A Rake to the Rescue

by Elizabeth Beacon

  * * *

  Magnus was less sanguine about the day ahead by the time they all had breakfast and Wulf walked over from his house with the dogs who were already in a state of high excitement after being parted from him for a whole day and night. Toby was happy to promise not to leave the ground and stay in sight if he could run round the gardens with two overgrown puppies and tumble in the sun until it was hard to tell where boy left off and two black and white dogs of uncertain ancestry began.

  ‘Did you get any sleep at all, then?’ Wulf asked after Magnus told him about the events of the night.

  ‘Jem and I kept watch by rote,’ he said and frowned at the horizon as if it must be guilty of something.

  ‘So you had all that time to sit and think, or was your poor head still aching?’

  ‘No, sorry, little brother, I got off lightly.’

  ‘Shame.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose I ought to be.’

  ‘No, you should be glad it’s over. Lady Drace was right to make a new start and at least she left you free to do the same.’

  ‘Yes, she did,’ Magnus agreed and was surprised not to feel any of the hollow fury that had dogged him since Delphi had refused to wed him after admitting the child she carried was his and not her late husband’s. Mrs Champion had broken the cycle of depression and self-reproach for him somehow and he’d kissed her as if they were important, and yet he still didn’t know her first name. He really must find out what it was. Although she seemed to have decided to put all her energies into her boy and to the devil with all Hailes, he could hardly go about lusting for a lady he could only call by another man’s name even in his head.

  ‘Having established that mercy, we can get back to last night’s circus? You have someone in mind as the cause of it all, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes, but I can’t tell you until I’m sure. I need to catch him at it and I must speak to Sir Hadrian Porter before anyone goes anywhere.’

  ‘Where are you thinking of going, then?’

  ‘I don’t know yet, but we need to keep a watch on Mrs Champion and her boy and I’m none too happy about Mama and the girls living in a hired house in a seaside town where too many people come and go for strangers to stand out.’

  ‘There’s no real threat to them, though, is there?’ Wulf asked, and the idea seemed to jolt him out of his light-hearted mood.

  ‘Not as far as I know. They lived in a ruinous old barn where anyone with a mania against us Hailes could snatch one of them if they wanted to and nothing happened. So, no, if you ask me this has to do with Sir Hadrian Porter and his reputation for succeeding at impossible tasks.’

  ‘Do you think he would take risks with his daughter and grandson’s safety?’

  ‘I think he’s done everything he can to minimise the risk to them, but he can’t be in half-a-dozen places at once, so I intend to see to their safety myself. Perhaps you and Isabella could join Mama and the twins in Worthing for a week or two in case they need watching over as well?’

  ‘Isabella is going back to Wychwood with her sister Miranda and Carnwood. Even though we are out of the worst of the heat and smoke most of the time here, Derbyshire air is cleaner and apparently it’s a lot safer there as well.’

  ‘The great lovers have had a spat, have they?’ Magnus teased and was surprised to see his brother blush.

  ‘No, but I have to work and I can write in Worthing and still get my copy to the printers in time, then check the proofs, I suppose.’

  ‘Can you really?’ Magnus eyed his brother sceptically as he recalled how restless he was when Isabella was not nearby nowadays. Suddenly a very good reason why Isabella might agree to be fussed over by her elder sister occurred to him. ‘Well, well, Papa Wulf,’ he drawled with a mocking grin as he saw the truth in his brother’s refusal to meet his eyes. ‘You must be cursing your profession for keeping you apart right now.’

  ‘Don’t. She didn’t want to go, but she is so ill of a morning the thought of being cosseted by Miranda was too tempting in the end, the poor darling. As soon as this book is finished and at the printer’s I can gallop to Wychwood to join her in approved Haile style, so you had best get this business of yours wrapped up faster than I can wield a pen,’ Wulf said as if trying to get his old cynical air back, but the joy of being loved and the prospect of a child didn’t leave room for any.

