Lie by Moonlight Read Online Free PDF

moment that Ambrose Wells was not accustomed to taking anyone else’s advice or direction.
    “You do not appear to comprehend the full extent of the danger, Mr. Wells. I fear that once they have recovered their senses, those two men from London will search for us.”
    “Rest assured, neither of those two villains will conduct any searches either tonight or in the future.”
    The cold, too-even tone of his voice sent an icy chill of dread through her.
    “Are you quite, uh, certain, sir?” she asked uneasily.
    “Yes, Miss Glade, I am certain. One is dead. When the other man awakens he will be dazed and disoriented for some time.” He adjustedthe reins slightly, causing Blotchy to pick up his pace. “I assume it was you who felled the man I found on the ground near the old storage sheds?”
    She swallowed heavily. “You saw him?”
    “Yes.”
    “And he was . . . ?”
    “Yes.”
    She gripped her bundle very tightly. “I’ve never done anything like that before.”
    “You did what was necessary, Miss Glade.”
    The second blow she had struck with the lantern had, indeed, killed Rimpton, after all. A shudder went through her. She felt a little ill.
    Another thought struck her. She swallowed hard. “I shall be wanted for murder now.”
    “Calm yourself, Miss Glade. When the local authorities eventually sort out the disaster at the castle, assuming they ever manage to do so, the death will be attributed to an accident that occurred while he was attempting to fight the fire and escape the flames.”
    “How can you be so sure of that?”
    There was enough moonlight to illuminate the wry twist of his hard mouth. “Rest assured, Miss Glade, it will not occur to anyone to consider the possibility that a female who makes her living as a teacher of young ladies might have been capable of dispatching a hardened criminal with a gun.”
    “What of the man you injured? Won’t he tell everyone what happened?”
    “When he awakens he will very likely recall nothing of the events immediately before he was knocked unconscious.”
    She gripped her bundle very tightly. “It occurs to me, sir, that you know precisely what happened at the castle tonight.”
    “So do you, Miss Glade. It appears that neither of us has any choice at the moment but to trust each other.”

4
    S hortly after one o’clock in the morning, Ambrose at last found himself alone with Concordia in the inn’s otherwise deserted public room. The flames of the fire that the innkeeper had rekindled for his late-night guests cast a mellow glow across furnishings that had been worn and scarred by generations of travelers.
    Upon their arrival, the weary students had been fed cold meat and potato pies by the innkeeper’s sleepy wife and then shepherded upstairs to their beds. The proprietors of the establishment had then locked up for the second time that evening and retreated to their own bedroom.
    Ambrose poured a glass of the innkeeper’s sherry and handed it to Concordia.
    She frowned. “I really don’t—”
    “Drink it,” he ordered quietly. “It will help you sleep.”
    “Do you think so?” She accepted the sherry and took a tentative sip. “Thank you.”
    He nodded. She was still extremely wary of him, he thought. Hecould not blame her. He had some questions of his own concerning her role in the affair at the castle tonight.
    He went to stand at the hearth, one arm resting on the mantel and considered his companion for a long moment.
    Firelight played on her sleekly coiled brown hair and glinted on the round gold frames of her eyeglasses. She was somewhere in her mid-twenties, he decided. Her features lacked the classically correct planes and angles that were traditionally associated with feminine beauty, but he nevertheless found her quite riveting. There was a deeply compelling aspect to her smoky green eyes. In them he saw the hard-learned caution of a far older and more experienced woman.
    The tight bodice of her gown revealed the outlines