Deadly Secrets by M J Marlow (good short books .txt) 📖

Deadly Secrets
- Family secrets can lead to deadly consequences and lead to unwanted decisions.

For as long as she could remember Elissa ‘Elis’ Milosevic had been able to learn quickly and well. By the time she was fifteen, she had learned seven languages; knew how to embroider, crochet, paint, and ride, sang with a pleasantly mellow contralto, played the piano, the guitar, and the harp, and danced like a dream. Her father had been a gifted Polish violinist who had fallen in love with, and married, the younger sister of an English Duke. When her parents had died, Elis had only been five; so she had come to live with her mother’s family. Her older brother, Alexei, had been twelve, and was studying violin with the man who had taught their father, so he remained with that man with a nice allowance from their parents’ estate. Their sister, Natasha, had been sixteen and was newly wed and on her honeymoon trip at the time. The Duke treated Elis like one of his own children and he and his sons were fond of bringing her small gifts when they came to visit the lady Patricia at her late husband’s country estate. Her aunt Patricia, lady Kensington, and her two sons, were her guides and co-conspirators. She had a happy childhood as she was thoroughly spoiled but unspoiled by people who loved her. She was turning sixteen soon and plans had been made for her to have a ‘season’ in London. The whirl of parties, outings, and social events were calculated for just one thing, finding a husband for her. Elis was not certain she wanted to be looking for a husband at her age, but her family didn’t listen. As always they thought they knew what was best for her. She just did not see how could any husband love her any better than her uncle and aunts and cousins? She was coming down the main staircase three days before her birthday ball when the front door opened and her uncle Percival Stanley, Duke of Clarence, came in. At his sides and just behind him were four beautiful rottweilers. Like the prince Edward Lancaster, her uncle had a fondness for the breed. He usually only had two with him, however; so Elis knew something was going on. She hid her smile of delight and schooled her features into simple curiosity. She knew from the twinkle in his eye that her uncle was not fooled. “You’ve added to your entourage, Uncle,” Elis smiled as she went to kiss his cheek in welcome. “Hello Caesar, Brutus,” she greeted his usual companions. She turned to the other two. “And these are?” “Yours,” Percival said simply and saw the delight lighting her periwinkle blue eyes. “A gift from your other ‘uncle’, Prince Edward.” “This is too much, Uncle,” Elis said, even as she crouched down to throw her arms around the necks of two beautiful rottweilers his lordship had brought her for her birthday from his close friend, Prince Edward. “Aunt Patricia will not approve.” “Nonsense,” Lord Percival Stanley laughed and ruffled her hair. “His Highness believes every young lady should have a brace of guard dogs in this day and age. Keeps the suitors honest.” “No one is going to offer for me, Uncle,” Elis laughed. “I am nobody special.” “Who’s been filling your pretty head with such lies,” Percival asked the golden-haired beauty with her periwinkle blue eyes. “You are a very special young woman.” He heard the low growl coming from the throats of her new friends and turned to see a thin wraith of a man in the doorway. “Huntley. I should have known.” “Lord Stanley,” Milton Huntley, the family solicitor nodded his head. “I did not know we were expecting you.” He looked at the dogs and sniffed in disdain. “And you brought more of those monsters with you.” Percival wished he could tell his family the truth about this man. Far from being enemies, he and Milton had been friends since they were both in short pants. But it suited them both to let the family think the man was an officious prig. They listened to him and ignored him so much so that he was able to get information out of them Percival would never have heard. And he and the people he employed were also their unofficial protector when Percival was not visiting. At last notice, Percival had spotted at least twenty of them among his sister’s staff and groundskeepers. Knowing the way they were trained, Percival knew he was missing most of them. “These gentlemen are lady Elis’ new companions,” Percival replied. “Gunther and Fritz are from His Highness’ own kennels.” He ruffled their ears and they looked up at him happily. “Prince Edward was quite pleased to have them trained especially for Elissa.” He told the dogs in German that Elis was theirs now and they would stay with her and protect her. Elis smiled and looked up at him in gratitude. “Elis, darling,” the lady Patricia said as she came in from the conservatory. As always she was dressed in the proper fashion for a widowed noble woman in her forties. Her brother, as always, wanted to remind her that she was still a beautiful woman and shouldn’t be hiding behind her grays and blacks any longer. His brother-in-law had been dead for twenty years now and Patricia was wasting herself hiding in the country. “It is time for your music lessons.” “Hello, sister,” Percival bowed his head to his sister and wished just once he would visit and find her actually smiling. “What are those?” She stopped and her violet eyes narrowed as she saw the dogs. “Honestly, Percival. If the prince had to give the girl dogs