Seducing the Rake (Mad, Bad and Dangerous Heroes) (47 page)

No, best to follow the duchess’s advice and see what happened on the morrow. Then perhaps, if the woman still resisted—

A noise behind Morland brought him around fast, his hand curled to a fist. He had a vision of black-masked Triads and hard-faced ruffians intent on seizing Chessy.

But it was only a man. A tall man with wild graying hair and a gaunt face. A face that was just now white and pasty, as if he’d seen a ghost.

Which in a way, James Cameron had.

It was the ghost of his own past he’d seen, the ghost of the woman he had always loved, and the mother of his child.

“She—she’s alive! After all these years.” He turned slowly, a dazed look in his eyes. “You—you heard, didn’t you?”

Morland nodded.

“Elizabeth—Lizzie—” His fingers swept before his eyes. “How could she have done this to me? To
us?”
He was white, shaken. “I thought she had died. I ought to march right in there and—”

“Come along, man. You’re shaking like a leaf. You’re in no condition to confront
anyone
right now. I’m not sure that even I am. I’ve some tolerable Madeira in my room, and I think now is a perfect time to broach it.” Carefully, Tony pulled the duchess’s door closed, then took Cameron’s arm and steered him down the opposite corridor.

“And while we’re there, you may as well tell me everything—including the things that you didn’t want to tell Chessy about the Triads.”

~ ~ ~

“It came out of the blue. Neither of us expected it. I suppose it happens that way sometimes.”

They sat, legs outstretched, before the fire that the landlord had kindled earlier in the earl’s private room. The Madeira was already half gone.

Cameron’s voice fell into a low, reflective cadence. “We married with her grandmother’s help. Elizabeth was of age, after all, and it was only her father’s intransigence that had kept us apart. I think he was loath to part with a daughter who happened to be such a good servant. For he worked her like a servant, you know. And without her, who knew how long her mother could have lasted?” He sighed, studying the fine Madeira. “It was a damnable mess, from beginning to end. And in spite of that, there was time for us to snatch some trace of happiness, even if just for a little while.”

Suddenly Morland frowned. He heard a sound—was it the faint creak of a floorboard out in the hall? Raising a finger to his lips, he crept silently to the door and eased it open.

The corridor was empty. Two candles cast dancing shadows from sconces on the wall.

Grim-faced, Morland moved down the hall and tried the door to Chessy’s room. Locked, just as he’d ordered. And the children’s room was just the same.

Only at the duchess’s door did he pause and frown. He tapped softly. “Your Grace?”

The duchess appeared, her face anxious. “Is everything—is Chessy—”

“I mean to check. If you don’t mind?” At the duchess’s nod, he made his way to the adjoining room. Elspeth and Jeremy were sound asleep, covers bunched to their chins. Softly Morland eased open the door to Chessy’s room.

She lay with her cheek to the fine linen, her hair haloed around her in a dark cloud. Her fingers were curled just beneath her chin. She looked fragile, and very beautiful.

Morland smoothed a dark strand from her cheek and feathered a kiss across her brow. She stirred softly, then sighed.

But when he returned to the duchess’s room, Morland’s face was hard. “Keep the latch closed and throw the bolt after me. After what happened this afternoon, I mean to take no more chances.”

The duchess nodded grimly.

Morland waited to hear the bolt driven home before he returned to his own room. His eyes were hard as he refilled his glass.

“Was anyone there?”

Morland shrugged. “Probably just the wind. These old inns have a thousand creaking corners.” Drink in hand, he returned to his seat before the fire. “Where were we? Ah, yes, you were describing your impetuous marriage. What separated the two of you?”

“Everything—nothing. Life.” Cameron frowned. “It began over the child. I had brought Lizzie out to Macao to start a new life. By then, we had Chessy, as fine and healthy as ever a child could be. Lizzie had had a hard time, so I engaged a Chinese amah. But she wanted no part of the amah and flew into a rage. Then we had a message that her mother had taken a turn for the worse back here in England.”

