Anne Stuart by Prince of Swords Read Free Book Online Page A

his—his brother had inherited it, along with everything else, and had died there, poisoned by drink and despair. It now belonged to a nabob’s family, suitably renamed, and Alistair told himself he’d even forgotten its direction.
    His current abode had cost the worth of Miss Edgerstone’s jewels, plus the proceeds of a rather nice collection of yellow diamonds he’d liberated from the Earl of Pemberton’s extremely nasty wife. The money had lasted a surprising amount of time, augmented by his habitual luck at the gaming tables, and it was boredom rather than necessity that had sent the Cat on the prowl again.
    It was late afternoon of the following day, and he sat in front of a fire, staring into it thoughtfully, an unusual occurrence for him. He’d been a moody child, and it had availed him nothing, not a father’s attention nor a brother’s time. Self-pity was an annoying waste, and he’d learned to eschew it, but this late autumn day he was melancholy, when he should have been elated at the stash of ugly stones secreted upstairs where no one would ever find them. And he knew exactly who to blame.
    The mysterious Miss Brown, who’d vanished without a trace, leaving him with no alternative but to possess himself in patience, had had a most unsettling effect on his usual indolence. She would reappear again, he made no doubt. He’d sent enough lures Isolde’s way to assure himself of that. But he’d never been a particularly patient man, and he wanted to see her eyes again, to discover whether they were really as eerily translucent as he remembered. And whether she could take her strange cards and tell his fortune as well.
    “ Personage to see you, my lord,” his manservant announced in that tone of voice reserved for Nicodemus Bottom. Malkin disapproved of Nicodemus, as any right-thinking servant would, but he dutifully turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to Alistair’s business dealings. Alistair had little doubt that Malkin knew exactly what business he conducted with a sinister-looking little man like Nicodemus, but he managed to hide his disapproval valiantly.
    Indeed, it was often hard for Alistair to suppress a shudder, more at the strange and disconcerting odor that often accompanied his accomplice than the peculiar appearance. Nicodemus had once been a chimney sweep, and his feet and hands still bore the scars and doubtless some of the soot he’d collected years earlier. He was a small man with a ferret face, a random selection of dark teeth, gaudy taste in clothing, and an intense dislike of bathing. He also knew how to dispense with stolen diamonds to their best advantage, and if Alistair hadn’t had the dubious fortune of catching Nicodemus Bottom’s hand in his pocket, a famous alliance might never had come about, and his first night’s proceeds might still be sitting, untouched, in his old rooms.
    “ You work fast,” Alistair said lazily, careful not to breathe too deeply. “I didn’t know you were so eager.”
    “ I figgered you were about due for a little exercise, yer worship,” Nicodemus said. “But I’m not in that much of a hurry for the sparklers. Haven’t made arrangements yet, so they can sit pretty for the time being.”
    “ Not that I don’t delight in your company, dear friend, but if you haven’t come for the jewels, why are you here?” he asked, still giving him only half his attention.
    “ I came to warn you.”
    Alistair lifted his eyes lazily. “About what, pray tell?”
    “ The runners are after you.”
    “ That’s hardly a surprise. I haven’t been concerned before—I see no reason to be concerned now.”
    “ That’s because Sir John hadn’t put his best men on to you. Brennan’s bad enough—he looks like he’s half asleep, but that man’s as sharp as a needle. But it’s Clegg you need to keep your eyes peeled for.”
    “ Clegg?”
    “ Josiah Clegg. He’s always been a bad ‘un, and most of us does our best to steer clear of him. He makes more