Read A Convenient Bride for Free Online Page A

catch. She knew this ride would take her some distance and hoped her disguise would keep her from recognition should she stumble upon someone she knew.
    The saddle, her odd clothing, and the fact that she was traveling alone would be ruinous if she were caught.
    Adjusting her hooded cloak to partially obscure her face from view, she made her way from London.
    By the time she reached the outskirts, though still early, the road west was already filled with travelers. She waited until a pair of coaches passed her, heading in the right direction, and fell in behind them for safety.
    If she kept up the brisk pace, she’d be at Beckwith Hall in about two hours. If her plotting came to fruition, she’d return in a day or two, none the worse for wear.
    With a husband in tow.

Chapter Four

    T he inn was raucous, the sound of ribald laughter spilling from open windows and into the darkened yard.
    Brenna slowed as she neared the squat and ramshackle building, her eyes and ears alert to possible danger. After discovering through his butler that her quarry, the now missing viscount, had left his home a half day earlier on a ride north to find his sister, she knew the simple trip to find her future husband had gotten much more complicated.
    This was the third inn she’d stopped at today, and both she and Brontes were nearing the end of their stamina. If she did not find Ashwood here, she could be in serious trouble.
    Clearly, by the looks of it, the inn was no place for a lady. Worse, the darkness that now shadowed the roads held all sorts of dangers to unwary travelers. A woman alone would be easy pickings for highwaymen and other scoundrels.
    There was nowhere else to go. She’d have to take her chances with the inn and pray for luck to finally turn her way.
    She’d not expected to have to chase down the viscount on muddy roads and through bouts of both blinding sun and brief showers. She longed for home and a bath to ease her aching muscles and clear travel grit from her hair and skin.
    “Can I take yer ’orse from ye, Miss?” A small boy withdirty cheeks and mussed hair peered up at her in the dim light spilling from the inn.
    Brenna nodded. “See that she is fed and watered.”
    “Aye, Miss.” The boy took Brontes and the proffered coin and ambled away. Brenna pulled her hood low to hide her face, traveled the short distance to the door, and pushed her way into the inn. Hers wasn’t the best disguise, but it would have to do.
    The smell of unwashed bodies and peat smoke assailed her senses, and she stumbled to a halt just inside the door. She resisted the urge to press a finger up under her nose. Showing weakness could encourage harassment from the coarse men seated around the common room.
    A few travelers glanced in her direction, as she swept her gaze around the packed space. Thankfully, there were a few women scattered about, though not enough to ease her mind.
    Quickly, so as not to draw more attention to herself than necessary, she sought out the innkeeper. She described Ashwood as she remembered him from their one brief encounter.
    “There are several men who match that description, Miss.” He shrugged and ran his gaze over her, his keen eyes taking her measure. “Maybe, if ye give me a moment to think on it, me mind will clear.”
    Brenna frowned. She understood quite well what would clear his mind. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a coin. She held it up. “The man has a small scar under his left eye.”
    The innkeeper reached for the coin. Brenna pulled it back. “The information first,” she said. She wasn’t a world traveler, but she had the intelligence to know the man would cheat her, had he the opportunity.
    The innkeeper scratched his round belly under a soiled white shirt and snorted. “The bloke took a room upstairs, third door on the right.”
    Brenna tossed him the coin and retreated toward the staircase. She felt the heaviness of several pairs of eyes on her as she weaved through the