The Second Lady Emily by Allison Lane Page A

disapproved of them. But since these books belonged to his sister, he could hardly revile her for reading them.
    “Are you sure you should be up and about so soon?” The frown this time was merely worry.
    “Of course. It is two weeks since my fever broke and five since my fall. Prolonged bed rest weakens the body, delaying recovery.”
    He collected a newspaper from the desk and sank into a nearby chair with a sigh. “I don’t know where you get these odd notions, Lady Emily. You never showed any sign of medical pretense before.”
    “Since I have no recollection of that, I will have to take your word for it. But what is the news today?” She nodded at the paper, hoping to distract him to a less personal topic.
    “Would you like to read the society page?” More surprise laced his words.
    “Perhaps later. I was wondering how Wellington is doing in Spain. He would have taken Badajoz last spring, but I forget where he went from there.”
    Thurston’s shock abruptly shut her mouth. Again she had forgotten her role, speaking aloud without thinking, annoyed because she couldn’t recall the sequence of battles and hadn’t thought to check the newspaper for herself. Was Wellington in Madrid yet? It didn’t matter. If she was to carry off this masquerade, she must hide her research, suppress her knowledge of current events, and concentrate on pursuing Emily’s goals. That would require thinking every comment through before uttering it. Especially around Drew, whose image of Emily must remain unchanged if the girl was to return. Unfortunately, after weeks of receiving his personal attention, she felt far too relaxed with him, which made it hard to remain aloof. She should not have stayed in the library to read. Books always made her lose track of time and place.
    He swallowed a couple of times, then apparently decided to humor her. “I do not know what Wellington is doing right now. He does not announce his plans in advance, and the papers are still printing arguments over the sack at Badajoz.” He glanced at the Times . “Parliament is debating Wellington’s latest request for supplies. They will doubtless refuse to increase the amounts.”
    She tried to ignore him and remain silent as Emily would have, but he wouldn’t let her.
    “Come on,” he urged, meeting her eyes. “You’re dying to say something. Out with it.”
    He was right. “How shortsighted to keep the army on poor rations,” she scoffed. “How can anyone expect him to win if they deny him the men and material he needs?”
    “True. But many people believe that victory is hopeless and we should forget the whole thing.”
    “Nonsense. Napoleon is not invincible, as his asinine move into Russia proves.”
    “He is winning there,” he said softly.
    “For the moment. It is only July.”
    “What does that mean?” He was clearly puzzled.
    “Have you ever been to Russia?”
    “Of course not!”
    She tried to drop the subject, but the expectant look on his face prompted one last comment. “It gets very, very cold there. No one unaccustomed to the weather can stand the winters.”
    “Napoleon is not stupid,” he countered sharply.
    “But he expects his troops to live off the land. They will never find food and clothing for six hundred thousand men.”
    Thurston surged to his feet. “Where did you hear that?” he demanded. “No one knows how many troops the Emperor sent to Russia!”
    Cherlynn swayed, feeling the blood drain from her face. “I-I don’t know,” she said finally, falling back on her supposed amnesia. Fleeing to the window, she gazed at the gardens. Damn you, Emily! I’m going to screw this up. You can’t expect me to ignore a topic so dear to my heart. Couldn’t you at least give me an idea of how to go on in this plagued world? Look at me! Five minutes with Drew and I’ve already blown my cover. At this rate, he’ll despise you by morning!
    Emily remained silent.
    “Damnation,” he muttered so softly she barely heard