Escaping Notice by Amy Corwin Read Free Book Online Page B

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where you’ll even stay for the night. But I promise I’ll take care
of you until we can find your parents.”
    “Good luck,” he replied cryptically.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “They’re dead.”
    “Oh. Well, yes, but did you not indicate you thought you were
going to visit your guardian? Before, or was it after, you lost
your memory? In any event, we’ll simply look for him.”
    “You can try.”
    The boy’s careless replies rather irritated Helen. She was doing
her best to help him find his family, and he did not seem the least
bit interested in the proceedings. He ought to be a little more
concerned about his future, or at least frightened of being alone
in a large city like London.
    Under similar circumstances, she would have been terrified. But
apparently, little boys were made of sterner stuff. Ned Brown
sounded more as though he was laughing at her. Not that it
mattered.
    Or perhaps he was the sort who laughed when he was over-excited
or nervous. One of Helen’s dearest friends suffered from the same
condition. Why, there had even been one dreadful afternoon when her
friend had received news of a death in her family and had burst
into uncontrollable giggles.
    She turned sideways to face him. “I thought we could hire an
inquiry agent, since you don’t remember where you belong. He can
help us find your family. And in the meantime, you can stay with
me.” She stopped, suddenly realizing he could not remain with her
if she were going to sneak back to Ormsby in search of the missing
necklace. “Or rather, you can stay with my sister, Lady Dacy.
You’ll adore her. She’s ever so nice and has a lovely newborn babe.
Do you like babies?”
    “No.”
    His reply rather set her down, like a horse with the reins
abruptly yanked back. “You don’t like babies?” she stammered.
    “No. They cry too much. And they’re ugly,” he replied
succinctly.
    “They are not ugly.”
    “Yes, they are. They’re fat little beasts with no hair. And they
spend all their time either spitting up on you or wailing.”
    “Ned! How can you say such a thing?”
    “Because it’s true?” He did not sound at all abashed.
    “You’re — you’re bamming me, aren’t you?” she replied,
half-laughing. “You don’t mean any such thing.”
    “I do mean it. That’s why you should set me down here and send
me on my way.”
    “Don’t be a goose! I won’t do any such thing, no matter how
terrible you are. So you can just wipe that notion clean away.”
    It struck her that Ned Brown may — or may not — have lost his
memory, but it was certain that he had run away from home. That
made it even more imperative that she hire a competent inquiry
agent to discover where he belonged. She eyed his shadowy form,
hunched into the corner, and her heart went out to him. If he had
run away because his family had mistreated him, then the inquiry
agent could find that out as well.
    And under those sad circumstances, Helen hoped his family would
agree to allow him to live with her instead. She had no great
expectation that this, her third and final Season, would lead to an
offer of matrimony. But perhaps it would take her mind off her
dreary future, and she would have a younger brother of sorts to
squire her around London.
    They could both enjoy themselves. And maybe Helen’s true
brother, Nathaniel, the Duke of Peckham, could be persuaded to take
Ned under his wing. He could send the boy off to university when
the time came, and ensure he got a decent education.
    To have Ned’s future so neatly planned pleased her. Content, she
sat back against the squabs and contemplated places around London
which might interest a young man of eleven.
    Museums, theatres …. The carriage turned onto Clerkenwell Road,
made a few more turns and then came to a lurching halt. When the
coachman flung open the door and lowered the steps, Helen peeped
out nervously, trying to compose her thoughts. A brick sidewalk led
up to a modest townhouse with