Moonlight Secrets (#2 Penderry's Bizarre)

Chapter Eleven

Jim stood outside Bunny's address and stared at the house in the lamplight. Which room belonged to her? His breath clouded in front of him and he stuffed his hands in his pockets. Behind thin curtains, the sitting-room glowed, and an oil lamp burned on the sill in an upstairs window. All was still, which suited him. He planned to post the card through the letter-box and slip away quietly. That way, he'd create an air of mystery and romance around the valentine.

But the moment he opened the rusted gate, the whole house erupted with a clamour of barking. Torn between posting the card and doubling back, he froze five feet from the doorstep. The door swung open and an unkempt man appeared, restraining a dog by the scruff of its neck.

The fellow narrowed his eyes when he saw Jim. "Who are you?"

Accepting fate's decision, Jim stepped closer and plastered on a smile. "Good evening. You must be Miss Spencer's uncle?"

The man didn't answer. Instead, he stared at Jim with open suspicion.

"I'm Jim. James Penderry. Miss Spencer has probably mentioned me."

"No, she hasn't."

"Oh." The discouraged feeling lasted only a moment. He bolstered his resolve and took the envelope from his pocket. "Well, would you please give her this?"

Appleby Spencer glared at the envelope. "What is it?"

"It's a, err..."

"I know what day it is," snapped Appleby. "We might not live in the best part of town, but my niece is a respectable young lady. She doesn't take male callers, especially not some young upstart she barely knows. So take your love letter and sling your hook."

The door slammed without ceremony, making Jim blink.

So that was the uncle?

Jaws continued to yap on the other side of the letter-box, so he tucked the valentine back inside his pocket.

"Oh, well," he whispered to himself. "At least the Salvation Army is two pence better off."

***

Bunny came downstairs and found her uncle limping towards his armchair. "Who was that?" she asked.

Appleby sat and looked at her. "Someone called Jim Penderry. Know him?"

Jim? Her stomach cartwheeled at the name.

"Yes. Yes, I know him. Where is he?" She rushed to the window to see if she might glimpse him, but the dark street appeared empty. "What did he want?"

Appleby shrugged. "I don't know. I got rid of him. It's not proper for a fellow to come knocking at a young lady's house unannounced. Especially at this hour."

Bunny sighed and flopped into a chair. "Oh, Uncle. He's a friend of mine. I hope you weren't rude to him."

"I'm never rude."

"He deserves our gratitude. He's the one who saved our lives in Hyde Park that night."

Appleby looked up, his brow creased. "You said nothing about that."

"You didn't seem in the mood for conversation." She kneeled beside him and fished Jim's business card from her pocket. It was crumpled where she kept it with her all the time. "Here. This is him. A reporter, but he's more than that. He investigates the supernatural. He knows his way around a rifle, and he's full of spirit, and generosity, and he's very amusing, and-"

She paused when Appleby's gaze turned suspicious.

He rubbed the dog-eared corner of the card between thick fingers. "I see."