Mistletoe Kisses and Yuletide Joy Read Free Page B

ruin of many a poor maid.
    Kitty turned from him to address the smaller man -- Ned -- whose very ordinary face and neat brown hair made him unalarming.
    "I have reason to believe that your cat has been making a nuisance of himself the past few nights." She emphasized the words by pointing at the somnolent cat with the umbrella.
    " Oh. Ah. Quite likely, ma'am." A flicker of humor in Ned's eyes annoyed her.
    " I must ask you to keep him in the house."
    " Well, we'll try, ma'am. But he could break out of the Tower, that one."
    Suddenly, the other man spoke. "How is it that you are sent tom-hunting, ma'am?"
    Kitty turned to face him, irritated by his insolence. He still showed no sign of rising as any man should when a lady entered.
    "I am not sent. The cat is spending its nights yowling beneath the windows of my house."
    " Then you must have a tasty queen inside, ma'am."
    " My name in Miss Mayhew," she snapped. "And I don't know what you mean."
    Lazily, he poured more wine into his glass, and sipped from it, showing not a trace of shame. "A queen is a female cat, Miss Mayhew. I assume she's in heat. What's a poor male to do when a female is so needy?" He leaned down and scooped up the big black cat one-handed, to cradle it in his arms. "Your gallantry is not appreciated, Rochester."
    Rochester !
    Kitty was glad of her skin, that didn't show heat. The cat was named after the most notorious libertine of the Restoration period, and she could imagine who'd named him that.
    "The gallantry, " she said frigidly, "is most certainly not appreciated."
    " But look," said the wretch, turning the cat slightly to show a mangled ear. "He's fought for his lady's honor. Doesn't that deserve some reward?"
    If the cat had fought, it hadn't been for Sherry's honor , and the man knew it. But Kitty was not about to speak of that. "Kindly keep that cat indoors or I will resort to desperate measures."
    She heard her own words with amazement, heard herself reinforce them by pounding the ferrule of the umbrella on the flagstoned floor. She was sounding as if she'd try to kill the animal, whereas she was hard-pressed to swat a fly.
    The man stroked his cat, watching her in disconcerting silence. Kitty could feel herself begin to sweat, for there was a distinctly dangerous glint in his eyes. Taking a firmer grip on the umbrella, she looked away from his face and found herself staring at one long finger smoothing the glossy, dark fur of the rascally cat.
    Rascally cat.
    Rascally owner.
    " Very well."
    Startled, she looked up to see a new expression on his face. It was almost serious, but not quite. Intent, perhaps?
    "What did you say?"
    " I said, very well, Miss Mayhew. We will do our best to keep Rochester indoors and your poor queen unpleasured."
    Off-balance and hot with embarrassment, Kitty turned away from the wretched man and addressed the other. He, at least, had the grace to look ill-at-ease.
    "Whose house is this? Who is your employer?"
    " Er... this is the Earl of Felstowe's house, ma'am."
    " Then if your cat bothers me again, the earl will hear from me!"
    With that, Kitty escaped into the cool December air, which was welcome to her cheeks. They felt so hot they might even be showing a touch of red. Marching back to her house, she silently berated the outrageous man. Impudent was too mild a word for him, and his employer should know how he behaved when the family was away.
    By the time she turned into Suffolk Street, however, she had cooled. The Earl of Felstowe's disorderly servants were no business of hers and she would not descend to tattle-taling.
    Unless, of course, that rakish tom returned to plague her.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
    The next night, Kitty was woken by the toms' chorus. She went again to the back window. A glance showed that black tom caterwauling his mastery of the area and his lewd invitation to Sherry.
    Despite the fact that Sherry was encouraging him, Kitty's anger focused on the tom -- Rochester and his wretched,