Page 54 of The Truth Serum
“I need the next installment,” Mr. Newman said in an undertone.
“And you will get it,” Nate promised.
And with that, the man had to be satisfied. Fortunately, another patron wandered in, and he went to assist her. Nate didn’t care so long as the man departed. Which gave Nate time to focus on Becca.
“I apologize, Lady Rebecca,” he said, opting for formal address when in public. “You should not have been witness to that.”
Becca inclined her head and took the seat recently abdicated by Mr. Newman. “Are you behind in your accounts here?”
Hardly. At this moment in time, Mr. Newman owed him money. At least that was what he hoped. He hadn’t looked at the accounts in ages. He’d been too busy with everything else.
“Not like you think,” Nate answered as he glanced at nearby clock. “Did you have trouble getting here? It’s not like you to be late.”
“Actually, I’m often late. Always have been. It’s just that you were even later, and so never knew.”
He frowned, thinking back. That couldn’t be true, could it? “You always made such a fuss. Said you’d been waiting ages for me!”
Her lips curved and she cast him a mischievous look. “I know,” she confessed. “It was awful of me. I kept thinking you’d catch me, but you were always worse.”
“Until today,” he said with a flash of satisfaction. “And now I shall have no more guilt about tardiness with you.”
She chuckled as she stripped off her gloves, then her expression sobered. “What was that gentleman upset about, if it wasn’t your account?”
Damn it, this wasn’t how he wanted to tell her. He’d meant to confess his trade as a kind of secret triumph. But now that was tainted. She’d see that even in this, his favorite pastime, he was inconsistent. But there was no help for it now. He’d brought her here. And damn it, he wanted to share it with her.
“What do you know of Minerva Press?” he asked. “Do you know what they publish?”
She waved at the large library, her gesture expansive. “These are their books, aren’t they?”
He nodded. “Quite innovative of them, I think, to combine press, bookstore, and lending library all together.” For customers who could not afford to purchase the books outright, they paid a subscription fee to borrow the tomes. It maximized the number of people who read the books and increased profit for everyone. “What do you think of their catalog?”
She shrugged. “The books are silly, but you know I love them. Have done since I was young, and you gave me a copy ofThe Children of the Abbeyfor Christmas.”
He had given her that. Goodness, he’d forgotten. “Do you have any favorites?”
She flushed. “Several. But you know, it’s hard to get them back home, and Fletcher doesn’t approve. But Mama likes them, too, so we manage to stock up whenever we’re in town.”
“Have you read any of theWicked Talesby the Pirate Lucifer?”
“Oh yes!” She smiled as Mr. Vawdrey brought them a new tea service. She waited while he set the small table before them, then bowed himself away.
“Well?” he pressed when she shifted to pour the tea rather than continue what she was saying. “What did you think of it?”
“Well, far be it for me to judge—”
“It’s a novel. One to be read and judged by people just like you.”
She flushed. “Very well. I think Pirate Lucifer—whomever he is—gets too involved in the wrong details. I don’t want to learn how to steer a boat or fight with a sword.”
“What do you want to know?”
“If he ever finds Miss Beauty, of course. And will that wretched Governess ever die? I mean honestly, the woman was described as being a wrinkled old hag, and yet she’s got eyes good enough to see him on a boat at sea.”
He frowned. “Some people see things better when they are far away.”
“And some people are just meddling nobodies who need to get out of the way of true love.”
He grinned. “So you think Miss Beauty is Pirate Lucifer’s true love?”