He sighed, staring at his drink. “It came at a very bad time for us. One thing seemed to lead to another, one fight running into the next. I see now that it was mostly my fault. Everything was so difficult for her over there. I didn’t understand
how
difficult until—” He swirled his glass glumly. “We had a letter from her father, warning Lizzie that her mother was on her deathbed. I never knew until later that he had enclosed money for her passage back to England.”

Cameron’s fingers whitened on the crystal decanter. He looked very old at that moment, his big frame shrunken. “I-I can’t remember all I said, but I remember telling her that if she left me then, I wouldn’t have her back. And that Chessy would stay with me, since I couldn’t be sure of how her father would treat the child. He’d sworn she was a bastard, you see, sworn that our marriage wasn’t legal, though of course it was.” He cursed softly. “We had a terrible row. Both of us said things we shouldn’t have—things I’m sure we never meant. But by then, it was done and—and she was gone.” His eyes glistened as he stared into the fire. “I never saw her again, you know. Not once until today, when she stood behind the duchess dressed in a black veil so thick I couldn’t even recognize her. Over twenty years gone…”

“You had no idea she was here, living with the duchess?”

“None whatsoever. I made inquiries in Macao and Calcutta, but she had booked passage under a different name. After her return to England she must have lived very quietly, almost as a recluse, with the duchess. I-I searched but could find no trace of her anywhere. Needless to say, her father was no help, and by then her mother had died.”

Morland shook his head. “I knew nothing about the woman, and I was a great deal closer at hand than you. Lord, I’ve known the duchess since I was in swaddling, and I don’t think I saw this companion of hers more than half a dozen times. Amelia certainly never breathed a word
of
the story.”

Cameron swirled his drink. “Well, there you have it. The whole silly, damnable tale. I-I tried to rear Chessy well, the way Lizzy would have wanted. Oh, of course we traveled about a great deal, and she didn’t have the fripperies that most young women enjoy, but…”

He stared at Morland, a look of shaken entreaty on his face. “I didn’t
fail
her, did I? Chessy truly is happy—was happy—with the life we led?”

Morland studied the fire, his expression unreadable. “I’m afraid you’ll have to ask her that question, James. But one thing is certain: She
will
have to know about her mother. I quite agree with the duchess about that.”

“Of course. I shall speak to Lizzie tomorrow. And then we must break the news to Chessy. Together, I think.”

The two men sat in the firelight, their faces cast in bronze and shadow from the dancing flames, each considering the strange workings of fate and the turmoil that faced them on the morrow.

“And you still haven’t explained the rest of this mess. About this escape from your captors. They
were
from the criminal group, I take it? Just as Chessy suspected?”

Cameron nodded. “Not that I knew it at first. It was a damnable crossing, I assure you. I was trussed like a confounded chicken and tossed in a stinking hold with a hundred other poor beggars. It seemed an age before we docked, and then another age before I realized we were in England, riding at anchor out in the middle of Mother Thames.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t have come myself to help rescue you, but Chessy needed to be kept safe. Wellington’s men found you very fast, I believe.”

Cameron smiled. “And damned glad I was to see them. The Great Man is every bit as arrogant as ever. But how did they know where I was being held? There must be hundreds of ships anchored in the Thames.”

“I had my sources. And then we captured one of the Triads.” Morland’s voice hardened. “He—talked.”

“Well I can only thank heaven for it. I heard bits and pieces down in the hold. It seems the Triads were planning to use the book for the same purpose you were. They hoped that the emperor would cease his harassment of their secret activities if they presented him with such a treasure. But three months ago the book disappeared.” Cameron studied Tony. “Your doing?”

“I still have a few tricks left, James.”

