Lady Rogue Read Online Free PDF Page B

generally consisted of scrounged bread, when it was eaten at all.
    She declined a formal tour of the house, preferring to have the various rooms pointed out to her at the outset and then exploring them on her own. The butler seemed determined to lurk, but she decided to ignore him, and as she wandered from one magnificent room to another, Wenton’s presence receded into a barely noticed annoyance. She’d never seen such wealth outside the walls of the Palais Royale. In fact, if the plentiful gold and silver and crystal were any indication, the Earl of Everton was not her father’s traitorous noble. Alexander Cale had no need for the funds or the difficulties of a government appointment. She didn’t believe rakehells were given such positions of responsibility, anyway.
    Just inside the door to the morning room, she paused. It was tucked into the front eastern corner of the house, and was bright and neat, with overstuffed pillows and throw blankets carefully placed to adorn the deep couch just so. Two well-padded chairs had been set close by the windows, but just far enough away that sunlight would never touch whoever was seated in them. It felt very feminine and delicate, unlike the other rooms in the mansion—perhaps a favorite of the late countess, Everton’s mother. With a self-conscious glance over her shoulder at the butler, she continued to the next door.
    It was locked. “What’s in here?” she asked Wenton.
    “The earl’s private study,” he returned, taking her question as an invitation to quit lurking and step up beside her.
    “Why is it locked?” As far as she had seen, other than the silver closet, it was the only room shut off from her on the first two floors.
    “I could not venture to say, Mr. Riley.”
    The butler might suffer from a complete lack of curiosity, but then he was not the offspring of a smuggler and occasional thief. Seeing what might lie inside, though, would have to wait for a better opportunity. With a last glance at the door, she stepped around Wenton and across the hall, into the room she had saved for last.
    The library was definitely masculine, and wholly the Earl of Everton’s. Evidently either the earl or one of his ancestors had loved to read, for she had never seen such a collection of books as lay in the Cale House library. She suspected the collector to be the present earl, though, for some of the manuscripts looked quite recent. The room had the comforting smell of old paper, and with a faint smile Kit made her way around the shelves, running her finger slowly along the spines of the books to read their titles. Reading was an extravagance she’d had little opportunity for as she got older, and one she’d never missed as keenly as she did right then. Perhaps before the fortnight was over she would have a little time, if Everton didn’t mind loaning out part of his collection.
    With some servant or another in sight all day, exploring the house for anything useful remained impossible, and she wasn’t interested in seeing the remainder of the bedchambers. She’d seen the drawing room, and doubted the formal dining room or the ballroom on the third floor would hold any state secrets.
    After luncheon she wandered into the morning room to look out the front window. Just across wide Park Lane, the grassy avenues of Hyde Park were crowded with well-dressed gentlemen and ladies. Kit pursed her lips, then gave a slight smile. They shouldn’t mind onemore young lad looking about. Quickly she strode back out to the entryway, settled her hat on her head, pulled the door open, and headed across the lane.
    Less than half an hour later she ferreted out a promising rat. The group of lords talking together on horseback at the edge of Rotten Row didn’t even notice her as she strolled over to stand in the shade of an elm tree close by. They were discussing Napoleon and tariffs, so she turned to get a glimpse of them through the shrubbery.
    “But he’s hurting our own commerce, as