McAlistair's Fortune Read Online Free PDF Page B

shouldn’t ask. Knew she shouldn’t bring it up. But she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “Why…that night in the woods…why—” She cut off at the shake of his head.
    “I shouldn’t have. You’re not meant for me.”
    Suspicion, ugly and as painful as his earlier silence, seeped in. “And who am I m-meant for, Mr. McAlistair?”
    “Someone…other,” he answered softly. “Just other.”
    Suspicion left as quickly as it had arrived. He wasn’t speaking of a specific man for her, only a man who wasn’t him. He didn’t know of the ruse, then. Presumably.
    “I am meant for whomever it is I am meant for,” she returned. “My fortune isn’t for you to tell.”
    Pleased with her response and relieved she’d managed to deliver it without a single stammer, she turned and walked through the doorway, shutting the door behind her.
    She found Lizzy still standing in the center of the room, clutching her bedding to her chest.
    “Well, what did he say?” Lizzy demanded.
    “That he expects your windows would prove too much a temptation for any murderers creeping about the grounds.”
    Lizzy’s mouth fell open. “They’d come through my windows? Through me?”
    Guilt stabbed at Evie. It was possible Lizzy knew nothing of the scheme, though unlikely, as a matchmaking ruse was something Lizzy would find very irresistible.
    “Of course not. He’s overreacting, that’s all. Didn’t you say Lord Thurston wouldn’t allow for any harm to come to us?”
    “To you,” Lizzy corrected and earned herself a hard glare from Evie. “Yes, all right, to any of us. Am I to sleep on the floor, then, miss?”
    “Don’t be silly. There are a dozen other beds in the house. What of your old room next to Kate’s?”
    “I couldn’t.” Lizzy shuddered dramatically. “Those rooms are enormous. I’d be too nervous to sleep with Lady Kate gone.”
    Evie wanted to laugh. Kate’s nocturnal composing had been the very reason Lizzy had recently chosen to take up residence in the room next door. It was difficult to sleep when your mistress left candles burning half the night, hummed to herself, and had a tendency to trip over furniture.
    Laughter, unfortunately, was not an appropriate response under the current circumstances. She wasn’t supposed to be amused, she reminded herself. She was supposed to be frightened. Terribly frightened—and terribly brave about it.
    “Sleep here, then. The bed is large enough for the both of us.”
    Lizzy didn’t need a second invitation. She tossed her bundle on a chair and scrambled onto the four-poster. “Thank you, miss. I’ll sleep a world better with someone else in the room.”
    As Lizzy had a tendency to snore, Evie doubted she could say the same.
    She wasn’t given the chance to complain. A soft knock on the door to the hall heralded the arrival of Mrs. Summers, wearing a frilly night rail and frillier cap.
    Evie blinked at her, absolutely baffled. “Mrs. Summers?”
    “Good evening, Evie.” She swept past her to the bed. “Wiggle aside a bit, Lizzy dear. I prefer the outside.”
    Evie gaped at her. “The out—”
    “Mr. McAlistair has taken up residence in Lizzy’s quarters, has he not?” Mrs. Summers sent her a questioning glance as she removed her wrap.
    “Well, yes, but—”
    “Then I insist on taking up residence here. Threat or not, you have a reputation to consider.” And with that pronouncement, she slipped under the covers next to Lizzy.
    Evie threw up her hands. “I can’t see how anyone else would know. We haven’t any visitors who are likely to betray a confidence, and the staff would never gossip.”
    “Most of the staff, certainly,” Mrs. Summers agreed as she adjusted a pillow to her liking. “But your aunt informs me you have several relatively new maids and grooms on hand.”
    As Lizzy had pointed out earlier, the most recent additions to the household had arrived more than seven months ago, but it hardly seemed worth the energy to argue.