A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare Read Free Book Online Page A

will.”
    “What?”
    “We get along, he and I. So I’m going to keep him. I believe he’d be happier that way.”
    The severity of his frown seemed to slice through the darkness. “You can’t keep a puppy in a rooming house. Your landlady won’t allow it, and even if she would—a dog like that needs space to run.”
    “He also needs love. Affection, Corporal Thorne. Are you telling me you can provide it?” She playfully tugged at Badger’s scruff. “Tell me right now that you love this dog, and I will return the pup at once.”
    He didn’t answer her.
    “Four little words,” she taunted. “ ‘I . . . love . . . the . . . dog.’ And he’s yours.”
    “I own the dog,” he said tersely. “He is mine. I paid coin for him.”
    “Then I’ll pay you back. But I will not surrender this sweet, defenseless little creature to a man with no feeling, no heart. No capacity to care.”
    Just then the front door of the Queen’s Ruby burst open.
    Mrs. Nichols came running out from the inn—as much as the poor old dear could run. Her hands were flapping. “Miss Taylor! Miss Taylor, oh, thank goodness you’re here at last.”
    “I’m so sorry to have worried you, Mrs. Nichols. I missed the stagecoach home, and Corporal Thorne was good enough to—”
    “We’ve been waiting and waiting.” The older woman put her arm through Kate’s and pulled her toward the door. “Your visitors have been here for hours. I’ve run through three pots of tea, exhausted all possible topics of conversation.”
    “Visitors?” Kate was stunned. “I have visitors?”
    Mrs. Nichols gathered her shawl about her shoulders. “Four of them.”
    “ Four of them? Whatever do they want?”
    “They won’t say. Except that they’ve insisted on waiting for you. It’s been hours now.”
    Kate paused in the threshold, scraping the mud from the soles of her boots. She couldn’t imagine who these visitors might be. Perhaps a family seeking music lessons. But at this hour of night? “I’m so sorry I’ve put you to such trouble.”
    “Not a trouble, dear. It’s an honor to have a man of such rank and stature in my parlor.”
    A man? Of rank and stature?
    “Might I just nip upstairs and see to my appearance first? I’m all mussed from the road.”
    “No, no. That won’t do, my dear.” The inn’s landlady tugged her inside. “One can only keep a marquess waiting so long.”
    “A marquess ?”
    While Mrs. Nichols closed the door, Kate turned to catch her reflection in the looking glass. She jumped in her skin when she found herself nose-to-button with Corporal Thorne instead.
    “I thought you weren’t coming in,” she accused his lapel.
    “I changed my mind.” When she finally dared look up, she found his eyes narrowed in suspicion. He asked, “Do you know any marquess?”
    She shook her head. “The highest-ranking man I know is Lord Rycliff, and he’s an earl.”
    “I’ll go in with you.”
    “I’m sure that’s not necessary. It’s a parlor, not a crime den.”
    “I’ll go anyway.”
    Before they could argue it further, Kate found herself being hustled into the parlor. Thorne followed close behind. Several of the rooming-house guests lined the corridor. They gave her wide-eyed, speculative glances as she moved past.
    When they reached the parlor, Mrs. Nichols pushed Kate through the door. “Here’s Miss Taylor at last, my lord and ladies.”
    With that, the landlady shut them in. Kate could hear her on the other side of the door, chasing the residents away from the corridor.
    There seemed to be a dozen guests in the parlor, though a quick count assured Kate they numbered just four. Wealth and elegance crammed the room. And here she stood in a torn, dirt-streaked frock. Her hair wasn’t even pinned.
    A dark-clad gentleman rose to his feet and bowed. Kate had barely managed a slight dip of a curtsy when a loud, collective gasp nearly guttered the candles.
    “It is her. It must be her.”
    Kate swallowed