“Where is Farrin?”
Benny didn’t answer. Xavier crouched beside him and shook his shoulder to get his attention. “What happened to Farrin? Is he alive?”
Benny shook his head. “He wouldn’t let me help him. I tried to save him, but he wouldn’t let me.”
Xavier sat back on his haunches. He couldn’t quite believe Farrin was gone, and there was no more danger.
Once Benny had recovered enough to walk, the three of them headed back to the carriage. Xavier saw that Regina was settled inside, but he was hesitant to leave her in Benny’s care.
“I will be all right,” she reassured him. “Benny has sworn an oath to protect you and everyone you love. He has proven himself tonight, wouldn’t you agree?”
Xavier was still uneasy about Benny’s shift in loyalties, but he had saved his life. And more importantly, Benny had protected Regina, the woman who gave his life meaning. In the end, he decided trusting Benny was preferable to leaving Regina alone.
Xavier found the duke and Lord Geoffrey near the water, and just as he’d expected, the duke’s days of terrorizing Claudine were finished. Xavier was unsure how he would explain their untimely demises to the local magistrate, but he couldn’t leave without possibly incriminating himself in their murders.
Xavier returned to the carriage and had Benny drive to the closest tavern. The magistrate and undertaker were summoned, while he and Regina shared a meal with Benny. When the magistrate arrived, he listened to Xavier’s accounting of the evening’s events.
“Two murders and the murderer drown,” the man repeated. “Sounds like you told us all we need to know. I bid you a good evening.”
Apparently in Wapping, a dead duke and his son didn’t cause much of a stir.
It was after midnight when Benny delivered Regina and Xavier to Wedmore House to insure that Regina’s family was safe. Benny set the brake and climbed down from the box.
“You do not need to see us inside,” Xavier said when the man tried to follow them.
Benny nodded. “Yes, sir. I will be here when you wake.”
“Here?” Xavier pointed to the walkway. “As in here on the street?”
“I should be close in case you need me.”
Xavier sighed. “For pity’s sake, you cannot sleep on the street.”
“Return the coach and make your way back here,” Regina said. “I’m afraid the guest room is already occupied, but we have an extra bed in the carriage house.”
“Just for tonight,” Xavier added so Benny didn’t get up his hopes that he would become a permanent guest at Wedmore House. “We will find you better accommodations tomorrow.”
Benny flashed a wide grin at Regina. “I told you we were friends. Mr. Vistoire is a good man.”
Regina returned his smile then gazed up at Xavier. “He is the best kind of man, Benny.”
Xavier and Regina slogged up the stairs after sending Benny on his way. She checked on her aunt and sisters, waking them briefly to inform them that she and Xavier were there for the night.
Sophia sat up in bed. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, dearest. We have no more cause for worry. Go back to sleep and I will tell you about it tomorrow.”
When she joined Xavier in her bedchamber, she limped to the bed and fell back on the mattress with her eyes closed.
Xavier came to stand over her. “What will your aunt and sisters think when they realize I brought you home limping?”
She aimed a sleepy smile at him. “They will think I am a very lucky wife.”
He chuckled and crawled on the bed beside her. “I am the lucky one. Even though you pushed me down the stairs and crowned me with a fire poker the first time we met.”
“I did not.” She lifted to her elbow and pretended to glower. “I told you, Cupid made you fall.”
“Oh, sure. Blame the dog.”
“You are impossible,” she said and rolled her eyes.
He flipped her on her back, pinning her arms against the mattress. “Impossible not to love.” He rained kisses all over her face. “Say it, Regina Vistoire. You love me. Say it.”
She was laughing and wiggling on the covers as he continued his barrage of kisses, but she managed to blurt, “I love you!”
He stopped teasing and cradled her face. “I love you, too.”
Epilogue
It had been three weeks since Regina and Xavier’s eventful wedding night, and Wedmore House was immersed in chaos. Regina hugged Cupid against her chest to keep him from darting out the door as two newly hired footmen carried trunks to the carriage under the new butler’s direction.
