“However, you have planted the seed of truth which he will discover is all too real soon enough, and so he will see that I am indeed, as you supposed, the kind of husband it would be better to escape via a pirate ship, rather than face marrying.”
“My Lord!” she whispered, mortified.
“Come, come, Henri,” he said, his mouth twisted into something resembling a smile. “I am not the least bit offended by the truth, and it should play to our advantage, if, as I suspect, my brother has feelings for you himself. He does I take it?”
Henri opened and closed her mouth, quite at a loss for what to say. Alex sighed and looked to the heavens with annoyance.
“If we are to proceed at all, I must insist that you are frank with me. I really have no patience for coy or coquettish behaviour”
Henri huffed but found she still didn't have an answer. Hesitating, she looked down and took a moment to carefully smooth the drapes of her skirts while she tried to formulate an answer. “I-I believe, that he is a little fond of me, yes, but after all we have known each other such a short time and ... And he went to great pains to make me understand that he would never marry me.”
She dared look up and found the grey eyes scrutinising her. “Because he did not wish to or because he was in no position to do so?”
Henri plucked an imaginary piece of lint from her sleeve and wished heartily that she could move the conversation to safer ground. This man really was the limit, to have to discuss such matters as she hardly understood in her own mind in such terms was appalling, and quite improper.
“I do not know,” she snapped, quite out of patience with him. “I only know that he believed he would be an outlaw and that the addition of a wife would hinder him such that he would likely be caught again soon enough. Whether that implies that he would like to offer for me if the circumstances were otherwise, or if he sought to let me down gently, I know not.”
She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms wishing she had the nerve to throw something at him, for she felt he deserved it far more than Lawrence had.
Whatever it was she had said it seemed to resolve something in the earl's mind.
“Very well then. You will go to Lawrence, and I will make sure you have the privacy to do so. He will likely endeavour, as he did with me, to extract a promise from you to marry me so that your future is secure, and because for some fool notion he believes we will be happy together.” They shared a look of equal incredulity and distaste. “Quite,” Alex added with an appalled expression which was really most insulting. “So at first you will protest, and I would suggest, if you do indeed love him, you take the opportunity to tell him so.”
Henri blushed scarlet and looked anywhere but at Alex. She had hardly admitted the idea to herself, and even though she suspected it was likely true ... well really. She felt his amused grey gaze hover over her but refused to look up so he continued.
“In the end, however, you will accept his argument and agree, and it might be an idea at this moment to make a point in my favour in front of him.” Henri looked up at that and was met with the faintest lift of one eyebrow. “Well surely you can think of one?” he said, with a dry tone. Henri gritted her teeth. She knew as well as he did that he was an extremely handsome man and such a remark should not be hard to find. The idea of deliberately trying to make Lawrence jealous however made her slightly nauseated..
“It's for his own good," he snapped with impatience.
She let out a huff of anger at the ill-mannered, odious man! “Very well," she said with an equally sharp reply.
“Good. Once that is settled we will give him ample opportunity to observe us together. At first it will seem all is quite well between us, with luck just a little jealousy might be enough to shake him from his moral high ground, but if, as I suspect, Lawrence is made of sterner stuff, we may be forced to move onto rather darker tactics.”
Henri looked up, alarmed. “Whatever do you mean?”
Alex shrugged. “Simply that we illustrate that I will be an appalling, tyrannical and cold husband who will never love you as you deserve and eventually make your life such a misery that you will be condemned to die of a broken heart or shame or ...” He waved his hand, looking faintly disgusted. “Some other mystery illness as tends to happen to ladies of that romantic ilk. Though I hope we will not need to take things quite so far as to endanger your health,” he added with a smirk.
Scowling at him, Henri wondered how the devil he knew anything about romance, the man clearly didn't have a romantic bone in his body. “You're all kindness,” she remarked with asperity.
He chuckled at her obvious annoyance. “Well then, you know what to do.” She tutted at him as he made a shooing motion and got to her feet, only pausing as his voice followed her to the door. “I take it you do have at least a vague idea of how to make love to a man?” he asked her with all the mocking arrogance of a confirmed rake.
She refused to dignify his shocking question with any other answer than a forceful slam of the door, but she heard his laughter follow her quite clearly nonetheless.
Chapter 21
“Wherein the truth and a lie hurt just the same.”
Led by one of the earl's men, Henri was taken down into the dark and cramped confines of the hold. A makeshift cell had been formed using the hull and an arrangement of crates and barrels. A metal hoop protruded from an overhead beam, and from this draped a long line of chain. The chain then ran to metal cuffs, and Henri felt her heart contract as she looked upon Lawrence. He sat with his back against the hull on a thin pallet, his head bowed.
He looked up as he heard them approach and his smile made her breath hitch as his blue eyes caught the lamp light.
“Hello, Miss Morton, how very kind of you to call on me,” he said, all politeness and good manners, just as though she was calling on an old friend at home.
She swallowed hard and waited for the man who had brought her here to withdraw as Alex had promised he would. Once he was out of sight, and ear-shot, she hurried to Lawrence's side.
