Too Dangerous For a Lady by Jo Beverley Read Free Book Online Page A

could go wrong in so many ways.
    He could easily lose his hard-won position in the Crimson Band and could even lose his life. The risk was worth it, however, and it felt good to be taking direct action instead of conniving. Spying from within the Three-Banded Brotherhood was surprisingly tedious work.
    A couple came out of a room and he had to stroll in an opposite direction until they turned to go downstairs. Once they had, he returned to the parlor door, steadying himself as he approached. He knocked, then flattened himself against the wall.
    Solange opened it. “What?”
    As she stepped out to look, he pulled the pillowcase down over her head and bundled her back into the bedroom, kicking the door shut. As he’d hoped, she was fighting rather than screaming and he saw why. She wouldn’t want people to see the folded papers on the table along with a partially unpicked corset and sewing things.
    He picked her up and flung her on the bed, then rolled her up in the woolen coverlet. It wasn’t easy. She might look like a soft matron, but she was sturdy and strong. Breathing hard with the effort, he tucked her up tight, grabbed the papers, and left. He was halfway toward the stairs and escape when he heard another door open behind him.
    Waite’s?
    He tried the door by his left hand and thank God, it opened. He went inside and closed it, heart thundering. When he looked around, he saw yet more good fortune. The room was in use but lit only by a low fire, and if the occupants were there, they were in the half-curtained bed asleep.
    He pressed his ear to the door and heard Solange say sharply in French, “The papers. They’re gone!”
    â€œWho?”
    Jupiter, it
had
been Waite, and Solange had freed herself far faster than he’d hoped.
    Then, distantly, he heard the clarion call of the Londonmail. He could just make it if he ran, but he was trapped here. The Waites could still be in the corridor, and even if not, he could bump into any of the Crimson Band on his way through the inn and the game would be up.
    His only option was to stay concealed. They’d assume he’d left on the coach and thus could not be the thief. He’d stay in this room until the inn was sleeping and then slip away.
    That was when he’d heard something behind him and turned to find a lady arming herself with a poker.

Chapter 5
    H ermione had been desperate for sleep, but she lay awake, aware of the man so near. She felt turned inside out and not herself at all.
    She sat up, being careful not to disturb the boys, and fumbled among the clothes she’d laid over the bottom of the bed. She found the belt of her pair of pockets and drew them toward her. She reached inside the right-hand one and brought out the cool, hard disk. She didn’t need light to know it was a military button.
    After the ball she’d never mentioned Lieutenant Thayne to anyone, because everyone would think the intensity of her feelings idiotic. But in private she’d relived their time together and often taken out the button to polish and cherish, hoping her silk rosebud would be the talisman he’d hoped.
    She’d imagined him traveling to Portsmouth to take ship. She’d known nothing of the way soldiers were transported to war and had never traveled by ship, so from then on, she’d had only vague notions and prayers. She’d heard of major battles, of victory and loss, but her family took only the local newspaper, so she’d known he could be in the casualty lists and she’d never find out. Surely, though, she’d know in her heart if he was dead.
    She’d tried to draw his image, but her efforts were too inadequate to keep. Over time her memories had weakenedso she hadn’t been sure what was true or false, and inevitably her emotions had become less raw. But she’d never forgotten. From that day she’d always carried the button, and at times she’d taken it out and prayed that