His to Keep (Regency Scoundrels Book 2)

by Mathews, Marly

  “To be fair to Louis-Daniel, Mama…he wasn’t the one that drew a bit of St. Martin’s blood, even though he might have taken credit for it, and my wife did shoot Louis-Daniel first.”

  “Well, I shan’t reprove him on that but I shall tell him to control his men a bit more. They…they are not all as civilized as we are. Now, fetch him home, so I can give his ears a good blistering.”

  “Yes, Mama. Pray, do not fret. I shall keep an eye on Louis-Daniel. I will make certain he doesn’t do too many reckless things.”

  “That relieves some of my worry. As long as you always stay close to him—he shouldn’t give into the little monster that always sits on his shoulder. I worry…I worry that he shall follow in his mother’s footsteps. She was a viciously cunning woman…she played with men’s emotions like they were a game at a gaming hell. I can’t bear it if he ends up like her.”

  “That will happen over my dead body.”

  “Thank you, Son. And whatever you do, don’t make any rash decisions yourself. Pray, do not gamble with fate.”

  “I already have gambled with my life. I married Gemma.”

  “Ah, well. I suspect you will one day look back and think that was the best moment of your life.”

  Speaking of keeping an eye on people, did you allow Gemma to have full run of the grounds?” Her eyes filled with curiosity, as she craned her neck to look at the windows.

  “My lord,” their butler rushed into the room. “Lady Northam had a horse saddled for her and her nephew. I think, I think she is plotting to escape you, my lord. I can’t imagine why she’d want to do that but that is what a maid tells me she overheard.”

  “I think you should go and deal with that matter, Archie. Did you tell her that there was no hope of getting off the island on her own?”

  “She thinks we are in Ireland,” he chuckled.

  “It would seem to me Archibald Campbell that you’ve failed to mention a lot of things.”

  “Perhaps,” he said carelessly, giving his mother a lopsided grin, earning him an indignant snort.

  “Now, would you like to go after your wayward wife, or would you like me to help you?”

  “I can handle her on my own, but thank you for the offer.” He laughed.

  “From what I have seen Lady Northam, shan’t let you put a halter around her neck and lead her about by it.”

  “Of course, she wouldn’t, nor would I try to.”

  “Have they left the property, Pettigrew?” his mother asked calmly.

  “Oh, aye, I expect they are halfway to the village by now, Your Grace.”

  “It sounds as if you had better hasten to catch up with them,” his mother said, her eyes twinkling. That was the first time he had seen her eyes light up in such a way. Oh, how he missed seeing it.

  “Blast and damn.” He jumped up and flew out the door.

  *****

  “Aunt Gemma, how are we going to get back to England?”

  Charles rode alongside her on his own horse. During his time with them, Mallory had groomed him into quite the good little equestrian.

  “We shall have to hire a boat, oh, I don’t know, Charles. What do you think we should do?”

  “I think we should have stayed back there with Lord Northam, and his mother.”

  She looked over at Charles, aghast.

  “How can you say that?”

  “I don’t want to go sailing off into the unknown, Aunt Gemma. Besides, we…we won’t be alone for much longer. They’ll come for us, won’t they? And…and ain’t you Lord Northam’s wife? Don’t you, don’t you have to stay by his side?”

  “I do not.”

  “Most wives, do.”

  “Oh, Charles, really. I had expected more from you.”

  “I think we should go back, Auntie. I think we should go back before we get into more trouble.”

  “Do have any idea of our location, Charles?”

  “We ain’t in England,” he said.

  Their voices carried over the whipping wind. A gale was starting to brew, and soon they would be doused with water.

  “I think we are off the coast of Scotland, Aunt Gemma. I might be wrong, though.”

  “Then, we are on a Scottish Island.” She nodded her head thoughtfully. Of course, it all made sense. Archie’s family were probably the lords of this island. Apprehension tickled her scalp.

