After the Kiss by Joan Johnston

own. Now that she was close enough to spit at London, she was certain it would not be very difficult to find Julian on her own. Especially since she had more idea of his direction than she had admitted to the Beau.
    “Very well,” she said demurely. “I will wait here until you return.”
    The Beau’s eyes narrowed on her momentarily, and she thought she might have given away the game by acting too docile. That could be easily remedied.
    “Unless, of course, you intend for me to be responsible for the twins, in which case, I would rather come with you. They drink entirely too much lemonade. I would likely spend the entire time running up and down the stairs fetching more and then taking them to the necessary.”
    He gave her a baleful look and said, “I will see that you have a room to yourself.”
    She gave him a brilliant smile. “Thank you, Captain.”
    He made arrangements with his batman to watch over the twins, and while they all waited in a private dining room, he procured rooms for them at the inn.
    When he was ready to leave, the twins followed him out onto the porch, insistent upon bidding him farewell.
    And seeing more of London
, Eliza speculated.
    “I should be back long before supper,” he said.
    “Don’t worry, Uncle Marcus. We will keep Eliza company,” Reggie promised.
    “Shh,” he hissed. “Remember Miss Sheringham is disguised as a man.”
    “Not for much longer,” Eliza assured him. “Now that we have arrived in London, I can give up my disguise.”
    “I will feel more comfortable if you keep it a little longer.”
    “I cannot allow Julian to see me like this!” she protested.
    “You will have warning enough to change, I promise you,” he said as he mounted his Thoroughbred. He waved one last time before he kneed his horse into the busy thoroughfare.
    “Let’s go inside now, ladies,” Griggs said. “Time to eat.”
    “I will be right in, Griggs,” Eliza said. “As soon as I check on Mephistopheles.”
    Griggs scratched his head. “I don’t know, miss. Captain said I wasn’t to let you out of my sight.”
    Eliza bit back an oath. So the captain thought she would disappear if given the chance, did he? She chuckled. Well, he was right. “Order me some bread and soup,” she cheerfully told Griggs. “I will be back before it is served.”
    The sergeant’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
    But there was nothing he could do, Eliza thought. Unless he planned to follow her around like a faithful hound. She gave him a smile that was the soul of innocence.
    Reggie’s stomach growled. She grabbed the sergeant’s hand and tugged him toward the door to the inn. “I’m hungry, Griggs.”
    He looked down at her and smiled. “Very well, lass.”
    By the time he looked up again, Eliza was gone.
    She led Mephistopheles out of the stable from a side door and asked the first person she saw for directions to Stephen’s Hotel on Bond Street. It was a frequent haunt of army officers on leave, and she knew Julian was staying there while in London.
    Eliza had brought along her traveling bag, which she had made sure was left in the stable when they went into the inn, so that she could change into her dress if she had the chance. But she had decided it would be easier to gain admittance to Julian’s rooms as his younger brother, than as a single young lady. Julian would understand why she was dressed in his clothes once she explained why she had fled Ravenwood.
    When she arrived at Stephen’s Hotel, Eliza was grateful for her disguise. The only females she saw wore daring décolletages, too much rouge, and heavyblack kohl on their eyes. She knew right away what they were, even though she was not even supposed to know such women existed.
    Eliza only wished she had thought to bring one of Julian’s old uniforms. She was nearly the only gentleman in the hotel parlor dressed as a civilian. The riot of scarlet and Clarence blue and Cossack green uniforms was splendid. The colors were reflected back