A study in scandal by Robyn DeHart Read Free Book Online Page A

here much longer. He would waste away to nothing. She’d almost lost him that way after her mother died, and she would not risk it again.
    “I am going out in a bit, to meet with InspectorBrindley. We’ve had a few new advancements in the case.”
    “That’s good, my dear,” he said.
    She squeezed him to her. “I shall find her, Papa, and I shall bring her back to you.” It was a promise she fully intended to keep.
     
    The doorbell sounded, and Colin nearly spilled ink all over himself. He was not ordinarily so jumpy, but ever since meeting Miss Watersfield, he’d felt on edge—as if his skin had actually grown thinner, which he knew could not be true.
    His research was vastly more important than whoever beckoned. He would ignore them.
    Bloody bell .
    Clearly whomever it was had no intention of leaving. He wiped his hands on a nearby rag and stomped toward the door, muttering to himself. He’d have to keep that in check lest people think he’d gone mad. Then again, aside from the current pest, there were rarely people around to hear his muttering.
    “I’m coming,” he said loudly enough for them to hear. He was about to say something foul when he opened the door and saw who was there. He cleared his throat. “Miss Watersfield.”
    “I’m sorry to have bothered you, Inspector, but Idiscovered a bit of information I thought might interest you.”
    Her voice was intoxicating. He tried to determine precisely what made it so. The way her mouth rounded on the vowels? Or was it the soft lilt of her consonants? It was hard to deduce.
    “Inspector? Might I come in?”
    “Yes, of course.” He stood to the side and allowed her entrance, then watched her blue-ruffled bustle saunter right past him. She wasn’t particularly graceful, but she seemed at ease with herself and those around her. She possessed a subtle confidence, a trait most people did not acquire until late in life. It was an attractive quality. Perhaps the very thing about her, above all others, that piqued his interest the most.
    “So how is the investigation progressing, Inspector?”
    That sounded as if it might have been a question. But he’d been so engrossed in his thoughts—about her, no less—that he hadn’t been paying attention. Rather than answer her, he merely met her gaze and nodded. It was a tactic that generally worked with people. He’d discovered long ago that most people talked to enjoy their own words, having so little interest in what others had to say, so they rarely required verbal answers to their questions.
    She smiled sweetly. “You’re a man of few words. It is certainly something I will have to accustom myself to, as my father and I both are incessant chatterers. It drove my mother absolutely batty.” Her brow furrowed slightly. “My friends are rather chatty, too, now that I think about it. Are you the quiet one in your group of friends?” she inquired.
    She was too distracting. Not even ten minutes here and he was already sucked into her colorful presence. “I don’t have friends. And I don’t mean to be rude, but I am rather busy.”
    “Oh, I see.”
    Well, at least she had some intelligence to her and knew when it was time to cease bothering him and get on her way. He took a step back toward the door.
    “No friends? Indeed?” Her head tilted slightly to the left. “How is that possible? You’re a pleasant sort.” She made her way to the sitting area and took a seat on one of the leather chairs.
    He released a low breath through his teeth. “I appreciate your concern, but I assure you, Miss Watersfield, I have no need for friends. My work keeps me very busy.”
    “But don’t you ever get lonely?”
    He opened his mouth to answer, then stopped.No, he didn’t necessarily get lonely, not enough to notice, but there were times when he wished for someone with which to share. None of his friends from school had ever showed interest in the same sorts of things he had, and he found hunting, gambling, and