Read Online Dawn's Early Light by Pip Ballantine - Free Book Online

fifteen minutes or so, Bill finally set down the last of Felicity’s packed library with a thud. He was breathing as if he had just played several sets at Wimbledon.
    â€œGod save the Union! A fine specimen you are,” Wellington said, motioning with his walking stick at Bill’s shoulders. “Atlas himself would be impressed at the weight you carry.”
    Then he turned to survey their new accommodations. Swan’s Retreat was, even by Wellington’s standards, quite impressive, far from the wilderness hunting lodge he had envisioned. If he had not known the outside was on the Outer Banks of the Carolinas, Wellington would have thought himself on the deck of a White Star cruise liner. However, rather than the drone of air motors around him or the sound of a sea vessel’s whistle, he was instead surrounded by the casual conversation of men in hunting jackets and ladies gossiping with one another.
    He and Eliza had just made eye contact with the concierge when Eliza suddenly stood between him and the desk, threw her arms around his neck, and squealed, making many a head turn.
    â€œOh, Reginald!” She beamed and gave him a rather fervent kiss that nearly toppled him over. “You have made me the happiest newlywed in all of the Empire!”
    â€œEr, um . . . think nothing of it,” Wellington stammered, feeling the heat rise under his skin. He was drawing a blank. Ye gods, what were their cover names? “Nothing at all . . . Esther.” Eliza’s smile widened. He got it right. Feeling every neck muscle tighten as he craned around her face to peck her on the cheek, he added, “I thought you would enjoy the fresh sea air here in the Carolinas.”
    With a delightful little giggle, Eliza crinkled her nose, and then continued to the front desk, leaving him there quite befuddled.
    Wellington smoothed out his cravat and cast a nervous glance over to Agent Lovelace who was eyeing him curiously. She darted her eyes to Eliza, then back to Wellington, asking him silently,
The vapours?
    His nod of reassurance, he knew, was anything but.
    When he joined Eliza at the desk, she nuzzled in closer to him, fluttering at him her sapphire blue eyes as if she had caught a handful of dirt in them. There was no reason or rationale in this odd game she had chosen to play at this very public moment; but like all of her antics, he was sure there was going to be an uncomfortable point to it.
    â€œWelcome to Swan’s Retreat,” the concierge recited his greeting.
    â€œThank you, kind sir,” Wellington replied brightly. “Reginald and Esther McPhearson.”
    The man at the desk’s expression remained stoic as he replied, “As I surmised.” With a light snort, he looked down at his ledger and found their names. “We have you staying with us for six days, five nights.” He glanced back up at the two of them, and Eliza giggled again. “How fortunate we are for that.”
    Wellington was now feeling a different kind of heat rise, but his anger was immediately quashed by Eliza’s reply. “Oh, such manners here, Reginald. I did hear that the southern states of the Americas excelled at hospitality.” She patted the concierge’s hand and nodded. “I think your establishment here will suit us down to the ground.”
    â€œWe do hope so,” the attendant spoke evenly, though Wellington could clearly hear the undercurrent of loathing in his voice. Particularly when he added, “If you desire to anything, just—”
    â€œAsk?” Eliza blurted. “I can assure you we will, provided Reginald and I do not awaken and find ourselves mute.” She then burst into a cackle. “But how ridiculous of a notion, don’t you think?”
    Wellington felt dizzy.
You are
still
upset about that?
He’d fooled her into silence on that mission, so perhaps it was only fair.
    â€œYou are booked in Room Ten.” He