The Dark Affair Read Online Free PDF

older man. She hadn’t been to Mass in years, but the English were very clear about their opinions of those of the faith she’d been born to.
    He narrowed his eyes and puffed at his cigar. “Such things can be got around.”
    She stared at him, unblinking. “You wish to hire me as your son’s lifelong keeper?”
    “Exactly. Yes. It must be done. He cannot be left to his own devices.”
    She raised a hand and pressed it to her stomach, wondering how the devil things had gotten to this point. Never in a month of Sundays would she have seen things heading in this barmy direction. “You are blunt.”
    “I have no choice but to be so. I will not be here to protect my son forever. And I want an heir. That must be absolutely understood.” He rolled the cigar between his fingers, agitation making the motion jerky.
    The implication was clear. The earl was aging and was worried about the fate of his only child and the earldom. And though she felt for his predicament, she would not sacrifice herself on the altar of his peerage. Not even for what seemed such a lucrative proposal. “I shan’t do it.”
    “Why not?” he scoffed. “It is a better offer than many women could ever hope to have.”
    Any sympathy she’d had for him vanished. Just like the English. She never should have expected anything but this sort of calculation and drive to further his own wishes. “I cannot be bought in such a fashion.”
    “So,” he mocked. “You will be bought all your life by others until you are old and alone?” He pointed a finger at her. “I offer you security.”
    She did not care to be pushed, and if it weren’t for the man abandoned in the cell in this ward, she would have turned on her heel and left the earl twisting in the wind. She valued her own independence and self-worth far too highly to sell it. “What you offer is out of the question.”
    That strong entitlement that had wrapped him up these last moments cracked again, exposing the desperate man. The man the earl doubtless wished had never been allowed to see the light of day, let alone be exposed in the presence of a woman. “Please.”
    “I will help your son, my lord, but I shan’t give up myself to do it.”
    All the bravado, all that English stiffness, crumbled away, once again leaving a man who had no control over the fate of his son’s mind, and as a consequence, the legacy he’d worked all his life to pass on would vanish. The earl nodded slowly, and Margaret couldn’t help but feel as if she’d slid a dagger between the old man’s ribs. Still, she wouldn’t bring herself to do it. Who knew what a life shackled to a stranger would bring? Misery, she guessed. She couldn’t believe he’d even considered such a thing. “Don’t worry yourself. I shall set him to rights,” she said gently.
    The earl drew in a tight breath and turned away. In the firelight, Margaret could have sworn she saw the sliver of a tear trace down his cheek. She wished she could reach out to him, but it would be enough that she’d do everything within her ability to bring Viscount Powers back to himself. Soon the earl would see that.
    •   •   •
    Matthew Cassidy lurked outside the rickety stairwell that led up to his sister’s dodgy lodging. He took a long draw on his cigarette to calm his frayed nerves. The tip glowed demon red in the murky London night. Faith, he hated the English. He hated what they had brought him to. And now he hated London Town. How he wished he was back in the peat-tinged air of Galway, overlooking the bay. But he couldn’t go back. Not now. Not ever. For many reasons. Reasons too bleedin’ frightening to think about.
    So, instead of thinking, he smoked. Again and again until he held naught but a scrap between his shaking fingers. He tucked himself further into the shadows, desperate not to be noticed.
    The scurry of a rat darting over his boot sent him jumping into a scummy pool of stagnate liquid. Most likely from the cesspool that had