Ambersley (Lords of London) Read Free Page A

sweaty palms on her apron. “We want you to stay with us always, but you should be with your family. If they return, we’ll have to give you up.”
     
    “ Even if I don’t want to go? Even if my parents left me?” Johnny’s voice cracked.
     
    Tom cleared his throat. “I’m sure your parents didn’t want to leave you. Someday, I hope you’ll understand, but for now, we can’t tell anyone who your parents are until your family is found.” Tom leaned forward for emphasis. “’Tis not a good thing to lie, Johnny, but in this case, we chose to do what we did to keep you with us and to keep you safe.”
     
    Martha nodded in agreement. “Do you remember the Bow Street Runner we met in the chestnut grove? He was looking for a little girl just your age.” She watched the child for any flicker of recognition.
     
    “ But he was looking for Miss Amber.” Johnny’s brows knit together, and she touched her head as if it ached. But within moments, her brow cleared again, and she added blithely, “Rory once told me he saw Miss Amber’s ghost fly by him on the night of the fire.”
     
    Tom opened his mouth then shut it again. With a shake of his head, he walked to the fireplace for his pipe.
     
    Martha sat next to Johnny. “We believe Miss Amber is still alive. What do you think?”
     
    “ I don’t know.”
     
    She studied the child for some moments. “If the Bow Street Runner had discovered you were a little girl, I feared he’d take you from us. That’s why I told him you were a boy. Now, if we told everyone you’re a girl, there could be trouble. Someone might decide we were wrong to lie and take you in. They might take you away from us and send us to jail.”
     
    “ Don’t frighten the child,” Tom said from the fireplace.
     
    Martha took Johnny’s hand. “You must understand ’tis no game we play pretending you’re a boy. Our lives depend on it now. All of our lives.”
     
    “ If I pretend I’m a boy, can I stay with you and Tom?” Desperation tinged the childish voice. “Please?”
     
    Martha nodded, tears in her eyes.
     
    Tom set his pipe on the table and scooped Johnny into his arms for a tight hug. “Aye, lad. You can stay with us forever. That’s what we want.”
     

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 2
     
     
     
     
     
    London, May 1804
     
    Nigel Minton tried to appreciate the irony that his search for the Ambersley heir had led him, after three years of traversing the length of the country, to a man owning a London house that stood not more than a mile from his own solicitor’s office. Tracing the late duke’s lineage had proven more difficult than Minton had anticipated, but he’d finally revealed a seventh cousin who was a direct descendent of Ambersley’s original Vaughan male line.
     
    “ And, God willing, may this be the end,” he said as he opened the wrought iron gate.
     
    A gloomy dusk did little to enhance the townhouse’s features, its marble grimy and chipped. The backlit windows with curtains drawn reminded him of the awkwardness of the hour, but like any good hound, he was eager to tree his quarry. Perhaps he could leave his card and arrange to call properly the next morning. He knocked and waited, anticipation growing.
     
    The door opened to reveal a lad with black hair and icy blue eyes that quickly narrowed in scrutiny. Minton pegged the lad at perhaps a dozen years, clearly too young to be the butler or even a footman.
     
    “ Do you have business with us, sir?” The boy marred his neutral tone by jutting out his chin in an obstinate manner.
     
    Minton cleared his throat. “Indeed. I wish to speak with Reginald Vaughan.”
     
    “ Father’s dead,” the boy answered flatly. “Been dead nigh three months now. Did he owe you money, too?”
     
    Disappointment struck Minton, but he rallied with the hope that before him stood a male heir. Much too young to take active control of the dukedom, but given time—
     
    “ Curtis, whatever are you