Free Rogue Countess by Amy Sandas Page B

premises.”
    “You could,” Anna replied. “But you won’t, because everyone will wonder what I could possibly have done to warrant such a drastic reaction. I am but a woman, after all.” Damn, but she hated using that tact. “People will be talking about it for days.” She continued in a calmer, quieter tone. “I wish to speak with my husband. That is all.”
    The small man met her steady gaze, considered her words and her demeanor and made a sharp and decisive judgment. “Give the lady the room number,” he said to the attendant without looking away from Anna.
    “Thank you,” she said with another pleasant smile as she took the small card scribbled with the room number and calmly turned away.
    Of course, the bloody bastard had taken a set of rooms on the top floor. As she made her way up the flights of stairs, she continued to fume over his conceit and righteous arrogance. He thought he could bully her into doing what he wanted? Clearly, that was his ploy, to steal her mare and offer a trade for her agreement to end their marriage. The fact that he wanted an annulment that badly only spurred her on all the more to make sure he wouldn’t get it. There was much she could do to sabotage his goal. The bastard was going to find out just how strong a spine she had developed while he had been gone traipsing about the globe.
    When she got to his room, she knocked sharply on the door. He failed to open it within ten seconds so she rapped on it again until she heard movement beyond. The door opened to reveal a young woman dressed only in a simple silk robe of emerald green. The belt was cinched around an impossibly tiny waist and her fine blue-black hair fell straight and strong down her back to dance about her narrow hips. Her skin was a rich burnished brown. Her forehead was wide and smooth, her cheekbones high and well defined. Her large almond-shaped eyes were a bright crystalline gray as she eyed Anna with faint curiosity.
    The strange and fascinating woman waited for Anna to speak. Her cool demeanor rubbed on Anna’s already raw nerves.
    “My apologies,” she said with sudden sharp impatience. “I must have been given the wrong room number. I was looking for Lord Blackbourne’s suite.”
    “You are correct. These are Lord Blackbourne’s rooms.”
    Anna froze at the implication of what the woman said in her foreign, stilted accent, which somehow managed to sound sultry and inviting in its rough formation of the English language. Anna’s eyes widened with understanding, and the fury she had been trying to contain bubbled up once more to the surface. She noted in annoyance that the woman did not bother to step back to allow her entrance into the room. Instead, she rudely left Anna standing in the hallway. A trespasser into her husband’s life.
    “And who are you then? The maid?”
    The beautiful creature smiled with untouchable composure, noting the insult, but choosing to ignore it. “I am a personal friend. Shall I give him a message for you?”
    “No, I think I’ll wait,” Anna answered as she stepped into the room, sweeping past the slim woman. She paced the elegant spacious room twice in long, angry strides. She hardly noticed that the bright morning sun was almost high enough now to flood the room with light. She gave only the barest glance toward the coffee service still steaming on the small table by the window. What did claim her attention was that there was only one bedroom extending beyond the large sitting room and her agitation grew. When she turned back to the other woman in the room, she was a little surprised to see she hadn’t moved from where she stood in the open doorway.
    Anna stopped and returned the openly curious stare of Jude’s mistress and had to acknowledge why he would be attracted to her. The woman contained an inert and obvious grace that was both stately and modest. It was doubtful the regal beauty ever displayed such base reactions as impatience or distress. Anna looked