Lie by Moonlight by Amanda Quick Page B

though . . .” Ned let the sentence fade away, unfinished.
    There was no need for words, she thought. They had both been in the innkeeping profession long enough to have become sound judges of human nature. There had, indeed, been something about Mr. Smith, something remarkably dangerous. But the teacher had seemed to trust him and that had been good enough for her. Because there had been something about the teacher, too.
    Lizzie had seen the sort of fierceness and determination in the woman that one saw in females throughout the animal kingdom when their young were threatened.
    She reached up to cover Ned’s fingers with her own. “Never mind, the business is finished, at least as far as we’re concerned, and we’ve nothing to complain of. We’ve turned a nice profit.”
    â€œTrue enough.”
    â€œWhat is it that still troubles you?”
    Ned exhaled deeply. “I’m damned curious about why Mr. Smith didn’t ask us to lie outright. Given the amount of money he put on the counter yesterday morning, I expected him to instruct us to say nothing at all about him or his companions.”
    â€œInstead, he merely asked us to keep any description of him to a minimum. It does seem peculiar, doesn’t it? Ten pounds is a lot of money for such a simple request.”
    â€œGot a hunch,” Ned said slowly, “that Smith wanted to be certain that the gentleman from London was told that the teacher and her students had a bodyguard.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œPerhaps because he wanted to warn him off.” Ned rubbed the back of his neck. “But there is another possibility.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œSmith may have wished to distract the elegant man.”
    â€œI don’t understand.”
    â€œIf you saw a hungry tiger closing in on a flock of helpless lambs, one way to turn him aside from the kill would be to drag the scent of more interesting prey beneath his nose.”
    She tightened her hand abruptly around his. “Must you use the word kill ?”
    â€œFigure of speech, my dear,” he said quickly, soothingly.
    â€œI wish I could believe that.” She sighed. “I hope we do not see either one of those men again.”

11
    T he blue and sea green gowns are perfect for Edwina and Theodora,” Concordia announced. She looked at the girls and Mrs. Oates. “Don’t you agree?”
    There was an affirmative murmur of approval.
    â€œLovely,” Mrs. Oates said, studying Edwina and Theodora with warm admiration. “The dresses go ever so nicely with their pretty blond hair.”
    Edwina and Theodora held the gowns up in front of themselves and examined their images in the mirror. Their faces were aglow with delight. Behind them Hannah and Phoebe were waiting to take their turns in front of the looking glass.
    It was five o’clock in the afternoon. Most of the assortment of gowns that had been ordered yesterday morning had yet to arrive from the dressmaker’s, but enough had shown up a short time ago to provide everyone with a much needed change of clothes.
    In addition, Mrs. Oates had made the trip to one of the large department stores on Oxford Street and returned with a variety of ready-made essentials such as shoes, hats, gloves and lingerie.
    Dante and Beatrice, who had already become the girls’ constant companions, had been temporarily banished into the hall to avoid any unfortunate canine-related accidents to the pretty clothes. Virtually everyone in the room was bubbling with excitement. Phoebe was the sole exception. She stood defiantly to the side, dressed in the inexpensive boy’s trousers and shirt that had comprised her disguise after the return from London.
    â€œYou were right when you specified the yellow and brown material for Hannah,” Mrs. Oates said, looking quite satisfied with the gown Hannah was trying on in front of the mirror. “The color goes very well with her