Midnight Flame Read Online Free Page A

plan?” Lavinia asked, immediately interested.
    “I’m not certain.” Laurel shrugged her shoulders and contemplated her cousin. Lavinia was extremely beautiful in a wild sort of way. She was the type of woman people noticed immediately, but if her hair were worn more severely and she dressed in darker clothing, then whoever was searching for Lavinia Delaney would be put off … at least until they reached Texas.
    Laurel grabbed Lavinia’s hand and pulled her up. “Come upstairs with me,” she told her cousin. “We’re going to change a silk purse into the proverbial sow’s ear.”
    ~ ~ ~

    As Laurel and Lavinia boarded the Cotton Blossom nearly a week later, Gincie, who walked behind them, shook her turban-clad head in dismay. “Ain’t right, Miss Laurel,” she muttered.
    “Hush, Gincie,” Laurel rebuked the woman. “We’re doing this for Lavinia.”
    From the levee, the busy hum of labor reached Laurel when she stood on deck while the trunks were taken from the carriage and brought to the boat. People of all tongues, all races and nationalities buzzed on the dock in Babel-like confusion. Despite the strangeness of the circumstance, Laurel looked forward to her Texas journey; however, she didn’t believe she could say the same for Lavinia.
    “How long do I have to stand out here with all eyes upon me?” Lavinia asked in agitation. “I feel quite ridiculous. Did you actually wear this hideous dress once?”
    The “hideous dress” Lavinia referred to was a dark-brown calico that Laurel had worn to church on Sundays when she was in Boston. The dress was plain but serviceable, and Laurel thought Lavinia resembled the part she played rather well. With her thick auburn hair pulled tightly back into a coil at the base of her neck, the prim brown bonnet on her head, and the pair of spectacles that had belonged to Laurel’s mother perched on her nose, she indeed resembled a lady’s companion. No one would be able to identify her as the wildly beautiful Lavinia Delaney. Until they reached Texas, Lavinia would be known as Agatha Malone.
    “You look quite respectable,” Laurel told her in lieu of another description.
    “I look like hell, and you know it. I believe you’re enjoying my humiliation, Cousin Laurel.”
    Perhaps she was at that. For the first time in her life, Lavinia’s beauty paled alongside her own. Laurel only smiled. “If you want to change, you may do so. But if a relative of St. Julian’s should be searching for you, you’ll be safe in your disguise. Remember, I’m not the one who has to travel incognito.”
    “Oh, bother! I’m going to the cabin and wait until supper.” Lavinia stalked off after Gincie, leaving Laurel on deck with an amused grin on her face.
    It was then she saw him out of the corner of her eye. The man must have been watching her for some time. He leaned on the railing and shot her a penetrating glance that sent shock waves down to her toes. Never had any man looked at her with such a degree of arrogance. He appraised her as if she were a tasty confection in a sweet shop, yet he seemed to find her not at all to his liking. She noticed his eyes, which were blacker and harder than granite, flickered over her steadily.
    Laurel felt herself color under his intense perusal. Briefly she wondered if her lace petticoat showed beneath the rose-colored satin crinoline. Her matching bodice with white lace at the square neckline, she knew, wasn’t cut indecently low, but she wondered if her bonnet were askew. The thought occurred to her that this man found nothing lacking in her physical appearance. Indeed, the hungry look in his eyes was testament to that fact, but he evidently didn’t think much of her as a person. Laurel didn’t care for such rudeness from a stranger.
    Lifting her chin high, she attempted to pass him without glancing in his direction, but he blocked her way and bowed formally. The river breeze ruffled the strands of his curly black hair when he