Lady Pirate by Lynsay Sands Read Free Book Online

disappeared through the door.
    Valoree watched him go, but was distracted by the newcomer.
    â€œWhatever were you doing at the door?”
    Valoree peered at the man with irritation. He was tall and handsome and carried himself as only a member of the nobility could. And she would bet her share of the booty from that French frigate her crew had just taken that he knew exactly what she had been doing. There was no mistaking the glint in his eyes for anything but malicious humor. She supposed he was working off some of the temper his appointment had stirred in him, but she didn’t like it. Were they on her ship—
    But they weren’t on her ship. They were in a parlor. She made a face at the thought and did the only thing she could. She lied.
    â€œI was about to leave the room, obviously.” Turning away, she moved toward a chair and sat down. “I was about to go looking for the loo.”
    A sudden sputtering made Valoree glance abruptly over at Meg. The woman had paused a few steps away. She was clutching the brandy glass with white-knuckled fierceness and looking ready to swoon. Abject horror was the only explanation for her pale, pinched look and the way her mouth was flapping with nothing but insensible sounds emerging.
    The newcomer, too, was reacting oddly, blinking at her rather blankly, unable to believe he had heard what he thought he had just heard.
    Gathering from all this that ladies did not “go to the loo,” Valoree sighed inwardly and offered a bland smile. “Lou. Louis. Our footman. I left my smelling salts in the carriage and I was going to have him fetchthem for me. My aunt faints quite easily,” she added drolly. Then, putting a hard edge into her voice, she addressed Meg. “Aunt? Is that brandy for me?”
    â€œI—Yes, dear.” The woman hurried forward at once, pushing the glass into Valoree’s hand and patting her on the back. “Come, my dear. You should rest silently and drink this…after that knock.” Her emphasis was not missed by Valoree.
    The butler hurried into the room just as Valoree lifted the snifter of brandy to her lips.
    â€œHere, my lady. This should help,” the older man murmured, rushing to her side with a flowered blue bowl filled with water and a fresh cloth. Setting them on the table before her, he watched anxiously as Meg took her glass, set it aside, and took up the cloth to dip it in the water.
    â€œI am ever so sorry about this. All of this. You should not even have had to wait. Yours was the only appointment scheduled for today, but—”
    â€œBut I arrived unexpectedly and quite rudely usurped some of your time,” the younger man interrupted. “Of course, once I realized that Master Whister had another appointment, I politely took myself off here to allow you your time before I finish with him. He should be along directly.”
    Valoree accepted that bit of information with interest, then glanced toward Meg as the woman touched her arm.
    â€œLean your head back,” her faux aunt instructed quietly, then laid the cold cloth out flat over her forehead and face so that even her mouth was covered.
    If Valoree had suspected that compresses were not generally supposed to cover the mouth as well as everything else, a short burst of laughter from the newcomer assured her she was right. Dragging the cloth away, she sat up to glare at Meg, then glanced toward the newcomer. But before she could give him thedressing-down he deserved, the butler murmured, “Well, then, Master Whister should be ready to see you now. I shall just check to see—”
    â€œNo need to check, Hinkle. I am ready.”
    They all turned to the door at that bluff announcement, and Valoree took in the lawyer with curiosity. He was tall, slender, and distinguished-looking. Too, he had a gentle, reassuring face that seemed to suggest he was trustworthy. He took a moment to survey his guests, then started forward,