The Incorrigible Mr. Lumley Read Online Free

wanted to
see the man smile.
    Now that the reality of the win was upon
him, he had to admit to himself it would not change anything. It
might have a year ago, before David’s aunt and uncle had died, but
nothing their horses did would ease that pain. All David could do
was hope his father might at least show some interest in the
stables again. Show some interest in life.
    As he and Knightwick walked to the Coffee
Rooms where the Jockey Club held court, David noticed a group of
men standing near an open door at one end of the stables where
those who didn’t own property nearby sheltered their horses.
“Something looks amiss.”
    Knightwick followed his gaze. “I wonder what
is happening. Perhaps two grooms are fighting over the outcome of
their race.”
    “If that were the case, Old Edwards would be
off to one side taking bets on the winner. I don’t see anyone
betting.”
    His brother laughed. “Quite so. Let’s go
investigate.”
    The voices of the onlookers reached the pair
before they got there, with words such as ill and murder being tossed about. Knightwick spoke to a man on the
edge of the circle. “What’s the excitement about?”
    “Near as I can tell, either a horse or a
rider has been killed.”
    “You aren’t certain which?”
    The man shrugged. “They haven’t called for
the horse doctor or the people doctor, so I can’t say.”
    In David’s mind, that just meant the victim
was beyond treatment. He was about to ask if the constable had been
sent for when the man pushed through the crowd and entered the
stables. David strained to hear anything within the building, but
the gossip in the crowd was too loud.
    A short time later, two stable hands carried
out a body on a board, covered by a horse blanket. Knightwick
nudged David’s arm. “Let’s go to the Coffee Rooms. They’ll know
anything we need to know. We can get our winnings and take our
horses home.”
    The Coffee Rooms were packed with people
eating at the tables, and milling about talking about the day’s
races. Knightwick led the way and stopped to speak to an earl.
“Have they mentioned who was killed in the stables?”
    The earl nodded. “A groom, he was. Not a
local boy. Worked for Lord Northcotte. Heard he took sick this
morning and someone else rode for him. They found him dead in a
stall during the Oatlands Stakes.”
    David met his brother’s pointed gaze, but
neither of them spoke. After their discussion of Northcotte’s
possible involvement in the death of Zephyr, and the near death of
their horses last year, it seemed beyond coincidence his name
should be floating about this current death. No one said murder,
but the constable had just arrived. They’d have to see where the
investigation went.

Chapter Three
     
    Joanna stormed up to the library door of
their London town house, her heels beating a clipped rhythm on the
polished marble floor. Waving off the footman, she threw open the
door without knocking. She marched to the massive oak desk where
her brother sat. “How dare you!”
    Robert lifted his gaze from his papers
without raising his head, peering out from beneath his heavy, fair
eyebrows. “How dare I what?”
    Joanna forced her hands to relax. Fighting
the urge to stomp her foot, which would only prove what she assumed
her brother believed of her, she threw back her shoulders and
glared at his receding hairline, for he had returned to scratching
out a list. “You know what. How could you?”
    He set the pen in the inkwell and blotted
the paper, then straightened in his chair. “Dear sister, this
discourse would be completed all the sooner if you would simply
tell me which action of mine has displeased you this time.”
    Joanna’s right leg twitched again with the
need to stomp, but she remained stiff. “Mama tells me you have
decided to select a husband for me.”
    “What would you have me do? You have shown
no inclination to make the choice on your own.” With his elbows
resting on the edge of the desk,