  “I think you’re right, Charles. I did act hastily. We should have remained with Lord Northam. I shouldn’t have run. I am dreadfully sorry.”

  “No harm done. We can turn about right now, and none will be the wiser. They’ll just think we went out for a nice little ride. The Duchess is quite nice. She said I could call her Mama as everyone else did.”

  “You should call her the Duchess, or Your Grace,” Gemma chastised.

  “I suppose I should,” Charles sighed. “Why…why did Archie do what he did?”

  “He thinks that he has to strike back against Mallory for something he thinks that Mallory did.”

  “And did he do it?” Charles asked bluntly.

  “Yes, but it’s complicated, he didn’t do it on purpose and I’m certain he is plagued by guilt because of what he did,” she said firmly. “Mallory is ruthless, but he’s not cruel.”

  “Good. Can we stop Lord Northam from hurting them?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, sighing heavily. “I think…I think…I think he might give it all up for me.”

  “Then, then we do need to go back. Uncle Mallory can fight him, but he can’t fight him as long as he has you. Perhaps, you can broker a truce between them. Maybe you already have.”

  “How can you sound so wise when you’re so young?”

  “I’ve seen most of the world, that’s why,” he said cheekily. He turned his horse about. “I’m so chilled, I can’t wait to have some hot chocolate, and the hot chocolate that Miss Isla makes is the best.”

  “Don’t let Seamus hear you say that. He thinks he makes the best hot chocolate.”

  “I won’t tell, if you don’t,” Charles said impishly. She laughed, and followed him back to the castle. That’s when the heavens opened up and poured buckets of rain down on them.

  “Now, I’m really cold.” Charles’s teeth started to chatter. She inwardly agreed with Charles. She was numb to the bone. The rough sea wind from the coast was making it hard for her to see one foot in front of her.

  “Just hold on, and we’ll be back to the castle in no time.”

  “I hope you’re right about that,” his voice was lost on the howling wind.

  She pulled her cloak closer about her, and still her teeth chattered. Her hair was wet, her hood had been blown off by the wild wind, and she had never been so damn cold in all of her life. Christ Almighty. She was going to catch her death.

  “Gemma!”

  She heard Archie’s call with relief flowing through her heart. She was so happy to hear his voice, that she even welcomed facing his wrath. She couldn’t escape him no matter how hard she tried, or how far she ran. He’d always find her and haul her back to his side. Her body was growing weak.

  “Aunt Gemma? Are you hurt? You are shivering really badly. I guess you aren’t used to this harsh and damp weather. We used to get rained on all the time back when I was on my ma’s ship. She never let me sleep below, so I was stuck trying to find someplace to sleep on deck that wasn’t too cold or wet. I don’t think you have the constitution for this type of weather. You’re just a delicate little blue blood.”

  “I’m fine, Charles,” she said, but her chattering teeth and shivering body told another story.

  “Keep your chin up, Aunt Gemma. Don’t…despair, we’ll get back there in time.”

  “I know, Charles.”

  “You should stick close to Lord Northam from now on. He knows how to take care of you.”

  “Does he?” she asked weakly.

  “He does,” Charles said firmly. She tried to muster the strength to give him a rebuttal, and couldn’t.

 
; She slumped forward. Her lungs were burning again, and instead of feeling cold, she was now feeling oh so cold. Her fingers felt like they were going to freeze right off. How could it be this cold at the end of April?

  She had to hold on, just a while longer. They would be safe soon, safe from the cold and the thrashing storm, but would she be safe from Archie? “I think I might be coming down with a fever, Charles. I feel quite wretched, and my throat is terribly sore.”

  “You never should have left your nice warm fire,” he said.

  She coughed.

  “You’ll be all right, here comes Lord Northam, and oh, no, that wicked Frog is with him.”

  “My dear, Charles that wicked Frenchman is his brother.”

  “I know, but that doesn’t make him any less wicked.”

