Time's Fool by Patricia Veryan Read Free Book Online

but there was not the need for dreams now. If Naomi had been at the Manor she would have come to him. Since she had not come it was very likely that she was at the earl’s residence in Town. Lord, but he longed to see her! And with luck he would be able to seek her out tomorrow, or the next day. He must first mend his fences with his father, but hopefully he would be forgiven and would soon discover the quarrel with Lord Collington to have been a trifling matter that could easily be set to rights.
    The carriage lurched and he saw that the postilions had turned the team into the yard of a small inn. They would rest the horses here before completing the journey. He opened the door and climbed out, his boots splashing onto the puddled cobblestones. In his preoccupation he hadn’t noticed how the weather had deteriorated. The postilions were soaked, and he tossed them a florin and told them to dry out and buy themselves a meal. To cross the yard was a hazardous business, and he had to dodge muddied vehicles and stamping horses; ostlers who darted about, poling up one team, unharnessing another, all the while heartily damning the stableboys; and impatient grooms and coachmen in hot pursuit of and just as heartily damning the ostlers.
    Escaping the cold bedlam of the yard, Rossiter entered the warm bedlam of the parlour. Over the din, mine host bellowed redundantly that the Red Pheasant Inn was full to capacity, and there was not a table to be had in the dining room. Rossiter’s uniform won him a place with a group of military men, and although their table was in a chilly corner far from the fire, he spent a pleasantly uproarious half-hour with them. The roast beef he ordered was tough as leather, but the apple pie that followed was succulent, the coffee hot and strong, and he felt renewed and more optimistic as he left his new friends and made his way from the noisy room.
    Near the door, a hand on his arm arrested him. A familiar voice cried an exuberant, “Blister me, but here’s good luck!” Rising from a table littered with used crockery Lieutenant James Morris grinned engagingly. “Do you stay here, old lad? If you’ve snabbled a room, I’ll share it with you.”
    Rossiter said with an answering smile, “You’re too kind, Jamie, but my stay has been only for an hour, and is now done. I’d supposed you to have reached Sevenoaks by this time. Trouble?”
    â€œNo. Just dawdling about.” Morris walked to the door with him. “Riding in this weather is a bore, so thought I’d rack up here. Hah! I say, did you rest your orbs on those two beauties who just left? Be dashed if ever I saw such a pair. I’d have wangled an introduction, but the fellow with them was a curst cold-looking old duck, so I daren’t try my hand.”
    Rossiter expressed his regrets at having missed the “two beauties” and enquired what Morris meant to do. “If you’d care to come to the Point with me, you can overnight there, then continue to your home tomorrow. Out of your way, I know, but you’ve no chance of hiring a coach tonight. We can tie your hack on behind, and at least you’ll have a dry ride and a decent bed.”
    Morris hesitated. He had no wish to become involved in what he suspected would be a sticky homecoming. On the other hand, his wound was a little troublesome and he was rather tired, and the prospect of a night spent on two chairs did not appeal. His was not a quick mind, and his silence had caused his friend’s eyebrows to lift enquiringly. He reddened and said hurriedly, “Jove! Yes! Thank you, Ross. Dashed good of you. Wouldn’t want to intrude, mind. Family gathering, what?”
    Rossiter assured him it would be no intrusion and they started out to pay their reckoning. Morris said, “Did I tell you about those two beauties? One was the small, vivacious type. A real Fair. But the other! Curse me if ever I saw such