Seducing the Rake (Mad, Bad and Dangerous Heroes) (49 page)

“Her mother. Yes, I heard all of it. It will be a terrible shock.”

The duchess sighed. “She has a right to know. And it must be done, the sooner the better.”

Morland frowned. “I agree entirely. But there will be time enough after we reach Sevenoaks. I want her first memories there to be happy ones, unclouded by doubt.”

“Very well. Elizabeth will have to tell Chessy soon after.”

“Tell me what?”

For a split-second the two froze, hearing that voice just behind them. Chessy was standing at the bottom of the carriage steps with Elspeth and Jeremy on each side of her.

“T-tell you?” the duchess repeated faintly.

Chessy looked from the duchess to the earl. “I beg your pardon,” she said slowly. “I—we didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

“Er, it was nothing. The duchess wanted to describe Sevenoaks, my estate, to you, but I told her I wanted it to be a surprise.” Morland summoned up all his considerable charm. “You don’t mind, do you, my dear?”

“Of course not. I’ve always loved surprises.” But Chessy had not missed the moment of uneasiness between the duchess and Tony. She could only wonder what it meant.

~ ~ ~

 “You are well? Truly well?” Chessy settled back against the seat and studied her father as the carriage lurched out of the White Hart’s yard.

James Cameron patted her hand. “Perfectly.”

“Don’t lie to
me,
James Cameron! You look thin and drawn. And you’ve been coughing far too much. It cannot have been pleasant.”

Her father sighed. “Too keen-eyed by half, my girl. Very well, it was not at all pleasant. I was gagged and hauled into the hold like a squirming pig bound for the pot. And the cold.” He scowled. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this wretched English weather again.”

“I’m so glad you’re s-safe,” Chessy whispered, a catch in her voice. “You might have—they could have—”

“Now, now, girl, don’t go mourning for me. I’m a long way from being dead yet, I warn you!”

Chessy brushed furtively at a tear. “You
do
seem well enough. Except for the coughing…”

“And so I am. Actually, I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in years. Those two children are really quite remarkable. A pity about their parents. But they seem to get on well with the earl.” His keen eyes narrowed. “You don’t mind?”

Chessy felt her cheeks flame red. “M-mind?”

“They must come to you after you are married, you know, since Morland is their guardian.”

Chessy made a great business of straightening her skirts. “Of course—that is, it has not been entirely settled that—when—if—” Her flush grew more pronounced.

“Well, he’s been
thinking
it clearly enough,” her father said dryly. “But there, I won’t task you with things you obviously don’t wish to tell me.”

Chessy sighed, uncertain why she wished to avoid this particular subject for a while longer. Perhaps it was because so much had happened in the last days—the attack on Morland, his scheme to abduct her, and then the attack at the inn. Only this morning, she had awakened dazed, half expecting to find herself back in her sunny room overlooking the Macao harbor, with the week’s events reduced to nothing but a very disturbing dream.

But it was no dream. And Chessy found herself struggling to make sense of her chaotic emotions and the adjustment to a new country. Added to that was her concern about her father’s situation. Until she satisfied herself that he was truly safe, she did not feel free to face her own future or consider the prospect of happiness with the man she loved.

For there was no doubt that she did love Anthony Morland.

“Oh, Father, I’m sorry,” she said impulsively. “It’s just—well, there’s been so much, so quickly. Sometimes I feel I must be the happiest woman in the world. And then, other times…” Her eyes took on a liquid sheen. “Somehow I’m just not ready for…” She sighed. “I suppose it’s times like this that I wish I had a mother. Not that
you
haven’t been wonderful,” she added quickly.

Her father frowned, looking as if he meant to speak, but he contented himself with patting Chessy’s hands, which were clenched tightly at her waist.

While the lush Essex countryside sped past in a blur of green and gold and muted silver, he began to talk of safer things, beginning with the latest gossip of Macao and ending with the status of another old Chinese junk with which he hoped to explore an offshore reef.

Chessy listened dutifully, her face intent. Oh yes, she listened almost fiercely.

But her thoughts kept drifting to the man riding ahead of their carriage and the secret he and the duchess had been trying to conceal from her.

~ ~ ~

By midmorning, the air was fresh and sharp with the tang of salt. Off in the distance the dark lines of the forest gave way to softly rolling hills and then to an endless sweep of green reeds. Beyond that glinted the silver curve of the sea. The carriage rumbled past men with dark, weathered faces who were cutting reeds and stacking them to dry for use in next year’s thatch, while sturdy-looking children gathered cockles beside the canals that seemed to meander everywhere through the lowlands.

They were traveling northeast now, Chessy realized. She had seen the earl only briefly, when he reined in his massive bay to speak a word or two with the coachman.

James was resting, and after a while Chessy drifted to sleep, too, lulled by the rhythms of Morland’s well-sprung carriage. She did not know how long she slept before she lurched awake at the scream of the brake being thrown.

Morland’s face appeared, framed in the carriage window. Chessy’s first thought was awe at how well he sat his horse, almost as if man and beast were one. And then she remembered that he must often have been on horseback in Portugal and Spain. She felt a stab of curiosity about those weeks and months, about all the dangers he had faced since they had parted.

But then he was smiling down at her, and in the heat of his gaze she forgot everything—curiosity, doubt, and regret.

All she thought of was how blue and clear his eyes were, and how filled with happiness they were now. She meant to keep them so.

“May I steal her away for a while, Jamie?” Morland’s eyes were on Chessy, though he spoke to her father. “I know you’ve a great deal of catching up to do, but there’s something I want to show her.”

