Revolutionary Hearts Read Online Free PDF Page A

lips and cupped one tanned hand behind his ear. “I just heard someone.”
    “It’s probably the wind.” She looked up at the threatening sky. The summer rains were as unpredictable as the general’s requests. Heavy rain could fall any day now or maybe not for another two weeks. “Or the roll of the incoming monsoon. That is all.”
    He nodded but still scanned the road behind her shoulder with a wary eye. “You should be careful as well. You never can trust the British.”

Chapter Four
    You never could trust the British.
One moment you felt sure you were accepted as one of them, and the next moment you received a letter saying they’ve found out about your secret identity. He bent his head back to finish the rest of the pale Scotch in his crystal glass. Trust the British, indeed.
    “I said, this is
my new fiancée
.”
    Warren looked away from the fireplace to the woman standing before him. Ah, Shelly Hastings. And a simpering, slouching man in a starched collar next to her.
    “How do you do?” He set his empty glass down on the mantel and shook the man’s hand. His large palm enveloped the smaller man’s clammy hand. “I hope you and Miss Hastings are well.”
    Shelly cleared her throat. “Lloyd and I were thinking of a spring wedding.” She narrowed her emerald-green eyes at Warren. “You always loved the idea of a spring wedding, didn’t you?”
    He resisted the urge to groan. Agree with a woman once and she reminded you forever. Shelly Hastings would never forgive him, would she? He hadn’t even realized she’d been flirting with him until she’d already started babbling on to all the other officers about their supposed wedding details. “That was some time ago, Miss Hastings.”
    Shelly huffed in indignation. “Not so long. Just a season, I think.” The turquoise silk of her dress strained against her figure as she wrapped her arm around the simpering sod’s. “Lloyd and I are much better suited, though, I do believe. Don’t you, Lloyd?”
    Lloyd grunted. He didn’t seem to have much of an opinion on the matter.
    She smiled. “See? He and I are well-suited.”
    “I wish you two all the happiness in the world.” Warren managed to force a small smile for her sake.
    Shelly batted her thick lashes at him as a self-satisfied smirk crossed her features. Her blond curls bounced against her shoulders as she gestured to the other side of the ballroom. “Do not despair, General Carton. Someday you will find your own domestic bliss. Lloyd and I must say hello to Lady Lanister, if you’ll excuse us.”
    Warren watched her walk away with her fiancée’s arm in tow. God bless him. Shelly was lovely to look at; there was no real reason he hadn’t been able to marry her. A general should be married, or so all the other ladies loved to remind him. Shelly especially.
    He turned his gaze back to the fireplace, where he knew the ashes of the cryptic letter remained. Where was the time for love in a profession such as his? How could he allow himself to settle with a woman when he knew he would have to leave her in a few years when his assignment ended?
    Not that he’d remained very long in the current one. And who was he supposed to report to now—the National Bureau of Criminal Identification or the Federal Bureau of Investigation? His gaze flickered between the different generals present. Brass buttons shined to perfection beneath the light of the hanging chandelier. Half the uniformed men tolerated him, and the other half were all plotting to become viceroy and surpass him. Any other powerful officer was a threat.
    Warren bit back a bitter smile. He was no threat to professional success. Just an agent passing through, looking for some answers and a mission to complete. Speaking of a completed mission … where was the vital instrument to his?
    He scanned the crowd for a sight of her tan skin and curled mane. Crepe dresses in pastel colors swayed across the floor, their reflections bouncing off the