  She smiled. Hazy images filtered through her fevered brain. Images of England, past and present filled her mind, and they all melted into each other. She could hear Mallory and Malcolm laughing as they chased her through the gardens at Chichester Castle. She could see Malcolm looking smart in his Royal Naval uniform before he went away to war. Her heart hurt.

  “Gemma?” She was slipping off the horse, even though Charles was trying to keep her from falling.

  “Lord Northam, she’s really sick. She’s just raging with fever.”

  “We have to get her to my mama. She and Isla will know what to do.”

  “I’m worried for her.”

  “She’ll be fine, boy.” She could hear Louis-Daniel speaking in the background. “She’s just too much of a bitch to die.” Somehow, they lifted her off her horse, and placed her into the carriage they had brought. He covered her with warm rugs, and pulled her up against him.

  “We need to get you out of those wet clothes,” he said, worry bleeding through his voice.

  “Take me home, please.”

  “I’m taking you home, Gemma. Stay with me, Gemma. Don’t go anywhere where I can’t find you.”

  She was spent. She couldn’t stay awake any other. Closing her eyes, she fell into a dreamland where Malcolm was alive—and Archie was her knight in shining armor, come to vanquish the villains in her life.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “What’s happened? Did she fall from her horse?” His mother asked anxiously, running through the great hall toward him. Take her upstairs at once, she is soaked through to the bone.” His mother touched Gemma’s forehead. “Gracious, she’s burning up. We have to get her out of those wet clothes, and get her warmed up. “We need Isla and I think she went to the village…”

  “Say no more, I will go and fetch her home,” Louis-Daniel said gallantly. “I wouldn’t care but seeing as she is your wife, I shall endeavor to save her life.”

  “Go and ride fast and hard,” Archie ordered.

  “That’s the only way I ever do anything—fast and hard.” Louis-Daniel laughed, delighting in his play on words. He shook his head.

  “Stop wasting time, Louis-Daniel. I can’t lose her…I love her, God, how I love her.”

  “You amaze me, brother. How can you love such a creature? Why…you haven’t even shared her bed yet.”

  “Louis-Daniel,” his mother said sharply, “Go, now. There is no time to tarry.”

  “Aye, Mama,” he said, bowing, he turned around and hurried from the castle. There was one thing he could always count on with Louis-Daniel, he never failed to listen to their mother.

  “What should I do?” Charles asked, looking wildly between them all.

  “Go and see my husband, Charles. He is in the Library, and I do believe that seeing you might lift his spirits. Perhaps, perhaps, you could read a book to him.”

  “It would have to be a fairly easy book I barely know how to read, mum.” She smiled at him. “In that case, we shall have to take up your studies.”

  Charles pulled a face. “I should have kept my mouth shut,” he said. “You’ll take care of her, won’t you?”

  “We will, now off with you,” his mother said sternly.

  *****

  Charles scurried off in the direction of the Library. He’d been exploring the castle since they’d arrived. Creeping silently into the room, he looked at one of the large chairs by the grand fireplace. A man sat with a blanket over his legs and an open book in his lap. As he crept closer, he found out that the man looked a lot like Archie, and he was old, a lot older than Archie’s mother. His eyes fluttered open suddenly, and settled on Charles.

  “Jamie?” he asked, confused.

  “My name is Charles,” he said nervously. “I was told to come in here and keep you company.”

  “Told?” the older man’s eyes narrowed, and he sat up straighter in his chair.

  “By the Duchess…”

  “Oh, aye, my wife is quite adapt at telling people what to do,” he sighed, and stared over into the crackling flames. “Why are you wet?”

  “I was out in the storm.”

  “It seems to me that my wife must have been distracted. I think you should go and change out of those wet clothes, son.”

  “I’m used to it. Don’t worry about me, sir.”

  “You are dripping all over my rugs.”

