His Michaelmas Mistress by Marly Mathews Read Free Book Online Page B

throw a party. They spare no expense.”
    “Shall we go?” Lucky asked hopefully.
    “I think we should,” Felix agreed. “It would be rude not to, wouldn’t it? Besides, Doc and Mole will be going, and well, they’d come and give us hell, if we didn’t go. Come on, Freddie, time to come out of the hole you dug yourself, and crawled into.”
    “My lord,” the butler, Mr. Hargreaves came into the Breakfast Room and stared in turn at each of them. “The Gamekeeper, Mr. Browne, would like to see you.”
    “Send him in then, man,” Freddie said. For some reason, he didn’t really care for Mr. Hargreaves, and he couldn’t put his finger on what about the man unsettled him so. He should sack him, and hire someone else and yet, he didn’t have the heart for it.
    “I… Yes, sir,” he said, turning about, and leaving.
    A few moments later, the gamekeeper entered, hat in hand and looking bloody nervous.
    “My lord…the thing is…we have some awfully bold poachers.”
    “Isn’t it your job to catch those bloody blighters?” Freddie asked.
    Knowing how hard it was to go with scant in one’s belly, Freddie felt a smidgeon of compassion for the poor bastard doing it.
    “You don’t employ the use of mantraps, do you, Mr. Browne?”
    “Oh, no, sir. Lord Lumley couldn’t abide the infernal things.”
    “Good. Because I don’t want them used either.”
    “They should be illegal, they should,” Mr. Browne said. “Either way, sir, it is, as you say, my job to catch the blighters, and yet, they’re awfully sneaky. I haven’t been able to catch them yet.”
    “Is it really that important that you do? I do not begrudge a man the ability to feed his own family. I don’t think a few stolen hares or other small game would damage the Estate that much.” Freddie probably wasn’t looking at it the right way. He had far too much reason to sympathize with the poor devil doing it rather than condemning him for such a small transgression.
    “Oh, aye, sir, but he’s stealing, ain’t he? I mean,” Browne said nervously, scrunching his hat between his hands. “The blighters might not be poaching out of need, they might be poaching to sell the game on the black market, and as lord of this estate, all of the game on it, is yours.”
    “Aye, I know, Mr. Browne.”
    “And they could have contacts in London. You know they do a nasty business there in the Pubs where they use those in rural areas to poach for them, and then, they make a large profit that way by selling their loot. They travel in gangs, or so I have heard. I think this is a situation of greed, not need, sir.”
    “If there are a gang of the bloody bastards stalking this estate, they will be sorry for it,” Freddie said. “If you catch sight of the devils, I don’t want you engaging them alone. I want you to report back to me. Is that clear, Mr. Browne?”
    “Oh, aye, sir. They be cutthroats in those kinds of gangs. I ain’t going to risk my hide over it, not without some others to help me. I mean, look at me…I’m not that formidable looking, am I?”
    Freddie resisted the urge to laugh.
    Mr. Browne was right. He looked like he would blow away next to him and Felix, he even looked frail when compared to Lucky. Browne was tall and lanky, and didn’t have much muscle on him. Freddie didn’t even know how he’d secured the position of gamekeeper. He probably got it because he would take the pitiable wages that Lord Lumley provided to his staff.
    “Shall we go hunting for poachers, then?” Tiny asked.
    “Oh, that sounds like jolly good fun,” Lucky said. “It will be a welcome diversion, won’t it, Mouse?”
    Freddie shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose so. Anyway, the rascal or rascals, need to be dealt with. And,” he looked at them. “If they are doing it out of greed, and think they can get away with it because they are under the misapprehension that I am not a proper lord, they shall have a rude awakening.”
    “I…I will take my