?
    Alarm rippled along her spine. It was as if he wanted Marcus to be guilty of the theft.
    “I see,” Dante said, an icy edge to his voice. “Since you are so eager to vouch for Mr. Hawskley despite the consequences to yourself, I must insist that you give a full accounting of what time you arrived and what transpired.”
    “I have no objection,” she said.
    “I do,” Marcus snapped.
    “An informal statement will eliminate the need to call the constable. I’m certain the Lloyd’s investigator will find the information useful to eliminate Mr. Hawksley as a suspect. Unless of course, Lady Isabel has changed her mind.”
    “I have not,” she said.
    Dante’s eyes narrowed, and again she was struck by his anger. “Please follow me then, Lady Isabel,” he said, turning to leave.
    It was a demand more than a request. The two burly guards escorted Marcus as they followed Dante out of the room.
    Isabel averted her gaze from the erotic art as she hurried past. It seemed odd that the obscene nature of the statues hadn’t disturbed her when she had been alone with Marcus, but now that she was in the presence of Dante and his men, the artwork made her skin crawl.
    They were led to the parlor of the Westley mansion, which was now empty after the auction.
    Marcus gave her a penetrating look. “Don’t do anything until I get back.”
    He then turned on his heel and followed Dante and the guards out of the room, leaving her alone.
    She looked about the parlor. Remaining pieces of artwork that had not sold were sprawled around the perimeter of the room. Canvases rested against the wall, a copy of a Greek bust sat in a corner, and bronze bowls and crystal figurines were spread out on a table. Dust mites swirled in a stream of light from a nearby window. Isabel sneezed and rubbed her arms, suddenly chilled.
    She sat in an armchair by the empty fireplace and waited for what seemed like a long time. A majestic long-case clock in a dark corner ticked by the seconds, and the sound echoed throughout the room. Her anxiety built with the passage of time, and she experienced a sudden, inexplicable urge to flee. It was as if the solitude in the strange room exposed the impulsiveness in her plan. To escape a loveless match by sullying her