Read Online Mississippi Raider by J.T. Edson - Free Book Online Page B

the
choice she had made for the attire she considered was best suited
for the visit she was intending to carry out. She was sure that
neither the garb she had selected nor the man she was going to see
would have met with the massive elderly Negress ’s approval. However, she
considered that Captain Anatol de-Farge could be of vital use to
her purpose if she could persuade him to do as she
wished.
    Out of consideration for what
she hoped to achieve by the visit she was about to make, the girl
felt she was fortunate that the young man assigned to the task by
Auntie Mattie had included the garments—including the black riding
boots she prized so highly for their comfortable fit and the
freedom of movement they permitted—she had worn during the fox hunt
with the clothing he fetched from her bedroom. It was equally
fortuitous that he had also fetched her epee de combat and brace of Manton dueling
pistols, although he had not had time to collect the Colt revolver,
even if he had noticed it lying where it was dropped by Auntie
Mattie. She had already replaced it with one of the same model, but
was not taking it with her.
    As something of
Belle ’s
less-than-conventional upbringing was well known to all the staff
of the Thatcher mansion, while making it plain that he did not
approve of such a flouting of accepted standards of behavior, the
groom who had made ready the horse from Baton Royale that she was
going to use had made no comment when being told she did not want
it to be fitted with a sidesaddle which to his way of thinking was
the only style a young woman of quality should use. Watching her
riding away, he grudgingly conceded that—despite having been
compelled to adopt the modified version caused by the rig she
selected lacking the support for the left leg offered by the only
acceptable type of female riding gear—she was contriving to handle
the spirited horse without any noticeable difficulty. He also
wondered why she had asked him to attach the sword and brace of
pistols, which were suspended from the saddle.
    If the groom had seen the
changes the girl made to her appearance when in the area of
woodland that surrounded and offered privacy, he would have felt
even greater disapproval and probably no little concern over her electing
to go there. First she took off and hung over a nearby bush the
black masculine top hat with gray muslin fastened around the base
and dangling almost to waist level down her back. These were placed
with the headdress, but she retained her thin black leather gloves,
as they were no impediment to freedom of movement by her hands.
Using the blow to her head as an excuse, she had had her hair cut
shorter than was currently considered fashionable although not to
the extremes she would have it shorn later. The removal of the
tight-waisted bodice and voluminous skirt of her modish and
socially acceptable riding habit left her clad in an open-necked
dark blue male shirt, snugly fitting black riding breeches, and the
boots.
    With the changes made to her
appearance, Belle mounted the horse with none of the slight
difficulty she had experienced as the result of wearing feminine
attire in conjunction with a masculine type of saddle. Then, having
paused for a moment she required to steel her resolve for what she
was planning to do, she set the spirited bay moving. Rejoining the
narrow track from which she had deviated so as to be able to leave
her temporarily discarded garments in concealment from anybody who
might pass before she returned, she soon came into sight of her
destination. It was a mansion somewhat smaller than Baton Roy ale
Manor or the Thatchers ’ home, but gave indications of being equally well
maintained.
    There was nothing about it to suggest that
the purposes to which the building was put by its owner were far
different from those of any of his neighbors. However, Belle was
aware—as were all the local women of her class with whom she was
acquainted—that it was run as an