  ‘Isabella is healthy as a horse,’ Magnus said to reassure his brother. ‘Although you two could have waited a little longer before making me an uncle again, if you ask me.’

  ‘I love her too much to be careful,’ Wulf admitted shortly.

  ‘I did notice. Jem and I are hoarse from shouting greetings at one another under your bedchamber windows, so you can get out of bed and say hello to your family once in a while.’

  ‘Is that what you were doing? We thought you must be going deaf.’

  ‘Did you, now? Well, congratulations anyway, little brother,’ Magnus said and slapped Wulf on the back. He was glad Wulf could shout his delight from the rooftops as soon as he knew Isabella was safe after the birth. ‘I hope it’s not twins,’ he added absently.

  ‘Oh, Lord, I hadn’t thought of that,’ his brother said with a dazed look in his eyes at the idea of two babies instead of the standard one. Wulf had gone from lone wolf to devoted husband and father very suddenly, so no wonder he was shaking his head as if he couldn’t quite believe it.

  Magnus wondered about a very different future from the one he thought he’d wanted for himself even a week ago. Wulf was living proof a man’s life could change between one second and the next, wasn’t he? But, no, that wasn’t going to happen to him. Mrs Champion wouldn’t want to be landed with a shop-soiled fool like him after marrying a very different one last time.

  ‘Twins,’ Wulf said in a dazzled voice.

  ‘Come on, Romeo. There’s a book for you to finish and felons to catch before you take that idea to Derbyshire and break it to Isabella as gently as you can.’

  ‘It might not be,’ Wulf said as if he was reassuring himself.

  ‘Of course not. Mama had five of us before the twins came along. But you had best go and tell Peg your news while I watch Master Tobias and your misbegotten hounds for you because she will never forgive you if you leave her out.’

  Chapter Eleven

  Hetta heard exclamations of boyish joy and happy yips and barks coming from the kitchen garden where she was picking blackcurrants for Cook in an attempt to make herself useful. She would have to trust Magnus to keep an eye on Toby and what sounded more like half-a-dozen dogs than two. This was a family home and she should not be here, but she didn’t want to leave what felt like the peace and safety of Develin House, despite last night’s events. A kidnapper might be lying in wait for them out in the real world and her lovely confidence in her ability to protect her son was draining away by the moment. Of course, she had slept with a pistol under her pillow plenty of times when Toby was a tiny, vulnerable little being with only her between him and disaster. How she had cursed herself for ever setting out with him on her own with the benefit of hindsight as she searched for her father in recently war-torn lands. Too late to go back by the time she fully took in the risk she was running, but she hated herself for putting her precious baby through so much because she didn’t have the courage to stand up to her formidable grandmother and bring up her baby her own way.

  Now she could afford to travel in style whenever she did so without her father. She could pay for secure places to stay and reliable guards and outriders whenever she thought they were needed, but this was different. They were in England now and should be safe, but instead she felt as if someone had kicked the legs out from under her. The temptation to cling to the nearest solid object was nigh overwhelming, especially when he happened to be Magnus Haile and she wanted to cling to him anyway.

  Even as her fingers picked steadily and the bowl grew full of the
rich fruits of high summer, she had to stop herself tipping up the stool and running to reassure herself Toby was safe. She had to trust Magnus and his younger brother to keep him within sight and safety. If she got so anxious she refused to let her son out of her sight, trouble would follow as surely as night followed day as Toby grew more and more restless at such a restriction on his freedom. She dreaded the thought of trying to track down a runaway son before a kidnapper could catch Toby. So, what on earth was she going to do? The thought of lodgings somewhere quiet felt like sitting waiting for an enemy to pick them off now and she tried not to let the fact she might never see Magnus Haile again weigh in the balance.

  ‘There you are,’ the man himself said as if she was hiding, which she had been, so he was right in a way, wasn’t he?

  ‘Yes, here I am,’ she said brightly.

