The Governess Wears Scarlet by Sari Robins

Author:Sari Robins [Sari Robins]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780061744570
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2007-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Hearing distant voices, Steele stepped back into the shadows, careful not to make a sound. A woman’s well-cultured inflection! His heart skipped a beat. The wicked widow! He forced his excitement to calm; he wasn’t a pimple-cheeked youngling seeking his blushing bride. He was a mature adult seeking companionship—that was all. It was a matter of sating passion, mutually, of course, and he didn’t want to appear the overeager stallion. Still, his feet inched forward of their own accord.

A man’s voice drifted toward him. Steele froze mid-inch.

The male voice, then the woman’s—too indistinct to hear the words, but Steele was certain that it was the widow.

So she wasn’t alone! Did she have another lover? Was she so quick to drop him for someone new? It had been only a week since their tryst!

Anger flashed in his gut, but he suppressed it, quietly stepping forward so that he could hear better.

Steele melted against the wall behind him, years of practice making his movements instinctive. He dared not approach closer, but now at least he could catch some of the exchange.

“A job?” she asked, her words barely discernible. Blast that stupid veil!

“Ya know, a job. Laverty runs the circuit.” The man’s voice was louder than hers, even though he clearly was trying to whisper.

Her response was muffled, lost to him.

The man spoke, “The circuit from Medford Place to Gillingham Square is Laverty’s. ’E runs all the trade.”

“Thank you…” Her words were indecipherable. “…Jumper.”

Jumper was a message runner in this area, Steele knew. Why was the widow speaking to him?

Jumper spoke, “I warn ya, Lucifer Laverty’s bad news, and anyone who crosses ’im might as well be signing ’is own death warrant!”

What was the lady up to? Messing with the circuit? Involved with Lucifer Laverty?

Steele had to learn more. Carefully he moved around the bend. The faint golden-green glow of a lantern could be seen in the distance.

Jumper and the widow stood in a courtyard at the junction of six interconnecting alleyways. One of those alleyways was where he and the widow had been the other night.

So she’d been on her way here. Possibly to meet Jumper.

Steele had never met the man, but he’d heard a snippet or two. Jumper was too far away and it was too dark to discern his features. But Steele could tell that he was tall, a full head-span above Steele, and lanky, with long arms and legs. By his stance and his demeanor, the fellow seemed fit enough. Still, Steele knew he could take him, if it came to that.

The dark-garbed widow stood near Jumper, her head well below his shoulders. There was no sense of intimacy between the two. No heads leaning forward, no hand on an arm, no touching at all.

So they weren’t lovers. Steele exhaled. Once he’d realized it was Jumper, he should have known. He didn’t know why he expected the widow to be discerning, his vanity perhaps, but he did.

Still, what was she doing in one of London’s worst neighborhoods conversing with riffraff about Lucifer Laverty and the circuit?

Steele felt his usual caution cool his ardor.

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