Midnight Flame Read Online Free

to drink the tea offered to her by Gincie.
    “You’re acting real peculiar,” Gincie frankly told her.
    “Leave me alone, both of you! I don’t need your forced solicitations.”
    Lavinia jumped off the sofa and paced the room like a caged tigress. Laurel nodded to Gincie to leave them alone.
    “When are you going to tell me what’s troubling you?” Laurel asked after Gincie’s departure.
    Lavinia attempted to feign ignorance. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nothing is wrong with me.”
    Sighing in exasperation, Laurel poured some tea into a teacup. “I noticed a young man speaking to you at the market. After his departure you looked ready to faint. Do me the courtesy of telling me the truth, dear Cousin. I’m beginning to wonder if you’ve ever been truthful about anything. I have never asked you about all those afternoons when you left the house and returned with packages, or about the expensive gowns you’re suddenly wearing. Evidently you spent your time with a more than generous man. Madame Daphne mentioned that today.”
    “That woman and her big mouth! I’d like to ram one of her bolts of French silk down her throat.”
    Laurel couldn’t help smiling. At least Lavinia was her feisty self again, and color had invaded her cheeks. “Why don’t you tell me everything, Lavinia, and no lies?”
    When Lavinia finished telling Laurel about her affair with Auguste St. Julian and his subsequent death, Laurel remained silent. She had no idea what to say to Lavinia. Never had she imagined something so tragic had befallen her cousin, but she felt that Lavinia’s headstrong attitude had caused her own misery.
    “Are you going to lecture me now, Laurel, tell me what a wicked woman I am for becoming involved with a married man?”
    Laurel shook her head and gently patted Lavinia’s hand. “I don’t believe you’re wicked, and I won’t judge you. All I hope is that in the future, you’ll give more thought to the men you become involved with.”
    Twisting the kerchief in her hands, Lavinia gave a nasty laugh. “Thank you for that.”
    “You didn’t mention the young man at the market. Who was he?”
    “He was Auguste’s driver when he stayed in the city. He said he wished to warn me about a private investigation by a family member into Auguste’s death. Someone in the St. Julian family has discovered my identity and holds me accountable for Auguste’s sudden demise.”
    “But you didn’t kill the man. He died of natural causes,” Laurel remarked.
    Lavinia got up and moved restlessly about the room. “Evidently this person wants revenge of some kind.” After a few moments she stopped, and her face was wreathed in fear. “We must travel by steamboat through the bayous before we take the coach into Texas. The St. Julians are quite powerful in the bayou country. Laurel, anything could happen to me before I arrive home. I can’t leave for San Antonio now. I can’t risk entering the bayou country. My life is at stake!”
    “Hush!” Laurel attempted to calm her and pulled her down beside her on the sofa again. “I admit your situation is a serious one, but no one is going to harm you. Did St. Julian’s driver give you the person’s name?”
    Lavinia shook her auburn head. Fear still gleamed in her eyes.
    “Then perhaps all he heard was a rumor of vengeance. Maybe this investigator was only checking into the facts, and now that the police have ruled St. Julian’s death was from a natural cause, I doubt very much if you’re in danger. You might be guilty of being indiscreet, Lavinia, of dallying with a married man, but murder, no. No one can hold you accountable for such a thing.”
    Lavinia longed to believe Laurel, but she couldn’t stop her mind from running away with her. “I can’t go to San Antonio. I shall be harmed if I do, I know I will.”
    “Stop it! We will go to San Antonio. Your father needs you. We’ll simply come up with a plan to protect you.”
    “What sort of