“Did you pack my riding habit?” Evangeline asked Ann, the lady’s maid they had hired to travel with them to Brighton and then on to Athens to find Uncle Charles.
“Yes, miss. As well as your riding crop and compass, the large stack of books from your bedside table, your magnifying glass, the trowel and brushes you keep in the battered box under your bed, and two extra nightrails. Have I forgotten anything?”
When the new maid mentioned nightrails, Evangeline blushed and her gaze shot toward Xavier, who had just come inside from overseeing the loading of her trunks.
It was a reminder to Regina that although her sister was blunt around her, Sophia, and Aunt Beatrice, she was still an innocent.
“You have been very thorough, thank you,” Evangeline said. “I should check the library once more, I think.”
She dismissed Ann and bustled from the foyer with her head down. Regina smiled and scratched Cupid behind the ears. Xavier ambled over to her. “Your sister seems to have packed the entire contents of her bedchamber.”
“I think she hopes Uncle Charles will allow her to stay behind when we return.”
A few days after her wedding, a brief letter from Uncle Charles had arrived reassuring everyone at Wedmore House that he was in good health. The markings indicated he had sent it from Athens. Unfortunately, in his letter, he indicated he didn’t know when he would return to London. There was a matter to settle before he could return home. Evangeline was convinced he was on the verge of an important discovery, and she wanted to be part of it.
He had wished Sophia a successful debut Season and promised to return no later than Christmas. Regina’s youngest sister had been disappointed that a marriage contract must wait, but she couldn’t change the circumstances.
Uncle Charles had closed his letter with a message for Regina. May Cupid surprise you in your sleep and drown you in kisses.
Xavier held his arms out to take the poodle when Regina’s efforts to contain him were losing effectiveness. “Would you like me to try to calm him?”
“By all means.” She surrendered the unruly little rogue.
Xavier cradled Cupid in his arms to scratch his belly and murmur to him in French. “Tu es un petit bâtard.”
Regina laughed. “He is going to think that is a term of endearment when you say it so sweetly.”
“It is.” Cupid’s tongue had flopped out of the side of his mouth and his eyes were closed. He was content for the moment. “Did Benny leave already? He is typically harder to get rid off than a case of gout.”
“He takes his new duties very seriously,” Regina said. “Claudine plans to go to the playhouse this morning, and Benny insists he must escort her.”
Xavier shook his head. “That woman has more patience than I do.”
Benny had been underfoot since the night at the docks, proving he was as loyal as a hound. Regina didn’t mind his presence, but Xavier often grumbled that a bit of privacy for newlyweds would be appreciated.
After the duke’s death, Claudine moved back to the town house. The duke had signed it over to her after an especially volatile evening in a bid to earn her forgiveness. She had sold some of the jewelry he had bestowed on her in place of apologies over the years to support herself.
Upon her return, Claudine had turned out all of the duke’s servants and hired replacements. She’d taken on Benny as well,
and because Xavier had asked Benny to take good care of Claudine, the man had become the actress’s shadow. He probably drove the other players at the small playhouse Claudine had recently joined batty, but no one would be giving her trouble.
With the last of Evangeline’s trunks loaded on the carriage, Sophia and Aunt Beatrice joined them in the foyer to say good-bye.
Sophia tossed her arms around Evangeline’s and Regina’s necks to deliver one giant hug to both. “If you find Uncle Charles in Greece, first give him my love, then bind his hands and feet and tote him back to London. Christmas is too long to wait.”
Crispin arrived in time to overhear Sophia’s comment. “Christmas will arrive before we know it, and what exactly are you waiting for?”
Sophia sniffed. “I am getting married.”
Crispin looked like he might swallow his tongue. “You’ve received a proposal? The Season has just begun.”
“Well, I haven’t received an offer yet, but Lord Ingram has hinted he might.”
