Come the Dawn (34 page)

~ ~ ~

The Duchess of Cranford paced her sunlit conservatory, while Beach hovered anxiously behind her. “Where can that impossible creature have gone? I visit a friend for one night and return to find the whole house in turmoil. What happened here, Beach?”

“She didn’t return last night, Your Grace, and there’s been no sign of her today.”

The duchess’s cane struck the floor. “If we were in Norfolk, I wouldn’t mind. There India can run as free as Luna, if she likes. But this is London…” The duchess returned to her pacing.

“Your Grace.” The butler cleared his throat. “There’s something else, I’m afraid.”

“What now?”

The butler reached into his pocket and pulled out a clump of auburn hair.

“She’s cut her hair?” The duchess frowned. “What in heaven’s name was the girl planning?”

Abruptly she stiffened. India would never dream of carrying her masculine masquerade so far. The duchess refused to believe it. Then again, the girl
had
been acting strangely ever since Lord Thornwood’s return to London.

“Begging Your Grace’s pardon, but I also found this, shoved in a drawer of Miss India’s desk.” The butler held out a creased piece of paper.

The duchess opened the folded sheet, and her face paled.
“Stay away from Voksal or youl b sory,”
she read.

“This one was half hidden beneath a curtain in her room,” Beach went on nervously. “I found it an hour ago.”

The second note held ragged letters that raced across the page in angry slashes.
“Leve
London or die,”
the duchess read.

Her hands closed tightly over the pages. “Oh, Beach, what kind of danger has the little fool gotten into now?”

~ ~ ~

 “It’s done.”

The man looked up from the fire, which colored his face an angry copper. “The cargo is secure?”

“Exactly as you wished.”

“And the location?”

“Just as you indicated. Somewhere in which the — cargo — will attract no attention at all.” Helena Marchmont frowned. “But what about Thornwood? What if—”

Her companion smiled coldly. “He is no threat to us, not with his memory gone. And I will dispose of him long before his memory returns.”

“But what if he—”

“Forget about Thorne,” the man before the fire said harshly.

He turned, his body hard and pulsing. “Now come here.”

The widow toyed with the sash trailing at her waist. “But it’s barely been an hour since—”

He moved across the room and was shoving up her skirt before she could finish.

A moment later her sultry laughter filled the darkness.

The man dangling half of a thick black beard, the man who was India’s husband, went very still. “How did you know?” he said hoarsely.

“I didn’t — not at first. You did a fine job with your wretched masquerade, but that scar made me wonder. And then it all fell into place. You’re very good at being a pirate.”

“I’ve had a fair amount of practice.”

“But
why,
Dev? Why didn’t you tell me?” India crossed her arms angrily. “What sort of danger are you involved in?”

Thorne’s jaw hardened. “I think the fire is going out. Perhaps you’d better stir it up.”

“Don’t think you’re going to avoid my questions, Dev! You’ve kidnapped me and my groom, and I have a strong suspicion that indirectly you’ve brought those children of yours into real danger. I want to know why.”

Devlyn watched the flames dance and leap, thinking about a diamond that could sway the fortunes of all Europe. “For a fortune in diamonds, India. Or maybe I should say for a king’s ransom — or an
emperor’s
ransom. A madman could fight his way back to power if I let them slip through my fingers. Again,” he added bitterly.

“Do you mean the diamond I found at Vauxhall?”

“That one and many others. I’m sworn to silence and I shouldn’t have told you this much, but you’re involved now and whether I like it or not, the children are too. Those gems were part of Napoleon’s private collection, but they went missing after Waterloo. Now our reports indicate that they will be brought into England very soon. It’s my job to find them — and whoever is behind this.”

“So Devlyn Carlisle is transformed into the notorious, cut-throat river pirate known as the Frenchman.” After a moment India nodded. “It’s very clever, Devlyn. I congratulate you.”

“Do you? Most women would have flayed the skin off my back by now, then sunk into a fit of shrieking hysterics. You’re not furious?”

“Oh, I’m furious all right. I’m furious at you for lying to me and for putting those children in danger. As for the rest, you are entirely effective as a pirate.” Her eyes darkened. “Too effective.”

“Come to me,
ma mie.”

India felt the little hairs stir along her neck. A slow sweetness uncoiled through her. “I don’t think I will. That would be far too ease. No, not until we finally have the truth between us.”

“Maybe there are different kinds of truth, India. Maybe there’s the truth that comes heart to heart, body to body. Otherwise mere words are too easy to twist.”

“You have an answer for everything, don’t you? It doesn’t matter whether you’re Devlyn Carlisle, the returned war hero, or the notorious Thames River pirate! It doesn’t matter that you broke my heart!”

“It has always mattered,” he said roughly.

She strode to the hut’s single window and stood looking out at the shifting water. “They’re still fighting,” she said after a moment, watching distant figures twist and leap over the
Gypsy’s
deck.

