Mistress by Amanda Quick

you."
    The door of the breakfast room opened. Lovelace loomed. He had A small silver tray in one gloved hand.
    "A message for you, m'lord. It just arrived."
    Marcus frowned as he took the note from the tray. He read it quickly and silently.
    M:
    I must see you at once. Very urgent. The park. Ten o'clock. The fountain.
    Yrs.
H
    Marcus glanced at Lovelace. "Have Zeus saddled and brought around at nine-thirty. I believe that I shall ride in the park this morning."
    "Yes, my lord." Lovelace backed out of the breakfast room
    Who sent you the note?" Bennet asked.
    "A friend."
    "Mrs. Bright, I expect."
    "No, as a matter of fact, it's not from Mrs. Bright."
    Bennet's mouth tightened. "I've never seen you quite so touchy about one of your paramours."
    "She is my
friend
." Marcus tossed down his napkin and rose to his feet. "Do not forget that Bennet."
    At five minutes before ten, Marcus rode Zeus, his heavily muscled black stallion, into the park. He took the graveled path that led toward the center of the vast wooded swath of green. It was the least traveled of the many paths.
    Hannah, Lady Sands, was waiting for him in a small closed curricle. She was dressed in a dark maroon carriage gown. The high fluted collar accentuated the graceful line of her throat. Her lovely face was concealed beneath the veil of her stylish maroon hat.
    "Marcus. Thank God you have come." She lifted her veil and gazed at him with stark, anxious eyes. "I have been beside myself for days. This morning, when I learned that you were back in Town, I sent my note at once. I feared you would not be free to see me on such short notice."
    "You know that I am always available to you, Hannah." Marcus did not like the tense set of her delicate features or the shadows in her gray eyes.
    Hannah was twenty-nine, married to the wealthy, likable Lord Sands and recently blessed with an infant son.
    She had been widowed seven years ago. Her new marriage, which had taken place three years previously, had appeared to he a happy one. Marcus had been glad for her. He had thought her days of fear were behind her, but this morning he recognized the old haunted expression in her eyes.
    "What is it, Hannah?"
    "I am being blackmailed," she whispered. Her face crumpled in despair. "Oh, Marcus, someone knows
everything
."
    Marcus did not move. "That's impossible."
    "No, it's true." Tears formed in her eyes. "Oh, God, he
knows
, do you comprehend me? He knows how Spalding died. He knows that I killed him."
    "Hannah, get hold of yourself. Are you telling me that someone has demanded money from you?"
    "Yes. Five thousand pounds. I have already paid it. I was forced to pawn some earrings."
    "Bloody hell."
    "I fear there will be more demands."
    "Yes." Marcus tapped his riding crop against his boot. "I think we can safely assume that there will be more demands. There always are when one is dealing with a blackmailer."
    "Dear heaven, I am so afraid, Marcus."
    "Hannah, listen carefully. When did you get the first demand?"
    "Six days ago. I would have sent a message to you at once, but I did not know where you had gone. I only knew that you were out of Town for an extended period of time."
    "I was at Cloud Hall."
    "I have been absolutely desperate. I haven't slept in days. Sands is becoming very concerned. He keeps asking me what is wrong. He wants me to summon a doctor. What am I going to do?"
    "Nothing for the moment," Marcus said gently. "I shall deal with this."
    "But what can you do? Marcus, did you hear me? This person knows that I… that I am a murderess."
    "Hush, Hannah. Calm yourself. You did not murder Lynton Spalding. What you did was done in self-defense. Do not ever forget that."
    "No one will believe it. What will Sands say if he ever learns the truth?"
    "I suspect that your husband would be far more understanding about this than you believe," Marcus said. It was not the first time he had tried to talk Hannah into telling Sands the truth about her first husband's death. But Hannah