Lord of Darkness - By Elizabeth Hoyt Page 0,121
very brave to defend me,” Artemis added hastily.
Penelope brightened. “I was, wasn’t I? This is much better than drinking a cup of gin at midnight in St. Giles. I’m sure Lord Featherstone will be very impressed.”
Artemis rolled her eyes as she turned back the way they’d come down the alley. Lord Featherstone was, at the moment, her least favorite person in the world. It was he who had teased Penelope into accepting a mad wager to come into St. Giles at midnight, buy a tin cup of gin, and drink it. Lord Featherstone had nearly gotten them killed—or worse.
He still might, in fact.
Artemis kept a wary eye out as she hurried out of the alley and into another narrow lane. The channel running down the middle of the street was clogged with something noxious and she made sure not to look as she walked swiftly by. Penelope had quieted, following almost docilely. A stooped figure came out of one of the sagging buildings. Artemis stiffened, preparing to run, but the man or woman hurried away at the sight of them.
Still, she didn’t relax again until they turned the corner and saw Penelope’s carriage, left standing in a wider street.
“Ah, here we are,” Penelope said as if they were returning from a stroll along Bond Street. “That was quite exciting, wasn’t it?”
Artemis glanced at her cousin incredulously—and a movement on the roof of the building across the way caught her eye. A figure crouched there, athletic and waiting. She stilled. As she looked, he raised a hand to the brim of his hat in mocking salute.
“Artemis?” Penelope had already mounted the steps to the carriage.
Artemis tore her gaze away from the watchful figure. “Coming, Cousin.”
She climbed the carriage and sat tensely on the plush indigo squabs. He’d followed them, but why? To discover who they were? Or for a more benign reason—to make sure that they reached the carriage safely. Silly, she scolded herself—it did no good to indulge in flights of romantic fancy. She doubted that a creature such as the Ghost of St. Giles cared very much for the safety of two foolish ladies. No doubt he had reasons of his own for following them.
“Just wait until the Duke of Wakefield hears my tale,” Penelope said, interrupting Artemis’s thoughts. “He’ll be terribly surprised, I’ll wager.”
“Mmm,” Artemis murmured, noncommittally. Penelope was very beautiful, but would any man want a wife so hen-witted that she ventured into St. Giles at night on a wager and thought it a great lark? For a moment Artemis’s heart twinged with pity for her cousin.
But then again, Penelope was one of the richest heiresses in England. Much could be overlooked for a veritable mountain of gold.
Artemis sighed silently and let her cousin’s excited chatter wash over her. She ought to pay more attention. Her fate was inexorably tied to Penelope’s, for Artemis would go to whatever house and family her cousin married into.
Unless Penelope decided she no longer needed a lady’s companion after she wed.
Artemis’s fingers tightened about the thing the Ghost of St. Giles had left in her hand. She’d had a glimpse of it in the carriage’s lantern light before she entered. It was a gold signet ring set with a red stone. She rubbed her thumb absently over the worn stone. It felt ancient. Powerful. Which was quite interesting.
An aristocrat might wear such a ring
Turn the page and explore deeper into Elizabeth Hoyt’s enchanting Maiden Lane series …
WICKED INTENTIONS
Infamous for his wild, sensual needs, Lord Caire is searching for a savage killer in St Giles, London’s most notorious slum. Widowed Temperance Dews knows St Giles like the back of her hand – she’s spent a lifetime caring for its inhabitants at the foundling home her family established. Now that home is at risk …
Caire makes a simple offer: in return for Temperance’s help navigating the perilous alleys of St Giles, he will introduce her to London’s high society so that she can find a benefactor for the home. But Temperance may not be the innocent she seems, and what begins as cold calculation soon falls prey to a passion that neither can control – one that may well destroy them both.
978-0-7499-5455-0
NOTORIOUS PLEASURES
Lady Hero Batten is perfect, well-mannered and beautiful with an impeccable pedigree. After years of waiting for a gentleman to sweep her off her feet, she has decided to do her duty and settle for a proper society marriage to Thomas Remmington, the Marquis of Mandeville. True, the Marquis is a trifle dull and lacks a sense of humour, but he is handsome and rich.
Griffin Remmington, the Marquis’ younger brother, is not at all perfect. In fact, some have called him the most notorious rake in London. When Griffin meets Hero he thinks that she is much too intelligent for society, let alone his brother. Their duel of words soon sparks a fire in them both, despite the fact that Hero’s marriage to Thomas is drawing ever nearer …
978-0-7499-5455-0
SCANDALOUS DESIRES
Widowed Silence Hollingbrook is impoverished, lovely and kind – and nine months ago she made a terrible mistake. She went to a river pirate for help in saving her husband and in the process made a bargain at the cost of her marriage. That night wounded her so terribly that Silence hides in the foundling home she runs with her brother. Except now that same river pirate is back … and he’s asking for her help.
‘Charming’ Mickey O’Connor is the most ruthless river pirate in London. Devastatingly handsome and fearsomely intelligent, he clawed his way up through London’s criminal underworld. Mickey has no use for tender emotions like compassion and love, and he sees people as pawns to be manipulated. And yet he’s never been able to forget the naive captain’s wife who came to him when she was most in need …
978-0-7499-5450-5
THIEF OF SHADOWS
When society widow Lady Isabel Beckinhall becomes involved with the Home for Unfortunate Infants and Foundling Children, she soon clashes with its manager, Winter Makepeace, whom she finds severely monastic, terribly solemn … and quite distractingly intriguing. And Winter does have a secret: at night he transforms into the masked avenger, the Ghost of St Giles.
After the infamous Ghost of St Giles is wounded while rescuing a notorious pirate from the gallows, Isabel has no choice but to hide him from a ravenous mob, though doesn’t discover his identity. Winter is haunted by this glimpse of the tender – and sensuous – side of Lady Beckinhall, though he knows that they are too far apart socially to ever be together. But when a relentless dragoon captain begins hunting the Ghost of St Giles, Winter must decide if he can trust his secret, his life and his heart to Isabel’s hands.
978-0-7499-5814-5
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Table of Contents
Praise for Elizabeth Hoyt:
Also by Elizabeth Hoyt
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Epilogue
Wicked Intentions
Notorious Pleasures
Scandalous Desires
Thief of Shadows