Fanning the Flame Read Online Free PDF Page B

something—"
    "I didn't kill him! W-we had just finished playing chess. He went over to sit by the fire and I-I went to fetch a book he wanted. The earl had trouble falling asleep so I often read to him before he retired. That night he sent me into his private library to retrieve a copy of a book by Lord Chesterfield. It wasn't his usual sort of reading, but he told me where to find it, and I had gone to fetch it when I heard the shot."
    He studied her face for several long moments, then very slowly released her. Fortunately, her trembling legs decided to hold her up.
    "If that is the truth, then why did you lie?"
    Jillian moistened lips that felt as brittle as parchment. If the earl turned her over to the authorities . . . dear God, it didn't bear thinking about. "I was afraid if you knew I was there in the study, that you would react just as Atwater did. That you would be certain that I had . . . that I had killed the earl."
    He assessed her for several moments more. Jillian kept her eyes on his face and her chin held high, praying that he would believe her. Another second passed before he took a step backward. Even with the few feet between them, she could feel the anger emanating from him and remember the imprint of his long, dark fingers on her arms.
    "Tell me why I should believe you."
    She straightened, fixed her eyes on his face. Such a beautiful face, she thought in some distant corner of her mind, and so disconcerting. "Because I am telling you the truth, and I believe that in some hidden corner of your heart you know it or you wouldn't have helped me in the first place."
    The edge of his mouth barely curved. "What makes you think I have a heart?"
    Why did she? Perhaps it was the affection he felt for his magnificent black stallion, or the beautiful Egyptian antiquities he displayed with such care, as if he respected their ancient wisdom.
    And yet when she looked into those cold, forbidding eyes, she believed he might be every bit as unfeeling as he appeared.
    "I'm telling you the truth. I didn't shoot the earl."
    He said nothing to that, simply turned and walked away. He paused near a small round piecrust table near the hearth. "Let's assume for the present that I believe you."
    Relief hit her so hard she swayed a little on her feet.
    "If you expect me to help you, from now on you'll have to tell me the truth. All of it. No matter how painful, no matter how frightened you are. I'll accept nothing less, and should I discover again that you have deceived me, I will drag you down to the magistrate's office myself."
    Jillian shivered, not doubting for a moment that he meant every word. "I've told you everything. At least all I remember. It happened so quickly and I was upset. But I didn't kill him. Whatever reason could I possibly have to harm that dear old man?"
    One of his sleek black eyebrows went up. "That is how you saw him? Most of the ton viewed him as a miserly old fool, set in his ways, and impossibly self-indulgent."
    Sadness tugged at her heart. "Perhaps to some extent he was a bit of those things, but he was always beyond generous with me."
    Blackwood's deep voice hardened. "At what cost, Miss Whitney?"
    Jillian frowned, uncertain what he meant.
    "You took care of him, didn't you? Bent to his wishes . . . whatever they might be?"
    An image of his dear, homely face appeared. "Whatever I did for him . . . it was a small price to pay."
    Blackwood's mouth looked hard as he turned and walked to the door. "It would seem you'll be staying for a while. You'll need some things to wear."
    Jillian looked down at the dark stain on the hem of her gown she had tried unsuccessfully to wash out that morning.
    "I've a friend about your size," he said. "I'll see what I can do."
    A friend her size. One of his mistresses, no doubt. A man as wealthy and attractive as the Earl of Blackwood would have any number of women. It wasn't a comforting thought.
    "What about the servants? The authorities will be looking for me. By this