Free Quick, Amanda by Scandal Page B

in the library alone at that time?"
    "Well, yes. Of course I can. I frequently work in the library after the servants have gone to bed." She
    frowned, thinking about the practical problems involved. "I shall have to unbolt the front door for you."
    "No need." He sipped his own champagne and watched the couples who were promenading between
    dances. "Just be sure you are in the library at one. I will come to you there."
    Emily raised her quizzing glass and searched his face. As usual, she could tell almost nothing about what
    he was thinking from his expression. She found it perfectly amazing that he could disguise his sensitive,
    passionate nature so completely behind that facade of cool detachment.
    "Very well, my lord. One o'clock."
    Emily had to admit that, even though the evening was destined to end in heartbreak, the mysterious
    manner in which Simon was setting up their final clandestine meeting was wonderfully intriguing. But, then,
    nothing was ever ordinary around the Earl of Blade. She would remember his brief courtship all of her life
    and those haunting memories would inspire her writing and her dreams for years to come.
    A few minutes before one that morning, Emily sat down at the mahogany desk and stared fixedly at the
    brandy decanter. She had put her spectacles back on but she was ready to whip them off and stuff them
    into the top desk drawer as soon as Simon arrived.
    The brandy decanter looked very inviting.
    The decanter was full and Emily was cold with nerves and anticipation. For the past half hour she had
    been deliberating about whether to pour herself a fortifying glass.
    The hands on the face of the tall clock near the fireplace were moving so slowly that Emily was beginning
    to wonder if they had stopped altogether. A couple of candles glowed nearby but that was the only
    illumination in the room. The fire had been laid for morning but she dared not light it. One of the staff
    would notice tomorrow that she had been up late again and they would all worry that she was working
    too hard. As a result the room was growing quite chilly.
    With a start, Emily felt the gooseflesh on her arms as a sudden draft of chilled air rushed into the room
    behind her. She shivered in her frilled dressing gown and wondered if a window had blown open. She
    started to rise from her chair.
    In that same instant she sensed another presence in the room.
    Emily leapt to her feet, her lips parting in a scream, as she grabbed the letter opener that was laying on
    the desk.
    But the scream was never uttered. A large masculine hand clamped quite firmly over her mouth and Emily
    was pulled quickly back against a hard male body.
    She went limp with relief as she realized who held her.
    "I would feel a great deal more welcome if you would put down that letter opener," Simon said, lowering
    his hand from her mouth. He extinguished the candle he held in his other hand.
    "Simon. Bloody hell." Emily tossed aside the letter opener and spun around to glare up at him through her
    spectacles. "You gave me a terrible fright. Where did you come from? How on earth did you sneak up
    on me like that? I have been watching the door for an age."
    Simon unfastened his greatcoat and stepped aside. He nodded casually toward a section of bookshelving
    that was slowly, silently sliding back into place against the wall. Emily saw the dark entrance that yawned
    in the stone behind the bookcase and her eyes widened in amazed delight.
    "A secret passageway. Simon, this is wonderful." She darted around him and scurried toward the rapidly
    disappearing passageway. All thoughts of the long-planned confession vanished in the face of the promise
    of high adventure.
    "Contain your enthusiasm, Miss Faringdon." Simon reached out and caught her arm, drawing her to a
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    halt. "The bookcase will close on you. It is far too heavy for you to open by hand. One must use the
    hidden lever."
    "What