Hidden in the Heart by Beth Andrews Read Free Book Online

and they would have scarcely been human had they not found something in it to occupy their minds. It was merely that they both looked more deeply into the matter than the generality of their neighbors.
    ‘My father,’ John said at length, ‘is inclined to blame the matter on gypsies. That solution would certainly be the simplest one.’
    ‘Do you think it likely?’
    ‘Well, no gypsies or mendicants have been seen in the area for some time, to my knowledge.’
    ‘And it seems that you have discounted—’ she coughed delicately, ‘any supernatural agency.’
    ‘I have.’
    ‘Then where do your suspicions lie?’
    He stroked his chin pensively before continuing.
    ‘I think it very likely that smugglers, rather than phan toms, are involved.’
    ‘Smugglers!’ Lydia’s cry was one of scandalized delight. It was better and better.
    ‘You seem surprised,’ John said with a smile.
    ‘I am.’
    John immediately set about the task of educating her concerning the history of Sussex. It seemed that smug gling had at one time been a very lucrative source of income for certain persons along the southeast coast of England. Even since the defeat of Napoleon, the Alfriston Gang and others were known to have continued this less than respectable profession. Some had been caught and prosecuted by the Crown, providing the gibbet with a few gruesome trophies.
    ‘You think,’ Lydia said, ‘that there may be a Diddlington Gang, and that Mr Cole had some connection with them?’
    ‘It is possible.’ John was a little more cautious in his assessment.
    ‘How can we prove it?’ she asked.
    ‘We?’ His smile now was very pronounced, as was the arch of one thick eyebrow.
    ‘You and I,’ she explained with casual assurance.
    ‘If we could discover where they conceal their stolen goods,’ he said, not contradicting her, ‘we would certainly go some way toward solving this riddle.’
    ‘Do you think it is in Wickham Wood?’
    ‘I am almost certain.’ He nodded emphatically. ‘Too many local folk have seen lights among the trees at night and even a few sober men claim to have encountered ghostly apparitions in the vicinity.’
    ‘An excellent means for the smugglers to frighten away anyone who might venture too near their hiding place.’
    ‘Precisely.’
    Lydia stood up, looking down at him in a glow of excited anticipation.
    ‘Then there is only one thing to be done!’ she cried. ‘We must go into the woods ourselves and find the smugglers’ lair.’
    ‘I think,’ John said dampingly, ‘that is a job which I should attempt on my own.’
    This was totally unacceptable to Lydia.
    ‘If you think that you can keep me out of this adventure, John Savidge,’ she told him roundly, ‘you are much mistaken.’
    ‘Your aunt would never permit it,’ he shot back reason ably.
    ‘Which is why,’ Lydia retorted with a smile, ‘I have no intention of telling her anything about it.’
    ‘Minx!’ he quizzed her. ‘And what will become of her when someone discovers our bodies at the edge of the wood?’
    For a moment she paused, considering this not improb able consequence of confronting a gang of dangerous malefactors. However, although it was totally irrational, she felt complete confidence in John’s ability to extricate them from any difficulty which might result from their rash behavior.
    ‘Are you afraid?’ she demanded, quizzing him in her turn.
    ‘Oh no!’ He grinned broadly at her. ‘I know that I have nothing to fear with you there to protect me.’
    And so the two became co-conspirators in a daring plan whose effects would prove more momentous than either of them could possibly imagine.
     

Chapter Seven
     
A SAD DISAPPOINTMENT
     
    Midnight. The moon was full and round as a silver tray resting on the ebony table of the sky. Lydia had considered climbing through the window of her bedroom. She aban doned this scheme not only because of its impracticality, but because it was simply unnecessary. Her aunt