Boots for the Gentleman Read Online Free Page A

make it into the nobility. They’ve been setting me up with a different lady, and I use that term in the loosest possible sense, Querry, every night.”
    The idea of Reg marrying stirred long-dormant feelings in Querry. To his surprise, he was jealous. “Can’t you just tell them you’re not ready?”
    Reg’s shoulders curled forward. He met Querry’s eyes and shook his head. “Querry, the Whitneys adopted me. They took me away from that hellish factory, sent me to University. They gave me a future. All Mum has ever wanted is to be among the nobility, to go to their parties and have tea with them. It’s the one thing she can’t buy, no matter how many cans of fish their factory cranks out. I have to do this.”
    “But!”
    “It’s life for most of us. Work, marry, raise a family.”
    “You’re really willing to be the trophy husband of some inbred hag?”
    “Why are you so upset?” Reg asked. “This is what people do. What other alternative do I have? A man lives alone too long, and people start to talk.”
    “What about our plan?” Querry asked. He remembered finishing a dinner of stale bread after a day of shoveling coal into a furnace, and going with Reg to their straw-stuffed mats. Looking at Reg now, he saw the soot streaks clearly. He remembered whispering, staying up late even though they’d both been exhausted, planning. Probably because they rarely saw the sky, they’d decided to become traders. They’d get a ship and sail to the remote corners of the Empire, procuring all manner of exotic goods. Night after night they had lain in each other’s arms and fantasized about the places they’d visit. Freedom and fresh air were all they’d wanted, and to be together.
    “It was a child’s dream,” Reg said sadly. “I’m sorry, Querry. Not all of us can live by our own rules.”
    Watching Reg, Querry remembered the texture of his skin, the way he tasted. He remembered how they’d had to be quiet as they touched and fondled and explored, lest the other factory workers hear. During that horrible time, they’d been each other’s only comfort. Now, maybe irrationally, Querry felt betrayed.
    “What is it that you wanted?” Reg asked. Querry thought he heard regret in his friend’s voice.
    “Just some records. Anything you have on the house on the corner of Tinkerton and Grace Lane. A floor plan would be perfect.”
    “Why that house?” Reg said, shocked.
    “What? Why do you ask?”
    “Because! The Grande Chancellor requested records on that property this morning. I don’t care for him, so I told him they’d take a few days to locate. And then a few hours ago, the Duchess of Lisine asked for the same records. I have them right here. What’s so special about that house?”
    “I have no idea,” Querry said. “I walked by it on my way here today. It’s not in a nice part of town, but it may have been a decent house at one time. It has one of those old stone chimneys in the front, and a big stained glass window. Broken now, though. The roof’s caved in, and the thatch is gone, too, and the garden’s completely overgrown with weeds. It’s falling apart.”
    “What do you want with it?”
    “Curiosity. One of my clients mentioned it. It was just so random of a thing for him to say.” Querry didn’t expound upon how he felt like a dog following a man with a bucket of innards. He didn’t like being manipulated, but he’d reached the point where he had to know. What did those uppity aristocrats want with it? It could be a cute little place, if somebody fixed it up, but certainly not worthy of a duchess.
    “What client?” Reg asked. “Not the faeries again?”
    Querry said nothing, but Reg knew his expressions too well.
    “Querry, how could you? They’re dangerous! They aren’t like us. They don’t care who they hurt.”
    “They care,” Querry said. “They just change their minds a lot. But don’t worry. I know how to handle them. So, a faerie gentleman, the Duchess of