Larcenous Lady Read Online Free Page B

said, with awful emphasis on the “dissipations.” “The only reason Miss Gower and myself are here is for my health. My doctor recommended a warm climate for my lungs.”
    Belami’s mobile brow lifted, and he directed a scathing glare at her grace. “I’m under no misapprehension that you put yourself to so much trouble on my account, your grace. Europe is large enough to accommodate us all.” His glare flickered left to include Deirdre in this chilly civility. She felt battered to see so much hatred and anger. It was all over then. A lifetime was too short to overcome that much ill will.
    “I wish you all a happy trip, ladies,” he said, bowed gallantly, and left.
    Pronto jiggled uneasily, said “Heh, heh. Nice to see you again, Deirdre,” and went darting off after Belami.
    “Jackanapes!” the duchess growled in a perfectly audible voice.
    “Good gracious! That was mighty uncomfortable!” Miss Sutton exclaimed. “I take it you ladies have had some unhappy doings with Lord Belami.”
    “My niece gave him his congé last month,” the duchess said. Dirty linen was not washed in front of commoners, though a few pieces of it might beguile the long trip to Italy if she felt in the mood.
    “He’s very handsome!” Lucy said. “Why did you jilt him, Miss Gower?”
    “This matter is very upsetting to my niece,” the duchess said dampingly.
    Lucy could see Miss Gower looked ready to burst into tears. Both Elvira and Lucy developed a strong interest in Miss Gower and looked forward to hearing her story when privacy could be arranged.
    “Now, Mrs. Sutton, shall we send that note off to the hotel and be on our way?” the duchess asked in a rather imperious manner. She called for a waiter, demanded a pen and ink, and wrote the note herself.
    As they returned to the hotel for their carriage, Belami was silent as an oyster, which was a vast relief to Pronto. He felt steeped to the gills in complicity, as though he had personally arranged that meeting. After a few blocks, however, he was curious to hear his friend’s views and said, “Bit of a shocker, eh? Charney and Deirdre in France.”
    The very word “Charney” was like a whiplash to Belami. “What news did the old bint hear at Fernvale, I wonder? Who was writing off to her? She hasn’t a friend in the world. I’d stake my head she wrote to her relatives asking about me.”
    “You’ve hit the hammer on the head there—er, nail. Relatives are always glad to rub salt in the wound—Deirdre’s wound, I mean.”
    “If Deirdre was wearing any wounds, she hid them well.”
    “She would. You went storming in like Attila the Hun.”
    “You noticed Charney was quick to let me know their trip has nothing to do with me?”
    “It’s true. We decided on the spur of the minute. Deirdre ain’t chasing you, if that’s what you’re afraid of.” Actually, Pronto feared “afraid” wasn’t quite the right word.
    “Talk about salt in the wound!” Belami muttered.
    “What we’ve got to do is find out where they’re heading, and go off in the other direction,” Pronto decided. “Like you said, the continent’s big enough for both of us. All of us. If we meet up again, I’ll ask Deirdre their destination, and we’ll know where not to go.”
    “I don’t intend to change my plans one iota,” Belami announced. “Deirdre knows my itinerary. If she doesn’t want to see me, she’ll know where to stay away from.”
    Pronto hobbled along, trying to keep pace with Dick’s long, angry strides on his own little stumps of legs. “If she stays away from Paris and Venice and Rome and all our itinerary, where the deuce can the poor girl go?”
    “She can take a different route—go in a different order. She knows my plans. That’s all I have to say.”
    “She won’t have one word to say about anything. Charney rules the roost. She’ll tag along wherever she’s led.”
    “She’s good at that,” Dick growled. “If she were as biddable a wife as she is