  ‘We need to talk about the future, Mrs Champion.’

  ‘Do we? Then I foresee a blackcurrant tart quite soon,’ she said nonchalantly, wondering where this particular Haile was proposing to bundle her off to next.

  ‘Could be messy,’ he said casually and even a night half-asleep in a chair had left him a very different man from the wounded drunkard she encountered yesterday.

  An image of dark, sweet juice slipping from her lips as she gazed at him spellbound, so it could be licked away by a lover before it got anywhere dangerous, was enough to make her avoid his acute gaze as she tried to dampen the heat at the heart of her and slow her breathing to normal. What on earth was the matter with her? Her imagination had never been so racy and louche before and she was nearly sure she didn’t like it.

  ‘We had best make sure Cook doesn’t press one on us when we leave,’ she said as if worrying about the upholstery of a hired coach was her biggest concern.

  ‘Speaking of leaving, Wulf and I have a plan for that.’

  ‘How ingenious of you,’ she said, stung that he seemed so keen to get rid of her.

  ‘Now don’t be like that, Mrs Champion,’ he said as if she was being sweetly unreasonable, but here she was having fantasies about him while he only wanted to see the back of her as fast as possible, so why shouldn’t she be?

  ‘Call me Hetta, for goodness’ sake,’ she corrected him sharply, as if he was being wilfully formal by calling her that when he had no idea what her first name was.

  ‘At least I can now, when we are alone.’

  ‘We are about to part very likely for good, so it won’t cost you much effort.’

  ‘No, we are not.’

  ‘Are you going to kidnap us as well, then?’

  ‘If I have to.’

  ‘Why would you take so much interest in a pair of strangers?’

  ‘Because you don’t feel like one and you seem to be in danger because of our family muddles. Wulf and I have decided he will stay in Worthing to make sure our mother and little sisters are safe and I will remain here with you. It’s the only way to stop any risk of last night’s villain being able to threaten your father’s investigation of our father’s murder.’

  ‘I thought you didn’t much care if he was caught or not and what right have you or your brother got to dictate where I go and what I do?’

  ‘We don’t, but the world will point a finger at Mama and the girls if Sir Hadrian does not find either of us guilty. Even the thought of such a future for them makes me determined to find out who really did it. As for dictating to you, I hope common sense will argue it is the best idea, but perhaps I overestimate you.’

  ‘Why would it?’ she said scornfully because she knew about this sneaky longing she had to cling to him like a limpet and, hopefully, he did not.

  ‘If you set off in a hired coach with only your son for company you could be waylaid wherever this abductor chooses. Whoever tried to take your son last night might pay a coachman to take you straight to him or choose to drive the thing himself and how would you stop him?’

  ‘With ball and powder and any other means to hand,’ she said with pretend confidence, because he was right, of course, but that didn’t make being told what to do any less irritating somehow.

  ‘This isn’t bandit country, Hetta. Shooting any stray man who decides to ride up close to your coach in order to ogle you is frowned upon by the justices here.’

  ‘I only shoot out-and-out villains,’ she said with a very straight look to tell him he had best be glad she didn’t have a pistol in her hand right now.

  ‘Have you ever done so?’ he said, sounding intrigued, and why did he have to possess a sense of humour as well as all that arrogant glamour? It really was most annoying of him to disarm her with it at the wrong moment.

  ‘I fired wide, because even you must know how inaccurate a small gun is and I didn’t want him bleeding all over the place,’ she said casually, although the idea of putting a bullet in any living creature still filled her with horror.

  ‘I hope you have a pair of them, then, or did you make him wait to be shot while you reloaded a lone one?’

  ‘Never you mind. What have you and your brother decided I am to do next even if I can defend myself?’

  ‘Shooting anyone who looks at you the wrong way is not classed as defending yourself under British law and I only meant to make a suggestion of what we might do to stop you having to shoot anyone before you decide I’m next.’

