Dangerous to Hold Read Online Free PDF Page A

my sister.”
    “Your sister?” Amy’s nostrils flared. “As I remember, you told me in Lisbon that you never wanted to see me again. So what in hell’s name are you doing here, Cat?”
    It had been a long, long time since anyone had called her Cat. Her throat thickened and she said hoarsely, “I was angry in Lisbon. Shocked. I blamed you for Papa’s death. I said things I shouldn’t have said, things I regretted almost at once. But it was too late. I couldn’t find you. I don’t blame you for what you’ve become. I blame the men who prey on you. I’m sorry for Lisbon, Amy. I’m so sorry.”
    Amy showed her teeth. “You may take your pathetic apology and get the hell out of my house. Who do youthink you are to pity me? Look around you, Cat. I own this house. I earned it with my own money, yes, and every stick of furniture in it.”
    “Amy …”
    “Your sister is dead. That’s what you told me in Lisbon. And that’s the truth. The Amy you knew doesn’t exist.”
    “I can’t believe that it has come to this. Now that I’ve found you, won’t you at least give me a chance?”
    Amy took a few steps around the room, stopped and asked abruptly, “What is it you want from me?”
    Catherine knew that what she really wanted she was unlikely to get. Amy would never go back to the house in Hampstead, not after living in this luxury. But there must be something else she could do besides prostitute her body for money.
    As Catherine groped to put her thoughts into words, Amy exhaled a long exasperated breath. “If you think you can persuade me to give up all this,”—she gestured comprehensively with one hand—”you can think again. I have my own box at the opera, yes, and my own carriage. I give parties and receptions and mix with fashionable society. My gowns are made up by the most exclusive modiste in London. These are real diamonds you see at my throat. Need I say more?”
    For the first time, Catherine spoke with asperity. “The only fashionable society you mix with are rakes and roués, yet even these degenerates would not dream of introducing you to their sisters for fear you might contaminate them. And this house, for all its elegance, is still notorious. You are almost thirty-three years old. How long do you think you can continue like this?”
    “Rakes and roués?” Amy laughed. “What would you know about rakes and roués? Go home, Cat, where you belong. You were right when you said you had no sister. Neither do I. It’s as if she never existed.”
    In answer to this, Catherine set down her muff with the pistol still in it, and opened her reticule. She kept her eyes on her sister as sovereigns spilled through her fingers and onto the carpeted floor. “You sent me these, didn’t you? Why, Amy? Why did you send me money?”
    For a moment, Army seemed to be debating with herself, then shrugging, she replied, “I saw you from an upstairs window when you came here two days ago. You looked shabby. I thought you could use the money. I’m sure Father didn’t leave you well off.”
    “You see?” Catherine said eagerly. “You’re not as hard as you pretend to be. We are sisters, Amy. That means something.”
    “Oh, for mercy’s sake, just take the money and go before someone finds you here.”
    “I don’t want your money. I want us to be friends again.”
    “Friends!”
The word echoed off the walls. Amy lowered her voice. “You were always the clever one, Cat, but you never did possess a shred of common sense. I see nothing has changed. Go home. Forget about me. I don’t want to see you here again.”
    “Then write to me. Answer my letters.”
    “What would be the point? Anything I might have to say to you has already been said”
    Before Catherine could reply to this, voices were heard on the stairs calling for Amy, men’s voices.
    “I must go,” said Amy, “and so must you. Don’t show your face here again.” She moved quickly to the door, hesitated, then swept out without a