Read Online Never Less Than a Lady by Mary Jo Putney - Free Book Online Page B

Once we’re married and Daventry has accepted your right to exist, he’ll call off his dogs.”
    She bit her lip. “Do you really think he will?”
    “Yes, though not happily.” A lifetime of wariness had given Randall some understanding of his uncle. “For the sake of the earldom’s survival, he will.”
    “I hope you’re right,” she said softly.
    He hoped so, too. Though Randall spoke to Julia with confidence, he knew better than anyone that Daventry was an unpredictable old devil. “Were you able to purchase a riding habit? There were no carriages available, so I hired horses. They’re waiting at an inn where we can dine and write our messages.”
    Her glance went to his damaged leg, but she knew better than to mention that. “I did find a habit, though it’s large. I can change at the inn.”
    They stepped into the high street. Julia gasped and retreated to flatten herself against the bricks of the corner building. “He’s out there! Crockett and one of his men!”
    “Did he see you?” Randall scanned the people moving along the street.
    “I…I don’t think so.” Julia’s hands knotted into fists as she struggled for control. “He was looking toward the cathedral.”
    Randall’s gaze settled on a tall man with a predator’s face. “He’s wearing a black hat and a bottle-green coat?”
    “That’s him.”
    Crockett’s companion was a rough, menacing fellow who lacked Crockett’s feral intelligence. Randall memorized their faces. “They’re heading in the opposite direction from our destination. We can use a back street to get to our inn. Roads lead in all directions from Carlisle so we should be safe once we’re away.”
    She forced her fists to relax and took his arm again. “I’ll do my best to increase my invisibility.”
    A few minutes of walking brought them to the White Lion. The inn was bustling, but a private room was available and a substantial dinner was served quickly. Randall tried not to fall on the food like a starving wolf. He wasn’t sure he succeeded. Julia, though more restrained, was equally enthusiastic.
    “I feel more optimistic now that I’ve been fed.” Meal finished, Julia rose and drifted to the window. “No sign of Crockett out there.”
    “Your bonnet is so deep he probably wouldn’t recognize you even if we ride right by him.” He finished his ale and stood. “I’ll tell the ostler to saddle the horses. Grand Turk will spend the night here and be led back to Hartley in the morning, along with any messages you want to send with him.”
    “I’ll write my notes and change into my riding habit.” Julia dropped the curtain and turned from the window. “It’s hard to believe that yesterday morning I woke up in my own bed in Hartley. It seems like a lifetime ago.”
    “It’s been an eventful day.”
    She smiled. “You have a gift for understatement.”
    If that made her smile, he was grateful for it.
     
    Even with her bonnet’s veil drawn over her face, Julia felt horribly exposed as they rode from the inn’s courtyard and turned north. She told herself that Crockett was looking for a lone woman on foot, not a couple on horseback, but her nerves were taut to the screaming point. Despite her attempts to look six ways at once without turning her head, she still felt itchiness between her shoulder blades.
    Luckily she didn’t carry the burden of keeping watch alone. Randall looked casual, but she was sure he noticed everything and everyone around them. So far, all the benefits of their relationship were on her side.
    She began to relax when they got outside Carlisle. This was the main road to Scotland, and there was steady traffic in both directions. Plodding farm carts were punctuated by riders, carriages, and once, a swift mail coach.
    Randall also relaxed, though his eyes were watchful. A couple miles north of the town, he said, “You ride well despite your lack of practice.”
    “As a child, I was as horse-mad as my brother,” she admitted.