Prelude to Love by Joan Smith Read Free Book Online

Good evening."
    "Wait!"
    "If you do not leave us this instant, I shall call the manager."
    "We don't want any ruckus. I'll go along with you for protection, if you don't want me to carry it. We must arrange our plans for the morning. At what hour did you plan to leave?"
    "My father failed to tell you that, did he?" she asked satirically. There was some traffic in the hall, lending her a sense of security.
    "He said early. In the Army, if you are not aware of it, early is not ten o'clock, but the crack of dawn. Give me your room's designation, and I shall undertake to keep an eye on your door through the night. I don't have to tell you to lock the door, and make some precaution at the window as well."
    "No, and you don't have to tell us to dry behind our ears either. I doubt a locked door would keep out such a dangerous spy as you speak of."
    "I'm glad you realize it. The letter must never be left untended, with only a lock to protect it. I could open any locked door in this establishment with my clasp knife."
    "Are you a pick-lock as well as a colonel?"
    "At times. Am I to understand the letter is on your person?" he asked boldly. Again his eyes roved over her gown, selecting possible places of concealment as they lingered on her bodice. She could not prevent a blush of embarrassment, but it was anger that lent a fiery hue to her eyes. She glared, silent.
    "We have not chosen our hour for departure," he went on calmly. "Six should be early enough to beat the crowds, and it will give us a few hours' rest. I don't believe you gave me your room."
    "I don't believe I did," she answered, then tried to push his resisting form out the door. He planted his feet apart and stood solid.
    "I must say I did not expect this treatment! You are going to have my protection, whether you want it or no, and when you return home, I shall expect an apology, Miss Bradford. Ladies." He executed a bow and strolled off at a leisurely gait, without bothering to look back when the door slammed.
    "I never saw such gall!" Miss Bradford exclaimed.
    "Shocking. But if he was telling the truth, Nessa, it would be nice to be rid of that pesty letter, would it not? We could go to London instead of Ipswich, and do some shopping."
    "He didn't even know our destination. He was not sent from Papa. That is the man who attacked me in our room. Having failed by direct means, he has invented this ruse."
    "Could we not slip the letter into the post?"
    "Papa trusted me to do this job, and I come to realize now how important it is. He's probably listening at the door. Let us go to our room to discuss it. We'll take the valises up ourselves."
    Elleri heaved herself up from the chair, picking up the discarded newspaper to read in her room before sleeping. Together they went into the hallway. The man who called himself Colonel Landon was at the desk, in conversation with the clerk. He turned to speak to them as they passed. "I shall be keeping an eye on the Three Cygnets," he said in a low tone. A triumphant glitter sparkled in his eyes.
    Vanessa's bosom swelled with indignation, but she said not a word till they were beyond his hearing. They entered their chamber, locked the door and checked to see the window was bolted. "Auntie, we must leave here this very night, at once," Vanessa said.
    "I doubt I'll be able to make it to the bed, much less the carriage. Every bone and joint in my poor body aches. Gretch rattled us along at a merciless pace, no matter how often I pulled the check string. It is all Henry's doings. And where should we go? He would only follow us to another inn. I do think we should post the letter."
    "There is no post leaving at this hour of the night. If we left it here, it would sit unprotected in some box where anyone might pick it up. Papa would have mailed it if he trusted the post. There are often robberies from the mail coach. No, we shall deliver the letter in person, but to succeed, we must be rid of Landon. At least he does not know our