Read A Dash of Scandal for Free Online

happen.”
    â€œSo true.” Fines sipped his drink. “It’s a damn good thing titles and money wash away a lot of past bad deeds. No doubt, the young ladies will be standing in line with their dowries ready when we give the signal.”
    Realizing he wasn’t up to Fines’s line of banter tonight, Chandler drained his glass. “I think I’m going to give up the night.”
    â€œI just got here,” his friend complained. “And where is Andrew, the devil?”
    â€œNo doubt he has given up the night as well. As you said, it’s almost dawn.”
    â€œYou’re still depressed about the missing raven, I gather.”
    Chandler forced his face not to betray him with anger or frustration. “Not so much,” he lied.
    â€œTruly?”
    Leave it to Fines to press the matter. “I feel sure I’ll find the man who is stealing sooner or later.”
    â€œYes, but later could very well be too late for you. It’s rather easy to melt down gold into an unrecognizable shape, isn’t it? And then the raven would be gone forever.”
    Chandler gritted his teeth before saying, “How nice of you to remind me of that.”
    â€œFacts are facts, Dunraven, and can’t be denied.” He drank from his glass rather than sip and savor the fine brandy. “Actually, it might already have been done.”
    â€œYou really know how to lift a man’s spirits.”
    â€œThere is one good thing. It’s not a piece that could be easily sold to a trader or collector. Too recognizable.”
    â€œThat’s true.”
    â€œThey’d have to melt it.”
    â€œDamnation, Fines, enough of it.”
    â€œI just don’t want you having false hopes.”
    â€œCertainly no chance of that with you around.”
    â€œHow long has the blasted thing been in the family anyway? Must be more than a hundred years or so.”
    Fines never did know when to quit. Chandler pushed back from the table and rose from his chair. He said, “Long enough that I’m going to do everything in my power to find the person who took it and recover it.”
    â€œDon’t go off in a huff,” Fines said. “I haven’t finished my drink.”
    â€œBut I have.”
    â€œI can see you’re ill-tempered because I went to see Anne and kept you waiting until all hours.”
    Chandler smiled. “I’d never begrudge friend or foe a rendezvous with his mistress. You know that. I do, however, have an appointment early in the afternoon.”
    â€œSpeaking of Anne and mistresses, have you found a new one yet?”
    â€œNo, still looking.”
    Chandler realized that he had lied again. He wasn’t looking for a mistress, but he didn’t want to explain his business to Fines. He wasn’t exactly sure when it had happened, but he was beyond sharing all his thoughts and deeds with his friends.
    â€œYou always were the picky one, Dunraven.”
    â€œNo, Fines, it’s that you have never shown much discretion.”
    â€œThere’s never been a reason to. I think it best to sample them all. Short, tall, thin, young, and older.” Fines smiled wickedly at Chandler. “They’re all delicious in different ways. I’ll let you know if I hear of anyone who is available.”
    The last thing Chandler wanted was his friend’s help in finding a mistress, but he answered, “Do that,” before he walked away.
    ***
    â€œIt is the best and the worst Season for London Society. The ton flourishes with the indulgence of elegant parties while reeling in shock from having a mad thief in its midst.”
    â€œHeaven have mercy, Millicent, you do try me. Why, in heaven’s name, would you think our readers would appreciate an opening like that?” Beatrice sighed heavily and slowly brushed Hamlet’s coat.
    Millicent had no idea how her aunt could be so coherent at this time of the morning. It was dawn