Free The Duchess and the Spy by Marly Mathews Page A

of the house without even being noticed.
    His mother was somehow managing to walk down the stairs, though for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out how she managed to see anything. The stack of books she carried hid her face, and obstructed her view.
    “Your Aunt Mary is coming for tea, and I simply must locate that passage of Shakespeare that I promised to find for her.” Jane Brandon, the Duchess of Covington eyed her eldest son warily, as she made her way to the expansive library that Covington House boasted, sighing, she dropped into the nearest chair.
    She spread her collection of books onto the cherry wood table in front of her, and started sorting through them. Pushing her spectacles up, she stared at him with her searching cognac colored eyes.
    “What happened, dearest? You seem quite exhausted, and might I say, a bit vexed.”
    “Elphinstone has been killed in action,” he announced hollowly. He sprawled out onto the yellow silk Adams sofa, and sighing forlornly, stared across at his mother.
    “Dear God,” Jane exclaimed horrifically. She pressed her hand to her mouth, as her eyes widened to dangerous proportions. Tears pooled within their luminescent depths. “His poor father. He has already lost so much!”
    Sunlight poured into the room, but it did nothing to cheer him up. The incredibly high ceiling gave the room an open feeling. The walls were lined with scads of bookshelves, and they were near to bursting with the books they harboured. The library was painted a muted shade of yellow, and marble pillars separated one section of the library from the other.
    “I don’t know how I’m going to tell his family.”
    “They might already know,” Jane sighed.
    He cast his eyes down to the Axminster carpet, and fell into an uneasy silence.
    “I should have done more. Elphinstone shouldn’t have been on the HMS Minerva , when it went down. It was in sore need of being repaired, and if we didn’t need it so badly, the damn ship would have been off active duty months ago.”
    “Be that as it may, my dear, you can’t torture yourself. I suspect that Jason wouldn’t want you to agonize over his death. He would have wanted you to mourn him, and then, he would have wanted you to move on with your life.”
    “I know.”
    “Whatever you do, do not mention William. Mary has enough things on her mind as it is. I know that she frets over him every single day, and she deals with her stress by simply putting it out of her mind. I can feel for her, whenever you and Jack are away, I almost lose my mind with worry.”
    “My lips are sealed,” he promised. Leaning forward, he reached for one of his mother’s books.
    “Mama, do you believe in witches?”
    His mother hesitated. “Well, they are in Shakespeare, and people have always believed in them…”
    “Ah, yes, we used to burn witches at the stake, Mama.”
    “Yes, well, those were dark barbaric times. I am glad to say that our society has become enlightened.”
    “Yes, indeed. The frogs became enlightened enough to use something as barbaric as the guillotine.”
    “Indeed, and yet it is better than the breaking wheel.” His mother sighed. “I think that magical creatures do exist, my dear. Why do you ask?”
    “Because I believe we know one of them.”
    “Ah, I see. Found Isabella, did you?”
    He groaned. “You know me too well. Aye, I found her, and she used her magic on me.”
    “Well, she is Isabella De Clermont. You know she has MacLeod blood in her, and they…well, legend has it they have fairy blood, Son. And over the years that blood has become diluted and now…now they say they are witches.”
    “I knew of the legend, I just never thought it was real.”
    “Well, it is about time you realized there was something different about her. She was such a lovely girl—quite besotted with you, and we so hoped you two would someday marry. Unfortunately, dear Mary didn’t inherit the gift that runs in that side of their family. But