In Bed With The Duke. ANNIE BURROWS

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ would set his people on their trail. He would tell them it was their top priority. From what Prudence had told him so far, he wouldn’t be surprised to learn they’d actually been heading for Liverpool. Possibly with a view to leaving the country altogether, if her uncle had actually swindled her out of all her money. On the off-chance that the case was not as bad as all that, he’d make sure his staff found out everything about their business dealings, too, and gained control of any leases or mortgages they had. He would throw a cordon around them so tight that they wouldn’t be able to sneeze without his permission.

      And if it turned out that they had stolen Prudence’s inheritance, and hadn’t had the sense to get out of the country while they could, then he would crush them. Utterly.

      Just then the door opened and the landlord came in.

      ‘Next coach’s due in any time now,’ he said without preamble. ‘Time for you to make off.’

      Gregory deliberately relaxed his hands, which he’d clenched into fists as he’d been considering all the ways he could make Prudence’s relatives pay for what they’d done. ‘Bring me the reckoning, then,’ he said. ‘I am ready to depart.’

      He turned to see Prudence eyeing him warily.

      ‘Hand me my purse, would you, niece? It’s in my pocket.’

      She continued to stare at him in that considering way until he was forced to speak to her more sternly.

      ‘Prudence, my purse.’

      She jumped, but then dug her hand into one of the pockets of the jacket he’d lent her. And then the other one. And then, instead of handing over his purse, she pulled out the stocking he’d thrust in there and forgotten all about. She gazed at it in bewilderment.

      Before she could start asking awkward questions he darted round the table, whipped it out of her hand and thrust it into his waistcoat. And then, because she appeared so stunned by the discovery of one of her undergarments that she’d forgotten to hand him his purse, he decided he might as well get it himself.

      It wasn’t there. Not in the pocket where he could have sworn he’d put it. A cold, sick swirl of panic had him delving into all the jacket pockets, several times over. Even though it was obvious what had happened.

      ‘It’s gone,’ he said, tamping down the panic as he faced the truth. ‘We’ve been robbed.’

Chapter Six

      ‘Ho, robbed, is it?’ The landlord planted his fists on his ample hips. ‘Sure, and you had such a fat purse between you when you come in.’

      ‘Not a fat purse, no,’ said Gregory, whirling round from his crouched position to glare at the landlord. ‘But sufficient. Do you think I would have asked for a private parlour if I hadn’t the means to pay for it?’

      ‘What I think is that there’s a lot of rogues wandering the highways of England these days. And one of them, or rather two,’ he said, eyeing Prudence, ‘have fetched up here.’

      ‘Now, look here...’

      ‘No, you look here. I don’t care what story you come up with, I won’t be fooled, see? So you just find the means to pay what you owe or I’m sending for the constable and you’ll be spending the night in the roundhouse.’

      There was no point in arguing. The man’s mind was closed as tight as a drum. Besides, Gregory had seen the way he’d dealt with that bunch of customers in the tap. Ruthlessly and efficiently.

      There was nothing for it. He stood up and reached for the watch he had in his waistcoat pocket. A gold hunter that was probably worth the same as the entire inn, never mind the rather basic meal they’d just consumed. The very gold hunter that Hugo had predicted he’d be obliged to pawn. His stomach contracted. He’d already decided to go straight to Bramley Park rather than wait until the end of the week. But that was his decision. Pawning the watch was not, and it felt like the bitterest kind of failure.

      ‘If you would care to point me in the direction of the nearest pawn shop,’ he said, giving the landlord a glimpse of his watch, ‘I shall soon have the means to pay what we owe.’

      ‘And what’s to stop you legging it the minute I let you out of my sight? You leave the watch with me and I’ll pawn it if you don’t return.’

