My Lord Deceived by Rebecca King

out of a stone. Dogged persistence and determination usually
won in the end though, he just needed to find that one weak link
that he needed to uncover the truth. From the mulish look on Kat’s
face, it wasn’t going to be her.
    Jonathan sighed
and he could stay and talk to her a bit more. “Are you going to the
harvest festival in a few weeks’ time?”
    “Yes, I help
with the cider stall. Are you going to stay around that long?” The
words this time hovered in the air between them.
    Jonathan took a
breath to assure her that he would, but stopped. In all honesty,
because of his work with the Star Elite, he couldn’t be sure where
he would be tomorrow let alone in several weeks’ time. For some
reason, he didn’t want to offer Kat assurances he couldn’t bring
about. It didn’t seem fair to give her false expectations but the
urge to ask her to go with him was so strong that for one brief
moment, he wished he had a normal life, far away from the Star
Elite and its dangers.
    “I will be
there if I am able to arrange it, yes,” he replied. He felt
strangely uncomfortable being evasive with her. It just didn’t seem
right to start their relationship off with untruths or secrets
between them. If they had any chance of a future together, they had
to be honest with each other. That would mean he had to take her
into his confidence about what he really did while he was away, and
he couldn’t do that until he was positive that she was being honest
with him and not up to her ears in smuggled cargo. He mentally
sighed and wondered if all relationships were this complicated.
    “I will take my
leave of you then and will see you tomorrow?” He waited only for
her confirming nod before he moved toward the back door.
    “Aren’t you
going out that way?” Kat nodded toward the front door, the usual
entrance and exit point for visitors, and frowned when Jonathan
shook his head, a strange smile on his face.
    “I prefer this
way.”
    She studied his
back suspiciously as she followed him across the yard. She couldn’t
prevent her gaze flickering to the huge manure pile standing beside
the gate and she fought hard to keep her face bland, and the guilty
blush off her cheeks. At the gate she waited until he disappeared
from sight before she turned to stare at the manure. She didn’t
relish having to dig around in there to get the goods back, and
could hear Harrison and his men going about their searches in the
distance.
    She could only
hope that the goods hadn’t been ruined while they lay festering
under the warm mound of Molly’s offerings. With a shudder, she
decided to leave them where they were for the time being and
hurried back inside to clean herself up. Later, when Billy was back
to help her and Harrison was completely out of the way, she would
see if there was anything left worth saving. If there was then she
had just, purely by chance, managed to find them a brand new hiding
place.
    Once washed and
dressed, Kat walked the several miles over the cliff tops to the
nearby market town of Tattersnell. It was just after noon and the
place was a bustling hive of activity that created a cacophony of
noise within the small market square that almost deafened her. It
was impossible to think, much less have a conversation with anyone
that was any less than a shout. Still, Kat loved the energetic
throng as they hustled and bustled from one stall to the other. The
children played and squealed with delight as they chased the
various small livestock through the market traders and were scolded
occasionally when they toppled goods all over the floor when they
got too rambunctious.
    Kat smiled at
one particularly evasive piglet and lifted her leg while the small
beast ran past. She smiled at her mother, and then frowned at the
worry evident on Agnes’ face.
    “What’s
happened?”
    “A couple of
the buyers haven’t arrived yet, and one doesn’t want the extra
goods.” Agnes cast a furtive glance around the market place.