[Samuel Barbara] The Black Angel(Book4You) by Barbara Samuel Page A

someone, it had been to Cassandra she'd gone, knowing instinctively that this sister, unconventional even in smallest childhood, would not judge her. And when Cassandra, devastated by the private cloddishness of a man who'd swept her off her feet within weeks of her debut, had needed a confidante and advice, it had been to Adriana she'd gone.
    Still, what had transpired between her and Tynan last night seemed to Adriana too new, too raw, too
private
. She summoned a smile that hinted of things she didn't want to say and lifted one shoulder. "He's skilled, and lacks brutality. I can bear him well enough."
    Cassandra's eyes widened. "So that's how it is." She shifted, her face sober again in that lightning way she had. "I don't like him, Riana. He's too false for you. Be wary."
    "Of course." Adriana waved a hand. "I am no fool."
    "Good." Suddenly, she sat. "Where is everyone?"
    "Phoebe and Monique are plotting some enormous homecoming feast, and the girls were chattering enough to drive a magpie mad, so I sent them out riding."
    Cassandra leaned forward, a posture of secretiveness. "There's more we should discuss, while the others are absent."
    Adriana felt a stillness go through her. She put aside her sewing. "What is it?"
    "The magistrate has learned of Julian's arrival. The ship docked three days ago, and some ratty consort of Malvern's mother happened to see our boys disembark." She paused. "There will be a summons within days."
    "Where did you hear this? So quickly?"
    Cassandra lifted her shoulders. "A gentleman called on me this morning to tell me. He came within moments of your messenger."
    "I see." She took a breath, let it go. "Well, it is not unexpected."
    "True." Cassandra stroked her palms together, her lips pursing as she watched her long white fingers. Then she raised her eyes. "The scandal will be resurrected, Riana, in every detail."
    With effort, Adriana kept her expression blank, though she could not help the sudden, involuntary twitch of an eyelid. "Undoubtedly," she said. What else was there to say?
    For a long moment, filled only with the sound of a clock ticking on the mantel, silence engulfed them. At last, Cassandra made an impatient noise. "Riana, honestly, do not let it cow you. Move to town. Dress in your finest, and lift your chin and—"
    "And look down your haughty nose." The voice came from the doorway, edged with faint irony. "You do it so very well."
    Tynan, of course. He stood there in tall boots and tight breeches that showed the length of his thighs, and that living wealth of hair was faintly mussed. Idly slapping his riding crop against his knee, he inclined his head. "Am I interrupting?" he asked, though it was plain from the quirk of his lips that he didn't particularly care if he was.
    One could not say yes, of course, but Adriana was forming excuses for a private conversation, wishing to rid the room of that virile, heated scent that came from him—horse and coriander and male—but before she could speak, Cassandra leaped to her feet.
    "Not at all, sir," she said, going forward to draw him into the room. She pulled her head back a little to look at him approvingly. "Her haughtiness is an excellent tool, I should think."
    Adriana rolled her eyes at the congratulatory smiles they exchanged. Of course, they'd both think of brazening it out. An Irish rake in English society and a young widow who took pleasure in her collection of slightly outre and scandalous guests. "It's so easy for both of you," she said, and turned her head toward the window, gazing at the soft green day.
    "What do you mean, Riana?" Cassandra asked. "We're cut from the same cloth, you and I."
    "I'm not like you," she said quietly. She valued the opinions of others—perhaps too much. "I want pleasant afternoons spent in a tea shop, in the company of ladies. I want to shop for gloves and tsk over the antics of my children… and… take smug pride over my roses and play the harpsichord of a late evening." She turned.