Lord Harry's Daughter Read Online Free PDF Page B

dryly. “Yes, I am one of those fellows who skulk around finding out what he can so the rest of the lads know what to expect when they ride into battle."
    “Oh, you must not say it like that. Speen, my stepfather's batman, says that men like you are excessively ingenious and brave."
    “And brave.” A mocking smile twisted his lips. “But otherwise, mostly ingenious and ... deceptive."
    That was it. Now she understood the shadow. He was ashamed of being thought of as a spy. “Ingenious, yes, deceptive, perhaps, but certainly perceptive as well, and no less important than the men who drink and gamble all night and then die a hero's death the next day because they were too befuddled or too stupid to notice the ditch in front of them, a ditch that, if they were sober, would have embarrassed them even to give it a second thought."
    “So that is how the dashing Lord Harry died."
    Sophia whirled to face him again, but this time the hazel eyes were dark with anger. “How dare you, sir! You have known all along who I was and yet you did not have the grace to in..."
    “Introduce myself? I apologize. I have been a spy too long and I have forgotten the niceties of civility, is that what you mean to say? That will not fadge. You would have done the same to me if you had known my identity, but your resources were not so good as mine."
    Sophia bit her lip. “And who were yours, sir? Who was telling you tales about Lord Harry Featherstonaugh and his daughter?"
    “Fitzroy Somerset and, ah, the duke."
    “Oh.” She was silent for a moment, somewhat mollified. “Still you had no right to go asking around about me."
    “No right? I find a woman, an Englishwoman, in the middle of a field, in the middle of a war in Spain, and I ask the commanding officer about her because I want to know the name of someone who happens to be the most superb artist I have seen in some time, not to mention that I was concerned for the safety of a young woman who wanders a countryside that is teeming with guerrillas, bandits, and soldiers of all types, and you take offense. Yet you who asked your stepfather's batman about me, tell me I have no right to ask such questions. I must take exception to such unequal treatment."
    “I beg your pardon. It was rather high-handed of me."
    “High-handed!” Mark was about to favor her with his full opinion of people who gossiped about other people when he paused. After all, she had apologized. She had looked him straight in the eye and offered her apology and, her expression told him, she still offered it. In all his years of dalliance, he had never known a woman to admit she was in the wrong, and he could not for the life of him remember when one had looked him full in the face with no dissembling, no coy smile, no pouting lips, just frankly and apologetically. It was completely and totally disarming. “Well yes it was high-handed of you, but understandable, given the circumstances."
    “Thank you."
    Oddly enough, she truly did sound relieved. Most women would not have given a second thought to what some exploring officer thought of them, but she really did seem to care for his good opinion.
    Baaaa. Mark was suddenly recalled to his responsibilities toward his flock and he turned around just in time to catch one of its members in the act of breaking away toward a promising patch of greenery. “If you will excuse me, I must look after my charges. When one of them takes it in his head to go another direction, the rest soon follow, and I promised Jose that I would return them all safe and sound."
    He had just stepped out from behind the herd to go retrieve the stray when Sophia, applying one last touch of paint, turned to protest. “You still have me at a disadvantage, Major."
    “A disadvantage?"
    He looked so blank that she could not help laughing. “Yes. You seem to know who I am, but as you pointed out, my, er, sources, were not so forthcoming as yours."
    “Oh. I am Adair. Major Lord Mark Adair. It must be