Read Online Moon Love by Joan Smith - Free Book Online

clear in that speech. He had asked who the Cougar was. She said, “I am.” And he not only didn’t believe it, he didn’t even hear it in any meaningful way. She might as well have said she was the Queen of England, or of Sheba. What was the point of trying to convince him?
    “I am – under an oath of secrecy,” she said gravely. “The gentleman for whom I send messages wishes to remain anonymous because of his position.” Now what would the Wolf make of that?
    His sardonic sneer told her he didn’t believe it. “What are you suggesting, ma’am? That the Cougar is an archbishop, perhaps, or a member of a religious sect that abhors physical violence? Or just a gentleman who wishes to be thought a fool!”
    “I am not at liberty to say.”
    “Then by God I’ll get it from him myself. This is a ridiculous, childish way to carry on.”
    He stormed out the door, hopped on his mount, and pounded through the meadow to Bratty Hall, with Amy hard on his heels. He didn’t take his mount to the stable, but left it tethered to an iron ring in the forecourt. Amy caught up to him as he strode to the front door.
    “You can’t disturb Papa!” she said, clutching at his arm.
    He shook her fingers off. “It is not your papa I am going to give a piece of my mind.” He yanked the door open and went in.
    “Then who?” she asked, scrambling after him.
    “Your cousin, Bratty.”
    “Felix? He won’t be up for hours yet. Why do you want to speak to him?” As his meaning sank in, she could only gasp in disbelief. “You cannot think he knows anything!”
    Hearing voices, the butler came rushing forth from his room, where he had been going over Cook’s accounts. “Miss Bratty! Your lordship, can I be of any assistance?”
    “I would like to speak to Mr. Bratty,” Ravencroft said. “It is urgent.”
    “I’m afraid he’s out, sir,” the butler said.
    Ravencroft directed a triumphant stare at Amy. “He’s never up before noon,” she said.
    “He was up early this morning, ma’am,” the butler insisted.
    “Has he returned to London?”
    “Oh no, ma’am. He had his lordship’s gelding brought around. As he asked for a gun, I assume he went out for a spot of shooting. He should be back soon.”
    “I’ll wait,” Ravencroft said, and strode into the saloon.
    Amy asked Bailey to bring coffee, then went to join Ravencroft in that cold, grand room. “I can’t imagine where Felix has gone,” she said.
    “Cut line, Miss Bratty. You know perfectly well where he has gone. Where I should be myself – looking for Bransom’s body.”
    “He’ll not find it near here. I spent the whole afternoon yesterday looking for it. And I know the likely spots for hiding better than Felix. Have you asked Felix to help you?”
    He gave a mock smile. “Let us say, he volunteered.” Ravencroft preferred working alone, but if there was an unofficial agent on the job, he must know who it was, and what he was doing. Bratty’s familiarity with the area could be useful.
    “So that is what you two were discussing so long last evening when you let on you wanted to see the Chinese wallpaper. I could have saved you time if you had included me in your discussion. I believe Bransom must be buried on the far side of Easton.”
    “If he is, they did a good job of it. I and my servants went over the area with a fine tooth comb yesterday.”
    Amy considered this a moment. “I shouldn’t think they would have killed him in town, or buried his body there.”
    “Not in the parts of town a lady is likely to be familiar with,” he said. “There is usually a part of every town where the low life, criminal element gather. A gun shot there wouldn’t cause undue concern. Or it might have been a brawl, and a knife in the back.”
    Amy’s lips clenched. She had not known Bransom long, but due to their work she had come to know him fairly well. She had thought him a glamorous, gallant gentleman. She had accepted mentally that he had been killed,