Masquerading Mistress
April 1816 Penleven Castle, Cornwall'She said what…?' The Duke of Penborne's shout echoed around the antechamber and Leonard Lindsay stepped back.
'Caroline Anstretton said that she had once been… intimate with you. She did qualify that it was no longer the case, but her tone of voice was such that most people present guessed that she still harboured at least some affection.'
Hearing the words a second time made little difference to the scale of Thornton's anger and, making an effort to temper it, he tried again. This was hardly his cousin's fault, after all, and he was long past the stage of caring enough to shoot the messenger when the news was bad.
'You are telling me this woman said that I was her lover?'
'She did.'
'Is she simple?'
'She definitely does not give that impression.'
'Ugly, then?' He hated to even utter the question given the state of his own face, but he had to know what he was up against.
'She is one of the most beautiful women to have ever graced London. I have heard that said time and time again since she arrived here and I would guess that, even given the enormity of her confession, she would have a hundred takers ... read full excerpt from Masquerading Mistress ebook
