Page 15 of Avenging the Earl's Lady
She scanned the room.Shaldon wasn’t lurking here.Perhaps, after the events of the previous night, he had turned in early.
She tiptoed across the wooden floor to the sideboard, lighting the branch of tapers there.
Someone had removed the painting from its frame and stretchers, leaving it bedraggled, the crimped sides standing up to form a platter of dark canvas with a heart of shimmering light.
Reverently she smoothed out the edges of the ancient canvas and studied it.She had seen a Caravaggio last winter, or rather a copy of one, brought back from Italy by a marquess’s son.This work was in much the same style.Two luminous characters, anguished, clothes tattered, eyes raised to heaven, glowed from a well of gloom and shadow.She had been wrong—the work wasn’t at all ugly.
This brooding, dramatic, priceless painting should not be a pawn in the conflict between Shaldon and San Sebastian.Making it disappear would be a blessing to everyone.
She would seek Madame La Fanelle’s cousin’s assistance.Madame had gained Barton’s trust; she and her associates and family had withstood Bakeley’s rigorous screening before his investment.She could trust them also.
And perhaps theft wasn’t required.Perhaps she could just borrow this masterpiece, sell enough copies to pay the debt, and surreptitiously return the original to its owner.She would have to ask Madame’s cousin what he thought would be best.
She drew a fingertip along the crease of the canvas where it had been tightened against the wooden stretchers, marveling that such a fragile thing should hold up so well.Along one edge, dark marks, ink perhaps, had bled through from the underside.Lifting the edge and peering closer, she could make out a series of numbers.
Strange.
The work was much smaller than the Caravaggio she’d seen.It was about the size of the small landscape that hung in the bedroom she shared with Lady Perry.She spread her hands wide, taking its measure.
Rolled up, it would fit nicely in the gold-painted rolling pin.
“Where is my daughter?”
Alarm pounded through her.She dropped her hands to her side and froze, eyes shut tight against the flare of panic.
Bloody Shaldon tracked hereverywhere.
Warmth touched her waist like a bolt from on high, sending hot desire wriggling inside her.Since his turn with the laudanum, Shaldon wouldn’t stop touching her.
When this was over, she would think seriously about taking a lover, if she could find some gentleman as appealing as Shaldon who would have her, as old and poor as she was.
She glanced over her shoulder, seeing only his beard-shadowed jaw.“I couldn’t resist the temptation.”Her voice shook and she eased in a breath.“I’ve never seen a real masterpiece.”
“It is remarkable, I suppose.”
Unlike many of his peers, Shaldon didn’t collect art.Shaldon House boasted only family portraits and a few paintings of favorite horses and landscapes.His interest lay in collecting and squashing his enemies.
Her heart pounded wildly.If all went right, she would soon be in that number.
“Have you seen Lady Perry, my dear?”
His breath tickled her ear, and the hand at the back of her waist slid a bit further around, bending her to him.
She lifted his hand away and turned to face him.
Dark eyes sparkled in the candlelight, completely unreadable.She rooted her feet resisting the urge to step away, risking the nearness.She could see the pulse in his temple and—
“You are bleeding, Shaldon.”
A bead of blood sparkled and threatened to roll down his cheek.His neckcloth was loose and stained red where he must have mopped at his wound.Under the neckcloth, his shirt flapped, more blood coloring the white linen there.
She dug in her pocket for her handkerchief and pressed it to his head.His hand wrapped hers and his gaze softened, setting her insides melting again.
When this was over, she was definitely seeking a lover.Not Shaldon, of course.Not him.She must not fall any further into his enticements.
She drew her hand away and studied the wound.“Sit down, my lord.”She nudged him into a chair, pressing the cloth to his head again.“We’ll hold this here for a few moments.Do close your eyes.”
His lip quirked.“Why?”
