Mistress of Lies Read online

  Mistress of Lies

  By Holly West

  London, 1679

  Isabel, Lady Wilde, mistress of King Charles II, has made a good living disguised as fortune teller Mistress Ruby, counseling London’s elite. But after the murder of one of her customers, business has taken a downturn, and Isabel is on the verge of accepting the king’s offer to move into the palace.

  Isabel’s plans are interrupted when a beggar girl named Susanna shows up at her home, claiming to be her niece. Isabel always believed that her older brother, Adam, died alone during the plague. When Susanna reveals that Adam was actually murdered, Isabel is compelled to take up an impossible task: discover the truth about her brother’s death, twelve years after it happened.

  Isabel’s investigation leads her through the gamut of London society, from bear-baiting matches and brothels to the realm of wealthy bankers. But as she uncovers her brother’s dark secrets, Isabel begins to wonder whether the past is better left buried—especially when uncovering the truth could lead to her own funeral.

  79,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  September might herald the end of summer fun and the vacation season, but the one thing you and I both know, as avid readers, is that we can always escape the daily grind thanks to books! This month, Carina Press is placing extra emphasis on the mystery genre, with the last week of September dedicated to not only our entire backlist of mysteries, but also four brand-new frontlist releases in four different subgenres of mystery.

  Within the mystery program, we welcome debut author Ricardo Sanchez with his novel Elvis Sightings. In this unique mystery that absolutely delighted our team from the first moment we read it, Floyd is a private detective who lives his life the way he thinks Elvis would have wanted him to—fast and hard in a sequined jumpsuit—and if he can avoid the billy clubs of government agents, a Viking reenactment and the amorous attention of the bearded lady sheriff, he just might prove, once and for all, that Elvis is still alive.

  Rosie Claverton brings us the second book in The Amy Lane Mysteries (a series that has some of my favorite Carina Press covers!). Welsh amateur sleuths Amy and Jason return in Code Runner, with Jason framed for the murder of a gang runner. When his prison transport is broken open, Jason is caught between the police, the gangs and the mastermind behind Jason’s downfall, while Amy races to prove his innocence.

  In Mistress of Lies, a historical mystery by Holly West, a young beggar girl claiming to be Isabel Wilde’s niece—previously unknown to her—shows up unexpectedly and reveals that Isabel’s brother Adam was murdered, compelling Isabel to take up an impossible task: discover the truth about her brother’s death, twelve years later.

  And joining these three in the mystery category, with a new release in her Patience Price Mystery series, Julie Anne Lindsey brings us Murder in Real Time. When a popular reality show host is murdered at the local bed-and-breakfast, Patience’s small town is overrun with grieving fans, paparazzi and a gunman who puts Patience in the crosshairs.

  If mystery isn’t your favorite genre, we have nine new releases in September in romance subgenres. Starting with contemporary romances, first up is Breaking His Rules by Alison Packard. If you love the friends to lovers trope as much as I do, you’ll love this story of two good friends pretending to be a couple at a coastal wedding, who find things get passionate when their true feelings rise to the surface.

  Rebound flings are supposed to have soft landings, but one sexy cop is about to fall hard in Christi Barth’s fun romantic caper Love on the Boardwalk. And in Emma Barry’s Private Politics, when a glamorous non-profit fund-raiser becomes entangled in a political scandal, she turns to a savvy DC blogger for help clearing her name. As their hearts and ambitions collide, they find that everything in Washington comes with a price.

  If you like contemporary romance with an edge, reach for new adult romance Losing Streak by Kristine Wyllys. Rosemary Young was just another bartender until her boyfriend, Brandon Williams, lost a bet, leaving them with no choice but to sell their souls to the Lane’s crooked king.

  Author Stina Lindenblatt returns with Let Me Know, a contemporary romance with a new adult flavor. College freshman Amber Scott is propelled into the media spotlight when love letters she supposedly sent to her stalker surface prior to his upcoming trial.

  Switching gears to three books outside the contemporary romance genre, I’d like to turn your attention to Tyler Flynn’s newest male/male historical romance, Hunting the Spy. Nathan Kennett is hunting down a traitor who is selling the secrets of England’s defenses to the French rebels—could it be Sir Peter Ross, the man he loves?

  Don’t miss the final book in Jeffe Kennedy’s fantasy romance Covenant of Thorns trilogy. In Rogue’s Paradise, our scientist heroine discovers the origin of the fae and of her own nature, and whether she can make true love actually work. And it’s not too late to catch up with the first two books in this fantastic trilogy, Rogue’s Pawn and Rogue’s Possession.

  Eleri Stone’s Gun Shy has a wonderful Firefly-esque Western feel in a paranormal romance world. When criminal boss Gideon Moore sends men to steal the fort’s dwindling supply of Reaper cure for sale on the black market, Jane Fisher offers to guide Lieutenant Lyle Dalton through the shady side of Storm King Territory in an attempt to recover the serum.