“Are you well?” she asked, looking him over for signs of abuse, still a little uneasy at putting her trust in Alex.
He chuckled and nodded. “Aye, don't fret on my account. My brother's men are all terrified of incurring his wrath and they have been instructed to treat me with respect. Do not let the chains trouble you. I have been well fed and handled with kid gloves I assure you. These …” he added, lifting his hands and rattling the chains. “Are just for show, and to keep the crew from becoming too suspicious.”
She sighed, feeling a little more secure in the earl's desire to help his brother.
“You see,” he said, his voice quiet. “I told you he was a good man.”
Henri looked down, frowning. She knew she had to play the part as Alex had instructed but she wasn't quite sure how to go about it. She decided the truth was the easiest path to take.
“He certainly seems to care for you very much,” she said, looking up and smiling. “Though, I still find it hard to trust him, he ... he seems such a cold man.”
“Truly?” Lawrence replied, obviously surprised. “I cannot see what you do at all. I know when I was a boy people thought him terribly proud and high-handed, but he was never so with me.” He shrugged. “He was always a stickler for the rules and propriety it's true but then, that's what our father made him. He was always conscious of his inheritance and the importance of being a good earl.”
Henri worried at her lip and wondered if she should tell him the truth. He'd find out sooner or later and perhaps it was better he hear it from her.
“What?” he demanded.
“Lawrence,” she began, trying to find words that would not anger him unduly. “What I said to you before, about your brother. I know it made you angry and I can see now why that is but ... But those things I said were true. He has a truly dark reputation. He is known as a rake and a scoundrel, he has been named an adulterer and there are rumours about ... well, all sorts of
things. I think when he believed you dead, he fell into despair, and he could no longer be the person he was. He is no longer the man of honour you remember,” she rushed on, seeing his face darken with anger. “Perhaps he is, in truth, but it is no longer what people believe of him.”
She watched him and held her breath, waiting for his outburst but he said nothing.
“He told me much the same thing,” he said, frowning. “And I care not what people believe of him. I have spoken with him and I find him to be the same as he ever was.” He looked up at her and reached out, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. “Don't you see, Henri, it is just as it was before. He is doing everything in his power to save me, despite the fact that he is courting great danger in doing so. If the truth of who I am was to get out, if they knew he helped me escape ... If he has as many enemies as you've led me to believe then there is every chance that he could hang alongside me if we are discovered.”
Henri frowned and looked down, his big hand still holding hers and she drew comfort from the contact. She hadn't really considered how big a risk the earl was taking but now she saw he was right. He was putting himself in danger to free his brother. He rose in her estimation considerably for that despite his wretched manners.
“And so you must see ...” he continued, and he reached out his other hand, his knuckle touching her gently under her chin to raise her head towards him. “You must see that I can do nothing more to put him in harm's way?”
She knew he was alluding to the plan Alex had made and frowned with annoyance. “He wants to help you, Lawrence. He wants his brother back.”
Lawrence let go of her hand and she heard a heavy sigh and the chink of chains as he moved to sit back against the hull of the ship. “His brother died ten years ago, and there is no saving him now.”
Henri folded her arms, scowling at the floor. She didn't have to feign annoyance to go along with Alex's plan. She was damned angry. If Alex wanted to help him why couldn't he just accept it? Alex was a grown man too-he knew the risks.
“He's agreed to marry you as arranged,” he said, and she looked at him sharply. He sounded so nonchalant, did he really not care at all? She could see nothing in his eyes to suggest that he did. She blinked hard and turned away.
“Well I don't agree to marry him.”
“Henri,” he said, the word spoken on a sigh, as though he was addressing a troublesome child. Perhaps that was all she was to him? A nuisance, something to be arranged safe passage through life in order to keep his conscience clear.
“Don't Henri me!” she snapped. “You gave me the diamonds so that I didn't have to marry. Well there, I shan't.” She glared at him and crossed her arms, only too aware that she did sound like a troublesome child now, but finding she didn't care. How dare he act as though arranging for her marrying his brother was of no consequence. Had she really meant so little to him? If so he was as much a rake and a scoundrel as the earl for taking advantage of her. How could he have kissed her with such ... Such feeling, if she meant nothing to him ? It was too much.
“It's for the best,” he said, and his voice was harder now, colder.
“The best for whom?” she demanded, her voice breaking. She got to her feet, too angry to sit beside him any longer “The best for you, you mean?” she said, turning on him in fury. “Then you can walk away and leave us and not feel guilty about it, is that right? No matter that I don't love him, or even like him? No matter that he needs you to stay because losing you broke his heart and changed him irrevocably? No, no.” She waved her hand, as though such words were trifles to him. “No, you run along and leave us and never give us another thought. Go off and find your men and raid and plunder until you're caught again and hanged, alone with none to care for you!” She discovered that she was shouting and on the verge of tears so she stopped abruptly and turned her back on him, fighting to keep her composure.
The silence seemed to fill the gloomy space, eating up the noise of the ship, the creak of wood and slap of waves, and the muffled shouts and thuds from the men working above them.