for her birthday, couldn’t it have been something a little more manageable? How am I to make a young lady of the girl if you insist on giving her animals that a full grown man has difficulty handling?” She sighed as the dogs came to greet her. No man was going to bother her with these animals around. “Very well, Elis. Bring your brutes with you.” Percival watched as his stern-faced sister and their niece moved off to the Music Room with the rottweilers trailing behind them. A moment later, music floated out into the entry hall. He wondered if his darling sister was ever going to allow him to tell the girl the truth about all the reasons for taking the girl in. The child deserved to know the truth before someone actually tried something to cause her harm. He caught Huntley watching them, too; and he frowned. When Milton was in prig mode, he made even Percival’s skin crawl but he did not show it. “Anything I need to be aware of, Huntley?” Percival asked the man. “No, your lordship,” Huntley replied. “As usual, everything is in your tray on the desk in the Study.” He looked at the man closely. “There was not one refusal to the invitations to Miss Elissa’s birthday ball.” “Very good, Huntley,” Percival nodded absently. He went into his Study and smiled as his own dogs sat at attention by the desk. They were such sturdy animals, not at all like the yappy little beggars most people of the ton seemed to prefer. He could trust that his pretty niece would be safe with the pair Prince Edward had given her as a gift. He went through the mail Huntley had opened for him and smiled at the cryptic little notes on each piece. It helped to have a spy on one’s payroll, he thought to himself. Someone pounded on the doorframe and he looked up and smiled as he saw that it was his youngest son, Nicholas, who stood there. At twenty four, he was, like his older brother, a son that a father could be proud of. “Nicholas,” he smiled and sat back. “You’re early. The party isn’t for another two days yet.” “I needed to come apologize to Elis for having to miss it, sir,” Nicholas told him. “My regiment’s been called up, sir. We leave tomorrow.” “Rotten luck,” Percival frowned. He would have to see about that immediately. He had an uncomfortable feeling that the storm clouds were gathering. His niece was going to need all of her family around her. “For Elis, not you.” “She won’t miss me, sir,” Nicholas shrugged. “She’ll be too busy having all the local bucks paying court to her.” He saw his father’s frown and agreed with him There were several young lords he would wish never paid court to his cousin. He fell silent for several moments as he pondered how to approach a very delicate subject. “Are you really planning on giving her a season, Father?” “She’s sixteen now,” Percival replied. “Her father might not have been English nobility, but her mother was my sister. She is my niece and one of my heirs.” “I’m not faulting her lineage, sir,” Nicholas frowned at her father. “She’s such an innocent girl, I’m worried she’ll run afoul of someone like Dandridge or Marston.” Percival thought briefly of the two rakes his son had mentioned. They had a reputation for ruining young women and then casting them aside. They were handsome, they were rich, and they and the other young hotheads in their crowd thought they could do as they pleased. If they were interested in Elis then they were finally going to get their comeuppance. No one was going to tarry with his niece. “Then I trust your brother and I shall be able to dissuade them,” Percival replied. He saw Nicholas’ shock. He hadn’t expected his father to attend his own niece. “And your aunt and mother are certainly not going to let anyone like that near their little chick.” He frowned, as he saw that his son remained uneasy. That meant something definite had been heard, not just vague rumors such as he had been receiving for the past week. “What have you heard?” “They were making bets over their cups, sir,” Nicholas told him. “I happened to overhear them while I was having drinks with Southerton.” Percival nodded encouragement. “They were taking bets on who could get to her first, Father. When they saw me, they left at a near run.” He went to pour himself a drink. “They’ll be here for the ball, won’t they?” “She’ll be watched,” Percival replied. “My niece is not going to be some bored dandy’s toy.” He opened a folder, the sign that the conversation was over and other business had to be attended to. “Go take her riding or something, Nicholas. Such news should be given in private.” Nicholas grinned ruefully and went to find his cousin. He didn’t need to hunt long; the music coming from the piano was his clue. No one in their family could play a piano as well as his pretty cousin. He knocked on the door and heard barking. Elis called out a command in German and he smiled. His father had given her the birthday gift from the prince Edward. He opened the door and saw the dogs sitting by the piano, still as statues. “Hello, Monkey,” Nicholas said as he kissed Elis on the forehead. He went over to his aunt. “Hello, Aunt Beautiful.” “He’s got bad news,” Elis sighed. She put the cover down on the piano and looked up at her tall handsome cousin patiently. “Well?” “Come riding with me, Elis,” Nicholas replied, “and I’ll tell you.” He offered her his arm and she knew it was bad. She ran upstairs to change into her riding habit and he was already there watching their stallions being saddled. Much to the horror