  And last this month, we’re thrilled to present Shattered Bonds, the final book in Lynda Aicher’s Wicked Play erotic romance series. At the same time, we’re sad to see these characters go, as Lynda has captivated us with the emotional ups and downs of the relationships between this compelling cast of characters. Don’t miss this book, in which everything could change when the past comes back to destroy the members of The Den. Look for Game Play, the first book in Lynda’s new erotic romance trilogy, in spring 2015.

  Coming in October 2014, Dana Marie Bell returns us to the world of Maggie’s Grove, we welcome co-authors Eileen Griffin and Nikka Michaels and their incredible male/male romance duology, and R.L. Naquin is back with her urban fantasy Monster Haven series.

  Here’s wishing you a wonderful month of books you love, remember and recommend.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Editorial Director, Carina Press

  Dedication

  To Ralph Goldstein,

  who taught me the trade

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank my editor, Deborah Nemeth, who helped me take a solid idea and turn it into a novel that I’ve come to love. Thanks also go to Angela James and the Carina Press staff for their hard work.

  I’m grateful to my agent, Elizabeth K. Kracht, who never seems to mind answering my questions, silly or not.

  Thanks to Eleni Bede, assistant librarian at the Goldsmiths Company in London, for her prompt and thorough responses to my inquiries about the history of goldsmithing in England.

  Special thanks go to my mother and father, Johnny and Sharon O’Neill, who both encouraged my creativity from a young age and always support me in everything I do. You’re never too old to appreciate it when your parents root for you, and mine are my most enthusiastic cheerleaders.

  I offer a heartfelt thank-you to the following people: Michelle Fields, Josh Stallings, Neliza Drew, Thomas Pluck, Steve Weddle, Eric Beetner, Susanna Calkins, Bryon Quertermous, Sabrina Ogden, John R. O’Neill, Morgan Young, Theresa Solis Pollard, Judy Bobalik, Jon Jordan, Kristen Sullivan, James Scott Bell, Keith Raffel, Janet Rudolph, and Erin Mitchell. This road is easier because of you all.

  My husband, Mick West, gets the most thanks of all. He’s a gem.

  Contents


  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Monday, 13 January 1679

  I hardly remember when I first noticed her, the girl who would change everything. She was simply there one evening, huddled in the narrow overhang of a tavern near my home, soliciting spare change from passersby.

  For all of her beauty—and despite her dirt-smudged face and dull brown hair, she was indeed a pretty young poppet—she appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary beggar, or possibly a prostitute, the sort of girl London devoured in one quick bite. Her thin wool cloak seemed woefully inadequate, for it was now January and winter held the city firmly in its grasp. As I dropped a farthing into her outstretched palm I knew it would do little to ease her suffering, but beyond that, I didn’t pay her much mind. I had troubles enough of my own to contend with.

  During the past six years I’d made a good living disguised as Mistress Ruby, a fortune-teller and healer catering to London’s elite. But the murder of one of my customers three months prior had left my life in pieces. My body still retained some evidence of the terrible assault I’d suffered as a result of my investigation into the killing, and visits from patrons to the room in Coal Yard Alley where I conducted my business had fallen off drastically.

  Worst of all, my friend and bodyguard, Sam Turner, had gotten it into his head that he was no longer any use to me. He disappeared with nary a word several weeks ago, leaving my household and my life woefully incomplete.

  Given these circumstances, I had neither the time nor the inclination to sort out wayward girls. But the following day she crept closer and the day after that closer still, until finally, she sat cross-legged on the cobbled stone pathway in front of my house in Covent Garden, a modest timber structure with four rooms on each floor and three stories high. My housekeeper, Alice, first alerted me to the girl’s presence when she returned from emptying a chamber pot.

  “There’s a beggar outside, m’lady,” she said as she entered the kitchen, where I sat sharing a supper of baked oysters and mallow salad with my waiting woman, Charlotte. “’Tis a shame, really, she’s such a pretty little thing, naught but a child. I told her to move on but she insists on talking to you.”

  “Did she say what she wanted?” I asked.

  Alice shook her head. “She said only that she wanted to speak to Lady Wilde.”

  “She asked for me by name?”

  “Aye.”

  The bite of bread I’d been chewing went dry in my mouth and I took a sip of ale to wash it down. Since I’d been one of King Charles II’s mistresses for the past sixteen years, it wasn’t unreasonable that she’d know my identity, though I’d never been one of his more notorious women. But even apart from my association with His Majesty it wouldn’t be difficult for someone to learn my name.

