Dawn Thompson by The Brotherhood Read Free Book Online Page B

worse now that the blood was drying.
    “Good!” he responded, turning away. “I shall speakwith Amy. Carry on, and remember: either you or she must be in attendance in this suite at all times.”
    He quit the room without a backward glance, wondering what had made the Applegate girl so distrustful of men. It had to be something to do with the young knave in the coach on the moor—Clement was the name she had said. Why was there no remorse, no tears at his demise—or her father’s either for that matter? Her scent threaded through his nostrils: lemon verbena and roses. It suited her. She was not unlike the rose, velvety soft and fragrant, inviting a man to touch if he dared brave the needle-sharp thorns that kept him at his distance.
    There was no denying that Joss was attracted to her, and curious, and possessed of a fierce urge to protect her despite her obvious ability to take care of herself. That, he knew, was a brave front, and if it was the last thing he did, he was going to prove himself worthy of her trust.

C HAPTER F IVE
    Puffing on a cheroot, Joss paced before the study hearth. Cora hadn’t come down to nuncheon. He hadn’t expected that she would; it was too soon. She was justified in being incredulous over one thing—disrespect of the dead. He might not be able to dig the coach out of the drifts in order to move it, but he could certainly fetch the bodies back to the Abbey, where at least they would be safe from desecration at the mercy of wild dogs. There was an old sledge in the stables. He couldn’t recall the last time it was put to use. He would take Sikes with him. Aside from needing help with the bodies, he wasn’t about to leave Cora Applegate and the coachman alone in the same house with naught but two feeble servants and a simple-minded maid-cum-abigail in attendance.
    He yanked the bellpull to summon Bates. When the butler arrived, Joss closed the study door and faced him.
    “Bates, have you kept an eye on the coachman as I asked?” he said.
    “Aye, sir, I have. A mite talkative, but otherwise he’s been no trouble.”
    “Good. I am taking him with me this afternoon to collect the bodies from the coach on the moor. It should have been done long ago. We need to fetch them before the wild dogs return. One of them is Miss Applegate’s father.”
    “Beggin’ your pardon, sir, but you’re outta your head goin’ way out there in this. It’s a regular whiteout. You’ll lose your way.”
    “Trust me not to do that,” said Joss. “I’m taking the sledge. I cannot leave Sikes here—not after finding him prowling about the yellow suite right under Grace’s nose. Besides, I will need help with the bodies. They will be frozen stiff by now, and likely buried under a mountain of snow in that coach. The door was flung wide. That’s how the dog got in that I prevented from savaging her before.”
    The butler shook his head. “Who’ll we send ta fetch you, when ya get bogged down yourself?” he said. “If your father was here—”
    “Well, he isn’t,” Joss said, “and I shan’t get lost. What I need from you in my absence is to look sharp, keep the doors bolted shut, and let no one in.
No one,
Bates . . . not even an animal, should one present itself on the doorstep.”
    The butler swayed as if he’d been struck, and his weathered skin turned as white as the snow frosting the study windows. He seemed to shudder visibly, and Joss took a step toward him.
    “Are you unwell, Bates?” he said, reaching out toward the butler.
    Bates swallowed audibly. “N-no, sir,” he said.
    “What then?”
    “ ’Tis only, what ya said just now, sir . . . Your good father said them same words ta me before he went off abroad before you was born. It gave me the creeps, it did, sir, is all. . . .”
    “That reminds me,” Joss said, scowling. “We need to talk when I return. I wanted Sikes out of the house before I broached the subject with you, but that may not be possible now. ’Tis about