Patricia Wynn Read Free Page A

I’ve tried to send her some whenever I had it. She’s been living with an old governess of hers.” An intimation of guilt crossed his face. “Anyway, I hadn’t expected her to post straight down to see me. And the deuce of it was I had just taken ill.” He stopped his narrative with an air of having concluded.
    Lord Harleston waited expectantly for a moment before asking, “But why did she plan your escape?”
    Captain Johnstone looked at him in surprise and then, remembering, suddenly grinned. “I forget you do not know her yet,” he said. Then he explained. “Susan is not what you’d call bold—she doesn’t put herself forward. But show her some poor unfortunate beggar and she’ll raise the Lord Mayor if it’ll do him any good. One look at me in that place was enough. She had plans to get me out of there by nightfall, and by the end of the week it was done.” He eyed his visitor hopefully as a look of admiration came over Lord Harleston’s face.
    The young man was lost in thought. An occasional smile wavered about his lips. In a while, though, he seemed to recall his present circumstances and faced the captain with eager determination.
    “What is it you wish me to do?” he asked.
    “Get her back into England” came the quick reply. Captain Johnstone was not discouraged by the answering spark in the baron’s brown eyes. “She can go back to her old governess and be perfectly safe there. If the authorities don’t know she’s back, they won’t try to look for her. And I’m certain the whole thing will blow over eventually.”
    He waited. With any other man he would have expected questions and protests, demands as to how the thing was to be done. But not with Harleston. Captain Johnstone could see the wheels turning inside the young man’s head as he thought out his plan of action, and he was heartened by the enthusiasm in his expression. Harleston always did like a tight spot.
    In a minute, the baron turned to him and held out his hand again. “Done,” he said.
    The old man grasped at it gratefully. Words of thanks did not come easily. “I should have been better to her, you see,” he said instead. “A pretty girl like Susan—she should have had parties, balls, more fine dresses. And now,” he ended weakly, “with no dowry...” Lord Harleston pressed the hand in his but did not speak. There was nothing to be said, for what the captain said was true.
    The old man’s clasp grew weaker. “I always hoped the next hand would be a winner,” he explained almost petulantly now. “Some of them were such near things.” His mind drifted as he replayed those old hands in his mind. Lord Harleston gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder.
    “You needn’t worry about your daughter,” he said to ease the captain’s thoughts. It was too late for guilt. “I shall see she gets back to England safely, and I’ll be happy to do what I can to secure her future.”
    The captain returned to the present with a start. “One more thing,” he said in an urgent tone. “You mustn’t breathe a word of this to Susan. If she catches on to it, she’ll be gone before you can get back. Just tell Rénard to send you word when I’m gone. He’ll manage to keep her here for a while —knows all about it.” His speech was cut off by the sound of the door opening.
    Lord Harleston turned to see Susan enter the room and rose to his feet. She smiled hesitantly at him and moved gracefully towards the bed. He watched her with barely concealed admiration.
    “I know you have enjoyed your visit, Papa, but I think it has been long enough for now.” Captain Johnstone looked once more at the baron for reassurance.
    Lord Harleston turned to address him, glancing now and then back at his daughter as though drawn in some invisible way. “I will leave you to your rest now, sir,” he said. “Urgent business takes me back to Paris,” he added with a wink for the captain’s benefit. “But I shall give myself the pleasure of