Read Online Lie by Moonlight by Amanda Quick - Free Book Online Page A

have organized such a vanishing act.
    â€œThe trick is to keep it as simple as possible,” Ambrose explained when he saw them off at the train station. “And to remember that people see what they expect to see.”
    The next thing she knew he had disappeared himself. But just before the train pulled out of the station, she caught a glimpse of a scruffy-looking farmer climbing into one of the crowded third-class carriages. Something about the way he moved told her that the man was Ambrose.
    A few hours later, after a number of stops in small towns and villages along the way that afforded the passengers the opportunity to stretch their legs, four well-bred young ladies and their teacher descended from a first-class carriage into a busy London station. They immediately gotinto a cab. The vehicle melted into the swollen traffic and the afternoon haze.
    An hour later, four working-class youths emerged from a thronged shopping arcade. They were dressed in caps, trousers, mufflers and coats. They sauntered in the wake of a flower seller in a tattered cloak.
    The small group drifted through a busy vegetable market and climbed into an empty farmer’s cart. A tarp was stretched over the back of the wagon to conceal the passengers.
    Through an opening in the canvas, Concordia caught occasional glimpses of the neighborhoods through which they traveled. Within a short time, the bustle and clatter of the market gave way to a maze of tiny lanes and cramped, dark streets. Scenes of prosperous shops and modest houses followed. That view, in turn, eventually gave way to one of a neighborhood of elegant mansions and fine squares.
    To Concordia’s amazement, the farmer’s cart eventually passed through the heavy iron gates at the back of one of the big houses and rumbled to a halt in a stone-paved yard.
    The canvas was whipped off the back of the cart. Ambrose, wearing a farmer’s hat and rough clothing, looked down from the driver’s box.
    â€œWelcome to your new lodgings, ladies.” He tossed the reins to a tall, lanky middle-aged man dressed in a gardener’s attire. “This is Mr. Oates. Oates, allow me to introduce Miss Glade and her four students, Phoebe, Hannah, Theodora and Edwina. They will be staying with us for a while.”
    â€œLadies.” Oates touched his cap.
    â€œA pleasure to meet you, Mr. Oates,” Concordia said.
    The girls acknowledged him cheerfully.
    Oates looked oddly pleased and somewhat embarrassed by the polite greetings. He mumbled something unintelligible and turned red.
    Two large, sleek dogs with sharply pointed ears and well-defined heads bounded forward and stopped directly in front of the small crowd. Their cold, intelligent gaze stirred the hair on the back of Concordia’s neck. The animals reminded her of the portrait of a jackal-headed Egyptian god she had once seen in a museum.
    â€œMeet Dante and Beatrice,” Ambrose said.
    Concordia eyed the dogs uneasily. “Will they bite?”
    Ambrose’s smile was not unlike that of the dogs. “Of course. What’s the point of having guard dogs that will not rip the throats of uninvited guests? But do not be alarmed. Now that you and the girls have been properly introduced, you are quite safe.”
    â€œYou’re certain of that?”
    His smile widened. “Absolutely positive, Miss Glade.”
    â€œI say, this was great fun.” Phoebe jumped down from the cart without waiting for assistance from one of the men and rubbed the place behind Dante’s pricked ears. “I very much enjoyed wearing these trousers. Much more comfortable than the skirts we sewed together.” She looked hopefully at Concordia. “May I keep them, Miss Glade?”
    â€œI don’t see why not,” Concordia said. She relaxed when she saw that the dog appeared to be enjoying Phoebe’s attention. “They are quite practical in some ways.”
    Beatrice trotted toward her and thrust