Bright Hair About the Bone Read Online Free PDF Page B

conceal many things an enterprising girl might lay hands on—golden crowns, precious jewels…
scorpions
!”
    Abruptly the sleek professional mask slipped and Laetitia caught a glimpse of the spiteful schoolboy he must once have been.
    She replied coolly, “I find the creatures in the most surprising places. Just as well I have become immune to their sting.”
    He rose to his feet but did not offer to shake her hand or see her out.
    Laetitia Talbot paused, her hand on the doorknob, and turned with a charming smile to the pale and deflated don. He readied himself for her Parthian shot, always, he remembered, her speciality.
    â€œBy the way, Felix…the story that has circulated amongst you…”
    Dalton looked puzzled.
    â€œThe alleged loss of my most precious possession…”
    â€œAh! That? Great Heavens! You were aware…?”
    â€œNaturally, since it was
I
who initiated the story. It has always annoyed me that such a sprightly tale could have become so garbled in the retelling. I’m afraid it will shock you even further, Felix, when I tell you that the gentleman in question was not a Satanist—he was a
scientist.
”

CHAPTER 3
    S he closed the door gently, adjusted her hat to a less rakish angle, then stood for a moment or two struggling to achieve a level of control. Disgust both for her own subterfuge and for Dalton’s treachery expressed itself in an inconvenient inability to pull gloves onto shaking hands and a sudden loss of impetus.
    She had conducted her business with such ruthless haste she found herself with an hour to spare before her next appointment. A walk by the river would calm her. And she could say good-bye to this most lovely, most gracious spot in the world. She made her way along to Garret Hostel Lane, tormenting herself with the memory of her eight-year-old self careering uncertainly down the path on her first new bicycle. An impetuous purchase by her godfather, Daniel, who’d taken her into the bike repair shop in Laundress Lane a week before her birthday. They’d gone in to pick up a new brake cable for him and had come out with a gleaming, two-wheeled, dark green wonder for her. As excited as she was, Daniel had run behind anxiously shouting advice. “Don’t look back! Keep pedalling, Letty!” He’d caught up with her on the sharp upward slope of the bridge at the end of the lane where, finally, she’d run out of courage and puff and they’d hung laughing and gasping over the parapet.
    Now, she paused in the same place. Turning the knife in the wound. There was no one else around to enjoy the fresh spring day. With examinations looming, undergraduates were all closeted away with their books, desperately filling in gaps and plastering over the rough surfaces of three years’ study. She was glad to have the river to herself for a bit. She watched as a black swan, all too conscious of his exotic good looks, was joined in a pas de deux by a white swan. She almost applauded as they dipped and bowed and exited left, behind a curtain of yellow willow boughs.
    A punt approached going at quite a clip. Four young men in blazers were singing a boating song and drinking champagne. Their companion working on the pole joined in the chorus, apparently unaware that he was moving off course and about to collide with the arch of the bridge. Laetitia knew this stretch well. With the authority of one who’d taken part in the Saturday morning seven o’clock punting classes for women and had the valued certificate of competence under her belt, she called out a warning: “Oy! Watch out! Pull to starboard!”
    The punter took time to doff his boater gallantly to the pretty girl on the bridge before correcting his course with a flourish, sending the boat skimming with a swift fish-tail through the arch. Laetitia crossed to the other side and waved a friendly acknowledgement of his skill, then wandered on over the