Never Run From Love (Kellington Book Four) Read Free Page A

“I still do
not think that is a wise course of action.”
    “Be quiet!” said the older woman.  “I’m in charge
here.”
    “Actually, I’m in charge,” said the officer, with
wary glances at both Patton and the two lords who’d been speaking to the
ladies.  “And there’s laws against people creatin’ a disturbance outside a
place of business.  I’m afraid you ladies will have to take yer protest
somewhere else.”
    “This is preposterous!” said Mrs. Seton.
    “It’s also the law,” said the officer.  “And you
wouldn’t want us to ‘ave to take you to Bow Street.”
    It looked like Mrs. Seton might want that very
thing, but the stocking woman turned to the other ladies who appeared more than
ready to retreat.  “I believe the prudent action would be to decamp so we can
fight another day,” she said.  “It looks like Mr. Patton and his police force
have made their position clear.”
    Hal watched as she began herding the women away from
Dill’s.  He hadn’t missed her implication that this section of the Watch was
bought and paid for by Patton.  He suspected she was right.  He saw Patton and
the officers exchange a meaningful glance.  Then he made a move to follow the
stocking woman, until Francis nudged his elbow.
    “Shall we?” he said, indicating Dill’s.  “Surely you
can stay out just a bit longer, can’t you?”
    “I shall spot you ten pounds each,” said Patton, “It’s
a reward for helping to move the ladies on their way.  It’s the least I can do
for two lords such as yourself.”
    “What say you, Hal?’ asked Francis once again.
    Hal was torn between wanting to catch up with the
stocking woman he’d thought so much about during the past few weeks and joining
his friend in the hell.  Considering how little progress he’d made with the
woman, he took the sure thing.
    “I suppose another hour wouldn’t hurt,” said Hal, as
he followed his friend into Dill’s.

 
    CHAPTER TWO
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Melanie Sutton wasn’t a morning person.  The sun
streaming through her window shortly after dawn did not produce the desire to
rise and start a new day.  It made her want to throw something, then roll over
and go back to sleep. 
    It wasn’t that she was a lazy person, prone to
sleeping the day away.  She was quite the opposite.   She enjoyed walking,
which was a remnant of her days in America where she was able to walk through
the streets of Philadelphia without a maid trailing behind her.  Just the
thought of her old life made her a bit wistful, but she refused to be sad when
her new life offered so many opportunities.
    It’s not that her old life had been so bad, with the
notable exception of losing both her parents when she’d been but ten years
old.  Not a day went by that she didn’t miss them.  Her Aunt Shirley had
grudgingly taken her in.   And while her maternal aunt hadn’t been the most
loving of guardians, Mel had never been hungry or without shelter.  She’d even
received a thorough education at a Quaker school, which is where she’d first
become involved with reform work.  Aunt Shirley had thought the reform
activities were a waste of time, but she hoped Mel might learn enough to
support herself as a governess or, even more promisingly, meet a man to marry.
    Neither of those plans came to fruition.  Aunt
Shirley died when Mel was nineteen, and even though she thought herself capable
of being on her own, her Uncle Frederick, the Earl of Heffner, had insisted she
come to England.  She only learned later that he and his wife Evelyn had wanted
her to move in with them immediately after her parents’ death, but it had been
Shirley who insisted she remain in America.  Mel wasn’t sure why her aunt had
done that, though perhaps the guardian stipend she received from Melanie’s
trust had something to do with it. 
    Or mayhap she simply hadn’t wanted to be alone. 
    So, six months earlier, Mel had moved to London to
live with her