Lady Anne's Deception (The Changing Fortunes Series Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

bedroom with sunlight. Then the maid went out quickly and locked the door behind her.
    Annie blushed all over with mortification. Being punished at home where the servants were part of the family was one thing. Being punished the very day after you’ve put your hair up for the first time, and in front of strange London servants, too, was quite awful. She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, and thirsted for revenge.
    As the morning wore on, despite the fact that Annie had only had a few hours’ sleep, she found it impossible to rest. At least it appeared that she was not to be subjected to the bread-and-water treatment. A surprisingly tasty luncheon was delivered to her. Annie did not know that by now the servants all detested Marigold, who bullied them in a way she would not have dared to do at home.
    Sheets of paper were laid out on a little writing desk so that she could write her “lines.” She wrote that a lady did not betray excess of emotion fifty times and then, with a sigh, put down her pen. The room was becoming uncomfortably hot, so she went to open the window and then leaned out. All those free people strolling about below her! She wondered what Marigold was doing. At least there had been no sign of the marquess.
    Her red hair tumbled about her face in a riot of soft curls, all that was left of her elaborate coiffure after she had brushed it out. She was wearing a tailored alpaca skirt and a pin-striped blouse with a stiff little collar.
    She was twisting this way and that way in front of the glass, pushing up her hair to see how it would look in a different style, when she heard the rattle of a carriage on the cobblestones outside.
    The carriage stopped.
    Annie rushed to the window.
    The Marquess of Torrance was descending from his chariot—always to be pronounced “char-ot” since no lady ever used all of the syllables. He was carrying his hat in his hand and the sun shone on his crisp black hair. His beautifully tailored, dove-gray coat fell open to reveal an ornately embroidered waistcoat. He had arrived in an open carriage and that meant that, had Annie been at liberty to go for a drive, she would not have needed a chaperone. But she could not go. There was no way. Her bedroom was three floors above the street and the door was firmly locked.
    Downstairs, the Marquess of Torrance smiled blandly on Aunt Agatha and Lady Marigold. He had not asked for Annie.
    Now Marigold was firmly convinced that the way to entrap a man was to drive him mad with rejection. She knew she was looking extremely pretty in a pale pink, flowered silk skirt and a blond lace blouse with a high, boned collar.
    So when the marquess said gently that it was a beautiful day for a drive in the park, Marigold tossed her head, and, with what she hoped was a killing laugh, said, “Is it, my lord? I declare I hadn’t noticed.”
    “I thought all ladies enjoyed showing off their fashions in the park,” said the marquess.
    “For myself,” said Marigold, who had not, as yet, been for a drive in the park at the fashionable hour, “I cannot see the fascination in simply going around and around in a carriage.”
    Aunt Agatha glared at Marigold, but Marigold sat with a serene smile on her face. The marquess, she knew, would promptly beg for her company, and, after a certain amount of pretty hesitation, she would finally allow him that honor.
    He was sitting, very much at his ease, in an armchair that faced the window. “In that case,” he said, “I will not press you to do something that you obviously despise, Lady Marigold. I shall try my luck with your sister and hope that she will take pity on me.”
    “I am afraid Lady Annie is indisposed,” began Aunt Agatha, “and you must forgive Marigold’s naughty teasing, my lord, for…”
    “Oh, do not trouble to apologize,” said the marquess. “Unless I am much mistaken, Lady Annie has fully recovered and is shortly about to join us.”
    “Why, what do you mean? Annie