“By all means. She’s not been hearing anything I’ve said for ages now.”

“That’s not true! I have—” Chessy smiled ruefully. “Well perhaps not
everything.”

“Off with you!” her father said gruffly. “There’s no need to apologize for being bored by an old man’s company.”

Chessy started to protest, but he cut her off. “Go on now. Perhaps I’ll ask those children to share the coach. At least my stories will be new to
them
.” His smile took the sting from his reproach.

The sky was vast and cloudless overhead as Chessy emerged
from
the carriage. She frowned. “But how—”

“Like this.” The earl reached down and scooped her up before him.

“But I can’t—that is, I don’t ride!” she said breathlessly.

“You do now, my heart. And don’t worry about falling, because I never mean to let go of you again.” His voice was low and dark, meant only for her ears.

And the vow was very clear.

Chessy flushed, wriggling before him, trying to slide her skirts down across her exposed ankles.

Morland merely laughed at her efforts, and eased her closer until her hip was wedged against his hard thigh. “Hold on, beauty. Hold on as tight as I mean to hold on to you.”

And then they were off.

~ ~ ~

Behind them, the duchess’s carriage had drawn up beside the earl’s and the steps were being let down.

“Do you mind?” the duchess asked James Cameron, peering inside. “Elizabeth is feeling unwell and would do better to lie down.” She had her arm around her black-veiled companion.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t—I wouldn’t dream of—” Elizabeth protested.

But the duchess thrust her forward toward James.

For a moment the white-haired man did not move. And then he nodded. “Of course she may join me. Unless you would prefer to have the whole carriage—”

But the duchess cut off this suggestion decisively. “No need to disarrange yourself. She will do nicely in there. I will keep an eye on the children.”

In spite of her protests the duchess’s companion was handed up the steps, thrust inside the carriage, and the team set back into motion.

Elizabeth slid back against the far wall, her eyes—what could be seen of them—fixed on Cameron’s face.

He stared back just as fixedly.

He heard her take a little ragged breath, saw her shoulders stiffen.

“Surely in here, the veil may be dispensed with,” he said softly.

“Oh, no. That is, it wouldn’t feel right.”

“But whom have you lost?” Cameron’s tone was gentle but inexorable. “Father? Husband? Or perhaps a child.”

A shudder seemed to go through her.

And James Cameron found that he couldn’t bear the sight of her pain any longer, though heaven knew he had every reason to be angry after all the years of pain she had inflicted upon him by her flight. “Don’t cry.”

Her fingers twisted against her black dress, as restless and pale as moth wings against the cold night.

When the low, choked sounds continued, Cameron bent closer still, his face gaunt and lined with a pain of its own.
“Don’t.
I can’t—bear it. Don’t … Lizzie.”

At that last word, the woman before him froze. And then she seemed to crumple, while choked little sounds spilled from her throat.

Cameron ignored her shivering, ignored her stiff fingers and her incoherent protests. He pulled her into the seat beside him, then very gently slid the black veil from her face.

“Lizzie.” His own voice shook and his hands were no longer quite steady. “My dearest love.”

“Oh, J-James. I’ve been such a f-fool. You must hate me. And yet I thought it was all for the best. I knew you would be a s-splendid father to our little girl. She
is
a delight, isn’t she? So calm and strong. So
sure.
Oh—all the things I am not, nor ever will be!

“Hush.” He ran his finger gently over her tear-streaked cheek. “You are just as strong in your own way. Remember how you berated that vegetable seller in Macao for trying to cheat me?”

His wife gave a hiccoughing laugh.

“And Chessy will soon love you just as much as I
do.”

“Oh, can you, James? After—all the years? After what I’ve done?”

“Hush, Lizzie, and I’ll show you how much I can.”

Then somehow she was in his arms, and he was kissing the tears from her white cheeks, murmuring incoherent phrases of his own.

Though they meant nothing at all, they seemed to give the woman in his arms an infinite amount of pleasure.

~ ~ ~

 “Tighter?
You wretch! Any tighter, and my dress will rise to an entirely indecent level.

Morland’s eyes glittered. “It sounds promising.”

“Not here, Tony! Someone will see!”

But he only spurred the great bay to a gallop, so that Chessy had perforce to grip tight or fall.

Self-preservation won the day. She clutched at Morland’s back. “Wretched man! Someday I’ll—”

But he cut her off with a kiss and threw his arm tightly around her waist as they set off through a green tunnel of beech trees lining the road.

“Where are you taking me?”

He only laughed and caught her close, until their heat merged and their bodies lay snug and hungry against each other.

Chessy sighed and settled back against him, her side to his chest.

“That’s better, termagant. I believe I have some hope of making you into a biddable wife yet.”

For answer, she curved her fingers, lightly scoring his back.

He muttered an oath. His hand tightened, stretched flat across her belly. And then it slid lower, into the hollow where he found her heat.

“Tony!”

With a hoarse laugh he released her. “In this case you’re right, my love. Any more of that, and we’ll
never
get to Sevenoaks.”

“Are we close?”

He chuckled and pointed to the wooded slope that ran down to patchwork fields dotted with grazing sheep. “As a matter of fact we have been on Sevenoaks land for the last hour.” He reined the horse to a walk, moving down a narrow path nearly smothered by overhanging linden and willow trees. “And there is something I particularly wanted you to see.”

He stooped and urged her down as a low-lying bough barely skimmed over their heads.

Morland nudged the horse up the hill and off the path, past a loose clump of crimson rhododendron, and out onto the rim of the hill.