Dark Rider

by Iris Johansen

  Her eyes blazed at him. “I’ll not forgive you for this.”

  “Then so be it,” he said sadly. “I won’t risk losing you.”

  “You’ve never had me. If you do this, you never will. Let me go with you. You need me.”

  An expression of agony crossed his features. “Do you think I don’t know what a risk I’m running? If I give in to you now, there’s a chance I could slide into Deville’s place in your life. I could let you take care of me and make my decisions. I could lean on your strength and bask in your affection.” He drew a deep breath. “But I’m not Deville, Lani. I need to know that you’re alive and well somewhere in this world even if it’s not by my side.”

  He followed Jared from the room. Neither man spoke until they reached the hired carriage waiting outside.

  “Do we have a plan?” Bradford asked. “Or is that too much to ask?”

  “We’re going to get her back.”

  “Masterly plan. How?”

  God, he didn’t know. He only knew she mustn’t die.

  “We’re in enemy territory. We can’t draw attention to ourselves,” Bradford said. “On the other hand, it’s clear Cambre doesn’t want to attract any surveillance, either. Then, too, we’re assuming Cassie needs rescuing, which may not be true. She’s an extraordinary woman.”

  “How calmly you’re taking all this.”

  “One of has to think.” He opened the door of the carriage. “I’m not sure you’re capable.”

  Jared tried to subdue his own panic and begin to reason. “We’ll look the situation over, and then we’ll—”

  “Monsieur le Duc?”

  Jared stiffened with shock as he whirled to face the man coming out of the shadows.

  “How charming you look.” Raoul smiled at her from the head of the table as her father seated her. “The lady who wore that gown last wasn’t nearly as lovely.”

  “I’m not at all charming.” Cassie indifferently glanced down at the sea-green gown one of the servants had brought her with the tub. “Why didn’t your guest take the gown with her?”

  “She displeased me. When she left, I allowed her nothing but the clothes on her back.” He gestured to the silver plate overflowing with a selection of fruit. “I hope you don’t mind serving yourself. I instructed the servants to go to their quarters and stay there.”

  “Why?” her father asked, startled.

  Cambre ignored the question and continued addressing Cassie. “I was certain the gown would be useful someday. One never knows when one is going to be visited by another lady who will prove more accommodating.” He smiled. “Tell me, did His Grace find you accommodating?”

  “Raoul!” Her father frowned. “This is my daughter.”

  “A daughter can be a whore.”

  The bald crudity of the words caused Cassie to stiffen. Cambre was still smiling, but his eyes were cold and watchful. The cat-and-mouse game was ended. He was on the attack, and Cassie found it a relief.

  “I’m not a whore.” She met his gaze. “And I don’t think His Grace would say I was accommodating.”

  “But he did tell you—”

  “That my father was dead,” she finished. “Yes.”

  “And he sent you to exact vengeance?”

  “I don’t go where he sends me. I came because I wished to do so.”

  “Perhaps you believed you were doing as you wished, but a clever man can pull the strings with such subtlety that the puppet isn’t even aware of the tug.”

  “As you do?”

  He nodded. “I’m a true master of the art.” He popped a slice of orange into his mouth. “Well, were you going to stab me with that pretty dagger?”

  “Possibly.”

  He chuckled and turned to her father. “She has courage.” His smile faded. “But I think you have one more reason to dispose of our old enemy. It’s clear he’s dishonored this sweet jeune fille.”

  “It’s not clear to me,” her father said.

  “Well, why don’t we ask him?” He rose to his feet. “He’s waiting in the library.”

  Cassie’s heart leaped to her throat.

  Cambre’s gaze was on her face. “What a revealing response,” he said softly. “I think you lie. I believe His Grace must have found you overwhelmingly accommodating.”

  She tried desperately to wipe every hint of expression from her face. “It’s a trick. He couldn’t be here.”

  “Of course he could. I sent for him when I left you this morning.”

  “You didn’t tell me,” her father said as he slowly rose to his feet. “You should not keep secrets from me, Raoul.”

