Read Online If He's Noble (Wherlocke Book 7) (Paranormal Historical Romance) by Hannah Howell - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Hannah Howell
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, Paranormal, Adult, Family Life, series, England, London, Danger, 19th century, spy, Treachery, Brother, Honorable, Temptation, Family Curse, Missing Person
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bed, yanked on his drawers, and went to open it just a little. The stableboy he had paid to watch for anyone asking after him stood there. He sighed, knowing that his moment of peace was about to end.
“Someone has asked after me?”
“Aye, m’lord. Some woman.”
“Did you see her?”
“Nay. She stayed in the carriage and sent her man to speak to me. He was tall, thin, and had silver hair. Big long nose, too.”
“Jenson. Damn.”
“I think he slipped into the stables and had a look around while the old woman talked to me.”
“So they might know I am here.”
“That gelding of yours be easy to spot.”
“True. Ajax is a fine steed.” He fetched a coin from his money purse and handed it to the boy. “Time for me to be leaving, I think. Get Ajax ready and leave him where I showed you.”
The moment the boy was gone, Simeon hurried to dress. He watched Lucy slowly wake up and stretch out her luscious body before smiling at him. It was tempting but he did not think she was worth dying for. He smiled and shook his head, ignoring her pout. If Jenson had seen Ajax and told Aunt Augusta, he could be facing a hard run for his life.
Collecting up his possessions, he paused to kiss Lucy good-bye and then slipped out of the room. He headed for the back stairs, keeping a close watch behind him. Just as he slipped into the shadowed opening of the back stairs he heard someone rap on one of the doors. A careful look around the corner of the wall revealed a man he did not recognize talking to Lucy. Not waiting to see how that went, he hurried down the stairs and slipped out the kitchen door.
Weaving his way through the alleys of the town, he caught sight of his aunt’s carriage and ducked into a dress shop. With a cap hiding his hair, he strolled over to the counter and looked at the ribbons displayed there. There were some red ones he knew his sister would love and bought three. That made the girl behind the counter more than willing to keep his visit a secret if asked. She even showed him how to leave the shop without being seen.
It still took him an hour to get to where the stableboy stood with his horse. He attached his bags to the horse and mounted it before handing the boy another coin. If he had known how many people he was going to have to bribe to keep his passing through a secret, he would have brought a chest of coins.
He turned his horse toward the direction of his uncle’s home and rode off, staying away from the main roads and doing his best to remain out of sight. It worried him that his aunt believed killing him would gain her anything. The only way that would be true was if something had happened to his father. Simeon felt a pang in his chest as he feared that may be the case. He also worried about his sister’s fate.
Primrose did not know just how much Augusta disliked her, never had. His father and he had done their best to shelter her from the worst of it. That might have been a mistake, he thought. It had been, and still was, difficult to resist the urge to ride for home and see just what was happening but he had to remember that he was the last of the Woottens of Willow Hill, the last one to carry on the barony and the name, something his father had considered very important. So, for his father’s sake, he prayed for the safety of his family and fought to stay alive.
Chapter Five
“Are you certain?”
“Very certain, miss. I would have noted a gentleman as fine as the one you have described and I saw no one like that.”
Primrose stared at the woman. She was a little plump with shapely curves, just as Simeon always liked women to be. There was little doubt in her mind that this woman had noted and was worldly enough to have done a great deal more if the chance had arisen.
“Yet I followed his horse’s trail right to this inn.”
“If he was here, it must have been on the day I do not work.”
The words you are a liar were hot on her tongue when Bened grabbed her by the arm and
“Someone has asked after me?”
“Aye, m’lord. Some woman.”
“Did you see her?”
“Nay. She stayed in the carriage and sent her man to speak to me. He was tall, thin, and had silver hair. Big long nose, too.”
“Jenson. Damn.”
“I think he slipped into the stables and had a look around while the old woman talked to me.”
“So they might know I am here.”
“That gelding of yours be easy to spot.”
“True. Ajax is a fine steed.” He fetched a coin from his money purse and handed it to the boy. “Time for me to be leaving, I think. Get Ajax ready and leave him where I showed you.”
The moment the boy was gone, Simeon hurried to dress. He watched Lucy slowly wake up and stretch out her luscious body before smiling at him. It was tempting but he did not think she was worth dying for. He smiled and shook his head, ignoring her pout. If Jenson had seen Ajax and told Aunt Augusta, he could be facing a hard run for his life.
Collecting up his possessions, he paused to kiss Lucy good-bye and then slipped out of the room. He headed for the back stairs, keeping a close watch behind him. Just as he slipped into the shadowed opening of the back stairs he heard someone rap on one of the doors. A careful look around the corner of the wall revealed a man he did not recognize talking to Lucy. Not waiting to see how that went, he hurried down the stairs and slipped out the kitchen door.
Weaving his way through the alleys of the town, he caught sight of his aunt’s carriage and ducked into a dress shop. With a cap hiding his hair, he strolled over to the counter and looked at the ribbons displayed there. There were some red ones he knew his sister would love and bought three. That made the girl behind the counter more than willing to keep his visit a secret if asked. She even showed him how to leave the shop without being seen.
It still took him an hour to get to where the stableboy stood with his horse. He attached his bags to the horse and mounted it before handing the boy another coin. If he had known how many people he was going to have to bribe to keep his passing through a secret, he would have brought a chest of coins.
He turned his horse toward the direction of his uncle’s home and rode off, staying away from the main roads and doing his best to remain out of sight. It worried him that his aunt believed killing him would gain her anything. The only way that would be true was if something had happened to his father. Simeon felt a pang in his chest as he feared that may be the case. He also worried about his sister’s fate.
Primrose did not know just how much Augusta disliked her, never had. His father and he had done their best to shelter her from the worst of it. That might have been a mistake, he thought. It had been, and still was, difficult to resist the urge to ride for home and see just what was happening but he had to remember that he was the last of the Woottens of Willow Hill, the last one to carry on the barony and the name, something his father had considered very important. So, for his father’s sake, he prayed for the safety of his family and fought to stay alive.
Chapter Five
“Are you certain?”
“Very certain, miss. I would have noted a gentleman as fine as the one you have described and I saw no one like that.”
Primrose stared at the woman. She was a little plump with shapely curves, just as Simeon always liked women to be. There was little doubt in her mind that this woman had noted and was worldly enough to have done a great deal more if the chance had arisen.
“Yet I followed his horse’s trail right to this inn.”
“If he was here, it must have been on the day I do not work.”
The words you are a liar were hot on her tongue when Bened grabbed her by the arm and
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