Free The Sinner by C.J. Archer

his sly smiles. "That's where your sister-in-law comes into play."
    "Cat? But what if he doesn't want her as his mistress? He's hardly likely to cast off his current woman for her skinny bones."
    "I admit it's a gamble, but if she tries harder, it might happen. Tell her she must throw herself at him. Men like Oxley can't resist any woman if she's overt enough. Besides, she doesn't need to be a long-term mistress, just for a few nights."
    Slade wasn't convinced. Cat was much too ordinary for the sophisticated tastes of a gentleman like Oxley, even if she lifted her skirts and painted an arrow on her belly pointing to her womanly parts.
    "Trust me," Hislop said. "I know men like Oxley. He won't be able to say no to her. Besides, he must be interested or he wouldn't have flirted with her."
    "They've flirted?"
    "God, Slade, do you know nothing about relations between men and women?"
    Slade didn't, but he trusted Hislop. If he thought Oxley would take Cat then Slade believed him.
    Good. It was settled. He always knew Cat would have a use one day. "The problem will be getting her to agree to it."
    "I have a way. Make sure she's here after dinner this afternoon." He strode out the door, not answering a single question that Slade flung at him.
    ***
    Cat had successfully avoided Slade since their return home. As usual, he and Hislop had gone about their business, leaving her to go about hers. With the weather warming up, she ventured into the village to visit friends or tend the gardens. With fewer servants to help out since Slade let most go, it was up to her to maintain the orchard and kitchen garden. There had been no more talk of marrying the blacksmith, or indeed any other gentleman, but instead of lifting her spirits, his silence on the matter unnerved her.
    Perhaps now she was about to find out why that silence. He'd summoned her to his study. Unfortunately, when she entered the sparsely furnished chamber, he wasn't alone. Hislop was present and another man she knew as Wright, a grizzly, thick-set laborer from the village. He sported a fresh cut across his face, as if he'd been sliced by a blade only recently. His right shoulder seemed to sit a little lower than the other, too.
    She eyed Hislop. The man's fingers flexed. He did not bow or acknowledge her in any way that a man in his position should. Wright tugged on his forelock and nodded a greeting.
    "Ma'am," he said.
    "That looks nasty, Mr. Wright," she said, scrutinizing his face. "How did it happen?"
    He lifted his heavy lidded gaze to Hislop and winced. "Accident."
    She knew she would get no answer from him. The threat of Hislop was too great. She suppressed a shudder. "Why have I been called in here?" she asked Slade. "Surely the wise woman can see to this poor man's injuries."
    "There's something you need to hear," Slade said without rising from his chair. He was the only one sitting. Nor did he offer a chair to Cat. "It's about Stephen."
    She promptly sat. She rarely thought about Stephen lately, and had certainly not expected to have a conversation about him now. Wright was the man who'd thrown cold water on the accident theory. He'd voiced his concerns to her at the time, and she'd raised it with Slade. He'd not listened of course. So why had he summoned the fellow now?
    "Tell her," Slade ordered Wright.
    Hislop kicked him in the shin and Wright grunted. "I remembered something about that day he died," Wright said, rubbing his leg. "Something new."
    "Oh? How convenient." Either it was an outright lie or Wright had witnessed something at the time, but Slade had kept him quiet with a few coins and perhaps a promise not to have him arrested for poaching. If Slade had paid him off, why this display now?
    "Aye," Wright said with a glance at Hislop. "The memory works in strange ways."
    "Go on," Slade said, sounding bored. "Get on with it. Tell her about the man you saw."
    "You saw someone?" She stared first at Wright then Slade. "Why was I not told?"
    Slade stretched his