  “Unfortunately, you have a softness for this lovely thing, and I’m weary of waiting in moonlit gardens for the man to pounce. I thought it might be better to draw in the net and bring the matter to a close.” He turned to Cassie. “I told him to come at once and unarmed, or I’d slit your throat. I wasn’t sure you’d be enough lure to bring him here, but I was pleasantly surprised.”

  Her throat was dry. “Unarmed? He wouldn’t do that. He hates you. I mean nothing to him in comparison.”

  “Then he’s extraordinarily gallant.” He moved toward the door. “I want this over. Bring her, Charles.”

  “I’ll bring myself.” She pushed back her chair and strode after him. She felt as if she were in a nightmare. Jared was a captive and it was her fault. He was going to die.

  No, she couldn’t let that happen.

  Cambre opened the library door and stepped aside. “After you, mademoiselle. We don’t want His Grace to be concerned for your welfare any longer than necessary. It would be unkind.”

  Jared was sitting in a chair facing the door. He went still when he saw her in the doorway. “Are you all right? He didn’t hurt you?”

  “You shouldn’t be here,” she whispered. “Why did you come?”

  “I had no choice.” Jared smiled. “He had something I couldn’t do without.”

  “You’re a fool. He’ll kill you.”

  “Those aren’t the tender words a man needs to comfort him in his last hours,” Cambre said as he pushed her into the room. “And after sacrificing himself for your sake, too. Most ungrateful.”

  “I’m here,” Jared said coldly. “Now, let her go.” He turned to Cassie. “Bradford is waiting for you in the carriage outside. He’ll take you to Lani.”

  “I can’t leave you here.”

  “She’s right, she can’t leave you.” Cambre drew a pistol from beneath his coat.

  “What are you saying, Raoul?” Her father entered the library. “Cassie has nothing to do with this.”

  Jared’s eyes widened as he recognized her father. “Deville?”

  Her father ignored him. “The trap was for Danemount. No one else was to be hurt.”

  “Sometimes the innocent are swept away with the guilty,” Raoul said as he locked the door. “But she’s far from innocent. She was ready to betray you. She played the whore with your enemy.”

  “She never betrayed you,” Jared said. “For God’s sake, don’t you know what she is? She traveled halfway across the world to try to save you.”

  “I don’t need you to tell me about my daughter.”

  “Then tell Cambre to go to hell and send her away from here.”

  Her father whirled on Cambre. “We’ll dispose of Danemount first and then we’ll discuss Cassie. Give me the gun. I’ll do it.”

  Raoul’s gaze narrowed on his face. “How brave you’re becoming. I assumed I’d have to do it myself.”

  “I’ve been running too long. I want it over, Raoul. Even if you give me a new start, he’d follow me.”

  “No!” Cassie moved between Jared and Cambre. “You’ll have to shoot me first.”

  “Dammit, get out of the way, Cassie,” Jared said.

  “You see, Charles.” Cambre smiled. “I can’t give you the pistol. You don’t have the courage to shoot your daughter to get to Danemount.” He raised the gun and pointed it at Cassie’s chest. “While I
have no such compunction.”

  She was going to die. A bullet was going to tear through her flesh and end her life.

  “Raoul, you don’t want to do this.” Her father started toward Cambre. “Let me have the pistol.”

  “Stay back.” Cambre didn’t shift the weapon, but his voice sharpened. “It’s exactly what I want to do. As you can see, I took the precaution of arming myself with a double-barreled pistol. So much more efficient than the usual weapon when one is never sure who one’s enemies may be. I’ll give you one minute to get that interfering bitch from my line of fire before I pull the trigger.”

  Jared suddenly moved to stand beside her. He said hoarsely, “Get out of here, Cassie.”

  “Don’t be stupid. I can’t do that.” She placed herself in front of him again and, facing him, put her arms around him. He muttered a curse and tried to break her hold, but she held tight with all her strength.

  “How touching,” Cambre said. “Quite like your Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, isn’t it, Your Grace? I think it fitting your tableau has the same ending.”

