An Invitation to Sin by Jo Beverley, Sally Mackenzie, Kaitlin O'Riley, Vanessa Kelly Page B

past. Mr. Liddell has told me such things …”
    “Mr. Liddell has his own ax to grind,” Anna pointed out.
    “I know that,” said Maria, her expression a blend of irritation and complacency. She did enjoy being fought over. “But it is generally accepted that he … that the earl had an improper relationship with the woman who died. I cannot overlook that in a man.”
    “Then you’d best get yourself to a nunnery,” Anna muttered.
    Maria gasped, and even her father raised his brows in surprise.
    “Anna!” exclaimed Lady Featherstone. “Go to your room at once, and study Bishop Stortford’s sermon on unclean thoughts.”
    Anna flushed with mortification as she rose and curtsied. What had possessed her to say such a thing? “Yes, Mama. I beg pardon, Mama.”
    In her room, however, Anna didn’t study the sermon—which she knew almost by heart—but contemplated the terrible reason for her outburst.
    Jealousy.
    She was jealous of Maria, and could not endure the thought of the Earl of Carne being her brother-in-law.
    Which led to the next incredible step.
    She wanted him for herself.
    Anna laughed out loud. It was impossible, and exactly the sort of silly infatuation girls seemed prone to, but that did not make it any the less powerful at the moment. She ached with the loss of something she had never had, or had hope of.
    She was honestly convinced, however, that Lord Carne and Maria would not suit. There was nothing wrong with Maria, but she needed a husband who appreciated sensibility and delicate feelings. The Wicked Earl would find Maria’s airs a dead bore inside a month.
    There was nothing a schoolroom miss could do about this, however, except be miserable and intensify her efforts to avoid the man. It would be the last straw if she made a fool of herself by acting like a lovesick moonling over him.
    Anna thought avoiding the earl would be easy, but she hadn’t considered the consequences of his interest in Maria. He now had the entrée to number 9.
    In fact, he appeared at a small tea party Lady Feather-stone gave two days later. It appeared he had been invited, though no one had expected him to attend. After all, it was an informal affair, so much so that Anna was in attendance.
    When Anna heard him announced her heart began to pound, blood rushed to her head, and though she focused all her attention on old Lord Threpton, who was droning on about his problems with poachers, she didn’t hear a word he was saying.
    Once again she had this longing to become invisible, and that carried her thoughts straight back to a night in the Wicked Earl’s library, and the things he had done to her then.
    She knew color was flooding her face.
    She wanted to die.
    The mere sound of Lord Carne’s voice—the first time she had heard it since that night—was interfering with her breathing, causing a perilous light-headedness.
    Lord Threpton peered at her. “Hey, missie, I didn’t mean to upset you with these matters!” He patted her knee. “You’re a good girl to listen to an old man rambling on.”
    Anna kept her eyes fixed on his rheumy ones. “I don’t mind, my lord. You are very interesting.”
    He pinched her cheek. “Some man’s going to be very lucky in you, my dear. Now, why not go and find that plate of jam tarts and offer me another one. Very good, they are.”
    Thus Anna was forced out of hiding and set to walk across the room on unsteady legs. Which meant that her mother had to introduce her to the earl. “My youngest daughter, Anna, my lord. She is not yet out.”
    He bowed with his typical grace. “Miss Anna. Charmed to make your acquaintance.” He acted as if she was a total stranger, but Anna shivered as if he had stroked her back.
    She wanted not to look to him, but couldn’t help herself. He was even more perfect up close than he was at a distance. And what an actor he was. There was no hint of anything untoward about him except perhaps for a hint of intimate humor in his blue eyes, humor