Gather Ye Rosebuds by Joan Smith

Author:Joan Smith [Smith, Joan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Regency Romance
Publisher: Belgrave House
Published: 1993-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

In the depths of my embarrassment, the only thing I could think of was running away and hiding. Mama would have to sell Hernefield and move back to Ireland, where we would never have to face Lord Weylin again. He knew my uncle was a thief, that he had stolen Lady Margaret’s necklace and a great deal more. When I emptied my budget to Mama back at the hotel, she was no more optimistic than myself, but more curious.

“What on earth was Lady Margaret doing at Lindfield?” she kept asking. “And with a young fellow, you say?”

“A Mr. Jones. She was calling herself Mrs. Langtree. Barry must have tumbled to it that she was up to something, and been holding her to ransom. As his thievery was never reported, at least to our knowledge, it stands to reason he was not only a thief, but worse. He ferreted out his victims’ secrets and made them pay him to keep mum. I daresay Mr. Jones was the secret.”

“Do you think he was Lady Margaret’s... paramour?” she said, blurting the last word out in an explosion of distaste.

A little smile seized my lips at having found some disrepute in Weylin’s family to dilute the shame of my own. “Mrs. Sangster did say Mrs. Langtree was ever so fond of Mr. Jones. The name sounds like an alias.”

“And she left him the cottage as well. She would not do that for no reason. The old fool took a lover half her age. Well, there is no accounting for taste.”

“That was certainly foolish, but it is not indictable. We are in the worse pickle, Mama. What should we do?”

“Go home.”

I wanted to, but that was a craven impulse. “If we could find Barry’s money, we could pay Weylin for the necklace without mortgaging Hernefield. We must stay and try to find where he lived. Bradford said he had a cottage near Ashdown Forest. There are dozens of little villages tucked away there.”

“I wager Steptoe knows more than he is telling,” Mama said. “I think it is time to bargain with him, Zoie. Oh, did I tell you he is here, in Tunbridge? I spotted him on the Pantiles this afternoon. I tried to follow him, but he moved like greased lightning. I think he was looking for us, for he popped into half a dozen hotels, and right back out again.”

“He did not see you, then?”

“No, but he probably knows by now where we are staying.”

“Then we have only to sit tight and he will call.”

At that precise moment, a sharp rap came at our door. We both jumped an inch from our seats. I rose and strode to the door, wearing my sternest face to frighten Steptoe, flung the door open, and found myself staring at Lord Weylin.

“May I come in?” he asked, and walked past me into the room, before I had the wits to bar the door.

“Oh, you are still here, Lord Weylin,” Mama said. Her face was cherry red with shame.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.