  She braced herself for the bullet.

  “You told me I could get Cassie away,” her father said. “Keep your promise.”

  “Oh, very well. But it’s a pity to spoil the—son of a bitch!”

  Cassie turned to see her father launch himself at Cambre.

  A second later they were on the floor, struggling for the pistol.

  Jared thrust her aside and darted toward the two men.

  A shot.

  Blood spattered the Aubusson carpet.

  Whose blood? Mother of God, whose blood?

  “Fool!” Cambre pushed her father off him. Deville rolled limply, his hands still grasping the pistol that had killed him. Cambre tried to reach for the pistol, but Jared dived toward him, his hands locking around Cambre’s throat.

  “Let me—go.” Cambre clawed at Jared’s hands. “We can—deal. I have power. I can—”

  Jared was strangling him, Cassie realized. She had never seen murder done. She supposed she should feel horror … something. She felt nothing but fierce satisfaction and regret that it had not been done sooner. Before that shot had taken her father’s life. She moved slowly across the room toward her father’s body.

  “Stop …” Cambre gasped. Then he said nothing at all as Jared’s hands tightened.

  She fell to her knees beside her father. His skin was pasty and pale, his white shirt bathed in blood. “Oh, Papa, no …”

  His eyes opened.

  She inhaled sharply in disbelief. He was still alive!

  “Didn’t want … to die …”

  “You won’t die.” She gathered him close. “I won’t let you.”

  “Is Raoul—dead. Did I kill him?”

  “Shh … yes.”

  “Had to—do it. Knew he—would never let—me live— Couldn’t—kill—Danemount—retribution.” He touched her cheek. “Lani.”

  “She’s not here. You can see her later.”

  “Take care of—Lani. I—never did. Wrong. So many wrongs …”

  “Shh, Lani loves you. I love you.”

  “Blessed … blessed …” His eyes closed and a long shudder went through him.

  Gone.

  Tears flowed down her face as she silently rocked him back and forth.

  “Cassie …” Jared’s hand was on her shoulder. “We have to leave. Someone may have heard the shot.”

  She gathered her father closer. “I won’t leave without him. He doesn’t belong here.”

  “I wasn’t suggesting you do,” he said gently. “Stay here and I’ll go to the carriage and send Bradford to fetch a wagon.”

  “It’s like losing him a second time,” she whispered.

  Jared’s hand tightened on her shoulder and then fell away. “I’ll be right back.”

  She watched him leave the library, then her gaze fell on the crumpled body of Raoul Cambre. His eyes were wide open and bulging from their sockets. He had not died easily.

  Good.

  She turned back to her father. He had not died easily either, but his expression was serene. Retribution, he had said. Had he gained absolution by that last act of sacrifice? She hoped it was true. Let him be at peace, she prayed.

  Forgive him.

  Let him forgive himself.

  Sixteen

  Jared arranged for Charles Deville to be buried the next morning in a cemetery near a small village just outside Paris. Through some machinations and Guillaume’s help, he even managed to have the village priest preside at the graveside.

  Cassie did not cry at the funeral. She felt frozen, barely able to think or feel.

  “We can stay here in the village tonight,” Jared said as he helped her into the carriage. “We don’t have to go on.”

  She supposed he was being kind. He didn’t realize that the man in the grave was no longer her father. Her father was somewhere else now. She wearily settled herself on the seat beside Lani. “I want to leave this place.”

  He studied her face, then nodded. “Very well. We’ll leave for the coast at once.” He turned away and mounted his horse.

  Lani’s hand covered Cassie’s as the carriage lurched forward. “You’re right, it’s wise to go on. After you say good-bye, you must not look back in sorrow.”

  Cassie smiled sadly. “They won’t understand the way we believe. The English think we must wear black weeds and flaunt our sorrow for months.”

  “Perhaps Jared is more understanding than you think.”

  “I don’t want to know if he is.”

