The Rake and the Recluse REDUX (a time travel romance) (58 page)

“There is a position available in my household,” he began to say, but the girl turned away from him and ran back into the house.

Gideon and his companions leaned sideways, peering through the open door as she vaulted up the interior staircase, taking two at a time.

“My, but she’s spry for a tiny gel,” Smyth mumbled. He shrugged his shoulders when Gideon looked at him. “I guess she don’t want the position, Yer Grace.”

Gideon turned back to the manor and a few moments later he saw the girl running back down the stairs with a small sack and a blanket. He grinned.

“Well then, I guess we’re off. One more thing, Hepplewort. Your behavior will be reported to the House of Lords, as well as the London Society pages and all the gossip sheets. If you know what is best, you won’t step foot off this estate again. Ever.”

Hepplewort seemed to understand his sincerity. He shriveled and looked down as Gideon advanced on him. “I know you, I know the things you’ve done, and if you think for one minute that you can continue, you’re sorely mistaken. Consider yourself never to be heard from again, by anyone,
anywhere
. Is that understood?” Gideon stood over the man as he cowered on the stairs. He wanted desperately to take revenge for Lilly, but this was not the time.

Hepplewort nodded and dragged himself into the house, half walking and half crawling. He kicked the door shut behind him, leaving Morgan tied to the horse out front.

Francine smiled at the tiny maid whose face shone brighter than the sun.

“Oh, milady! Ye’re my hero! Ye’ve rescued me and I canna thank ye enough!”

Francine laughed and hugged her. “It was you who rescued me. I couldn’t possibly leave without knowing the name of the girl who buttoned me into such fine boots.”

“Yes, milady, I thought as them boots might come in handy. I’m called Melinda.”

“Well, that is a beautiful name. Shall we?”

Melinda smiled and handed her the blanket. “I thought mayhap ye could use this.”

Francine grinned and Gideon wrapped the soft blanket around her. She turned to him as he once again jumped up to his horse and pulled her cautiously across his lap.

Perry, Smyth, and Gentry followed suit.

Smyth grunted and put his hand down to Melinda and she grasped it, the strong man pulling her tiny figure up astride the horse in front of him with ease.

“Oh my,” she exclaimed as she wiggled in her seat, “but this is a big animal.”

Smyth’s jaw dropped as he paled and they all laughed, turning to leave.

Francine wrapped her arms around her duke, her Gideon, and closed her eyes. She wasn’t afraid anymore. She was with him. She had been numb for so long and because of him she could now feel. She’d traveled through space and time and found the love of an eternity. She was content knowing that she belonged in his arms and she knew, somewhere deep inside, that she wasn’t going anywhere.

Riding nearly straight through to London they arrived late, surprising Gideon’s household. The staff had not expected them back since they believed he’d return to Eildon after retrieving Francine from Gretna Green.

Sanders yelled for the servants to make up rooms since Perry insisted on staying at Roxleigh House in case a reprisal from Hepplewort came, but Gideon stopped the butler’s orders. “The main guest suite is already prepared. Lord Trumbull can sleep there. We’ll all retire immediately. There’s no need to fuss about in the dead of night.”

“Your Grace, the lady needs a place to rest as well. If Trum—”

“She will stay with me. There will be no discussion on the matter,” Gideon said as he pulled her close.

“Your Grace—”

“That will be all, Sanders,” Gideon said. “You are overstepping your bounds. I will not endure another word. Show our new maid, Melinda, to a room on your way to the third floor.”

Sanders straightened and walked slowly toward his quarters without a sound. Gideon shooed the rest of the servants away and they went skittering for the darkness like a disbanded troupe of chattering mice.

“Gideon,” Perry said.

“Not you as well,” he said, looking at his brother with a distinct lack of patience.

“Let me have my say,” Perry said. “I understand your need, and for tonight I believe we can turn a blind eye, but on the morrow she should return to the guest suite, and behavior should return to some semblance of propriety. I understand this situation is rather out of the norm, so I give you leave—”

“You give me leave?” Gideon boomed as he released Francine and approached his brother.

Gentry reached for his master’s arm but Gideon shook him off without effort.

“Rox,” Perry said, attempting to quell the angered duke. “We are all on the same side here. Nobody is going to deny you—
tonight
. We all need rest,” he continued slowly, “and I understand that you need to know she is safe and the best way to do that is to have her close. I, as her guardian,
give you leave,”
Perry pronounced each word carefully, “to see to that.”

Francine reached out to Gideon, and her small hand on his shirtsleeve brought him back to her in that moment. “Gideon,” she whispered before covering her mouth and looking from Perry to Gentry apologetically. “Your Grace, we should rest, we should all rest. We can talk in the morning, but for now, please, let’s rest.”

He nodded, wrapping his arms around her frame. He looked at Perry and nodded, then shook his hand and Gentry’s before taking Francine to his suite.

