see St. Peter’s Basilica and the Colosseum for herself.
She sighed. Tomorrow her life would forever be altered. Randolph would offer for her hand and she would accept. Her only regret would be the unsolved mystery surrounding the previous Lady Sterling’s death. But with no additional clues to follow, Angelica was at a loss, partly because she’d reached a dead end and also because she was left to wonder why the viscountess’s ghost had suddenly chosen to leave her alone when it had been so persistent before.
“Nervous?” Randolph queried once dinner was over and they had adjourned to the parlor. “You’ve been very quiet all evening.”
Rose, who’d suddenly decided she had to keep reading a book she’d begun the day before, had taken a seat at one end of the room while Angelica and Randolph removed themselves to the other. Still within sight, though quite out of earshot. He handed her a glass of sherry and claimed the seat beside her on the sofa.
Angelica sipped the sweet Spanish liquor. Her heart fluttered like mad, as if she and Randolph had only just met and he was making advances. “A little,” she confessed.
Twisting sideways to better face her, he caught her gaze with his own. “Then you have made your decision?”
“I made it several days ago and I can assure you it is in your favor.” His smile was immediate, warm and happy. “But the nature of it fills me with the sort of trepidation I imagine I would experience right before embarking on a long journey.”
“You have nothing to worry about.” He moved his leg, just enough for their knees to touch. Angelica’s pulse leapt in response. She sucked in a breath. Randolph’s smile deepened. “I will be by your side every step of the way.”
Angelica carried that assurance with her to bed. And when she slept, her dream was of him. Wrapped in his arms, she savored the press of his lips against hers and the sweet words he whispered against her flushed skin.
Until he drew back and a dark void appeared between them. His face hardened to angry lines. “What have you done?” The words, shouted with hateful disgust, struck her as hard as a fist landing straight in her chest.
It physically hurt. She could feel her heart ripping in two and instinctively reached out toward him only to watch him sink away into darkness. She dropped her gaze to the letter she held in her hand. It was her only hope – the only chance she had left. The floor beneath her turned. Her bedchamber vanished and she was downstairs, dressed in her nightgown and heading toward salvation. A fog clouded her brain. Her movements felt sluggish but she was determined. She rounded the corner and reached for the door. It swung open the moment she touched it. Why wasn’t it locked?
Heedless of the wind, she stepped outside and scanned the darkness, but no one was there.
“I hoped you would come.”
She spun, so fast she almost tripped over her hem. An elegant figure emerged from the shadows. “Mrs. Essex?”
The housekeeper smiled and glided toward her. “You really should have dressed more appropriately, my lady.”
She shivered, hugged her arms around herself, and dug her toes into the ground. Something was wrong. She wasn’t thinking clearly. “I ought to get back inside.”
“He’ll never forgive you, you know.”
“What?”
“You’ve humiliated him in the worst way possible.”
“No…” She shook her head. “It isn’t true.”
“Ah, but who will believe you?” Mrs. Essex’s smile sweetened. “After all, there was a naked man in your bed.”
“I don’t know how…how he came to…to be there.” She stepped forward, with sluggish movements. “Please. I must get inside.”
“No. You really mustn’t.”
She blinked. What was the mad woman saying? She couldn’t remain out here. She would die, frozen to death. “Mrs. Essex.” Gathering all her strength, she bolted forward only to be knocked back by a hard whack to her chest and then to her legs. With a wheeze, she collapsed to the ground. She had no strength and her head wasn’t working the way it should.
“You were never good enough for him, and I have finally made him see that,” the housekeeper snapped. “Just be grateful for the laudanum. It should help you slip away without too much pain.”
Her head tilted back just in time to see the satisfied gleam in Mrs. Essex’s ice-blue eyes. Her smile was eerily pleasant, inviting and warm, as she swung the door shut with a thud. The next sound was that of the