[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
frantic beckoning gesture in his di-rection.
Excusing himself from Travertine, he crossed the ballroom to her side. My darling girl, he said in his
most fatuous voice, where have you been? Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the man beside
him expectantly, and Holbrook per-formed the necessary introductions.
Your servant, my lord. Ethan bowed to the viscount in his most dandified fashion, and Low-den
mirrored him. That politeness taken care of, Ethan held out his hand to Katie.
As she took his hand, her fingers squeezed his and he did not miss the look of gratitude she gave him.
Her gaze met his, and he saw her mouth the words Let s leave now as she cast a pointed glance
toward the door.
He lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. You look tired, my dear, he said. I ll escort you home
now.
The viscount protested. But it is quite early still. You must stay a bit longer.
Ethan smiled and shook his head. I m afraid that won t do, my lord. We couldn t possibly stay a
moment more. I have an appointment early tomor-row morning, and I wouldn t want to be late.
Lowden protested again, but Ethan was adam-ant, and a few minutes later, they were in Ethan s
carriage and on their way back to Katie s house. Safely inside the carriage with no chance of being
overheard, Ethan said, Did you find out anything interesting from Lowden?
She looked at him blankly for a moment, then shook her head. Oh, no, but& I didn t& I mean, I
hadn t expected to learn anything. I was merely& umm& trying to determine his character.
And?
I don t know. Katie leaned back against the seat and pressed her fingertips to her forehead as if she
had a headache.
I saw him pull you into their circle and make conversation with you. I wonder if he suspects something
about your
What could he possibly suspect? she mum-bled. He s been back in Boston less than a day.
I don t know, but I hope he arrived too late to nonce our little jaunt to the bedrooms and the fact that
Chevain and his mistress did the same.
Katie made no reply, and Ethan glanced over at her. By the light of the carriage lamp, he could see that
her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted. She had actually fallen asleep.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
He studied her in exasperated amusement, won-dering how she could possibly sleep now, after the
exciting events of the night. He had finally met Lowden face to face. He was also exhilarated by the
success of his meeting with Chevain. He was not tired in the least.
But then, Katie was not in this cause because she was a patriot who wanted freedom for the colonies.
She was in it because she wanted freedom for her-self. Once she had it, she would leave, and Ethan
knew he had nothing that would make her stay.
Chapter Seventeen
Katie had two days to fabricate a story for Low-den, and by the time she arrived at the Stag and Steed
on Monday night, she had what she felt was a convincing one. Nonetheless, her palms were sweating in
their gloves, and she knew she would be glad when the meeting was over.
The tavern was very similar to the White Swan, with its taproom filled with redcoats gulping down ale
and meat pies. One glance at the taproom, and Katie decided it would be wise to use the rear entrance
through the kitchen. She circled around to the alley and entered the Stag and Steed by the back door.
Mrs. Gibbons, her gnarled face flushed from the heat of the ovens, jerked a thumb toward the stairs.
He s waiting for you. Same room as before.
She nodded and walked through the buttery, then mounted the stairs to the upper floor. Lowden was
indeed waiting for her, for when she tapped on the door of the room where they had first met, her knock
was promptly answered with a command to come in.
She entered the room, closing the door behind her, and the viscount rose from the long table that stood
between them, looking just as ruthless as he lad the first time she had seen him. She swallowed hard, bur
she pasted an expression of supreme self-confidence on her face. Good evening, my lord.
He didn t bother to give her any answering pleasantries. Be seated.
She took off her cloak and draped it over the back of the chair he indicated, then sat down. I assume
you would like me to tell you the full story. Without waiting for confirmation of that assumption, she
swept on. The plan that Worth and I concocted about the watch succeeded ad-mirably. In fact, I was
able to begin working at the Mermaid right away. But Molly Munro, the wife of the owner, put me in the
kitchen, cooking and washing dishes, not letting me serve ale in the taproom as I had hoped.
She knew she was talking too fast, and she prayed that to the viscount s ears she sounded con-fident
rather than nervous. This, of course, pre-sented a problem. You cannot see into the taproom of the
Mermaid from the kitchen, and you certainly can t overhear anything from there. So, I
Who is John Smith?
I m getting to that. So, I knew I d have to take further action if I were going to learn anything of
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]