Perry watched as they ascended the stairs. “Her safety here in this household will be your sole responsibility until we return to Eildon,” he said, looking at Gentry. “But for tonight, she is as safe as she could possibly be, so you should get as much sleep as feasible.”

Gentry bowed. “Yes, milord,” he said, before turning and melting into the darkness.

Perry ran his hands through his disheveled hair, disrupting it further as he heaved a sigh and walked up the stairs toward the guest suite. He shook his head as he closed the door behind him, taking in the scent of his ward and his brother’s betrothed.
Lavender and rain,
he thought, scoffing. “I hate lavender and rain,” he mumbled.
Two days from a proper bath and she still held that
scent
. As if it wasn’t the oil but her very essence. He grumbled as he fell to the counterpane and kicked his boots off without a further thought to undressing. He was well asleep within moments.

The next morning, Ferry walked into the duke’s bedchamber, swept the heavy drapes open, and turned.

Gideon heard his approach and flung the counterpane over Francine. “That will be all, Ferry,” he called out from the shelter of the bed.

Ferry looked at the overlarge mound on the bed and strode quickly for the door. “I beg pardon, Your Grace,” he said as he left. Shutting the door behind him, he grumbled.
Someone could have warned me
, he thought as he leaned back against the door, trying to catch his breath.

Gideon looked down at Francine as she stirred beneath the tent of blankets. She was still quite disheveled, but lovely as ever. He had undressed her and placed her in his bed, watching as she drifted off to sleep. He sat in a chair next to the bed, not wanting to close his eyes for fear that he was in the throes of madness and she would disappear the moment he turned away. His heart beat stronger and his chest filled with pressure as he watched, until he could no longer stand to be so far away. He’d put out the light and crawled into bed, molding her to his form.

Gideon threw the counterpane aside, his gaze roving over her. He didn’t believe she was ready for a second encounter with him, though he could feel to the depths of his soul that he was, and just the thought stirred him. He groaned and rolled from the bed, tucking her in carefully. He donned his robe and walked to the door of his chamber and opened it swiftly. Ferry fell back into the room in shock.

“I beg pardon, Your Grace, I didn’t expect—”

Gideon waved him off. “Have a bath prepared here for Lady Francine and run mine in the bathing room,” he said quietly. “Have one of the maids attend her. The new girl, Melinda.”

Ferry nodded and walked away.

They bathed and dressed in separate rooms, but she stayed in his chamber as he finished readying for the day.

“I do wish we could have simply returned to Eildon,” Francine said as Gideon straightened his shirt and pulled his waistcoat off the stand next to his bed.

He looked up at her, and the waistcoat fell back to the stand. “Truly?”

“Of course, why do you ask?”

“I guess I thought you enjoyed London.” He walked over to her.

“Well, yes. I thought London was nice for a visit. But I have come to love Eildon. It’s peaceful and beautiful, and the light is different. It’s clear, and the air is clean and sweet, not foul. It just feels different, and I really miss Mrs. Weston,” she said with a smile.

He took her up in his arms and kissed her. “You cannot know how that pleases me, and I shall endeavor to return us
home
as soon as possible. Within a sennight should be reasonable. I’ll make sure Shaw is finished with his work, and there will be the ball to celebrate the posting of the banns in six days, and—”

“I thought that was going to be in a week,” she said, moving to the fireplace.

“Actually, now I think on it, five days is plenty of time to make arrangements. Then we will leave directly.”

She laughed and picked up the paper slipped under the door, reading the headline:
Dashing Duke saves blushing bride from Evil Earl with lascivious lovemaking.
Francine laughed and glanced back at Gideon. “Oh my,” she said, her hand hovering in front of her mouth.

He read the paper over her shoulder. She imagined him turning beet-red with steam shooting from his ears, but instead she was greeted with a devilish grin as he grabbed her by the waist, turning her to him and leveling a passionate kiss on her lips.

“Gideon!” she exclaimed as she broke free.

He laughed as he nuzzled her, pulling her back into his strong arms. “Well, my sweet, I wouldn’t want to make a liar out of the author, and we cannot hide from the gossips. The way I see it, this is fantastic press considering what it
could
have been. The ball in
four
days will be the most sought after event in the
ton,
not to mention the wedding ceremony and banquet back at Eildon. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Oh, I see. Now it’s four days? Gideon, honestly, I don’t care about all this ceremony, you know that.”

“I know, but you can’t argue with the fact that you have become the most celebrated
ruined
woman in all of London.”

“No,
you
can’t argue with that. After all, you were determined not to ruin me for the sake of my reputation, and this turn has you gloating. I will
never
live this down.”

“Of course you will. In a fortnight we shall be old news. After all, we are far removed from Society at Eildon, and they much prefer the fodder they can keep an eye on.”