บททั้งหมดของ The League of Rogues: บทที่ 121 - บทที่ 130

Half an hour later the coach bearing the Essex coat of arms rattled to a stop outside Drummond's Bank. It was the bank where Rosalind kept the majority of her lines of credit.Rosalind and Emily climbed out of the coach and proceeded toward the bank, ignoring the stares of men and women on the street. It had amazed Rosalind to learn on the ride over that Emily was a skilled businesswoman herself. She'd handled her uncle's accounts, then taken over her husband's once she married. Through the course of the conversation, Emily had told her a fantastical tale of abduction, intrigue and eventually love, which had resulted in her marriage to the Duke of Essex. The local papers had certainly not given any of those details.As they reached the door to the bank, Rosalind drew them up short. "Are you positive you wish to go in with me? There will be talkmore than talkif you do."With a chuckle, Emily replied, "It's been quite some time since I've been considered scandalous, so it's time to di

Jonathan St. Laurent stood at the entryway of a fashionable townhouse on Half Moon Street. The keys to the door felt heavy in his palm, and his heart gave a quick thump. The residence had once belonged to a baron, Lord Chessley, who had passed away in early April. His daughter, Anne, had married Jonathan's friend Cedric three weeks later."Scandal be damned," as Cedric had said. Since Cedric and Anne both resided in his London townhouse on Curzon Street, they'd had no use for a second house and had chosen to sell it.Now Chessley House was his. He'd met with the butler and housekeeper, and it seemed the entire staff except for Anne's lady's maid, who had agreed to stay on with him. Yet he felt strangely off balance being the one in charge of a household.He'd spent his whole life as a servant of the Duke of Essex, only to discover that Godric was his half brother. After the late duchess had passed, Godric's father had secretly remarried his wife's lady's maid, and Jonathan had been

Sir Hugo Waverly reclined in a seat at the back of the card room in Boodle's Club, watching the evening unfold with little real interest. His mind was on more important matters. A cloud of cigar smoke hung at the base of the chandeliers like dark clouds, casting shifting shadows among the lights from the candles. Men threw cards upon the tables, gathering and losing fortunes over hasty gambles. But Hugo was not a betting man.If I cannot secure my odds, I will not play.The door to the card room opened, and a man Hugo knew entered. It was one of his most trusted men, Daniel Sheffield. With Daniel's help, Hugo ran the most efficient and effective spy ring in the country, which, sadly, was not saying much. Spycraft as a whole in England was woefully amateurish, and it left his country vulnerable. It also made those who took the game seriously, such as Sheffield and himself, indispensible. They'd saved the Crown from more than one foreign war, and yet they would never be given credit fo

Of all the trouble Rosalind had imagined getting into when trying to get her life back from Ashton's steel grip, she hadn't expected to be robbed by a highwayman."Who's inside?" the man demanded of the driver."Lady Melbourne and her lady's maid.""Step away from the horses and go over by the road." The man flicked the end of his pistol to indicate where he wanted the driver to go."What is it?" Claire whispered.This isn't bad. Not compared to what you've faced before. She prayed she could convince herself of that.Without taking her eyes off the armed man, Rosalind whispered back, "I believe we're about to be robbed." Her heart pounded hard enough that she could barely hear herself think."What?" Claire gasped."Let me handle this. Stay behind me at all costs.""But"Rosalind raised her hand with the pistol as the masked man strode purposefully toward the coach. Just as he reached the door, Rosalind aimed her pistol at his chest. She had never shot a man before, and she pr

"How did I" Rosalind glanced down at herself, and Ashton saw every one of her muscles tense.He could almost hear her thoughts trying to catch up with her panic. She was all but naked and sitting in a tub of warm bathwater with Ashton just inches away. A hot blush flamed her face."I found you on my doorstep. Unconscious." He couldn't help that his tone sounded gruff. The image of her passed out at his feet was difficult to look back on."Oh." She ducked her head, but he could still see the wheels turning as she tried to piece together what series of events had led her to this tub."Did you walk all the way from London?" he asked, drawing her attention back to him.Rosalind's shoulders dropped, and she covered her breasts with her arms, all too aware of where his focus was drifting. "What? No, of course not. Don't be foolish.""Then how in blazes did you end up at my house in such a muddy mess?" Ashton sat on his backside by the tub and continued to regard her, now with amusement