Lady Lissa's Liaison Read Online Free PDF Page B

insect. "Notice the tail, my lord. It is long, but not overly so. You want the trout to reach for the tail but to actually swallow the body with the hook. If the tail is too long, the trout will get a short strike, and you will have enticed him but not hooked him. And the body... can you see how it is nicely rounded? You must do the same with your handmade fly, but you must make certain that it won't unravel when the trout's strong jaw wraps about it."
    She glanced up at him, seeing that he was very carefully studying her watercolor creation. "I—I can teach you how to tie such a fly, Lord Wylde." She frowned as she thought of the trout in the water, its belly filled with Lord Langford's locket—a locket that was disintegrating as they spoke. "We haven't much time, though, I am afraid."
    Lord Wylde's black eyes met her blue ones. "You are thinking of your locket."
    Lissa nodded.
    He frowned, studied her, frowned some more.
    "It must mean a great deal to you," he said at last.
    Lissa thought of Lord Langford. She nodded. "Oh, yes," she breathed. That blasted locket meant her freedom from at least one of her suitors. "It is imperative that I get it back, sir."
    Wylde debated some more. He clearly did not like the idea of striking a bargain with her, but at the same time he obviously desired to know all Lissa knew of insects.
    Finally, he groused, "Then it appears, Lady Lovington, the two of us have a great deal of work to do."
    Lissa wanted to smile with gratitude, but decided against it. Instead, she simply said, "Yes, that does seem to be the size of it, sir."

 
     
     
    Chapter 3

     
    Tilly broke free of the coppice and raced for the lawns of Clivedon Manor, nearly out of breath as she came upon Mrs. Rachett, who was busy hanging laundered linens on the line. The older woman barely glanced in Tilly's direction.
    "Are you not wondering what I be about?" Tilly asked between huge, dramatic gulps of air.
    "No," said Mrs. Rachett, spreading a fine, white table cloth onto the line. She proceeded to beat the wrinkles out of the linen with her plump, raw-boned hands.
    Tilly decided she might just as well rush into the words she'd been rehearsing during her mad dash back to Clivedon Manor. "Oh, la," she said to the disinterested housekeeper, "I be thinking surely you of all those in m'lady's keep would be wondering 'bout her doings."
    The stern-faced Mrs. Rachett pursed her wrinkled lips, not replying.
    Tilly decided to cut to the heart of it all. "M'lady is in the woods with the Heartless Lord Wylde, she is, and glad about that fact! Wants t' spend her day wi' him, she does, and wants not a word of her lee-a..." Tilly stumbled over the word her lady had used. "...her lee-a-zon, to go 'round, for she says it's to be a secret."
    Mrs. Rachett stopped beating the linen. She peered at Tilly, stared at her hard, then looked back at her laundry. "Hmmph," was all she said before she resumed beating the linen again.
    Tilly wasn't fooled by Mrs. Rachett's supposed lack of interest; she knew the familiar "harrumph" meant the old woman had heard every word quite clearly and was no doubt deciding whose ear she would bend first with her bit of newfound gossip.
    "O' course, I not be wanting to tell m'lady's secrets, but I be thinking someone other than me should know... ," Tilly said, allowing her words to trail off.
    Mrs. Rachett hefted another huge linen over the line. "Scat," she muttered to Tilly, scowling with earnest.
    Tilly did just that. She ran for the house, quickly slipping inside the side door. Mrs. Rachett was a nasty old woman, to be sure, but she was also a gossip of the highest order. Tilly had no doubt but by sundown word would be spread through Derbyshire about Lady Lissa's liaison with the Heartless Lord Wylde.
    Feeling as though she'd done a great deed for the day, Tilly popped into the kitchens, intending to pilfer a sweetcake from Cook's store. She was blasted hungry from all her running about and the excitement at the