Everything I Ever Wanted by Jo Goodman Read Free Book Online Page B

point in denying it. "Yes, I'm afraid so."
    "You should have said so straightaway, m'lord. No good circling the thing, hoping I'd stumble over it." He thrust his sharp chin toward the boots pressed against this chest. "Tuck it just there, m'lord. Under the turned-down top. I'll make certain she sees it."
    South did as ordered. "Then you are in expectation that she will welcome my address?"
    Doobin chuckled. His soulfully large eyes brightened with laughter. "That's a good one, m'lord." He waited for South's grip to lift. "Is there anything else?"
    "Dinner," South said. "The pleasure of her company, and so forth."
    "Sarver's or the Cumberland?"
    "A detail for you to manage. Surprise me."
    The boy's smile split his thin face. "Just see if I don't." As soon as he was free of South's restraint, he was off at a determined pace.
    South expected Doobin would partially relieve himself of the burden of boots. He didn't. With the skill of the most adept sneaksman, the lad slipped between elbows and waistcoats, pockets and polished beaver top hats, and disappeared into the squeeze. From South's perspective there was no discernible movement in the crowd that allowed for the addition of another figure, no matter the slightness of the build. It suggested to the viscount that perhaps the boy's early training had been in the Covent Garden or Holborn school for thieves, and that likening him to a sneaksman was not so very off the mark.
    In less time than it would have taken South to move from his position in the corridor to the bottleneck at the door, Doobin emerged from the rear of the crowd in almost the same place he had entered. He hurried over, his face revealing nothing. The boy, South thought, was learning as much from Miss Parr about acting as he was about reading. Southerton cocked an eyebrow. "Well?"
    "I am to arrange for a hackney at the stage door. Miss Parr says you may await her in the cab."
    "I have my own carriage."
    "That is neither here nor there, my lord."
    "I see," South said dryly. "Very well. I'll send my driver along directly. And what of supper?"
    "In Miss Parr's home."
    Now South's other brow lifted. He was surprised. "Very well done, young sir."
    The tips of Doobin's ears reddened with this praise. He offered the truth reluctantly. "It wasn't my idea."
    South chuckled and dropped several shillings into one of the open boots. "I didn't think it was." He gave Doobin an encouraging prompt on the back with the flat of his hand. "Don't count your money now. See about that hack."
    "Yes, m'lord. Right away."
    The cab was waiting for India in the usual place when she emerged from the theatre more than an hour later. When the driver leaped from his perch and opened the door for her, it occurred to her for the first time that perhaps Southerton had grown impatient with the wait and left. With the driver's assistance, she climbed the steps and discovered that her concern was for naught. Southerton was indeed inside the cab, ensconced in relative comfort in one corner if one ignored the odd angle of his neckand snoring softly.
    India found herself surrendering to the humor of the moment. She glanced at the driver. "Has he been asleep long?" she whispered.
    "Can't say, but I recollect a rumble soon after he climbed in."
    She nodded, amused. "A gentle ride, then, if you will."
    "Your home, Miss Parr?"
    "Yes." She hesitated, eyeing the driver. It occurred to her to inquire if she could rely on his discretion, but she dismissed it. No matter what answer he gave, she knew the truth: she could not. To believe otherwise was to permit herself a sense of security that was without foundation. Anyone could be tempted. She thought of this view as practical and realistic rather than cynical. Temptation was human nature from the beginning of time, documented first in Genesis and every day since then. "Mind the noise," she reminded him softly.
    He nodded. "I'll see to it."
    India seated herself in the bench seat corner opposite South. The door