Mischief Read Online Free PDF

of stern disapproval. “Sir, I am well aware of just who you are and what you are. As it happens, ten years ago I lived in London.”
    “Indeed?”
    “I did not move in your circles, my lord. But then, few respectable people did. However, I know how and why you earned the name Cold-blooded Colchester. My niece knows you only as Colchester of Zamar. She has admired you for years. She is not acquainted with your more notorious activities.”
    “Why don’t you inform her of them, Mrs. Elibank?” Matthias asked very softly.
    Horatia took a quick step back, as though she expected him to spring at her with bared fangs. “It would do no good. She would dismiss the tales as malicious gossip.I know her. She would assume that your reputation was unjustly shredded, just as hers was. She would no doubt become your strongest ally and staunchest supporter.”
    “Do you really think so?” Matthias gazed thoughtfully at the doorway. “I have never had very many of those.”
    Horatia glared at him. “Very many of what?”
    “Strong allies and staunch supporters.”
    “I think we both know that there are some very good reasons for that, my lord,” Horatia snapped.
    “As you say.”
    “Colchester, I realize that I have no claim on your consideration, but I am quite desperate. My niece is determined upon this rash plan. You are my only hope.”
    “What the devil do you expect me to do?” Matthias glanced over his shoulder to make certain Imogen had not reappeared in the doorway. “No offense, madam, but I have never encountered a female quite like Miss Waterstone. She leaves a man feeling as if he had just been trampled by the hunt.”
    “I know what you mean, sir, but you must do something or we shall all find ourselves enmeshed in this grand scheme of revenge that she has concocted.”
    “We?” Matthias plucked a leather-bound volume off the nearest shelf.
    “I assure you, Imogen will not give up her scheme if you refuse to cooperate. She will merely find another means to implement it.”
    “Strictly speaking, that is not my problem.”
    “How can you say that?” Horatia looked desperate. “You did make that promise to my brother, sir. It was in Selwyn’s will. It is said that you always keep your promises. Even your worst enemies, and I understand that there are any number of them, do not deny that.”
    “It’s true, madam, I always keep my promises. But I do so in my own fashion. In any event, my debt was to Selwyn Waterstone, not to his niece.”
    “Sir, if you would repay that debt to my dear, departed brother, you must keep Imogen from coming to grief.”
    “Imogen expects another sort of assistance entirely from me, madam. She seems hell-bent on coming to grief and, given her fortitude and determination, I expect she will achieve her goal.”
    “She is amazingly strong-minded,” Horatia admitted.
    “She puts both Napoleon and Wellington to shame.” He inclined his head toward the shelves full of books. “Take my present occupation, for example. I have no clear notion of precisely how I come to find myself assisting Miss Waterstone with the inventory of her uncle’s collection.”
    “That sort of thing happens frequently around my niece,” Horatia said ruefully. “She has a tendency to take charge of a situation.”
    “I see.” Matthias glanced at the title of the book in his hand.
An Account of the Strange and Unusual Objects Found in Tombs Discovered in Certain South Seas Islands
. “I believe this goes on your list.”
    “Books on tomb artifacts, do you mean?” Horatia bustled over to the desk and frowned at a page in the open journal. She dipped a quill into the ink and made a note of the book. “Very well, you may put it with the others.”
    Matthias set the volume down on top of a growing pile of similar titles. He surveyed the remaining volumes absently, his brain busy with the more important problem of Imogen Waterstone. He told himself that he needed information before he could decide