Read Online A Conspiracy of Ravens by Gilbert Morris - Free Book Online

displeasure. “Mum, I want to go with you.”
    Serafina knelt down to his level. She took his hands and held them tightly. “You’re too young for such things, David.”
    “You could hide me in your carriage. No one would see me.”
    Serafina laughed, reached out, and hugged him. “I’m afraid that wouldn’t answer, but remember you’re going to have great fun with Danny. When it stops raining you can ride Patches, and the two of you can go try to find another bird’s egg to add to your collection.”
    David brightened up. “That will be fun.” But then he shook his head. “What about when it gets dark?”
    “We already talked about that. Ellie is going to read to you after supper, and you can play games with her until bedtime. You know how much fun you have with Ellie.”
    “I’d rather go with you.”
    “And I’d rather stay here with you, but grown-ups have to do things they don’t want to do.”
    “Look, Serafina,” Dora cried. She was standing at the large window looking down. “Matthew and Dylan are here.”
    “Well, we mustn’t keep them waiting.” Serafina gathered David into a hug and kissed his cheek. “You go along now.”
    “When will you be back?”
    “We plan to stay over just tonight. We’ll be back sometime tomorrow. I’ll see you then.”
    “Good-bye, Mum. You have a good time.” David turned and ran off in search of the groom, who was his chief playmate.
    “I suppose we’d better go,” Serafina said. “Come along.”
    The two left the room and went downstairs. They reached the first floor and moved into the foyer just as the door was opened by Louisa Toft, Serafina’s maid. “Oh, it’s you, Mr. Dylan,” Louisa said. The beautiful young woman of twenty-three was absolutely stricken with Dylan Tremayne. Serafina noted the adoring look in her maid’s eyes and started to rebuke her but then gave up. All women seemed to look on Dylan in that fashion. She wondered, not for the first time, how much he was able to resist the obvious advances that some of them made.
    “Hello, Dylan,” she said and stepped forward.
    “A good day to you.” Dylan smiled. He was wearing an outfit that Serafina had never seen before—a blue velvet frock coat, a white linen shirt, a complicated black cravat with a small diamond stud, black breeches pressed into a nice crease, and dark glossy boots. His dark hair was groomed beautifully, and his handsome face was sharply delineated by the gaslight. He smiled and said, “We’re going to get wet, I think.”
    “I hope not,” Aldora said. “How are you, Inspector Grant?”
    Grant wore a pearl-grey suit with a modish, short waistcoat and shawl collar, and his pointed standing collar was decorated with a simple cravat. He also wore black shiny boots. “How are you, Miss Aldora? And you, Lady Trent?”
    “Oh, I’m so excited,” Dora said. Her eyes were glowing, and she looked exceptionally pretty as she smiled at the two men. “I do hope it stops raining.”
    “The others have already left,” Serafina said, “but there’s no hurry. We have plenty of time.”
    They left the house, and the ladies were handed into the carriage, seated so they could face forward. The men, as custom demanded, sat with their backs to the driver. The covered coach was one Dylan had never seen before, and after Serafina told the driver to begin their journey, he said, “This is new, isn’t it?”
    “Yes, Father just bought it. It’s called a vis-à-vis.”
    Dylan ran his hand over the smooth walnut door that made up the body and settled back in the softness of the brown leather seat. “This is the way to travel.” He smiled.
    “Are you ready for the ball, Miss Aldora?” Grant asked.
    “Oh, yes, it’s going to be so much fun. Do you like balls, Inspector?”
    “To tell the truth, I’ve never been to one.”
    Grant’s simple answer startled the two women. Balls were a part of their lives, and to think here was a man who had spent over thirty years on