“Damned clever of you. Unfortunately, the Triads have no liking for me. When their precious book disappeared, they decided to use Chessy to track it down. They knew of her training and decided she would be the perfect one—especially when they learned that the book had been taken here to London, where they could hardly operate unnoticed.” Cameron rubbed his neck gingerly. “But until I find that book, Chessy’s life is still in danger.”

“What can they do? We’re in England, man, not the middle of Asia!”

“You don’t understand them, Tony. They are fiercely loyal and superbly trained. Believe me, they won’t give up until they find that book—or die in the process.”

“Did you hear them discuss who had the wretched thing?”

“An Englishman. That’s all they knew.”

Morland smothered a curse. “Which leaves us no better off than before.”

“Not quite. I had someone keeping an eye on Chessy, someone I trusted completely. He sailed with her when she came to London with Swithin. Not that she knew it, of course.”

Morland sat forward abruptly. “He?”

“A fellow student of hers at Shao-lin. A warrior with skills even beyond her own. Part French, part Scot, and part pure Manchu prince. His name is Mackinnon, but we always called him Kahn, in jest.”

Morland stared down at his sleeve and picked at a minute speck of lint. “Did she—” He cleared his throat. “Were they—”

“Fool.” Cameron’s eyes were chiding. “Chessy has had eyes for only
one
man ever since she was fifteen. A reckless, half-tamed Englishman with more nerve than sense.” He stared at Morland, his face challenging. “No, of course, they weren’t lovers. As far as I know, she thought of him only as a sort of elder brother. Though for
his
part, sometimes I think—”

“Never mind,” Morland said with sudden violence.
“His
wishes do not interest me in the least. She’s mine now, do you hear? And I’ll not give her up—not for anyone or anything!”

Cameron’s lips twitched into a ghost of a smile. One wild white eyebrow arched to a point. “Very interesting.”

“Go ahead and gloat, you bounder. But you’ll have to murder me to stop me from marrying her now.”

Suddenly Cameron put down his glass and broke into harsh coughing.

“Good lord, man, are you sick?”

The older man shrugged. “Let’s just say that there are good days and bad days. Nothing particular, you understand. But with all those years in the East, with the tropical fever—and my heart has never been—” He gave Tony a sidelong look. “Never mind that.”

Morland raked his fingers through his hair. “Damn it, Jamie, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I won’t speak of it again and I’ll expect the same of you. Chessy knows nothing about this, and I mean to see it stays that way. All I meant—all I
want
is for her to be happy, to find the home she never had, the security I never could give her.” He looked up at Tony, his eyes hard and very determined. “Do you mean to give her those things?”

Morland frowned. “You know I do!”

“Excellent. By the way, I’m sorry about the way things turned out between us. It hurt me a great deal to make you leave Macao.”

“If so, you had a damned peculiar way of showing it! You nearly bit my head off after finding us on deck that night in a markedly disheveled state.”

Cameron’s fingers clenched. “I was hard pressed not to shoot you then and there, my boy, and I don’t mind admitting it. She was not yet a woman, and you were a man with a great deal of experience. You took advantage of her innocence, advantage of the intimacy of our ship—”

Morland stiffened. “I never touched her! You can’t really believe that I would—”

“Oh, not after I’d thought about it.” Cameron crossed his arms over his chest and stared into the fire. “I realized that you’d stopped before things went anywhere. But damn it, they would have gone too far, sooner or later, had you stayed. For even I could see that she was head over heels in love with you, as you were with her. If I hadn’t sent you packing when I did, you would have
had
to marry her.” He studied Morland intently. “I’d a feeling you weren’t quite ready to settle down yet, not while Napoleon was still storming about the Continent.”

Morland shrugged. “I only know that you kicked the rug out from under me that night—and in the process destroyed the first happiness I had known in a very long time.”

Cameron reached over and gave Morland’s shoulder a swift, fierce squeeze. “Devilish sorry about that. I thought—I hoped—you’d come back, at least when the war ended. I had my ways of keeping tabs on you. I knew about Salamanca—about your knee—”