Here’s a snippet of the Lady Wynwood novella I’m posting on Patreon at the moment:
“If you will follow me?” the butler said and led the way up the staircase.
The first floor hallway was long and sumptuous, with paintings on the wall and small statues on spindly tables next to elegant Chinese faces. The sound of music was slightly louder, but still muffled, and Laura could hear no voices at all.
On the second floor, after traversing a narrower hallway with closed doors on either side, the butler knocked at a door at the end. A deep, smoky voice bade them enter.
The room was dim but for the roaring fireplace and a few well-placed but low-burning lamps. The furniture looked comfortable and was upholstered in shades of burgundy and hunter green, and although the light did not reach the heavy curtains, she assumed they were the same colors.
From the far corner approached a woman who had been standing behind the heavy wooden desk situated there. She was dressed in a dark burgundy silk gown, equally as fine as anything Laura had owned, with a black beaded shawl thrown over her shoulders. The small casual touch from the shawl somehow made her appear even grander despite her tiny frame. She was perhaps ten years older than Laura, although her black hair showed no streaks of gray, and her dark eyes were sharp and bore the weight of a woman twenty or thirty years older than that.
The woman nodded regally to Mr. Thompson. “You have brought her,” she said in a voice faintly accented in Spanish. “You may await downstairs.” The dark eyes flickered to Fred. “The manservant will wait with you.” It had not been a request.
Fred pressed his lips together and looked at Laura. He was tall but slightly lanky, and yet the fierceness in his gaze indicated that he would even take on the massive butler if need be to protect his mistress.
But Laura nodded to him and then entered the room. However, she could not help tensing as the door shut behind her.
You can probably guess who she’s meeting, right?
Lady Wynwood and the Senhora’s Bargain is a bonus story only for my Patreon Tier 2 and higher.
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