In the Garden of Seduction Read Online Free PDF

yourself, Mr. Peters. I am home and nothing your employer
can do will ever change that fact. When do I have to leave?”
    “You have a week to prepare. Lord
Whittingham has made all the arrangements, and I will escort you to
his estate.”
    Cassandra nodded, aware that the courage she
was displaying would soon desert her. She could not sit here and
continue to talk in a rational, controlled manner as if her world
were not falling apart. Her ordered life had been tossed into the
air like so many pebbles, only to fall in an unknown pattern at her
feet.
    She stood.
    The little wooden chest, forgotten on her
lap, tumbled to the floor, though a metal clasp kept the contents
from spilling. For several moments no one moved. She shared a look
with her father then bent down and picked up the box.
    “Mr. Peters,” Cassandra said as she
straightened and transferred her gaze to the detective, “you have
earned your pay this day.”
    “Beg pardon?” He appeared ill at ease.
    “There’s always the temptation to slay the
messenger. I realize you are only doing your duty.”
    “Thank you,” the detective murmured.
    “Papa, I will let you see our guest out. I
think I need to be alone for awhile.” She stopped at the library
door and spoke to the detective once more. “I will be ready one
week from today, Mr. Peters.”
    She found her way upstairs but instinct must
have taken her there, for she couldn’t remember making the journey.
Cassandra paused at the threshold to her bedchamber, feeling as if
she were seeing it for the first time.
    The suite was richly appointed, a tribute to
an adored child, from the drapes that graced the mullioned windows
to the outrageously expensive Persian carpeting on the floor. Done
in varying shades of blue with ivory, it suited her taste
perfectly.
    Nothing was too good for her. Quintin James
had pampered Cassandra all her life, giving her everything she had
ever wanted and more, much more. He indulged her, allowing her to
do as she pleased, for her happiness made him happy.
    To think, this morning she had been upset
because a young lord had had the temerity to trifle with her. If
this was God’s way of giving her perspective, then she had to admit
He had brought his message home most forcefully.
    Cassandra stepped through the doorway and
walked to the bed. She placed the chest on the counterpane then ran
her fingers over the carved top. A numbness had settled over her
though she felt thankful for the respite from emotions gone out of
control. Her curiosity was dead at the moment—she really didn’t
want to know. Regrettably, it seemed she had no choice. Drawing in
a deep, unsteady breath she opened the lid.
    Inconceivable how several scraps of yellowed
paper could change one’s life forever. There were pages filled with
disjointed sentences, written in an uneducated hand by her mother
Louise in the form of a confession. Those pages comprised the bulk
of what was in the box, along with a copy of the Whittingham’s
wedding certificate obtained in Gretna Green. Louise Smith had
indeed started her life as Louise Biddle. And she had worked in the
household of Trevor Lamberton’s young widow. Louise changed her
name so she could not be traced after she disappeared with the
couple’s newborn daughter. Marriage to Quintin James had hidden her
completely. Poor Louise had been guilt-ridden from the part she had
played in Cassandra’s abduction, and she had spent most of her
adult life dreading detection.
    A young Mary Lamberton, overcome with grief
at the death of her new husband, had begged her servant to care for
the baby. She had no family of her own and no one to whom she could
turn for help. Mary hated Trevor’s father Earl Whittingham and
adamantly insisted the man should not be allowed near her child.
Tragically, she had died a few days after giving birth.
    Cassandra could not help wondering what had
caused the terrible aversion Mary felt for her father-in-law.
Whether fear or spite