Delight (29 page)

He would be nonchalant and gallant about the fact that his brother had his future bride in her bedchamber with the door bolted. About the fact that she had belonged to Matthew to begin with.

H
e began pounding his fists at the door like a madman. He kicked the lock.
"
I demand to know what you are both doing in there. I will not be made to stand in the hallway like a lackey.
"

"
'
Tis all right, Douglas.
"
Rowena's sweet voice floated out.
"
Your brother is just showing me his jewels.
"

"
He
'
s showing you—
"

"
Actually, they're her jewels.
"
Matthew opened the door a crack, his handsome face annoyed.
"
For heaven
'
s sake, Douglas, this is a meeting of political urgency. We cannot conduct it in secrecy with you yelling through the keyhole. These are the crown jewels of Hartzburg, smuggled out of the country by Rowena
'
s loyalist faction to fi
nance our rebellion.
"

"
I care nothing for jewels. I only wish to know you will keep your clothes on.
"
Douglas shouldered his way into the room, staring in anguish at Rowena on the bed in a sea of diamonds and sapphires.

"Our clothes on?" Matthew said in shock.

"
You ought to apologize for that remark," Rowena said.
"
You have insulted your brother."

Matthew smiled warmly.
"
I understand.
'T
is his fierce seafaring temperament. I forgive you, Douglas.
"

"
I don
'
t want to be forgiven,
"
Douglas retorted.
"
I want to kill you. I
'
ve wanted to kill you ever since you took Mama
'
s body away from the place she belonged.
"

Matthew shook his head in genuine bewilderment. "After everything I
'
ve done to make amends between us? Why have you allowed your hatred to grow?"

Rowena moved between them to examine a necklace in the candlelight, murmuring,
"
I wonder why brothers must always quarrel. Can you not save your battle instincts for helping my father?"

Douglas was practically breathing fire. He stood over Matthew with a heaving chest and smoldering eyes. "You speak of amends. I still do not know where she is buried. You make me feel as if I am unworthy of standing at her grave."

Rowena looked up slowly. She had never heard such pain or depth of emotion in her Dragon's voice.

Matthew edged back a step. "You have made
yourself look like a demon, Douglas. Pirating is hardly a prelude to sainthood, and I shall take you to her grave whenever you like. Rowena, come and look at the bruise under his left eye. Is it festering, do you think? He has worked himself up into a feverish state.
"

"
I hope not," she said, hurrying up to Douglas, bracelets dangling from wrist to elbow. "Yet I would not be surprised if he suffered a relapse. He
'
s a terrible patient. Let me look at your eye, my lord.
"

Douglas pulled away from her hand.
" '
Tis a nervous twitch. It happens right before I want to kill someone.
"

Matthew frowned. "Don
'
t talk to her that way, brother. She
'
s only trying to help.
"

"I was talking to you, moron,
"
Douglas said. "Rowena, take off that lurid jewelry. You look like a gypsy fortuneteller.
"

"You were talking to me that time,
"
Rowena said accusingly.

"And he insulted the crown jewels of Hartzburg by saying you looked like a gypsy," Matthew pointed out.

Rowena put on another necklace in defiance. "I love gypsies. I may even have gypsy blood in my background. Does that bother you, Douglas, to learn that my blood might not be pure?"

"My blood isn
'
t pure either,
"
Douglas said in a nasty voice.

"
'
Tisn
'
t?
"
Matthew said in surprise. Then, "Ah,
you are referring to your father. Well, do not fret on that point. Humble origins are nothing to be ashamed of."

Douglas walked Matthew back into the wardrobe.
"
I wasn't referring to my father, you trouble-making nitwit. I meant that being related to you tainted my bloodlines."

Rowena came to rescue Matthew just as he fell back into the wardrobe. "Perhaps you don't wish to marry me either, Douglas, now that you know I might have gypsy blood in my veins.
"

"I never said that," Douglas shouted.

Matthew hauled himself out of a pile of Hildegarde
'
s underwear, looking dazed at this turn of events.

"Did he hurt you with his dragon's fury?" Rowena asked.

Matthew plucked a whalebone corset off his chest. "I don
'
t think so. Good heavens, Rowena, this is the largest corset I've ever seen in my life. You never took this size before. Hasn
'
t Douglas been giving you any exercise?"

"
No, he hasn
'
t,
"
Rowena said.
"
I
'
ve been imprisoned in this castle under guard, wild gypsy with impure blood that I am. That, however, is Hildegarde
'
s corset, not mine. This is her room.
"

Douglas pushed Matthew back into the wardrobe.
"
How do you know what size corset Rowena takes?"

