The Robber Bride Read Online Free PDF

taken ill.”
    “I do hope it’s nothing serious!” Victoria’s brow furrowed with feigned concern. Everyone knew Lady Beecham would be thrilled if her husband suddenly dropped dead. She’d maintain the name and finally be free to have affairs openly rather than in secret. As if her affairs were a secret to begin with.
    “We just can’t know yet, but thank you for thinking of us, dear Victoria. A treasure you are.”
    This time, both Tom and Fin choked on their brandy. Victoria shot them a warning look, but it was impossible to hide their mirth.
    It took only a moment for Lady Beecham to regain her faculties. “And I see your dear brother has returned at last. Tom, I do hope you’ll make time this week to tell me all about your travels.”
    Tom did his best to remain polite, though any bystander could see that meeting with Lady Beecham was the last thing he cared to do. “Of course, my lady. It would be my pleasure.”
    Finally she turned to Fin and, with a seductive bat of her eyelashes, said simply, “Lord Leyburn .”
    Fin’s mouth dropped open. Lady Beecham was trying to make him jealous. How very amusing. But of course, the joke would be on her.
    ***
    Dinner was a painstaking event for Victoria, who was not only dining in the home of her last victim, but who was also tragically seated next to the deplorable Lady Beecham. It was enough she’d had to speak with her before dinner, but now her appetite was completely ruined. The woman spent the entire meal trying to dredge up information about Tom and Finny—clearly she’d set them up as her next conquests.
    Victoria shivered with a bit of disgust. Though she knew the two of them were far from saints, she didn’t care to think about what went on behind their closed doors. And the last thing she wanted to do was facilitate a tête-à-tête between one of them and a potential lover. Even the word lover made Victoria a bit queasy.
    However, seeing as Lady Beecham was to be her next conquest, it was not actually ideal that they were spending so much time together this evening. What if she became more attuned to the cadence of Victoria’s voice and recognized it later on while she was being robbed?
    No, that would never happen. Victoria had worked too hard at disguising herself and her voice over the last two years. She was worrying for nothing.
    When dinner was finished, Victoria left her brother and Fin to join the ladies in the drawing room for tea and spice cake, though Victoria would refrain from the cake. If she had to get close to Lady Beecham during the robbery, the woman might recognize the smell of it on her breath.
    Victoria sighed. One day she would retire from her work and be able to enjoy her life without thinking of such intricate details. But for now, it was of utmost importance that she be vigilant, lest she find herself with a noose about her neck.
    ***
    The night droned on in boring detail. Fin wanted nothing more than to go home and enjoy his own brandy with his paints and canvas. The portrait of Victoria was coming along quite nicely, and he itched to finish it. Perhaps he would make her a birthday present of it, though he wasn’t so sure he would want to part with it. It was perhaps one of his best pieces to date.
    Either way, he wished to finish it. If only there were an opening to excuse himself from the party. As it was, their host, Lord Culver, kept on and on about having been robbed at gunpoint several evenings before on the Great North Road.
    Fin might have brushed it off as an odd occurrence, since highwaymen really were not de rigeur anymore, except that Lord Culver was not the first to experience such a thing in recent times. Fin had overheard many a story at his club of highway robberies, so clearly there were thieves out there, looking for a bit of coin to fill their own coffers. Though he wondered at the magistrate’s inability to bring any of these men to justice.
    As Lord Culver finally wrapped up his frightening tale, Fin