The Hallucinatory Duke by Meta Mathews Read Free Book Online

subject, I haven’t found even a hint of a connection between Ben and the Duke of Durbane, but Ben is too obsessed to listen to reason.”
    “Speaking of reason, have you told Ben about the duke invading your dreams?”
    “Do I look like I’m a glutton for punishment? Of course I haven’t told him. He’d be calling in the psychics. I’m sure you haven’t told him about the woman who’s been visiting you.”
    He grimaced. “Unfortunately, he actually interrupted one of the visitations—for want of a more descriptive word. Naturally, when I told him what had been happening, he was merely encouraged.”
    Amelia laid her fork down, leant forward and lowered her voice. “Are your encounters with this woman—oh, I’m not sure how to phrase this question—does she do all the…that is, does she pleasure you without your having to participate in any way?”
    Jack’s face slowly changed in colour, from normal to pink to dark crimson. “Why do you ask? Is that what happens with your—ah—strange encounters?”
    Amelia nodded. She could feel her own blush darkening her face. “Why do you suppose this is happening to us?”
    “Obviously it has something to do with this research we’re involved in. You know, don’t you, that Comstock was the maiden name of the mother of the woman who married the duke?”
    “Yes, I know, and frankly I’m a little worried. Ben brought a diary back from his most recent trip to England. He says it was written by a woman named Martha Comstock. He passed it along to me to transcribe, but I was planning to give it back to him today and quit this job.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I’m sick of these strange visits from the past, and I now suspect that Ben thinks I’m descended from the duchess’s cousin, which if true would make Ben and me extremely distant cousins of some sort, assuming he’s descended from the duke. I don’t care whether Ben’s a duke or not. I just want some sort of normalcy back in my life.”
    Jack shook his head. “I doubt it will be as easy as quitting your job. We’ve stirred up something, and I suspect we’re going to have to see this through before either of our lives will get back to normal.”
    Amelia sighed. “If you’re right, what can we do?”
    “Perhaps we could work together, combine our findings, and see if we can discover once and for all what happened to separate the Duke of Durbane and the woman he married.”
    “I’m willing to give it a try. If you want, we can get together at my apartment. Much of my research is on my computer there. What about you? You said you recently moved to Atlanta, right?”
    “Right. My company transferred me here from Memphis. I found an apartment but it isn’t very well furnished yet, so meeting at your place suits me.”
    “What do you do, anyway?”
    “I’m a computer programmer. Matter of fact, I’m due back at work in fifteen minutes. Are you free to get started tonight?”
    “Sure. I’ll give you directions to my place. Say, are you going to eat that pie?”
    He pushed it across the table to her, then pulled out his billfold, removed a couple of twenties, and tossed them on the table. “Shall I pick up dinner on my way to your apartment tonight?”
    She set her fork down next to the pie. “That sounds great, but what made you think of bringing food?”
    “Uncle Ben gave me instructions to buy your lunch if he didn’t show up. He said you’re always hungry, so I figured maybe you were a little short on cash.”
    “Thanks for the thought, but Ben misled you. I’m always starved at lunch because I rarely eat breakfast, not because I’m too poor to buy food.”
    “I’m beginning to think Ben misled me about quite a few things.”
    “Anything specific?”
    “Well, he certainly didn’t tell me that his researcher was a gorgeous blonde who also happens to be among the top one per cent in the nation where IQ is concerned. And believe me, I find high IQs extremely sexy.” He gave her a slow