Free Texas Killers by J. T. Edson

Farlenheim.
    â€œI’d admire to, ma’am,” Dusty replied, appearing equally sincere. “But I’m figuring on getting my hair back to its real color before the reception tonight.”
    â€œHis Highness will be here in time for it?” the Comtesse asked.
    â€œWhy sure,” Dusty confirmed. “One thing you can say about those boys of mine, they always follow orders. Which’s why Mark didn’t tell you the truth about where he was going, ma’am. I hope you-all don’t hold it against him, but he’d been told to keep it to himself.”
    â€œThat was quite correct,” Charlene declared, guessing the comment had been made to provoke either herself or von Farlenheim into a protest. She wondered what other orders Mark Counter had been given with regard to herself, but was consoled by the thought that she had neither done nor said anything to suggest her involvement in the plot against the Crown Prince. “You may tell him that I understand. We will see you at the reception?”
    â€œYou can count on it, ma’am,” Dusty answered, standing and lifting his hat from the back of the chair. Watching the couple walk away as he was donning it, he grinned and thought, “Now that’s given you both something to think about, I’d reckon. And, lady, you’re going to have to do some right fancy explaining to him, the way things have gone wrong for you.”
    Despite his conclusions, the small Texan knew he had not removed the couple as a threat to the life of the Crown Prince. While he felt sure that they were involved, “Breakast’s” death had ruined one way by which he could have gained evidence of their complicity. The conversation that had just taken place had also failed to produce any proof. Nor could he now hope to gain it by means of Mark’s association with Charlene after what had been said. In fact, the discovery she had made would make her even more wary and hard to trap.
    Unlike many men of his age and period, Dusty had no sense of masculine supremacy. He realized that he was up against an intelligent, unscrupulous and dangerous antagonist in the Comtesse de Petain. Thinking of other members of her sex against whom he had found himself in contention over the years, he did not consider the fact that she was a woman made her any the less deadly. Rather the opposite, as she was an expert in turning her physical attributes to good advantage. He wished that he had another of her gender to help him by meeting her at her own level.
    Wondering if he should try to obtain the services of Belle Boyd, or even his cousin Betty Hardin, Dusty strolled from the dining room. From what he had been told, he knew that the Rebel Spy was engaged upon a mission in her capacity as a member of the United States’ Secret Service and would be unavailable. 1 Deciding he would ask the Crown Prince if his cousin could join the hunting party, should Charlene contrive to be included in it, he went toward the stairs which led to the guests’ rooms. He had told the truth to the couple about his intentions. With Beguinage and “Breakast” dead, particularly as the Comtesse and von Farlenheim were aware of “ Rapido Clint’s” true identity, there was no point in continuing the deception. So he wanted to return to his normal appearance before attending the reception.
    A thickset man of slightly over middle height was standing at the foot of the stairs and looking upward. He was clad in the kind of dark blue peaked cap, semi-uniform pea-jacket, with black trousers tucked into heavy sea boots, frequently worn by officers of merchant ships. Both hands were thrust into the jacket’s pockets. In spite ofthat, beyond noticing he had a hard Slavic face partially obscured by a neatly-trimmed grizzled black beard, Dusty paid little attention to him in passing. Captains and mates of cargo or passenger vessels were not an unusual sight at the