Read Duchess 02 - Surprising Lord Jack for Free Online Page B

didn’t say I’d let you ride roughshod over me. I suspect your aunt has spoiled you dreadfully.”
    “She has not!” Aunt Viola spoil her? If he only knew. Viola had always been a hard taskmaster. She’d insisted Frances do everything perfectly. Frances had had to read and cipher as well as Frederick—better than Frederick, though that hadn’t been so difficult. Frederick had never applied himself to his studies. But even when the tutor had praised her, Aunt Viola had always found something she could improve.
    Which had been a good thing. And at least Viola hadn’t forced her to waste time on useless feminine skills like sewing and dancing.
    Lord Jack had apparently decided to leave the question of her connection to Pettigrew for the time being. “Will your brother send someone to fetch your horse?”
    “Yes.” Now she was lying. Frederick wasn’t likely to bother himself about something he’d see as her problem. She’d get Daisy on her way back to Landsford.
    Poor Daisy had indeed been lame; she’d had to leave her at the Crowing Cock. Not that Daisy had minded. She’d appeared quite content to stay snug in a warm stall rather than go haring over the rough roads again. And Mr. Watkins, the ostler, had seemed very competent. He said he’d have Daisy back in fine fettle in no time.
    “How long are you staying in London?”
    “Not long.” Only a day or two. Once she had it out with Puddington and got her money, she’d be on her way, but she wasn’t about to tell Lord Jack that. The less he knew about her and her plans, the better.
    He finally returned his full attention to his cattle, thank God. With luck he’d be content to pass the rest of the journey in silence. Why would he want to talk to her anyway? He thought her a young boy, a lad he’d taken up as a favor to Mrs. Findley. She was no more than a package he was delivering.
    She watched the snow-covered fields slip by. The creak of the carriage, the jingle of the harness, the steady beat of the horses’ hooves were soothing. They were getting closer and closer to Town.
    “Does your brother know you’re coming?”
    “Uh . . .” Her mind went blank. Damn it, he’d waited to strike until she’d been lulled into letting down her guard. “Not exactly.”
    “Not at all.” He snorted. “You have no idea if your brother is at home, do you?”
    Of course Frederick was home. Where else would he be?
    Unease gnawed at her gut. Given her horrendous luck recently, he’d probably gone off to the South Seas like their father.
    The curricle had slowed. Houses began to crowd the sides of the road; the snow piled here and there was black with soot. Even the air seemed thicker, or maybe it was guilt that was making it hard for her to draw a deep breath.
    Lord Jack avoided a slow-moving vegetable cart with a deft pull on the reins. “Where does he live?”
    If she told him, he’d probably insist on meeting Frederick, and then he’d learn her gender. But what was her alternative? Frederick’s was the only address she had besides that of Puddington’s office.
    She would just have to be quick-witted, and perhaps fleet-footed, and get to Frederick before Lord Jack did. “He lives in a boardinghouse on Hart Street.”
    He stared at her. “Hart Street? In Covent Garden?”
    “Yes. Watch out for that dog!”
    He cursed and pulled back on the reins, narrowly missing the mongrel.
    “I don’t know how you got such a reputation as a noted whip,” she said as she watched the animal run off. Now she understood how Lord Jack had crashed his curricle; hopefully he wouldn’t do the same with her as a passenger.
    He threw her a glare, but didn’t argue. Of course not. She was correct. But she would give him credit for not contesting the obvious. Most men would insist the sky was green if a woman said it was blue.
    Though she shouldn’t give him too much credit. He didn’t know she was a female.
    “I take it you’ve never visited your brother?” he said