Page 7 of Lord of Deception

“You may well blush, Coz, but that is only because you don’t like to hear such things.” Kate sneered at her. “And just because you have ice in your veins does not mean everyone else has.”

Hannah voiced the thought that had been in Alys’ mind before the unsettling image. “How do we know you truly did this, Kate? You may have paid him, or forced him to say ‘yes’ if we asked.”

Triumph glittered in Kate’s eyes. “I know of him what no person could unless they had seen him naked.”

Alys gulped and ran a finger around the neckline of her bodice. The day was heating up rapidly.

“Below his right breast—and oh, what a chest he has! Below it, I say, is a scar from a blade.”

“You could have seen that when he was working in the garden without a shirt on.” Alys wondered why a mere gardener would have such a wound on his chest.

“As if he would dare work unclothed in sight of the house. Don’t be a fool.”

Alys winced. If she wasn’t careful, Kate would get into one of her pets, and insults would fly all day long. Mainly in her direction.

Hannah, apparently, had not noticed the warning signs. “Perhaps you’ve been spying on him. That’s how you know about the scar. And if he was that good in bed, wouldn’t you have been too distracted to notice?”

“I ran my tongue over it. And what do you know about love-making, Hannah? What one might, or might not notice?”

“I only know what I’ve heard from you.”

Nausea rose in Alys’ stomach—she’d heard enough. Shoving her chair back against the wall, she stalked from the room. Giggles attended her departure, but she didn’t look back.

She wouldn’t give Kate the satisfaction.

She’d given him his chance. Now she must be sure to banish the disquieting gardener who had tempted her cousin into such sin.