Beloved Imposter Read Online Free PDF Page A

and quickly sawed halfway through a dozen girths from underneath. Hopefully, no one would detect the cuts until it was too late. Falls. Confusion. A chance for her to escape those protecting her.
    She worked with quiet efficiency and buried her guilt. They were good horsemen. A simple fall would not hurt them.
    And she would need all the diversion she could contrive.
    Finished, she crept back to her big feather bed. Tonight would be the last time she would sink into its comfort.
    Felicia slept restlessly for only a few hours and woke before dawn. She went to the window and thanked God when she saw heavy rain falling.
    Janet would be expected to wear protective clothing.
    In an hour or less, the Cameron escort would be prepared to leave.
    She lit a candle from the huge fireplace where a few embers still burned from the great pieces of wood that had filled it last eve. She placed several additional pieces of wood inside, then waited until the chamber warmed. She dressed hastily before her maid came in. A boy’s clothes first, clothes filched from the trunks of her cousin’s younger days. Then a chemise and a plain underdress and overdress of her own. She tucked her hair beneath a dark cap and stared at herself in the mirror.
    She and Janet both had blue eyes, although hers were darker; hopefully the difference would not be noticed in the gloom of dawn. Most of her face was shielded by one of Janet’s wool plaids. The cap and cloak would cover her unruly red curls.
    She planned to be late, to join the departing riders after most were already mounted.
    Janet knocked and entered, a tray in hand. “I told your maid that you were ill and I would bring you something to eat,” she said.
    Felicia went to her friend and took the tray, put it down on a table, then clasped Janet’s hands. “Thank you. I will see that no one blames you. A sleeping potion. Take it when I leave. Everyone will believe I gave it to you.”
    Janet’s eyes met hers.
    “Felicia, are you quite determined to do this?” Janet’s voice broke with worry.
    “I am,” Felicia said.
    “If they discover who you are, they will bring you back. Your uncle will be very angry.”
    “He cannot do anything more to me than what he has already done,” Felicia said. “If only I can get to London…”
    “But how?”
    “I’ll travel as a boy to London. I have my mother’s jewels. I can sell them if necessary. If I can find Jamie, I think he will help me.”
    “But you are a woman.”
    And gently born women did not travel alone . Many terrible things could happen, which was why she intended to pose as a lad. But she knew her fate if she remained in Scotland.
    Her silence prompted another question from Janet. “How will you lose the escorts?”
    “I have an idea or two,” Felicia replied, once more feeling a stab of guilt at not telling her friend that she had already taken some action to make escape easier. The less Janet knew, the safer she would be. Her friend did not lie well.
    Neither did she. But now her life and future were at risk, and desperation made possible actions that had been unthinkable before.
    “Then what?” Janet asked.
    “There are many caves in the area,” Felicia replied. “Jamie used to take me exploring. He said I should know where to hide if I were ever caught outside the gates.” If she could reach them, she could hide for several days, then travel as a lad to London, to Jamie. He would find a way to assist her, and in London he could do it without anyone knowing.
    She realized it was not a particularly clever plan. In fact, it was not even a plan, just a desperate, headlong escape.
    “Jamie will help you,” Janet assured her. Her face softened as she mentioned Jamie’s name. “He cares for you,” she said. “He feels you are the only one in this family who has truly loved him.”
    Felicia was startled by the observation. Jamie seldom expressed his feelings. She knew that there was little affection between him and his