The Black Widow Read Online Free PDF Page A

Thorverton sent for him after she heard that her precious son Collier danced with Meribe twice at the Bridgefords’ ball last Friday. Doubtless we shall never see either of those two young men again.” At least she hoped not, Hester thought, clenching her fists in her lap.
    Thorverton had been in London six years ago, and seeing him again tonight had brought back too many memories. Luckily no one in the ton had ever suspected that Peter had jilted her—that he had waited until the marriage settlements were ready to sign before he had informed her that he was going to marry his childhood sweetheart instead—an insignificant little nobody back in Dorset.
    Apparently fearing a scene if he informed her in the privacy of her own home, he had taken her aside at a dance and in a low voice had told her he had sent a retraction to the paper the next day. Unfortunately for him, she had not been so devastated that she had been unable to turn the tables on him.
    He had obviously expected her to beg and plead with him, but instead in a scathing voice, which was not moderated in the slightest, she had denounced his character without ever mentioning the fickleness of his affections.
    Enough people had heard quite clearly when she called him a hardened gamester and a libertine, that when his retraction had appeared in the paper, he was the one who was the object of the titters and the whispers, and no one had suspected that her heart was broken.
    But as bad as he had hurt her, her father’s subsequent betrayal had been even harder to bear. She had thought that he loved her, but after his death she had discovered she meant nothing to him. His love and affection had been as much an illusion as had Peter’s.
    The carriage came to a stop in front of their house, and Hester rubbed her forehead, futilely trying to ease the headache that had come over her as soon as she’d seen Lord Thorverton staring at her.
    She hoped that he would soon go back to Devon. Seeing him brought back too many unpleasant memories. In the years since she had been jilted, she had acquired a reputation as a hard-hearted, sharp-tongued female, but she did not care. Nothing mattered as much as concealing from everyone how deeply she had been hurt by the two men she had loved.
    * * * *
    “You wanted to discuss something with me?” Collier asked, his tremulous smile betraying a slight nervousness.
    At least Collier had come promptly in response to the note Demetrius had sent around to the Albany, but that was not sufficient to put Demetrius in charity with his brother. “Sit down. Have some breakfast. The grilled kidneys are quite good.”
    With alacrity Collier dropped down into a chair, but declined to partake of any of the food spread out on the sideboard. With a bow, the footman left the two of them alone, closing the doors behind him.
    Staring at his brother, Demetrius continued to eat, and the longer the silence stretched out between them, the more uncomfortable his brother became. First Collier began to fidget in his chair; then, abruptly getting to his feet, he filled a plate for himself.
    “Decided to have a bite after all,” Collier explained, returning to the table. He did not, however, actually eat very much, but at least pushing his food around on his plate gave him something to do with his hands.
    When Collier had reached the proper stage of jumpiness, Demetrius began his attack, having decided that any attempt at subterfuge would be a waste of time.
    “On Thursday last I received a frantic letter from our mother,” he said calmly. “She informed me that you were courting death by courting Miss Meribe Prestwich.”
    Collier let out his breath, then smiled naturally for the first time since he had entered the room. “Oh, is that why you have come to London? I thought Mama had sent for you to make me give up my rooms at the Albany.”
    “Which reminds me, how can you afford to rent your own place?”
    “Lady Luck smiled at me. Won two hundred