Read Online Mistaken Identity (Saved By Desire 3) by Rebecca King - Free Book Online

had just returned from a day’s work as a clerk in Retterton, apparently. As if to prove this, his fingers were liberally stained with ink. Marcus had tried several times to find out where the man worked but received nothing more than vague answers. Mr Abernathy appeared to be in his forties but at times seemed considerably older. His shoulders had become stooped from long hours bent over a desk, and there was an abstract vagueness about him that was intriguing. It was clear from the bespectacled way he peered at everyone that he was struggling with his eyesight. How he managed to work with books and paperwork was anyone’s guess.
    With eyesight as bad as his, there is no possibility he would be able to pick his way through an uneven forest floor in the dead of night; Marcus mused as he watched the man peer at his food.
    What he had observed throughout the evening, and what bothered him the most, were the rather cautious looks everyone threw at each other whenever they thought nobody was looking. The furtive flicker of eyelids didn’t leave Marcus, himself a man who was always watchful, with any ability to sit back and simply enjoy the meal.
    Thankfully, the delicious repast was well cooked, and Marcus ate his share. His only criticism was that the amount they had was hardly plentiful. Just enough had been served to feed each man what they could eat, but very little had been to the kitchen.
    In spite of this, he was now warm and fed, and eager to get some sleep.
    Making his excuses to the table at large, he pocketed an apple and a pear from the fruit bowl beside the door and went in search of the landlady. He found her scrubbing down the empty kitchen table.
    “Hello,” he murmured.
    Jess jumped and whirled to face him. She hadn’t realised she was no longer alone. It shocked her at just how stealthily this big man moved. Making a mental note to be a little warier when he was in the house, she nodded politely to him.
    “Is my room ready yet?” Marcus asked without preamble.
    He eyed the small tendrils of hair that had slipped out of the loose top-knot she wore and fought the urge to touch them. He suspected that if he did, she would scurry off like a frightened rabbit.
    “This way,” Jessica replied briskly. “It isn’t up to our usual standards, you understand, but it is the best we can manage at short notice.”
    It was clear from the tone of her voice that she still wasn’t happy at having to accommodate him. Marcus wondered if she was usually this surly with people, or whether it was just him.
    Did she object to having a stranger in the house because she knew her brother had something to hide? Did she have something to hide? Or was it just that she was tired and incredibly worried about something?
    Oh, you are most definitely worried, Marcus mused as he eyed the deep grove between her eyes her smile wasn’t able to erase.
    His fingers itched to smooth it away. He wanted Jess to tell him about what was troubling her. It wasn’t that he could help her. In fact, he knew that he could very well prove to be the one person in the world who could make her life considerably worse. It was just that he knew she was carrying a heavy burden and, for the sake of his investigation, he needed to find out if it involved stolen jewels or not.
    “This is it,” she said as she pushed open a door to a room at the back of the house.
    Good, it affords you a good view of the woods her brother uses, Marcus thought as he stepped across the threshold and took a look around.
    The bed was large, and located against the far wall, a few feet away from the window overlooking the back gardens. An aged but well-loved dresser sat opposite, the top of which contained a wash bowl and jug. There was very little in the way of décor. The walls had been whitewashed some time ago but had now turned a dark cream colour. The only spot of colour within the rather brown and white room was the small rug beside the bed, and the floral curtains