"I allowed you to bully me the first time because I did not want to make you look stupid in
front of Rowena.
"
Matthew struggled upward, coming at Douglas with his fists raised.
"
But enough is enough. I
'
m sorry I arranged this whole affair. Of all the woeful tales I
'
ve heard about you—which I defended, by the way—I never dreamed you enjoyed mistreating women."

"Arranged what whole affair?" Rowena wondered aloud.

Douglas took a punch and missed. Matthew jumped in the air with a menacing shout, which might have been a more impressive maneuver if he hadn't gotten one of Hildegarde
'
s horsehair petticoats wrapped around his ankles.

Rowena heaved a sigh. "For heaven's sake, cease this senseless fighting. He is in no condition for fisticuffs.
"

Matthew grunted as Douglas hit him in the solar plexus. "Don
'
t worry," he said between groans.
"
I won't hurt him…
just teach him
…
a
…
less—
ooof.
"

Rowena placed herself between the two men, holding them apart at arm's length. "I meant that I did not want Douglas to hurt you, not with your leg just mended. He is twice your size."

"
My leg?
"
Matthew stumbled back a step, breathless, staring down sheepishly at his satin breeches.
"
Oh,
that
leg. Well, it wasn't really broken, you see.
'
Twas badly bruised. I told a tiny fib so that you two would have time together."

"
A tiny fib?" Douglas said in a deadly voice.

Matthew looked anxiously from Douglas to
Rowena. 'It worked, didn
'
t it? You were embracing in the passageway when I arrived? Am I wrong in assuming that you have made a love match?
"

"
Matthew." Rowena had turned ghostly white. "What are you saying?
"

Douglas straightened his shirt.
"
Never mind what the moron is saying. I want to know how he comes by the details of your undergarments.
"

"Do not tell him, Matthew," Rowena said.

Matthew nodded. "Never let it be said that I betrayed a princess
'
s confidence. The secret of your corset will never leave my lips.
"

Douglas grabbed one of two ancient spears mounted above the bed.
"I'
m going to roast you over a spit, you scurvy dog."

Rowena gasped in surprise. "You sound just like a real pirate. Say that again, Douglas.
"

Matthew stared uneasily at the spear. "He
is
a real pirate. Perhaps we ought to tell him after all.
"

"Don
'
t you dare," Rowena said.
"
We shall never hear the end of it.
"

"I cannot tell you, Douglas,
"
Matthew said with a sigh.

Douglas gave him a chilling smile. Then he proceeded to slice the frog fastenings of Matthew
'
s cloak with the tip of the spear. "Since we are half-brothers, I will give you the option of being roasted feet first or skewered through the gut.
"

Matthew blanched.
"
I'll tell you—
"

"No, Matthew.
"
Rowe
na pressed her index finger warn
ingly to her lips.
"
If you tell him, I shall never be able to confide in you again."

Douglas jabbed the spear into Matthew
'
s midsection. "Yes, but if I don't tell him, Rowena, he's going to skewer me.
"

"You wouldn't do that, would you?
"
Rowena asked Douglas.

He smiled at her. It was a menacing smile. "Yes, I would. Oh dear, brother, you
'
ve lost a button." And a row of pearls popped off Matthew
'
s chest into the air.

"I'm telling him,
"
Matthew said quickly. "Douglas, I borrowed Rowena
'
s corset to wear to a masquerade ball when I visited Hartzburg.
'
Twas an innocent act."

Douglas lowered the spear. "What?
"

"I wore her corset to the Hartzburg ball.
"

"
'
Tis true,
"
Rowena said reluctantly.
"
But he broke the laces, and Hildegarde had to fasten it together with leather thread. Fortunately, these repairs did not show beneath my dress.
"

Douglas glanced from Rowena to his brother, a rude snigger of disbelief escaping him.
"
My brother dresses as a woman.
"

"
I told you not to tell him," Rowena said in irritation.
"
Now he shall think I have a mannish figure."

"No one would ever think that,
"
Douglas and Matthew said in unison.

Douglas shook his head, looking Matthew over.
"I never took you for a lily, lacing yourself in corsets and such. I tortured myself comparing myself to your saintliness.
"
A smirk settled on his face.
"
A saint in a corset.
"

Matthew
'
s face reddened.
"
I don
'
t dress in corsets!
'
Twas for a masquerade. I was meant to be an empress.
"

"
Only a man confident of his masculinity would dare dress as a woman.
"
Rowena
frowned
at Matthew.
"
Don
'
t say
I
didn
'
t warn you.
He
'
ll never
let either of us forget this.
"

"
Well, obviously I am the biggest
fool
i
n the
world,
"
Matthew said indignantly.

Douglas sat down on the edge of the
bed.
He
dropped the spear beside him. The
excitement
had tired him. He yawned.
"
You are a fool be
cause you dress in ladies
'
garments?
"