  “You wish to keep him at a distance.” Lani nodded understandingly. “You think he cannot forget the past and all the bitterness. It was your father who bore the guilt, not you.”

  But would he ever be able to look at her without seeing her father and that scene at Danjuet? Now that she had accepted her father’s guilt, it seemed incredible Jared had even wanted to touch her. “If he could forget, there would still be no life for us. I couldn’t … It would be …” She was silent, then whispered, “I’m not as generous as you, Lani. I couldn’t occupy his bed and not his life. I’d want everything. I wouldn’t know how to be a duke’s mistress.”

  “No, you wouldn’t.” Lani squeezed her hand. “I’ll tell Jared you wish to go home.”

  She knew he would not accept it. She would have to stay out of his way, out of his sight. It should not be too difficult. As she had said, the English custom demanded a long period of mourning. Jared might have the reputation of ignoring tradition, but such beliefs were ingrained from childhood. “I need to leave right away.”

  Lani nodded. “It’s best for both of us. We have no place with these people now.”

  Josette met them when they rode into the courtyard at Morland.

  “Is everything all right? Are you angry with me? I had to tell him, Cassie. He said you were in danger, and I didn’t think it would matter since—”

  “I’m not angry.” Cassie held up her hand to stop the flood of words that was about to pour from Josette’s lips. “And I understand. But I’m very tired and would like to rest now.” She started up the steps. “Is Kapu well?”

  “Yes.” Josette stared after her, puzzled. “Don’t you want to go see him?”

  “Later.” She disappeared into the castle.

  “Leave her alone for a time, Josette,” Lani said. “She’s still mourning. We buried her father yesterday.” She turned to Jared. “Cassie and I spoke after the funeral. It’s time we went home. Will you see to arranging passage?”

  “Don’t be foolish,” he said roughly. “I’ll take you myself.”

  “That’s not necessary.”

  “It is to me.”

  “Then let it be done at once. She needs familiar things around her.”

  “It will take at least a week to put my affairs in order and ready the Josephine for a long voyage.”

  “Then start right away.” She turned and followed Cassie into the house.

 
Jared stared after her, his hands clenching on the reins. He couldn’t leave it like this. He wanted to comfort Cassie. He wanted to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be good again. He had to do something.

  “Think again, lad,” Bradford said as he dismounted. “Patience. She’s not ready.”

  “I know that.” He slid from his horse and threw the reins to Joe. “I’m not completely mad.” He started across the courtyard toward the stable.

  Josette ran after him. “Where are you going?”

  “For a ride.”

  “May I go with you?”

  Jared didn’t want company. He felt as tethered and on edge as Kapu when he had first been lifted aboard the Josephine.

  “Please,” Josette whispered.

  He nodded curtly. None of this was Josette’s fault, and he knew the pain of being closed out. Cassie had scarcely looked at him since they had left Cambre’s library. “Come along.”

  “Do you suppose Cassie would mind if I rode Kapu? I’ve been exercising him since she left.”

  He shook his head. “She won’t mind.” Christ, he was even feeling envy of Josette. Cassie had never allowed him to ride the stallion, never allowed him the camaraderie she gave the girl. There had always been wariness and distrust between them. Even that last terrible confrontation with Cambre had been initiated by distrust.

  “You said you were taking Cassie home,” Josette said. “May I go with you?”

  He shook his head. “It’s too long a journey.”

  “I thought you’d say that.” She bit her lip. “I don’t want them to go. I don’t want any of you to go.”

  “We have to go. You heard Lani.” She looked so distressed that he put his arm around her. “You’ll be busy here. I need you to help Mrs. Blakely and my agent oversee Morland.”

  “They do very well by themselves. I really want to go, Jared.”

  He shook his head.

  She sighed. “I can’t convince you, can I?”

  He brushed the top of her head with his lips. “Not this time.”

  She shrugged. “Then I won’t try.” She opened the stable door and suddenly brightened. “At least I won’t have to go back to school. I’m sure I can keep myself amused.”

  Jared grimaced. “I’m sure you can, too. God help us all.”