Read Mary Blayney - [Pennistan 03] for Free Online

invitation. It was definitely time to find a mistress.
    Once he crossed the back of the ballroom, Meryon had to slow his pace. As usual, people clustered near the entrance. Besides The Gossips, every guest paused after they were announced, some to look for acquaintances, others to wait for a spouse.
    Meryon could not make his way to the door without stopping to greet people. Even as he listened to their welcome and their worries, he realized that his inclination toleave immediately was misguided. He should wait until he could identify his companion in the dark, only because it made sense to know in whom he had confided.
    Her rose perfume, her soft mouth, her lovely voice tickled his memory. All right, Meryon admitted to himself. There was more than one reason he would wait to see what she looked like.
    If she did not return to the ballroom he could always ask Letty to name her.
    As he listened to concerns about the state of agriculture, the general unrest, and a number of other subjects that were less than cheerful, Meryon watched the passage. He counted four ladies come into the ballroom, none of them tall or elegant enough to be his companion.
    Twice, he was drawn into meaningful discussion. Everyone had an opinion, some better voiced than others. But none of them had solutions. Apparently they counted on Parliament to come up with a way to solve the problem they considered most urgent. Each left him with a bow and an expression of appreciation for his consideration. One annoyed him.
    “How is it, Your Grace, that Parliament agreed to the suspension of habeas corpus, and, in less than a year, removed the suspension?” DeBora spoke in a loud voice, deliberately, to attract notice.
    “I was absent from London last year and away from the country for the last six months, Mr. DeBora. I cannot speak for the actions of Parliament.” Meryon spoke with a cordiality that took some effort. It occurred to him that DeBora served as Bendas’s second in more than dueling.
    “Yes, and we understand your bereavement.” DeBora’s perfunctory words pushed Meryon’s temper up a notch. “You were absent, but half the seats from Derbyshire are under your control. Surely you still consider violent dissent a real threat.”
    “I did and I still do.” Meryon had explained his stand a dozen times at least. “But that is no reason, nor has it ever been, to deny men their rights.” He could speak on, but then he would sound too much like a Jacobin. He held his temper and made to turn away.
    “Your Grace, that is easy to say when you live in a castle and are protected night and day.”
    There was gasp from a woman nearby who had been eavesdropping.
    DeBora was trying to insult him, to make him lose his temper. Meryon knew exactly who was behind that.
    “The only protection I need is from fools like you. What do you know of threats to your safety?” He ignored DeBora and addressed the people who were listening. “Would you have us behave like the French, who do not think that you need a reason to put a man in prison? Believe me when I tell you that you can pay too high a price for security.” He gave them all a curt nod and the group dispersed, as he intended.
    Meryon then gave this Bendas lackey his full attention, speaking in a voice so quiet that no one but a complete idiot would miss the challenge in it. “Tell Bendas that he is a coward to send you to do his work.” Meryon relaxed his fist. “I am not that easily gulled. Leave my sight, or I will find you at Jackson’s and we will fight with our fists. I guarantee it will hurt more than words.”
    Even the goddess of all beauty and grace was not worth conversation with DeBora. Without waiting for an answer and determined to ask Letty to name a guest who had lived in Italy until recently, Meryon turned and found his friend Kyle looking anxious.
    “DeBora is a fool.” Meryon loosed some of his temper with those words. “He wouldn’t be allowed in the room if he hadn’t