He scoffed. “Putting the cart before the horse again, I see.”
“I am confident I will receive an offer soon.” Sophia squared off with him, hands on her hips. “Perhaps more than one, you boor.”
“Sophia,” Aunt Beatrice gently scolded. “Be kind to Lord Margrave. After all, he is curtailing his usual activities to escort us about Town the remainder of the Season.”
Sophia tossed her hands in the air. “Splendid. He will scare away every suitor. I am doomed.”
Regina and Xavier exchanged a knowing look. They were predicting Sophia would receive her offer of marriage, but it wouldn’t be from Lord Ingram.
“On that hopeful note,” Xavier said, “we should be going.”
Regina kissed Aunt Beatrice’s cheek and thanked Crispin for watching over her aunt and sister during their absence. Once they were settled in the carriage and underway, Evangeline smiled sympathetically at Xavier.
“You had no idea the family you were acquiring when you married my sister. They are mad.” Considering Evangeline was wearing goggles that made her eyes four times larger than normal and gave her the appearance of a bug, she might have thought to include herself among the madhouse residents.
Xavier squeezed Regina’s hand and smiled at her. “I acquired a lovely family, but even if I hadn’t, a little madness is a small price to pay to be with the love of my life.”
Coded Message
Received in London 21 May 1820
rlrutxsliupwkewejfwgtxrlhlmotzrgmvaexlumuuimyddxfxrrotrtgetnmwhxqkroketgvpgfihwzrvbsrsdlvztdeehvwaiprvbeonecvmkvprkwwmhtozqolignfqimhprydkdbtvib
Deciphered Message
Charles Wedmore has continued to evade capture, but I have finally tracked him to Greece. My mission is coming to an end at last.
Loyal servant to the King,
Sir Jonathan Hackberry
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my good friend Lori for her encouragement and enthusiasm from the start of this adventure. She helps me to remember to have fun along the way, and I appreciate her more than mere words can express. I’m also grateful to my husband for helping me work through plot issues. Some of my favorite scenes are often the result of one of our brainstorming sessions.
Thanks to my good friends and fellow authors Heather Boyd, Julie Johnstone, and Ava Stone for their guidance and generosity throughout this process. They are the best.
I would also like to recognize reader Nicole Laverdure and thank her for her assistance with Xavier’s French. I ran most of the phrases by her, but not all, so any mistakes made are my own.
Lastly, I want to thank my editor Karen Dale Harris for her excellent feedback and investment in this new series. Working with her was a pleasure.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RITA-nominated historical romance author, Samantha Grace, discovered the appeal of a great love story at the age of four, thanks to Disney’s “Robin Hood”. She didn’t care that Robin Hood and Maid Marian were cartoon animals. It was her first happily-ever-after experience, and she didn’t want the warm fuzzies to end. Now that Samantha is grown, she enjoys creating her own happy-endings for characters that spring from her imagination. Publisher’s Weekly describes her stories as “fresh and romantic” with subtle humor and charm. Samantha describes romance writing as the best job ever.
Part-time medical social worker, moonlighting author, and Pilates nut, she enjoys a happy and hectic life with her real life hero and two kids in the Midwest. To learn more about Samantha’s books, visit her at: http://samanthagraceauthor.com/index.html
Also by Samantha Grace
Novels
The Beau Monde Bachelors
Miss Hillary Schools a Scoundrel (book 1)
Lady Amelia’s Mess and a Half (book 2)
Miss Lavigne’s Little White Lie (book 3)
Lady Vivian Defies a Duke (book 4)
The Rival Rogues
One Rogue Too Many (book 1)
In Bed with a Rogue (book 2)
The Best of Both Rogues (book 3)
Kissed by a Scottish Rogue (book 3.5)
Novellas & Anthologies
Danby Family
Twice Upon a Time
Charming a Scoundrel
Secrets to a Gentleman's Heart (Uncle Charlie's Angels Book 1) Page 27
