Read Samantha James for Free Online Page B

talk to him. But when he confronted her about why she’d left, she’d broken down. “Ye cannot think I did it!” she’d cried.
    Damien was determined. “What else am I to think? You fled the day after you spoke to the magistrate. Surely you can see why one might think you the guilty party.”
    “I left because I was afraid to stay on!”
    It was true. Damien could see it in her eyes. But an eerie prickling ran up his spine; every sense within him warned that she was hiding something. “None of the other servants left,” he pointed out. “You were the only one.”
    “It wasn’t me. It wasn’t! Lord Deverell was good to me! ’Twere someone else killed him, I swear!”
    “Who, Corinne? Who ?”
    Her eyes darted to the windows of the tiny cottage. She began to shake as if she’d been submerged in an icy brine. Silent tears ran down her cheeks.
    She was terrified…for her very life.
    “I believe you, Corinne.” His tone was quietlyintent. “But my brother was murdered. I want to find his killer. I implore you, if you know anything that will help me, please tell me.”
    It took several more minutes to coax and calm her, but finally she began to talk.
    “I slept in a room off the kitchen,” she said. “And it was in the wee hours near morn that I awoke, y’see. I heard a man shouting—aye, and there was a terrible pounding, too!—but the man I heard was not the master, mind ye. I knew it, for the earl was not one to raise his voice in anger—ever. And it wasn’t coming from above-stairs.”
    “Was it a voice you knew?” he asked quickly.
    Corinne shook her head. “I’d never heard it afore in my life. I’m certain, m’lord.”
    “What happened then?”
    The girl began wringing her hands. “Oh, but I can’t believe how foolish I was! I—I crept into the hallway, for by then I could tell the noise came from the earl’s study. ’Twas dark, so I hid near the door, which was slightly ajar.”
    She clasped her hands in her lap. “The man inside…he was throwing things on the floor, against the walls. From what little I could see, the room was a shambles. And he was ranting, m’lord, screamin’ at the earl about how he’d spent twenty years in prison waiting for this night and he’d not be cheated. ‘Where is it?’ he demanded. Over and over and over.”
    “‘It’?” Damien’s gaze narrowed. “What was he after, Corinne?”
    “I’ve no idea, m’lord. But the earl…oh, Icould hear that he was afraid, too…he insisted he didn’t know. But that horrible man—he wouldn’t listen! He cursed the earl—oh, so foully!—and accused the earl of lying. Of trying to keep it for himself.”
    Corinne’s hands began to tremble anew. “The man whirled around and seized the poker from the fireplace. I couldn’t see the master, but I heard him…‘Mercy,’ he cried. ‘Have mercy.’ But that horrid man had none. I could see his shadow on the wall. He raised the poker high and swung it down….”
    Damien’s eyes squeezed shut. His body jerked, for the pain that tore through him was like a blow to the center of his soul.
    “And then I didn’t hear the master anymore. Oh, it was terrible, my lord. Terrible! He is a madman. There was such rage in him. I could hear it. I—I could feel it!” Corinne was crying softly now. “I—I knew what he’d done and I’ve never been so frightened in my life. I—I ran back to my bed and hid there till morn!”
    Damien swallowed, his throat thick and tight. So this was how Giles had died…and for what? What? What had that bastard been searching for? The bedchambers had been torn apart as well, according to the magistrate.
    He had to force himself to steady his voice. “Was this why you didn’t tell the magistrate? Because you were afraid?”
    “Yes! I was afraid he’d find out I saw him and come after me! That’s why I left as soon as I could!”
    He handed her his handkerchief. “Did you see this man, Corinne? Did you see him at any