Jamintha Read Online Free Page B

hand. She took a step backward, her small pink lips parting in surprise.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” she exclaimed. “If Madame DuBois sees you about the place—of all the cheek! Knocking on the front door to boot! I think you’ve taken leave of your senses, Johnny Stone! That’s the only explanation!”
    â€œNone-a your sass, girl,” he said in a stern voice.
    â€œLeave at once before she hears us, you hulking oaf!”
    â€œYou’d best watch your tongue, Missy,” he warned.
    â€œJohnny,” she whispered, truly alarmed. “Whatever possessed you—”
    â€œI’ve brung Miss Jane,” he retorted. “There weren’t no one to meet ’er an’ she was standin’ all by ’erself right across the street from the pubs. I reckoned I’d best pick ’er up before somethin’ unpleasant ’appened.”
    â€œMiss Jane?” the girl said, standing on tiptoe to peer over his broad shoulder. “Master Brence was supposed to fetch her. He hasn’t returned, and we assumed—”
    Johnny stepped aside, and the girl saw me for the first time. About my height, she had a slender waist, and the bodice of her snug pink dress emphasized a well-developed figure. Tarnished gold curls tumbled to her shoulders in rich profusion. Pert, full of vitality, Susie had a hoydenish charm I found immediately winning. Setting the lamp down on a table, she gave Johnny a push and stepped outside to greet me, her lively brown eyes full of genuine warmth.
    â€œI’ve been looking forward to this,” she said. “We all have. I can’t imagine why Master Brence wasn’t there—I can, too, but never mind. Come on inside—” She led me into an enormous hall with black and white marble floor. The lower half of the walls were paneled in dark mahogany, with purple and blue wallpaper above. Doors led off in different directions, and at one side a spiral staircase with mahogany banisters curled up to the second floor. The lamp provided little light, casting long shadows around the room.
    Johnny stood lingering in the doorway. Susie shot him an exasperated look. “Don’t just stand there, you clumsy lout! Pick up her trunk and bring it in.”
    Johnny lowered his brows menacingly, but he did as she said. Heaving the trunk up and stepping inside, he kicked the door shut with his foot. It slammed with a loud bang.
    â€œNow you’ve done it!” Susie cried.
    There was a sound of someone approaching through the shadows, and then the gaslights in sconces about the room flickered, blossoming into dim yellow radiance. The woman who had turned them on came toward us. Susie had a worried expression. Johnny stood with the trunk balanced on one shoulder, a sheepish grin on his lips, looking for all the world like an overgrown boy caught with his hand in a cookie jar. Still uneasy, my nerves on edge, I stared at the bizarre figure of Helene DuBois.
    She was almost six foot tall and extremely thin. Her black hair was streaked with silver and worn in an elaborate coiffure. With her incredible make-up she did indeed resemble a painted maypole, her face long, the dark eyes haughty, the thin lips a bright red. She wore a dress of deep purple taffeta, a ring of heavy bronze keys dangling from the belt. There was a sour, pinched look about her, and when she spoke her voice was like chipped ice.
    â€œWhat is going on, Susie?” she asked, ignoring me.
    â€œMiss Jane has arrived. Master Brence wasn’t there to fetch her. Johnny happened by in his wagon. He brought her to the house.”
    â€œI see,” the housekeeper said.
    She turned to Johnny, her eyes full of loathing. He might have been some bloodthirsty criminal come to steal the silver. “Since you are here, you may as well take the trunk up to her room,” she said crisply.
    â€œI reckon I might,” he said in a lazy drawl.
    â€œI’m