While You Were Spying (Regency Spies Book 0) by Shana Galen Read Free Book Online Page B

arm securely around the curve of her waist. He put a finger to his lips.
    She nodded.
    Peering through the shrubbery into the clearing, he saw three men clamber through the trees on the clearing’s far side.
    All three wore coarse wool trousers and gray homespun shirts, but one sported a bulky greatcoat while the others had no such protection from the November chill. Their hair was dirty, matted, and shaggy, their faces and clothes covered with dirt and grime. One wore a brown beaver hat, and his unkempt hair was plastered to his neck beneath it.
    “I don’t see why I should be the only one that has to help the stinking Frenchie do the digging,” whined Beaver Hat. “It’ll go much faster if we all pitch in.”
    The three stomped through the meadow, pausing a yard or so from where Ethan and the girl lay. Ethan scrunched down further. The contents of a haversack clunked loudly when the man in the coat tossed it aside, and Ethan felt the girl jump.
    “You’ll do the digging because you and the Frenchie lost at cards last night. That was the wager,” Greatcoat answered in a hoarse voice. “And if I were you, I’d start now.”
    Beaver Hat planted his hands on his hips. “What if I don’t want to start? What if I don’t want to work with no stinking Frenchie?”
    Greatcoat stared at him. “Maybe you should have thought of that before you took this job.”
    Ethan watched as the man reached into the coat and withdrew a pistol. The girl gasped, and Ethan glanced at her. Her eyes were riveted on the men, and against his body, he felt her heart pounding in her chest. He raised his hand to cover her mouth again but lowered it when she remained silent.
    He looked back at the men, now certain they were the smugglers.
    Beaver Hat backed down under the threat of the pistol. “No need for that. I’ll help the Frenchie.”
    “Good.” Greatcoat nodded, still pointing the gun at his companion. “You’d better get to it. You-know-who will expect us to be ready to leave as soon as he returns.”
    Beaver Hat turned and scurried in the direction the three had come.
    Greatcoat and the other man sat on an old log. Greatcoat pulled out a flask, drank deeply, and passed it to the other. Ethan noticed the silent smuggler had a fresh bruise that would become a black eye in another day.
    “I could do without his mouth.” The man with the black eye drank from the flask and handed it back.
    “Won’t have to work with him much longer,” Greatcoat answered, voice still gravelly. “Be out of here tonight if all goes as planned.”
    His companion nodded. “Let’s just hope you-know-who took care of his end. We don’t need any more meddling farmers.”
    A reference to Skerrit, Ethan thought, glancing at the girl beside him. Her features were blank, giving no sign she understood the discussion.
    “Can’t blame him for complaining.”
    Ethan looked back at the smugglers.
    The silent one touched his bruised eye gingerly. “Don’t like working with them Frenchies myself. Wouldn’t do it except I need the blunt.”
    “Gagnon’s not so bad.” The smuggler drew his coat closed and drank from the flask again. “I’ve seen worse. Bad business across the water. Bloody bunch of barbarians if you ask me.”
    Beside him, the girl had begun to shiver. She was frightened, and he didn’t blame her. When her teeth began to chatter, he pressed his hand over her mouth. If they were very quiet and moved slowly, they could back out of the shrubbery without the smugglers seeing.
    But they had to go now before much more was revealed. The less the girl knew, the better. Devil take him! He was so close. He knew these were the smugglers. Knew the man had gone to unearth the arms they’d be smuggling to France. He had them. But his first responsibility was to see the girl safely home.
    The girl squirmed, twisting her head under his hand. Ethan clenched his jaw. He scowled at her, angry at having to let the smugglers go. “ Come ,” he mouthed