The Barefoot Princess: The Lost Princesses #2 by Dodd Christina

Author:Dodd, Christina [Dodd, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2009-10-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

“I cannot take that jacket to wear. It’s too different from the one I was wearing.”

“And that you ruined.” Biggers and Jermyn stood in his shadowy wardrobe off his bedroom and argued about the garb Jermyn would take back on his return to his prison. Jermyn insisted the clothes be essentially the same.

Biggers, a usually reasonable man, lectured on the necessity of variety.

“The ladies aren’t stupid. They’ll notice I’ve changed.” Jermyn chose a jacket that matched the original in color and cut. “I’ll return with this one.”

“They can’t be too intelligent. You escaped days ago and they haven’t noticed,” Biggers argued.

“I would presume that once I set my mind to keeping them in the dark, I would be equal to the challenge.” Grimly aware he was repeating Amy’s words almost verbatim, Jermyn said, “However, please recall that a nineteen-year-old girl and an old woman did plan, and succeeded in, the kidnapping of the marquess of Northcliff. You might choose to consider them simple, but I like to believe that the people who outwitted me are more than half-wits.”

“I see, m’lord. Of course you’re correct, m’lord. Exceptionally intelligent women, m’lord.” Biggers in no way indicated amusement. He was the perfect valet: upright, punctilious, always ahead of the styles, able to shave Jermyn’s chin without a nick and iron his cravats to a snowy crisp. He was also tall, thin and perpetually forty-three. He had been with Jermyn for twelve years and never revealed his history, yet he was well-spoken and shrewd in ways that implied his past had been far more perilous than his present. “I’ve sent a request to your solicitor to come with the books for the Edmondsons’ business.”

“And you told him—”

“That your uncle made the request. He has no idea who Mr. Edmondson has writing his letters, and believe me, m’lord, he’s too frightened of your uncle to question any order.”

“Good. Now I need you to scrutinize the servants. Almost all of them have been here for years, and if my uncle is corrupt, it only follows that he could have wooed their loyalty away from me and to himself by whatever means—bribes, I suppose.”

“Or blackmail,” Biggers said.

That hadn’t occurred to Jermyn.

“I’ll subtlty question the servants and ascertain which ones keep their allegiance to you.” With great delicacy, Biggers asked, “So with the events of the recent weeks, is it safe to say we no longer place our trust in your uncle?”

“It is safe to say that.”

“And in fact, it’s no accident that you’ve suffered so many calamities?”

“That’s right.” Jermyn rubbed his thigh where the bone had broken.

“Then, m’lord, I would feel safer if you were to carry this with you.” Biggers rolled up his sleeve and showed Jermyn the thin leather strapped there. From the sheath, he pulled a small knife with a shining blade.

Yes, Biggers definitely hid some kind of disreputable past. The blade and its cleverly hidden sheath proved it.

Jermyn accepted the knife, touched the sharp point, and smiled. “Very good.”

“When you disappeared, I took the liberty of confiscating a firearm from your father’s collection of dueling pistols.

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.