Hanover Square Affair, The (33 page)

Silence grew. The fire hissed in the grate, coal at last warming the air. My lips tingled, still tasting her, and my body absolutely hated me. None would blame me, it said. She had come here, alone, deliberately forsaking protection, and had offered herself freely. The censure would go to her, not to me.

Except the censure from myself, I finished silently. I had already tallied too many regrets in my life to add another.

After a time, her eyes drifted closed. Her breathing grew steady, and I thought she slept. I returned the cloth to my washbasin, but when I came back to her, she was watching me.

“They killed my husband,” she announced.

End of Excerpt

About the Author

Award-winning Ashley Gardner is a pseudonym for
New York Times
bestselling author Jennifer Ashley. Under both names—and a third, Allyson James—Ashley has written more than 75 published novels and novellas in mystery and romance. Her books have won several
RT BookReviews
Reviewers Choice awards (including Best Historical Mystery for
The Sudbury School Murders
), and Romance Writers of America's RITA (given for the best romance novels and novellas of the year). Ashley's books have been translated into more than a dozen different languages and have earned starred reviews in
Booklist.
More about the Captain Lacey series can be found at the website:
www.gardnermysteries.com
. Or email Ashley Gardner at
[email protected]

The Hanover Square Affair

Copyright © 2003 and 2011 by Jennifer Ashley / Ashley Gardner
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.
Excerpt of
A Regimental Murder
copyright © 2004 and 2011 by Jennifer Ashley / Ashley Gardner

Cover design by Kim Killion