  “Oh…I’ll go and change, and then…then…maybe you can read to me. I don’t think I can handle reading a thick book like that to you. That beastly thing has too many words in it, too many big words that I don’t know, and probably can’t get my tongue around let my eyeballs around them.”

  “My wife told you to read to me?” he asked softly.

  “Yes, sir, she did. I could tell you some stories of my time at on the high seas but they might not be polite enough for your genteel company.”

  “You have been at sea?” the man’s eyes were sad.

  “Yes, I was born with the sea in my blood. I think I was even born on a ship. I don’t know. I was born a bastard.” Charles actually didn’t know for certain. His mother never told him, and it was too late to ask her now.

  “Oh, pah. No man should worry about the circumstances of his birth. Go and change into some dry clothing, lad, and then…then…when you come back, I shall tell you a story or two that ought to delight a wee one such as yourself.”

  *****

  Archie sat grimly by Gemma’s side.

  Louis-Daniel had returned with Isla and she was doing what she could. He had also located the doctor on the island, and found him too far in his cups to be of any use to them. From what he had gleaned, Louis-Daniel had left the leech a bit of a bloody mess.

  Once this was all over, Archie was determined to see to it that the island received a doctor that wasn’t bosky at all hours. The islanders deserved that much.

  “You should go and get some sleep, sir,” Isla said, pressing another cold cloth against Gemma’s forehead.

  “I will stay here.” He looked over to where his mother had fallen asleep in a chair. His father was keeping Charles busy and out of their hair, thank heavens, and from how animated his father suddenly looked Charles was doing him a world of good. Their parents had been odd for their class—they had actually taken in interest in their children’s lives, and his father found children to be quite entertaining.

  “You are different from your brother,” Isla said softly. Isla had been his nanny and still watched over him a little too closely for his taste.

  He snorted. “I don’t think I’m that different. We can both be selfish bastards.”

  “You don’t hold onto hate as furiously as he does.”

  “Louis-Daniel is a passionate fellow, he has French blood in his veins that has been rather watered down in mine.”

  “Aye, and his passions shall either be his salvation…or his damnation. You must endeavor to talk some sense into the man.”

  “I suppose I am more reserved.”

  “Indeed. I’m glad to know that you have a bit more restraint. You haven’t forced her to do anything she doesn’t want to do, which is something to be admired in a man. I have raised you well.”

  “I don’t t
hink even Louis-Daniel does that to women, he is no beast, Isla.”

  “Oh, I know,” she sighed. “He just…the fire inside of his soul frightens me at times.”

  His mother yawned, waking from her slumber. “Louis-Daniel doesn’t have to force the women to do his bidding. His charm enchants them to do whatever he wishes.”

  “He hasn’t charmed Gemma,” Archie said.

  “He wouldn’t though, would he?” his mother asked softly, “her heart belongs to you, and if a woman is truly in love, no amount of charm can pull her away from the man who possesses her heart.”

  Gemma started to moan in her sleep, her head moving on the pillow. She looked as if she was in the throes of some silent battle. He wished he could pull her out of her feverish nightmares and bring her back to him where he could keep her safe. As the wind battered against the windows, Isla stood up and closed the shutters.

  “There’s a devil of a storm being waged out there,” she shuddered.

  “And a devil of one being waged inside of Gemma right now as well,” Archie mused.

  “I think we should all get ready for a long vigil,” his mother whispered. “None of us shall sleep soundly until your wife pulls through this.”

  “Malcom, no!” Gemma cried, her eyes opening briefly, and then closing again. “Don’t go…don’t leave us…I fear…I fear you won’t return.”

  “Malcolm?” Margaret looked up at him. “Who is Malcolm?”

  “Malcolm was her eldest brother, the one that is dead.”

  “Oh.” His mother looked crestfallen. “She sounds so plaintive. They must have been close.”

  “Closer than what she is with Mallory.”

  “It’s always the good ones that are taken too soon,” his mother mused. And though he knew she meant to insult to him, he couldn’t help but feel a little wounded by her statement.