Read Online Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George - Free Book Online Page B

saved Dacia from a scandalous adventure with Lord Johnny, which made Lou blush to think about even now. Dacia gaily referred to it as the Incident in London, but Lou had no idea how her cousin could be so cavalier about it.
    Furthermore, Lou was amazed that she had recognized him at all, since in person he was so much nicer, with a bright smile and twinkling blue eyes that made him look even more boyish. She could see why Dacia found him so irresistible.
    She was also certain that he was the young man she’d seen at the Louvre just before leaving Paris. So strange that the society pages hadn’t uncovered his whereabouts. According to the last clipping from London that Lou had received, Lord Johnny was hiding from his debts at his family estate in Suffolk.
    â€œYou have met my cousin,” Lou said to the young lord tentatively. “Miss Dacia Vreeholt of New York.”
    Lord Johnny’s entire face lit up. If Lou had thought him handsome before, if in a mischievous way, it was nothing to how he looked at the mention of her cousin’s name. He even sat up straighter, and dazzled her with his smile.
    â€œDacia is your cousin? Marvelous! Is she here?” He peered out into the corridor.
    â€œNo,” Lou said, and was a bit disappointed. She rather wished that someday a young man might light up like that at the mention of
her
name. Dacia had young men falling at her feet no matter where she went. “But I’m on my way to meet her,” she admitted. “In Romania. Bucharest.”
    â€œWhy are you going
there
?”
    Now Lord Johnny was on the edge of his seat, his spine ramrod straight, but the glow was gone, along with the smile. His blue eyes searched her face, and he moved a shock of brown hair off his forehead with an impatient hand.
    â€œAre you traveling alone?” he asked, but then answered himself. “No! Surely not! And Dacia? She’s already there? Who is with her?”
    â€œI’m with my parents,” Lou said, taken aback by his reaction. “And my brothers. They are at the other end of the car, in our compartment. Dacia is at one of our family’s houses. With our aunt Kate. We own a lot of houses . . . our mothers are Romanian.”
    She was babbling, she knew, and it was obvious that she was edging toward the door of the compartment, but he really was alarming her now. Also, it had occurred to her that she herself didn’t know this young man, who had nearly been sent to jail this very year for his crimes. Even worse: he had enticed Dacia to . . . to . . . well to nearly disgrace herself! Lou moved back to the door of the compartment.
    â€œYou’re Romanian? I didn’t know that.” He screwed up his face, thinking. “Then I think you’ll be all right. Romania can be dangerous, though, if you don’t know what you’re doing. I’m sure your mother’s family will look out for you.”
    Ignoring that, Lou asked him a question. “What are
you
doing here?” She had one hand on the door, but his last sentence caught her attention, and she looked at him with one of her best Aunt Kate expressions. “I mean, why are you on this train?”
    â€œI have business in Bucharest,” he said stiffly.
    â€œWell, good luck to you,” she said, wishing her voice wasn’t coming out so shrill. “Good day, my lord.” And she beat a hasty retreat back to her family’s compartment.
    â€œLouLou? Are you all right?”
    Her father woke up as she slipped in between the sliding mahogany doors. He startled her and she jumped and let out a little scream.
    â€œOh, goodness! Yes, I’m fine!” She clutched at the lacy fichu at her throat. “I just wanted some air.”
    Maria sniffed, nose wrinkled in disgust. “Then why did you go to the smoking car?” she demanded. Her sense of smell was almost as keen as Aunt Kate’s, as Lou and Dacia had discovered the time they had tried