Free Charmed and Dangerous by Jane Ashford

was thinking, about history, and risk, and the dark vistas that had opened up with the attack she had witnessed.
    Gavin was insufferable, of course. But the life he had led, the secrets he concealed, enthralled her. He had seen and done the sorts of things that she had only been able to read about. He had influenced great events, traveled to countries that were little more than the stuff of fables in London and the English countryside. And now he was in the midst of some such intrigue, and she had accidentally brushed the edge of it. That taste of a larger world had whetted her appetite. She longed to know more, to witness the action firsthand, to discover the taut reality that lay behind the bright veneer of society that was all most women were allowed to see.
    Perhaps she could, Laura thought. If she pursued her mission of diverting him—which had not gone well so far, she admitted—she might be pulled in once again. She might see further into that other realm, even make some small contribution.
    There was a knock on her bedroom door. “Laura?”
    â€œYes? Come in.”
    Catherine Pryor did so. “Are you ready to go? The carriage is waiting.”
    â€œOh. Yes. Yes, I am.” Laura looked around for her gloves, feeling as if she had been wakened from a dream.
    â€œIs something wrong?”
    â€œNo. I was just thinking.” Spotting the gloves, she picked them up and walked with Catherine downstairs. “It looks cold,” she commented, glancing out the window on the landing at the gray November sky.
    Catherine merely nodded. They put on warm cloaks in the front hall and went out into a sharp wind to climb into the carriage.
    â€œDo you know anything more about Gavin Graham’s history?” Laura asked.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œIt is interesting. And I thought it might be helpful—something to talk with him about. He and I have not…” She thought of the way he had treated her, the kiss in the garden, and flushed. “I am not having much success in diverting him. I know that the general…”
    â€œIt was a ridiculous plan! I told Matthew that from the beginning.”
    Laura sat back a bit at the vehemence in her voice.
    â€œWe should forget the entire scheme,” Catherine added forcefully. “It never had a hope of working.”
    Stung at this judgment of her powers and slightly hurt, Laura said, “You wish me to go back to England?” Only when she said the words was she fully aware of how little she wanted to return to her previous existence. She imagined looking for another post, visiting the agencies, writing letters. The prospect was unutterably dreary.
    â€œOf course not,” replied Catherine.
    â€œBut…if you…” Relief and confusion made Laura tongue-tied.
    â€œI am enjoying your companionship far too much,” declared Catherine. “You must stay with me until the congress ends.”
    â€œThe general…”
    â€œI’ll manage Matthew,” she said with a wave of her hand.
    â€œBut I would like to fulfill my part of the bargain,” added Laura, conscious of a lingering disappointment.
    â€œGavin Graham is not a suitable acquaintance for you.”
    Laura stared at her.
    â€œI should have seen it from the first. I blame myself. I am a fool.”
    â€œI don’t understand.”
    â€œYou mustn’t associate with him any further. He is far too…dangerous.”
    Laura thought at once of the stabbing, wondering how Catherine had discovered it.
    â€œHe is…not a libertine precisely. But he has a very doubtful reputation.” Catherine folded her hands. “You will say I should have thought of this before bringing you here, and I should have. I don’t know what possessed me. Matthew was set on his plan, and I…”
    Not the stabbing, then, Laura was thinking. “I am aware of his…tendencies,” she ventured. “I do not see what they have to