  An idea he intended she would go along with if his arrogant certainty had anything to do with it. ‘I will be certain to let you know if you ever get me angry enough for that, but kindly explain this notion of yours, since I cannot go armed to the teeth.’

  ‘Hetta the Bandit Queen fills me with terror,’ he said with a hot look to give his words the lie.

  ‘As well I left her on the other side of the Channel, then,’ she told him with a very straight look to say, Stop trying to seduce me with words. I still want to know what you are up to. The trouble was he might manage it if she let him, even out here in broad daylight with the kitchen windows close by and her knowing better.

  ‘Did you, now?’ he asked, with a faraway look in his eyes at the very thought of such a mythical version of her it made her want to snatch off her sun hat and wave it in front of her hot face.

  ‘Stop it,’ she ordered him as brusquely as she could when her voice sounded husky and sun warmed even to her own ears. ‘Your plans for my immediate future, if you please, Mr Haile?’ she demanded and heard the disastrous half-promise of seeing about that bandit version of herself after all this was over beneath the anger.

  He grinned as if he heard it, too. ‘I have four sisters, Hetta. The eldest has a gift for lofty scorn you would envy. You should compare notes.’

  ‘Why would we trouble ourselves to do such a thing?’

  ‘Nicely done, but Lady Mary would add a steely hauteur I don’t think you will learn if you live out your century and Norfolk is a little out of the way for us this time.’

  ‘Out of the way of what?’

  ‘Intrigued?’

  ‘No, annoyed,’ she lied.

  ‘You like my next sister Aline, though, don’t you? Toby does nothing but sing her praises as a far more learned and much cleverer person than I am. He is right, of course, but she would make an ideal companion on your journey, if we can persuade my mother to spare her to us.’

  ‘What journey, you annoying man?’

  ‘Definitely intrigued.’

  ‘No, just furious and about to throw a basket of blackcurrants at you.’

  ‘You couldn’t reach me from there,’ he argued.

  ‘Maybe not, but your snowy shirt and that lovely waistcoat would be ruined by any strays that hit you.’

  ‘Lovely?’ he asked with a revolted look, as if the very idea was unmanly.

  ‘Well, it is very fine,’ she said with a mocking look. She admired the way the silk back moulded to his leanly muscular body and the stiffer brocade outlined his fron
t and was secretly glad it was too hot for him to wear a coat around his own home on a day like this, but she was hardly going to tell him so, was she?

  ‘Behave yourself,’ he drawled as if he knew she was distracted by his manly physique, even when she was trying so hard to be angry with him for making plans behind her back and once being Lady Drace’s lover.

  ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

  ‘Oh, I think you do, Hetta.’

  ‘I wish I’d never told you my name now,’ she said as she felt a blush give her away.

  ‘I can’t let you dash round the country falling into scrapes while I stay here and wait for you and your son to be kidnapped,’ he said, quite serious at last. ‘Think how desperate this man who came after Toby last night must be if he was the one who murdered my father, Hetta. He knows he will swing for it if he’s caught, so there’s no barrier left for him to cross that will make him hesitate before he defends himself by whatever means come to hand. He has nothing left to lose by doing all he can to keep your father off his scent because once his actions come to light he will be a dead man anyway.’

  ‘And for his sake I lose my freedom?’ Hetta agreed wearily.

  ‘Nobody said it was just, but you can have it back as soon as he is safely in jail, or wherever else your father and his masters choose to put him, but for now, please will you go along with my plan and give us some chance of catching him.’

  ‘Am I to be a moving target to make that more likely, then?’

  ‘No, that’s the very last thing I want.’

  ‘Tell me what it is,’ she said with a sigh.

  ‘You agree?’ Magnus sounded incredulous when she nodded after he outlined his plan for her and Toby to tour whichever parts of the south and west took their fancy. With Lady Aline and Peg for company and propriety and him and Jem as a discreetly armed and very watchful escort.