Read Hooper, Kay - [Hagen 09] for Free Online Page A

though there was no sound, he
could almost feel Skye move restlessly in the next room as he, too,
heard the cut that went deeper than the protective armor of a
masquerade. " 'His honor rooted in dishonor,' " Dane said a
bit roughly.
    Her fingers stilled over the developing sketch, and
Jennifer turned her head to look at him. "Tennyson."
    Dane half laughed, though it wasn't a sound of
amusement. "Yes. If I remember, the next line is, 'And
faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.' Paradox."
    "Is that what you are?" she asked curiously.
"A paradox?"
    "I'm a gambler," he said in a flat voice.
    After a moment, Jennifer went back to her sketching.
She was disturbed. Not by what he had said, but by the way he had
looked when he said it. Grim. She got the feeling somehow that he
didn't like labeling himself a gambler.
    When she finished sketching the house a little later, it
had taken a sheet of paper for each floor, and Jennifer handed
him the three sheets. "There's a cellar. I've marked the stairs,
but it's cluttered wall to wall with two hundred years of storage.
The attic's the same way, filled with trunks and boxes."
    Dane was studying the floor plans intently. "Well
save those for last, then. Thank you, Jenny. This'll be a great
help."
    She nodded. "When should I confront Kelly? You'll
need time to replace the plate."
    "He's invited several other men and myself to
dinner tonight before the game; we'll be there by six for drinks. If
you could come around six-thirty, that should give me enough time."
    Jennifer's slightly puzzled frown cleared. "Oh, I
see. You'll slip out while I'm there and put the plate in the guard's
room."
    "Right," Dane said, though he knew that Skye
would most likely do the actual skulking.
    She nodded and got to her feet, looking at him a bit
warily as he too rose. "All right, then. Will you – is
there some way you can let me know what Kelly's reaction is? Later, I
mean?"
    "Of course. In fact, why don't you meet me on the
grounds before you leave."
    "But won't Kelly notice you're missing?"
    "Not If you rattle him enough. Besides, if he asks.
I'll tell him I went out into the garden for some air."
    "All right. Where should we meet?"
    "You know the place better than I do. You'll have
to move your car as if you've left. Anyplace between the house and
the road where we aren't likely to be seen."
    Jennifer thought briefly. "As you start down the
lane toward the road, there's an old, rutted track that leads off to
the left. It winds up to the main road. I can pull the car off there,
and meet you just inside the woods. You'll be about a hundred yards
from the house."
    "Good enough." He walked with her to the door,
and opened it for her. "We'll get Kelly," he told her.
    She looked at him, half puzzled and quite uncertain,
then shrugged almost helplessly and left. Dane closed the door behind
her and slowly returned to the sitting room.
    "A friend in Treasury?" Skye asked in a pained
tone.
    "Well, I'm bound to have at least one," Dane
told him.
    "And what was that about promising to get her
plantation back for her? Dane, are you out of your mind?"
    "Probably. Don't rub it in."
    Skye half closed his eyes. "Great."
    "There has to be a way to do it," Dane said.
    "And you did promise," Skye murmured. "I
hate it when you do that. I always end up getting shot at."
    "Very funny."
    "It's true. You're hidebound about promises; once
you make them, you have this uncomfortable habit of doing whatever is
necessary to keep them."
    "Oh, shut up. I have an idea."
    "I was afraid of that."
    * * *
    Jennifer had a restless afternoon. With several hours to
kill before her visit to Garrett Kelly. she returned to the house she
shared with her mother and went back to work. Or tried to. She
couldn't seem to keep her mind off Dane Prescott.
    She was Intuitive, a trait strengthened by her artistic
work. yet she had never felt such a jumble of puzzling,
conflicting impressions of a person. Even at that first meeting last
night, an interlude she