A Curio for the Count

A Curio for the Count Gems of LondonBook Two Elizabeth Ellen Carter © Copyright 2022 by Elizabeth Ellen Carter Text by Elizabeth Ellen Carter Cover by Wicked Smart Designs Dragonblade Publishing, Inc. is an imprint of Kathryn Le Veque Novels, Inc. P.O. Box 23 Moreno Valley, CA 92556 [email protected] Produced in the United States of America First Edition December 2022 Kindle Edition Reproduction of any kind except where it pertains to short quotes in relation to advertising or promotion is strictly prohibited. All Rights Reserved. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author. License Notes: This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook, once purchased, may not be re-sold. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. 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Without your support, there is no ‘us’, so we sincerely hope you adore these stories and find some new favorite authors along the way. Happy Reading! CEO, Dragonblade Publishing Additional Dragonblade books by Author Elizabeth Ellen Carter Gems of London Series Deceiving the Duke (Book 1) A Curio for the Count (Book 2) A Sweet Tale of Blessing (Novella) Heart of the Corsairs Series Captive of the Corsairs Revenge of the Corsairs Shadow of the Corsairs Tidings of Comfort (Novella) King’s Rogues Series Live and Let Spy Spyfall Spy Another Day Father’s Day (A Novella) The Lyon’s Den Series The Lyon Sleeps Tonight Pirates of Britannia Series The de Wolfe of Wharf Street Also from Elizabeth Ellen Carter Dark Heart Warming Winter’s Heart The Ghost Bride A Curio for the Count To find his future, he must own his past… Raised as an Englishman, Armand Danger, Comte de Ytres, is troubled by a dream from his childhood that leaves him speculating on his French past. He is convinced that the answers he seeks can be found in an elaborate clock which belonged to his father who was executed during the French Revolution. Miss Jade Bridges works as a valuer in her family’s London antique shop and auction house. One day she receives a mysterious letter from an anonymous client willing to pay any price for a very specific statue clock. While in pursuit of the clock, Jade and Armand meet, and there’s immediate attraction. But how can it amount to anything when they are rivals for the very same object? As the couple grow closer and attraction deepens, they agree to join forces to find the timepiece together. Then an antique dealer is killed. It appears someone else is willing to extract a fatal price to possess the clock for themselves. Why is someone willing to commit murder for this curio for the count? Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Publisher’s Note Additional Dragonblade books by Author Elizabeth Ellen Carter About the Book Epigraph Acknowledgements Dedication Prologue 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 Epilogue About the Author “The clock talked loud. I threw it away, it scared me what it talked.” —Tillie Olsen Acknowledgements To the wonderful team at Dragonblade Publishing, with amazing publisher Kathryn Leveque and superlative editors, Cynthia Blackburn and Scott Moreland. Thank you for everything you do. Dedication To my fantastic neighbors, Debbie and Graham. I’ll never forget how my husband Duncan and I nutted out the plot of this tale while taking down the thirty meters of old fence between our yards! And to Brooke and Hannah. Thank you for letting me “borrow” the name of Mickey Mattis. Prologue Witherick House London 1818 The nightmare was not new. He’d had it many times before. But in it Armand Danger saw himself as three-years-old once more. It was mostly dark, and he was running, running, running. First awakened by his nanny, then dragged along by his maman. Out of bed. Down the darkened corridors. Into the woods. Out to sea. He was frightened, but then he saw his papa in the study, so everything would be all right. And yet, what was once a neat and orderly room was a snowstorm of paper glowing white in the lamplight. Paper became flame. Three-year-old Armand ran once more. The thudding of his heart became the sound of the tattoo of drums outside, where the flames chased him faster and faster, away from the safety of his home to the place where he dreaded to go. The giant lady pointed the way. He went as she directed. To the building that was the home of the Dead. The rap, rap, rap of the drums became a tick, tick, tick of