Lady Fugitive by Shannah Biondine Page B

you're so drunk, and this chilly night air
doesn't help."
    "Ha! Spent my whole life in the
English damps!" he snorted. "What would you know about it, Colonial?
Was fine 'til you sent me sprawling."
    Images rose unbidden in Rachel's mind of
nights in the Oregon Territory. Memories of struggling to drag Cletus inside
their ramshackle farmhouse. Western saloons, English pubs. All one and the
same. She wrapped Morgan's left arm across her shoulders. Curling her right arm
around his waist, she heaved upward and started forward. "Come on,
sir," she sighed. She'd find out what had become of his ring and leave the
menfolk to get him back to the inn and poured into his bed. 
    " Sir, sir, sir . Never did
like that word on your lips." He tightened his arm around her.
"You've such soft lips, Colonial, but never a kind word for me comes out
of them. I need an ale."
    She frowned and kept walking. "You
need food. Ale will only make things worse."
    "Always ready to challenge me.
Argue with me, frown at me." His breath was pungent with liquor and too warm
as it tickled her ear. "I'd pay you for a kiss." Her knees started to
buckle as he leaned his full weight upon her. "Just one, Rachel." His
lips moved closer to her face.
    She elbowed his ribcage. "Stop this
nonsense! Find your precious signet yourself." She spun free and headed
back along the street.
    "Widow, you'll not go alone."
He started after her. "Some churlish lout may be lurking in the shadows to
do you ill."
    " You're the only lout apt to
do me ill," she tossed over her shoulder. She continued across the
cobblestones. He caught up and pulled her up short, turning her to face him.
    "I'm not so muddled I've forgotten
that you agreed to sup with me. Swear I'll be a gentle nun."
    Now there was a mental image!
"You're impossible, Mr. Tremayne."
    There was nothing to do but visit the
pub with him. The village was crowded with itinerant workers in for fall
harvest. These nights they filled both the inn and the pub. Morgan pushed past
the other patrons, banging his fist on the worn bar as he shouted to the
harried barkeep. "Grundy! Where's my bloody ring? Think I left it on
public display?"
    Grundy fished in the pocket of his apron
and produced the gold ring. "Here 'tis, Tremayne. Knew you'd be
back." Placing the signet in Morgan's upturned palm, Grundy advised,
"Should have taken that bit of mutton I offered. You're slicker than the
cobblestones in February."
    Morgan flopped into a chair seconds
after its occupant rose and moved away from it. Rachel stood nearby, unable to
locate an empty seat herself. Morgan glowered at the pub patron on his left.
The fellow muttered beneath his breath and slunk away. Rachel slipped into the
vacated seat just as Grundy appeared with mutton stew and fresh bread.
"Drinks, Bargainer?"
    Rachel spoke up. "A pot of tea with
honey and two large mugs, please."
    Morgan feigned surprise. "You hate
tea."
    "The ale didn't kill you," she
replied. "I don't suppose a mug of tea will kill me. Eat your supper,
sir." By the end of the meal his posture and speech had improved.
"Was today a holiday or special occasion?" she asked.
    "Don't believe so. Why?"
    "You drank so heavily for
amusement, then? Or maybe to avoid the office. You'd forgotten the letters you
said were so important this morning."
    "I wasn't avoiding anything. Bloody
correspondence just slipped my mind. Anyone might make a—"
    "Mistake?" she supplied.
"Morgan Tremayne actually made an error ? Two, if we count nearly
losing your ring. This date should be entered in the village records."
    "Christ, so I gotdrunk!
Next holiday I'll close down this bleeding pub."
    "Why wait?" she snapped back.
"Men drink when they win a fortune at cards or dice; drink when they lose
one. Drink in foul weather or because it's balmy and warm. Drink because the
moon is round or the sea is blue. There's always some occasion to drink."
    He leaned back in his chair, pinning her
with his gaze. "Was your husband perchance an alcoholic,