Read Online Never Wager Against Love by Maureen Driscoll - Free Book Online

Mortimer and Cassidy.  Yet, she’d taken
forever to fall asleep, then spent most of the night tossing and turning.
    The cause of her unrest was in a room down the hall.  She
knew it was unlikely that he was taking yet another bath.  But her mind
couldn’t seem to get him out of the tub.  That wasn’t quite true.  Her mind had
encountered few difficulties in imagining him lounging in bed, with his
glorious chest bared for her to see.  She was certain he’d never bother with a
nightshirt.  She was equally sure that the maids in his home probably fought for
the honor of lighting the fire in his room each morning, just for the chance to
see that broad expanse of chest or anything else they might be lucky enough to
get a peek of.
    She’d only had a quick glimpse the evening before of the
rest of him.  Just the thought of what she’d seen made the room considerably
warmer.  The water had surely distorted the size of his manhood.  Water
magnified body parts.  It was a proven fact.   It had to be a proven fact,
because if it wasn’t, then who could possibly accommodate such a…force of
nature.
    It had been a long time since she’d experienced any sort of
lovemaking and her education had been cursory at best.  But she knew enough to
imagine Arthur Kellington was a man who would excel in the bed chamber.  And
she cursed herself for wanting first-hand confirmation of it.
    She put on her newly cleaned lad’s clothing and went downstairs
to break her fast. Discussing the mission with Dumbarton would clear her mind of
her attraction to Arthur.
    Unfortunately, she found the subject of her thoughts already
at breakfast before her.  He and Dumbarton were poring over maps.  The older
man was excited, which meant he’d cracked the cipher. 
    “Good morning, my dear,” said Dumbarton, as he moved to kiss
her hand, but was thwarted when Arthur stepped between them on his way to
refill his plate at the sideboard.
    “I wouldn’t have taken you for a late riser,” said Arthur,
as he tried to decide between bacon and sausage, then helped himself to both.
    “I’m not,” said Vanessa crossly.  How like the man to be
where she didn’t want him.  “But I thought lords such as yourself rarely rose
before noon.”
    “There are no other lords like myself.  And you will be
pleased to know that Dumbarton has solved the first piece of the puzzle.”
    “It’s true,” said the professor, as he directed Sedgwick to
seat Vanessa next to him.  “Your cipher, my dear, would’ve been quite
impossible for anyone other than I.  But, of course, it was not much of a
challenge for me.  Would you care to know how I broke the code?  I will, of
course, use layman’s terms so you can understand.”
    “Thank you professor,” she said as she took a sip of coffee.
“But now that we know what the papers say, I believe we should be on our way as
soon as possible.  Please be assured I’m certain it was most clever of you.”
    Arthur choked on his coffee at her artful evasion, which no
doubt saved them not only time, but boredom. 
    Dumbarton looked to be rather put out at being robbed of the
opportunity to flaunt his intelligence yet again.  But he pulled himself
together enough to tell them his conclusion.  “While I have only decoded the
first part of the papers….”
    “And not all of them?” asked Arthur, who then shook his head
and quietly tsked.  He also put some of his food on Vanessa’s empty plate.
    Dumbarton visibly bristled.  “The cipher changed at that
point in the papers.”
    “So it was just as Miss Gans said last night?” asked Arthur,
who noticed she was trying not to smile.
    “Be that as it may,” said Dumbarton, “it appears that the
first part of the papers do not name an English contact, if there even is one. 
Instead, it tells your Mortimer and Cassidy to steal an item of great worth. 
Presumably, they will then take it to the person who hired them.”
    Vanessa looked her surprise.