  It was absurd that her presence at my home would make me nervous, but Sam’s abrupt departure had made me more anxious than usual. It didn’t sit well that a stranger, even one as seemingly harmless as this child, should suddenly appear upon my doorstep.

  Charlotte, who’d listened to the exchange with wide eyes, now continued to eat in silence. She’d been in my employ for only a few months but even so I could tell that she was unnerved, as was I.

  Enough, I thought. What sort of existence would I have if I allowed a mere child to frighten me? I didn’t need Sam or anyone else to protect me, least of all from a little girl.

  “Bring her inside,” I told Alice.

  When she entered the kitchen I recognized her as the waif I’d recently seen in town. Here in the light, she was as pretty as ever, with a well-sculpted nose and high cheekbones. But the winter cold had taken its toll; her skin was red and chafed, her lips cracked and bleeding.

  She bowed her head and curtsied. “Thank you for letting me in, Lady Wilde. I did so want to meet you.”

  Her voice was timid and she had a strange accent I couldn’t quite place. “What business do you have with me?” I asked in a tone perhaps more harsh than the circumstances called for.

  “My name is Susanna Barber, my lady.”

  My intake of breath was audible. The name she uttered, Susanna Barber, was that of my long-dead mother.

  “What game are you playing?” I said, frowning. “Tell me your real name!”

  “My lady?” Charlotte said, reacting to me. “Is something amiss?”

  “She calls herself by my mother’s name!”

  The girl’s eyes welled. “You’re angry. I’ve made a terrible mess of things, haven’t I?”

  “Tell me the truth then,” I said. “Who are you really?”

  “’Tis the truth. My name is Susanna Barber, I swear it. My father was Adam Barber. I’m your niece.”

  I stepped back, stunned. What she said was impossible. My brother Adam died of the plague in 1665, unmarried and without children. In fact, he died utterly alone, for I’d spent that year in Amsterdam and my younger brother, Lucian, had left London with the king and his court when the pestilence began its scourge upon the city. That Adam had succumbed to the illness with no one to look after him haunted me to this very day.

  She darted her amber-colored eyes around the kitchen as though she was searching for a route of escape. Adam’s eyes had been green, like our father’s. My own were brown, as were my brother Lucian’s. I examined her features for other evidence of the Barber family and found none.

  “How old are you?” I asked.

  “I turned twelve in March.”

  Charlotte finally spoke up. “You don’t talk like the English. Where’re you from?”

  “I’m as English as you are, I’ll warrant,” she said. “But my mother took me to America when I was a baby.”

  There was but one question on my lips. Was Adam still alive? If she was indeed my brother’s child—and I didn’t yet believe that she was—she would know what had happened to him. But somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to ask. I wanted to imagine the possibility he might still be living just awhile longer.

  “You must be hungry,” I said instead. “Alice, fix her a plate.”

  Alice busied herself with the task whilst I continued my questions. “You’re alone?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “You’re rather young to be traveling such a distance by yourself.”

 
“I had no choice, my lady. My mother died six months ago.”

  “Who was your mother?”

  “Her name was Ann Sutton.” Her eyes lit up. “Did you know her?”

  I thought back to the months before I’d left for Amsterdam. I couldn’t remember anyone with that name. Alice brought a plate to the table and I told the girl to sit and eat. She set upon the food as though she hadn’t eaten in days, scooping it up with her fingers, giving no thought to politeness. I’d heard about the wild ways of the New World, but I’d never met an American before. Was the girl merely hungry or was this the way they all consumed their food?

  When she was nearly finished, I returned to our conversation. “I don’t recall ever meeting anyone named Ann Sutton.”

  She slumped her shoulders. “I know you don’t believe me, Lady Wilde. But I’m here because I’ve no other family.”

  “It’s true then, your father is also dead?”

  She nodded, wiping her fingers on her brown shawl. “He died before I was born.”

  I swallowed the lump that rose in my throat. Upon first hearing the girl’s story, I’d retained the faint hope that Adam had traveled to the American colonies with his wife and child, despite all evidence to the contrary. Charlotte gave me a sympathetic glance. I turned my head to the side so that the girl couldn’t see my face and wiped away the tear that brimmed in my eye.

  “Surely that’s not the only reason you’re here,” Charlotte said, giving me a moment to gather myself. “What do you want from Lady Wilde?”

  “It is! I swear on my mother’s soul I wanted only to meet you—and my Uncle Lucian. Mother told me about him, too.”

  “Why did your mother take you to America?” I asked.

  A shadow crossed her face. “After my father died, my mother was so poor she had to steal to get by. She was caught taking a loaf of bread and transported to the Maryland Colony as punishment.”

  I couldn’t believe this. “My brother apprenticed with one of the most successful goldsmiths in London. Why, he made the regalia for the king’s coronation! It’s impossible he would leave his wife penniless.”