“They’ll fight that way till morning. They need their few entertainments, the poor beggars, for it’s a grim life on the river. The few left standing at dawn will break open the rum and suddenly be the finest of friends. It’s the way of the river.”

India turned slowly. “And what about us, Dev? Can
we
be the best of friends? We married in blindness and haste, in the shadow of war. We loved before we even knew each other. We were young, we were strangers, and we had so much to learn — but we had no time to learn in. And then you came back, with all the memories lost.” An arrested look filled her face. “But that was a lie too, wasn’t it? You
did
remember. That was just another part of the masquerade.”

“It was true, when I was first wounded. Later…I had to do it, India. It was the only way I could—”

She spun about, her hands clenched. “How do you do it? How do you lie so easily? How do you twist the truth again and again to suit your ends?”

“They’re not
my
ends, India, they’re England’s. This is for the benefit of you and me and every man who died bloody and blind at Waterloo. It’s for the good of every child who hopes to have a free and decent life on English soil.”

“Very fine words, Devlyn. But for me it’s a far simpler issue. All I see is one man who has lied to me and betrayed me, in spite of the fact that I loved him so much that I—”

She spun away, biting back a sob.

Thorne strode to pull her against him. His hands slid deep into her hair. “You gave me your heart. You gave me your trust. It was a treasure I didn’t deserve.” Slowly his chin fell until it rested on the crown of her head. “But things were different before Waterloo, and I was a different man, India. That wasn’t a lie. I can never go back to being what I was. Just as you were changed by the horrors you saw after the battle, so was I. And I
must
see that Napoleon never has a chance to inflict those horrors again.”

“What about us?”

His hands tightened, and his breath slid out in a bitter sigh. “I loved you then. You must believe that.”

“And … I loved you. Without limit or reason. But we are both older, Dev. What will happen now?”

His hands tightened. “I have three children to protect and I’ve made a bloody mull of it so far, as you’ve pointed out too clearly. In the few days they’ve known you, I think those three have come to care for you far more than they will
ever
care for me. That says a great deal about your heart.”

“That’s not true! Andrew worships you, and Marianne hangs breathless for a single word of praise. And Alexis? Sometimes I think that child is the wisest person I know,” India finished softly.

“Strange, but I’ve felt the same. It’s as if she can look right through you and see your deepest thoughts. But today I nearly landed flat on my back on that deck and my shoulder is — well, not in prime shape. That nearly lost us both our lives.” He sighed. “What I’m saying is that we can’t go back. Or maybe I’m finding it is harder to be friends than to be lovers. But I want that. I’m jealous whenever you laugh with Monkton or Pendleworth — and especially with that arrogant snake Connor MacKinnon.”

India turned slowly, a gleam in her eye. “Connor? You’re jealous of
him?”

“I wanted to tear out his fingers joint by joint when he helped you into your carriage. And when I see you look up at him, slanting your head and giving him the sunny smile that twists my heart…” His fingers tightened in her hair. Slowly he drew her head backward. “I want that too. It’s damnably greedy of me, but I want all the fire and madness we had in Brussels. I also want the trust.” His voice fell. “I want
everything
from you
,
India. You’ve
made
me like this. Blind and greedy. Wild with hunger.” His eyes burned over her slender body, outlined clearly in the damp cambric shirt. He pulled her closer, feeling her heart pound against his chest. “Well?”

Silence.

“Are you going to answer me sometime in this century, or is this your way of repaying me for all my treachery?”

“I’m thinking.” India’s hand stole up to his cheek. Her finger traced the outline of his ear. As she eased closer, a shudder ran through him.

Her eyes narrowed. “How could I be certain you wouldn’t lie to me again? Because that’s
my
condition, Dev. No more lies. No more holding back. That’s the Delamere way. It’s also
my
way.”

Devlyn Carlisle took a deep breath and held her tightly, savoring the warmth of her breath and the slide of her body against his.

Maybe, in the end,
this
was what coming home was all about. She was fire and laughter in his arms. No other woman could hold a candle to her. And Devlyn refused to give her up. Wellington could go to the devil first. “I will tell you what I can. But there are other people involved, India, and you will have to accept that. This mission is of crucial importance.” He frowned suddenly. “Speaking of deceptions, what about you? You left a calling card as broad as Regent’s Park when you showed that diamond all over London.”

“Since you wouldn’t tell me about your enemies, I had to find out myself. You needed help and you would not ask for it. It was the most logical thing to do.”

He shook his head, at a loss for words. “You are entirely impossible, you know. Stubborn, reckless, and with no sense of fear. You’ll make a most unbiddable sort of wife.” His hands drew her closer against him, and he savored her instant softening. “But the damnable thing is I begin to like the idea. In fact, I’m starting to find it the most natural thing in the world.” He sighed. “And since we’re about plain speaking, there’s something else I had better tell you.”

Her hands traced the scar at his jaw. “Later. It’s time we tried different ways of talking, Dev. The kind of talking you mentioned earlier. Kiss me.” Her hands moved upward into his hair.