Lorelie Brown Read Online Free Page A

in a matter of days.
    He hustled as quickly as he could without running to catch up with the girl before she made a hash of things. These women wouldn’t take kindly to arrogance, as Miss Vale seemed likely to issue.
    But Miss Vale surprised him. She walked right up to the cluster of women and smiled brightly. “Hello, ladies.”
    Obvious suspicion wrinkled across their careworn faces. Their mouths were all turned up in smiles that wavered under Miss Vale’s attention. The one in the back of the knot nodded and stepped forward. Her hair was a dingy, dark blonde and dropping around her cheeks, but under papery skin it was apparent she’d once been a beauty. Her eyes were wide and innocent, though wary. “Hullo, missus.”
    In contrast, Miss Vale shone like a bright star dropped to earth. Her pale lilac skirts all but glowed with color compared to the dark, work-ready colors of the other women. “It’s Miss. Miss Charlotte Vale.”
    The flash of recognition that turned two of the women’s smiles real was surprising. The one who’d spoken remained cautious, however. “We haven’t many visitors of your cant around here.”
    Miss Vale shrugged. “I know. Terrible, isn’t it? Those fancy pieces like me who stay in our faraway castles and can’t be bothered to spread some blunt around.”
    Ian grabbed her by the arm again. This time she didn’t pull away. He’d have gambled ready money that the working women would have been offended by such impudence, but instead the last one melted under Miss Vale’s charm and honesty.
    “We around here could always do with a little of the extra.”
    The one with dark hair on the right smiled. Her eyetooth was black at the gums, but the way her eyes lit up made up for it. She was still a pretty woman. “It makes a girl almost tempted to give in to some of them lads about here, for an extra coin.”
    Ian sealed his lips and kept his expression calm. He couldn’t believe either the crudeness of the group, nor that Miss Vale seemed so inclined to chat along, smiling and nodding along with the rest of them.
    “You can’t let them have it, though. That coin will be fast spent and you’ll be left up against the wall with your skirts a mess and your pride tinier.” She pulled a tiny sheaf of calling cards from the reticule hanging by braided cord from her wrist. “Are you already married?”
    “Pshaw,” said the one in front. “Not the three of us. Same boys keep asking the same questions and they’re not apt to get us anywhere good.”
    “If you’d like a step up, you’d best come to see me. My friends and I will teach you a few tricks. No cost involved for you in any way. After, we’ll introduce you to choice men looking for wives.” She handed over three of the small, cream-colored cards.
    “Miss Vale,” Ian interjected. He hadn’t time for her to recruit victims for whatever scam she ran. He wanted to wrap his hands around Patricia’s scrawny neck and destroy her for having threatened his sister. He wouldn’t, of course. He’d have to settle for her rotting in prison while he carried away the key.
    Didn’t mean he liked standing around.
    Miss Vale waved a hand at him. But then she shot him a glance out the corner of her eyes that said she entirely knew what she did to him. “Did we have a deadline, Sir Ian? Somewhere we have to be?”
    “Sir Ian?” echoed the girl who’d been silent up until now. She added a tipsy-sounding giggle at the end. “I’ve not met a sir before. Not out walking on the street in this part of town.”
    “And speaking of such, we’re almost lost,” Ian said.
    Her head tilted to the side and confusion darkened her eyes, but Miss Vale only laughed.
    “Almost lost?” she echoed. In the dim light of the alleyway, her verdant eyes shouldn’t have been so lovely. Didn’t matter. “I had no idea you were quite so whimsical.”
    He curled his fingers against his palms to hold back the urge to touch. “There’s a lot of things you