Edith Layton Read Free

from her immediately, and turned his attention back to the locals he’d met at the tap.
    “Not seen such a miss such as you’re seeking, lad,” one old fellow told him. “Leastways not here, and not of late. Blond, blue eyed, and talking like a lady? Be sure I’d remember that.”
    The others rumbled agreement.
    “Here now,” another fellow said, laughing, “You’renot taking your pint back just because we can’t help, are you?”
    “Well you can’t have mine,” an old woman cackled, and then gulped down the contents of her mug. She plunked down the empty mug, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and added, “Can’t see as how any miss in her right mind would leave you, anyways. Bad cess to her. Could I interest you in a female of experience, instead?” she asked, with an enormous wink.
    “You could, love,” Daffyd said, “if I wasn’t so afraid of all your gentleman friends.”
    That was met with laughter, and he remained at the tap, joking with them. He took expressions of sympathy on his bad luck as well as advice on how to mend a broken heart with the same good humor. No one had any information for him; he hadn’t really thought they would. The trail was growing cold. But so was he, and it had been time for dinner when that trail brought him to the inn.
    Still, he reasoned, the track he was on wasn’t completely without promise. If a female looked at him with horror, there had to be a reason. Could the baron’s daughter have a confidante? A maid? A friend? Someone getting the lay of the land for her before she set foot in a place? Could the runaway then be close by? That made sense. Even more reason to keep his eye on the gray-clad woman.
    So, of course, he pretended he’d never seen her while watching her from the corner of his eye as shewas shown to a table in a far corner. Even more interesting, he thought. She wasn’t running away from him. Good, he didn’t feel like leaving. He was hungry and the rain was going to be an all-night affair.
    “And so now, thank you all,” he finally told his audience, “but even though my heart is breaking, my stomach’s growling. I must have dinner. I’ll stay the night and leave in the morning. So if anyone thinks of anything to tell me about my missing fiancée, I’m here until dawn and would be grateful for any information. Thank you all.” He bowed, to please them, and then winked at the serving girl.
    “A table in the corner, luv?” he asked her. “I’m tired of talking. How about that one—there?” He gestured toward a table in the gray lady’s lonely corner.
    “Right, it’s yours,” the serving girl said, and whispered, with a wink of her own. “And if you get tired of not talking, sir, I’m here until the place closes. After it does,” she added, “I’m here all night too—so if you still don’t want to talk, I’m sure we can find other things to do.”
    She was plump and passably fair, and looked clean. And an intimate assignation wouldn’t be out of character for an abandoned fiancé. Daffyd started to smile, but paused. He was bemused to discover that this time, the thought of free fun with no obligations didn’t cause his flesh to rise. He was surprised at himself. Was it age or experience that killed his desire? But he wasn’t yet thirty, and his previous intimate experiences with females had always brought pleasure.It could have been a good way to while away a chilly night in an unfamiliar place. He wasn’t feeling sick, only tired. But he wasn’t interested. Something was definitely changing in him as well as in his world.
    Could it possibly be because his two adopted brothers had recently married? It might be that in comparing his bachelor’s rakings with their obviously deeper and more satisfying matings his looked like the empty pleasures they were. But he’d never minded empty pleasures. He tucked the thought away for future consideration.
    Still, because a gracious offer ought to be accepted as such, he