Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress by Elizabeth Boyle

Author:Elizabeth Boyle [Boyle, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, General, Man-Woman Relationships, Love Stories, Historical, Historical Fiction, London (England), Aristocracy (Social Class)
ISBN: 9780061373244
Publisher: Avon
Published: 2009-04-27T16:00:00+00:00

Aboard the Ellis Anne, 1837

“A fine story,” Pippin said, getting up and brushing the crumbs from her gown. “But I am not that woman.”

Not that he believed her. The boy glanced up at her and winked. A cheeky gesture that said he’d keep her secret.

So much for her decline into respectable obscurity, as her children wanted for her, she thought as she escaped Finn and his excellent storytelling.

Escaped her past.

Then to her shock, he rose and followed her as well. “I asked Mr. Hardy who the old hag was, and the giant, and the driver, but he didn’t know. So I suppose I’d best be asking you, ma’am. Who were they?”

She had to admire his cheek and his persistence. Who were they? Looking down into his expectant gaze, she realized he had every hope of gaining an answer.

Not that he was going to get one. Why, such an admission was still treason. Would ruin a notable diplomatic career—for it was bad enough Lord Larken’s wife wrote romantic novels, but to discover that she’d driven a prison van kidnapping an officer and marine of His Majesty’s Navy? Or how would it taint the dotage of Lady John Tremont, a highly regarded society matron, to discover she’d had a hand in the notorious escape?

And the giant of a fellow? Pippin glanced away, her eyes growing misty at the thought of him.

Bruno Jones had gone to his Maker several years ago, but he’d never been one to turn down the opportunity for “a bit o’ fun and the chance to crack a skull or two.” That night, his strength and cunning had been their greatest asset.

They’d all helped Pippin in her wild plan to free Dash because she loved him, and they loved her in turn. That, and Lady John—Mad Jack’s outwardly proper wife—had averred that hanging such a fine smuggler as Dash made not a lick of sense, not with the war drawing to a close. Then the illicit trade in brandy and silks would be back, and Lady John saw a future partnership with the daring captain.

Being the daughter of a cit, she knew a bit about business matters.

“I think such a question is better left unanswered,” Pippin told the hopeful boy before her. “It makes your story more mysterious.”

And safer for all those concerned.

Finn pressed his lips together, his little freckled cheeks rosy from the breeze, his gaze narrowed as he studied the waves.

What an imp, she thought, for she could see he was concocting another way to chisel the information out of her.

She reached over and tugged his wool watch cap down over his ears and told him, “Haven’t you work to see to? I would hate to see you run afoul of Mr. Dashwell.”

The boy nudged the deck with the toe of his shoe and shrugged. “I suppose so.” Finn started off, then turned and glanced over his shoulder. “But I want the rest of the story before we get to Baltimore. I want to hear how the cap’n was saved the second time.

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