“If you think I would never give you another thought, then you are far from the truth.” His voice was bleak and full of hurt and she turned to see the sorrow in his eyes. Her fierce, burning anger dispersed, suddenly as frail as a soap bubble in the face of such misery.
“Oh, Lawrence,” she said, choking on his name and running to him. She buried her face against his shoulder and felt his arms come around her, holding her close as she gave in to tears. “Please, please don't go,” she begged. “Don't leave us. I can't bear it. I'll never see you again.”
He was silent, one hand stroking her hair, and she knew she would never change his mind. He was too afraid of putting them in danger, and so he would leave, and they would never see him again. There was only one thing left that she could do.
“Please, Henri. I want to know that you're safe, and I want Alex to be happy. He's the only man in the world I trust to look after you, the ... the only one I can bear the idea of you being with at all,” he said, and by now his voice was rough and her heart was soothed a little, to know that this was hurting him as much as it was her. “And I know that you are extraordinary enough to make him happy. You are the best two people in the world, and it would comfort me to know that you are content together.”
She closed her eyes, feeling hot tears stream down her face. Alex had better be right about this, she thought fiercely. Because if this didn't work ... She swallowed hard and raised her head.
“Alright, Lawrence, if it means so much to you, I'll do it. I'll marry your brother.”
Chapter 22
“Wherein a pirate tries for honour, and discovers a bleak future.”
Lawrence looked down at the big brown eyes, full of tears and unhappiness, and felt his heart clench in his chest. He would rather face a hoard of armed cut-throats than endure the hurt in those eyes. It was too much to bear. But he must, it was the only thing he could do for them both. He had caused his brother such harm, and indirectly Henri too. Keeping them safe was all he could do now.
For a moment he dreamed of what might have been. If he hadn't been such a hot-headed fool, defying his brother and running off with Mousy whose father was a smuggler; running tea and rum under the noses of the redcoats and the Water Guard. Mousy had worked in the stables and Alex had strongly objected to their friendship, sure that the older boy would lead him into trouble. As ever he'd been right.
But Lawrence hadn't seen the harm, neither in his friendship with Mousy nor in his involvement in smuggling. All he could see was that the people around him were starving when he had plenty. The local mines were failing, laying off men all along the county. If they could make money from smuggling then good luck to them, and more than that, it was an adventure. So he had agreed to go and meet the boats as they brought the load ashore. The life of a smuggler seemed to him a grand thing in any case, much more exciting than lessons and instruction, and learning to behave as a gentleman. Where was the fun in that? And besides he'd lost his ring, gambling with one of the village lads. It was the one that bore the family crest. His father would be furious if he lost it and the boy had promised to give it to him, if he helped them on a run. If he wasn't too scared? As if! And so he'd gone. He hadn't realised Alex had been working with the Revenue to protect his father's shipping interests.
And then the militia had arrived on the beach.
He closed his eyes against the memory of that night. If he hadn't been there that night life would have continued. His brother wouldn't have that dark shadow that fell across him now, for Lawrence had seen it just as Henri had, no matter that he denied it. Perhaps if he hadn't been such a fool he would have met Miss Morton at one of the local dances, or at a ball given by his father. He would have been entranced by those dancing eyes, enthralled by her wit and sharp mind, and that teasing smile. He would have courted her, tried to win her heart. Perhaps they would have married and lived happily, grown old surrounded by children and gra
ndchildren ... He forced the images from his mind. There was little point in dwelling on such sentimental nonsense. The past was dead and gone, he had chosen his path and torn apart the futures of others in doing so. Now, at last, there was a chance to make amends. Henri would be well cared for, she would never have to worry about money again, and perhaps she could chase the shadows from his brother's eyes.
And then he looked down again to see her watching him, and he felt as though he'd been laid bare, as if she'd seen it too, everything that might have been. And it hurt.
He didn't think about the right or wrong of it; and wasn't that always his problem, he just did what he felt in his heart and pulled her to him. He pressed his lips against that sweet, soft mouth and felt everything about him pitch and rearrange itself in the rightness of her embrace. She clung to him, her mouth opening to invite him in further and bastard that he was he accepted, with hunger and fire that raged in his blood and threatened to burn him to cinders. Somehow, though he wanted to remain forever lost in her kiss, he became aware of the sway of lamplight approaching and the heavy tread of a man moving towards them. He let go of her abruptly and found he could no longer meet her eyes.
“You'd best be getting back,” he said, hearing his own voice echo, and sound as hollow and dull as an empty casket. “Your fiancé will wonder where you've got to,” he added, wondering at himself and the spite he felt at the words, when he alone had done this. He had arranged it all.
He didn't look up as she moved away from him and went to meet his gaoler. But he looked after her as her slim figure receded into the shadows, as she walked away from him, and went back to his brother.
As he'd known he would, Alex appeared an hour or so later
“Well then,” Alex said, looking down at him with a resigned expression. “I don't know what you said but she has agreed to marry me.”
The Rogue Page 13