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEAYABgAAD/4RAxRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABwESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA AAABAAAAYgEbAAUAAAABAAAAagEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAUAAAAcgEyAAIAAAAUAAAAhodp AAQAAAABAAAAnAAAAMgAAABgAAAAAQAAAGAAAAABQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIDcuMAAyMDE2OjAz OjE0IDA5OjE2OjU2AAAAAAOgAQADAAAAAQABAACgAgAEAAAAAQAAAfSgAwAEAAAAAQAAA0AAAAAA AAAABgEDAAMAAAABAAYAAAEaAAUAAAABAAABFgEbAAUAAAABAAABHgEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAIBAAQA AAABAAABJgICAAQAAAABAAAPAwAAAAAAAABIAAAAAQAAAEgAAAAB/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEASABI AAD/7QAMQWRvYmVfQ00AAf/uAA5BZG9iZQBkgAAAAAH/2wCEAAwICAgJCAwJCQwRCwoLERUPDAwP FRgTExUTExgRDAwMDAwMEQwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwBDQsLDQ4NEA4OEBQO Dg4UFA4ODg4UEQwMDAwMEREMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDP/AABEI AIAATQMBIgACEQEDEQH/3QAEAAX/xAE/AAABBQEBAQEBAQAAAAAAAAADAAECBAUGBwgJCgsBAAEF AQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAEAAgMEBQYHCAkKCxAAAQQBAwIEAgUHBggFAwwzAQACEQMEIRIxBUFRYRMi cYEyBhSRobFCIyQVUsFiMzRygtFDByWSU/Dh8WNzNRaisoMmRJNUZEXCo3Q2F9JV4mXys4TD03Xj 80YnlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vY3R1dnd4eXp7fH1+f3EQACAgECBAQDBAUGBwcG BTUBAAIRAyExEgRBUWFxIhMFMoGRFKGxQiPBUtHwMyRi4XKCkkNTFWNzNPElBhaisoMHJjXC0kST VKMXZEVVNnRl4vKzhMPTdePzRpSkhbSVxNTk9KW1xdXl9VZmdoaWprbG1ub2JzdHV2d3h5ent8f/ 2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/ANT6+UZHUX9Nro2Mrp+0G+2xx2tDvQ2e1odbY72v9rGLD+rmN9m+t3TbrHte 1huboHNc55ouY2k12Na5rtr963PrHW+jqzjeBZi2UV+jVuDDYw+pXnem/wD0uPb9lf8Ao/8AuRRf b+r13LIza77cnENNzbXZOZQa7ZDSzY9mU+66tz/Ux7qqqX+tT6f/ABH6JRTykZBHh0sWfNeI2Lv6 Po9dzXsggFnj3+/85zVDqFXq1GCC4jSOf32LPdlYGVe5lN41cXNDgWj+yX7VZff9jwrMi7Witvq2 P5AYwe+zdru2sapJcMomjahcZeoGPm8zmg059doA23tLD93uP9dXsW2qvEc7IsZTTsLbLbXBrBIL djnu9ih9YcIGp4YN23bdU4RBaDv+kvPuu9QszMhrLXl1dMipknY383d6bfb6jvz7bP0r/wDi1CvA 0Ie/wuo4OW0DHyqb3ASQx7S4f1W+1yv9PkX2iJPu57aA7V5IdlRru2ixh1Lexjsuv+rn1k+zva/I e5+E5pa8ElzqiRHqU/nvrbuZ6tf5n+A/mUhumY0IescfcPw8f7SAPpExruHu7TBCK4wSSQTA9w4K D+YdO49n36JdVh2+j//Q1fry/pObl10daFn2GlhsxLGBzCXPDPWi307WP2OY3+XXvXMdPZ9WcfK9 Xozb7c4NIqY4uslxDmbbJoq9m33/AM7/AMZ6S3Ot4GV1XqGMbS70g2w5F4I0BLNtLWH86zb/ANaV K/pFHTOo4+fg1+njhz/WoaSdrnMNdbq9x3OZY7a3Z+ZYq8pAg+uWoJ4b9P8AdbAxSEgaBoxF9f7w dX1NrwR8CpXZdraLcZljji5VL6raJlu1wNbtjXT6bvd+aqd5f6YPDu6pW3uYWlx9vBPgCVFGRA03 6NkwBOu3V1cfPaehV9OtvNt+M70WWuaZNBP6Nt4H7rf0H6P9z8z1PZwFldoy7KbQPUDy0wNCQY9j f3f3V1vqCp7nD6Lhtf5glDrxKSbcy5vq2vsNh0+j/Va391EZDqSqWGNADTWyiy/q9W7p++lu62tm 91bdJdA3rC6fkuw8ubGuII2ioAzJ04d9Hn6X/ba6+rLrcHek8Oc36TT7XCfztjvzf5SHh+h+1arr GAPqIuAABeS0gt2/20YSN0VuTGKsdHb6f6g6fjts91raaw4HxjzT/aK/R2b/AGd7NZ3IcXWCwEOa 0k7h+cST9H+q1RNZDG4wIlwc8nzaWMb СКАЧАТЬ