Read Online Moon Dreams by Patricia Rice - Free Book Online

that dangerous?”
    “I thank you very much for your hospitality, Deirdre, but I
cannot impose on you longer. I will write and tell you how I fare. Thank Rory
for me. Besides my grandfather, he is the only true gentleman I have ever
known. I regret that I involved him in this.”
    “You are talking nonsense, child! Anyone who calls Rory a
gentleman is all about in the head. Have no illusions about my nephew. He is
well able to take care of himself, has done so since he was a child. You needn’t
be protecting him by running away. I’ll just send a servant over to Lady Emilie,
and we’ll pass the night comfortably with her until Rory and your cousin have
put an end to their differences.”
    With a sad smile, Alyson shook her head. Why couldn’t others
see what she did? There wasn’t time to explain. She had to change and get to
the bank before it closed.
    “Rory has nothing to fear from my cousin. You do. Go to your
friend’s house, please. I will be fine.” This last was a lie. The vision she
had seen when Rory had challenged the earl had been filled with terror, but she
could not pin a name or place or face to it.
    She had known nameless terror before. Just before her
grandfather died she had felt it. It was a cold sensation that surrounded her
heart and stopped it from beating and clouded her thoughts with wispy vapors of
fear, but the source was never clear. She just knew this time that it was
directed at herself, and she could surmise Cranville was the source of it.
    She knew other things too, vague things that were not always
clear until the moment struck. That was the frightening part, waiting for it to
happen. But action, any action at all, was better than sitting still. By
separating herself from her friends, she assured herself that they would not be
struck by whatever befell her.
    Alyson returned to methodically gathering her belongings.
Deirdre gave up with a sigh and departed, presumably to scribble a message to
Lady Emilie.
    A fog was rolling in from the water by the time Alyson had completed
her packing and changed to her maid’s costume. She left the house with her
reticule wrapped around her wrist and hidden beneath the old woolen cloak. The
unusual warm weather had turned bitingly cold for March. The damp fog had driven
people inside, and there were few to observe her direction.
    She hurried to the corner on Piccadilly where she knew she
would find a sedan chair to take her the distance to Cheapside. It had not been
easy leaving without a maid. Surely no one would blame an entire household if
she disappeared quietly on her own.
    The mist settled on her cloak, dampening her spirits until
she located a chair. It might have been faster if she walked, but she was
afraid of the empty streets and the shadows in the fog.
    By the time she arrived on Cheapside, the bank was preparing
to close. It, too, was nearly empty, and the clerk was impatient. The account
she drew upon, however, was a healthy one, and after some fussing, he provided
her with the funds requested.
    With enough coins to travel anywhere, Alyson set out to
locate a post chaise. She had learned a good deal about travel in these last
few weeks, but not so much as she would like. It would be better if she had a
destination, with someone waiting for her at the other end, but Cranville would
only make life a misery for any friends of hers. Better to just disappear and
reappear elsewhere as someone new. She owned property in Bath. That gave her a
direction, at least.
    Her mind cluttered with worries, she hurried through the fog-shrouded
street. Turning from the wide avenue of the financial district into a short
alley that would take her to the hiring inn, she became aware of men following
her.
    Garbed as a servant, she assumed she had nothing that would
interest a thief. But as she hurried on, she heard two more pairs of footsteps
in the fog. That was when she knew she had been a fool to think Cranville would
wait until morning.
    She began to run,