Free Ghost Walk by Cassandra Gannon Page A

disappearances, and you had a temper…”
    Jamie
cut her off.  “I’m Scottish.  Of course , I have a bloody temper!  But, I
didn’t hurt those girls .”  He carefully spaced out the words.  “Those
‘reports’ of yours were given by the very fools who hanged me.  You think
they’d admit that they were the actual murderers?  I did nothing and the wankers killed me in the street!”
    “The
victims…”
    He
cut her off.  “I danced with them at the Summer Ball, but I had no reason to
harm any of them.  I danced with quite a few girls, that night.  Not all of
them died!”
    “Maybe these girls spurned you.”
    Jamie
snorted.  “Lucinda Wentworth was the only one I spoke to for more than a few
moments.  And I assure you, she didn’t spurn me at that ball.  Or later that
night.”
    Grace
blinked owlishly.  “You slept with Lucinda Wentworth?”
    Despite
himself, he smiled at her shocked tone.  “My time was not so puritanical as your
time would like to believe.  Miss Wentworth fancied bold men and wasn’t shy
about revealing her predilections.”  He paused, recalling Lucinda with a wry
grin.  “She wasn’t shy about revealing anything , actually.  Once she
even…”  He trailed off, because, deep down, he struggled with lamentably
honorable impulses.  He tried to ignore them, but they were always whispering
in his head, telling him not to be a jackass.  “Well, Lucinda was a
lovely girl.”
    For
once, Grace actually looked interested in something he had to say.  Her pretty
face lit up.  “I’ve seen all the layers women dressed in back then.  How did
she get in and out of her clothes?  Did she take everything off when you
two met for your dates?  It seems like a colossal bother to deal with all the
petticoats and stays.  How did it work?”
    Jamie
stared at her for a beat.  “Do you really wish to hear what Lucinda wore to our
assignations?  That’s what you want to be discussing?”
    “No.” 
She reluctantly murmured, even though she clearly wanted to discuss just that. 
“We can talk about something else.”  She paused.  “I just… I mean… Did you love
her?”
    His
lips curved at that innocent question.  Perhaps there was a bit of whimsy in
the girl’s soul, after all.  “No.  T’was never a romance between us, just a bit
of sport.”  Lucinda had never been his and he’d never been hers.  They were
both waiting for other people.  “We were friends, though.  I liked her and I
have no desire to gossip about her undergarments.”
    Grace’s
head tilted.  “Okay.”  She said with far less hostility than she’d been showing
him thus far.  “I respect the fact you’re a gentleman.”
    Jamie
frowned.  “I’m not a gentleman.”  God, he’d nearly rather be called a
serial killer again.  “I just never harmed a hair on Lucinda’s head.  Or Anabel’s
or Clara’s.  That’s what I’m saying.”
    “You’re
so touchy.  I was giving you a compliment .”  She paused.  “And they
didn’t have hair on their heads.  That’s some kind of evasion thing,
right?  All of you wore wigs back then.  Even the women.  Shaved heads and wigs
all tallowed into place.”  She wrinkled her nose in a way that was quite
delightful.  “The smell must have been God-awful.”
    The
Good Lord save him from this daft woman.  “Can you focus on what actually
matters here?  We need to clear my name.”
    She
made a face.  “Except I’m still half-convinced you’re guilty.”
    Jamie
shook his head.  “You wouldn’t have been sent to me if you weren’t the one I
was waiting for.  I can’t rest until I’ve proven my innocence.  Perhaps it’s
why I’m still here.”
    “Maybe
you’re just not trying hard enough to leave.”  She retorted.  “All this
happened over two hundred years ago.  Maybe you need to just… let it go.”
    “ I
can’t let it go !”  He roared.  “I was hanged , woman!  They put a
rope around my neck and they