Regency 09 - Redemption (23 page)

He suddenly dropped his
hands as if burned, stepping back a few paces to avoid doing
something despicable like strike the infuriating little
witch.

Jenny stared at him
wide-eyed. “What do I owe her?” she asked softly, truly curious as
to his answer.

Miles sighed deeply,
splaying the fingers of his right hand through his short black
hair. “It was Gwen who wanted to elope, Jenny,” he confessed. “She
tried to convince me it was the only way to make sure you were able
to wed Dare. She knew your father would convince Dare to do right
by you if he didn’t come to the decision on his own.”

“And, obviously, you
agreed.”

“I didn’t,” he admitted. He
stared at her a long moments as if unsure whether to continue.
Finally, he added, “Gwen asked Lady Prestwich for help who in turn
asked Lord Greville for help. Greville kidnapped me and it wasn’t
until I woke up in Gwen’s bed that I was informed that we were
eloping.” His expression mirrored his self-disgust. “I had no
choice but to continue on to Gretna.”

“You could have returned
and let Gwen deal with her own ruined reputation,” Jenny pointed
out, knowing Miles would never have done such a thing in a million
years.

“I could have,” he
surprised her by admitting. “And I would have, considering how
extremely improper, not to mention dangerous, her actions were, had
I not already been completely in love with her.”

Jenny smiled sincerely and
truly at her unwanted guest. “I knew. Had Gwen asked me to help I
would have.”

Miles dipped his head in
acknowledgment of her rather backhanded compliment. “Gwen managed
to convince me that it was for the best anyway. But I swear,
neither of us even suspected Denbigh would make Dare leave after
the vows.”

“I do not blame you, Miles,
or Gwen. I am glad at least, of the four of us, that two are happy
with how their lives have ended up.” Smoothing her hands over her
belly, Jenny gazed down unseeingly. With a difficult little breath,
she met his eyes again. “I am truly happy for you and my sister.
But I cannot let go yet.” Her breath caught on a sob. “I have no
pride anymore. If Dare showed up right now, I’d beg him to stay,
promising anything in my power to induce him. At this point, all I
have is my resentment. I have little doubt that I will relent in
time.”

She paused, gazing off into
the distance. “I can’t explain it, Miles. It doesn’t make sense to
me. I feel as though the resentment is all that is holding me
together. If I let go, I’ll shatter.”

It was a very thoughtful
Miles Prestwich that left the very pregnant Lady Genevieve moments
later. He rode in utter silence, pondering deeply the things she’d
revealed…and some things she hadn’t.

It was apparent to the
veriest nodcock that she was deeply in love with his brother,
despite assurances by certain other parties that her feelings were
superficial. Had he not seen her tears and heard her assertion from
her own lips, he still would have believed she was in love with
Dare. It was in her every movement, her every breath.

And she was waiting for her
husband to return.

Miles drew in a deep
breath. His intuition, not to mention the fact that he could feel
his twin’s pain, told him that Dare wanted his family. But Miles
was unsure if Dare’s pride had relented enough to allow him to
return.

Other
than inquiring after her health in the vaguest of terms, Dare had
not mentioned Jenny in any of the many letters he’d sent to Adam.
He’d asked about the child, if it had arrived yet and
begged—
begged!
—for
details about it.

Oh yes, Miles knew Dare
wanted the baby. But pride was a damnably hard thing to
discard.

Chapter
Seventeen

Dare
stepped off the boat, experiencing a feeling of intense
déjà vu
. He shivered from
more than just the cold, glancing around uneasily, almost expecting
to see Adam with a gentleman and a veiled lady. But he could see
nothing through the early morning fog.

He was reasonably startled,
therefore, when Adam emerged from the mist. In fact, he nearly
jumped from his skin.

“Adam! Damn and blast, what
the devil are you trying to do? You scared me half to death.” He
forced his breathing to still, not liking his cousin’s grim
expression.

But then, Adam always
looked grim.

Jenny’s face lifted before
his mind’s eye, her beautiful face creased in delight, laughing at
some jest. He choked back a groan. Even after all these months,
just picturing her could nearly bring him to his knees.

With Jenny firmly in his
thoughts, he asked sharply, “How is she? And the baby?”

Adam put his arm around the
younger man’s shoulders, leading him firmly in a particular
direction. Dare realized with something akin to panic that Adam was
far grimmer than was his wont.

“I have a carriage,” the
baronet told him, pointedly delaying his answer.

Dare considered digging in
his heels, forcing his cousin to speak, but realized the futility
of such an action. Adam could not be forced. Bri was able to
cajole, coerce, or bribe him upon occasion but even she was only
able to do what Adam allowed.

So he went with Adam, his
mind concocting all kinds of horrific things that could have
happened to Jenny and the baby. Fearing madness, he stifled the
fears, adopting a bland expression.

Once ensconced in his
carriage, Adam asked, “What did you discover? Was it
Penryn?”

Dare decided to allow
Adam’s choice in conversation since there was much on that score he
needed to reveal and it was rather imperative that he do
so.

So, fears for his wife
firmly suppressed, he disclosed, “Penryn was involved but not in
the way we suspected.”

Adam’s eyebrows raised
slightly. “Indeed? How was he involved if not in
charge?”

“Honestly, he knew nothing
about it. It was one of his captains, his most trusted, to be
precise.”

“Hence, the reason it
appeared to be Penryn himself behind it all.”

“Exactly. The man has
apparently been wrecking for years.” Dare leaned forward, warming
to his theme. “Nearly a decade ago, the earl’s brother was the
ringleader, wrecking and causing general mayhem. The brother went
to Waterloo and returned a trifle unbalanced. Added to his earlier
criminal tendencies, he became a force to be reckoned with. One of
Penryn’s employees—incidentally, she is now his wife—uncovered a
plot to kill Penryn. His brother was killed. Evidently, the
captain, being employed by the Earls of Penryn for more than thirty
years, took it upon himself to continue with the young honorable’s
chosen profession, having not been implicated himself.”

“What has Penryn
done?”

“Had the captain taken up
on charges, of course. But the blasted magistrate lost the fellow
and a posse had to be assembled.” Dare leaned back, a smile of
supreme satisfaction crossing his dark features. “I found the
blackguard hiding out in a shack on Penryn’s own
estate.”

“You
found
him?”

Dare’s expression became shuttered.
“He will not be wrecking any more of your ships, I assure
you.”

Adam let it go at that,
satisfied. “And Penryn?”

“Sends his abject apologies
and this.” Dare handed Adam a small slip of paper. “It’s a draft.
He wanted to make some sort of restitution since it was his man who
was culpable. He said he hoped it would suffice for
now.”

Adam briefly scanned the
paper in the dim light coming through the carriage windows. His
eyes widened slightly at the amount on the paper but he said
nothing about it, simply folding it and putting it in his waistcoat
pocket.

“It was not his
responsibility,” he commented.

“No, but it salved his
pride, I think.”

A few minutes passed in
silence, each man caught up in his own thoughts.

Dare’s mind inevitably
turned back to the bride he’d left behind. He was pondering the
possibility of a future together when Adam said, “I have some bad
news, Dare.”

His cousin’s tone was so
solemn, Dare felt his heart stop. He knew, he just knew, what Adam
would say.

“Jenny lost the baby,” Dare
inserted prosaically.

Adam gave him a startled
look. Dare shrugged one shoulder, a barely perceptible movement
that spoke volumes for his rigidly held self-control.

“Dare, Jenny was pregnant
with twins. She lost one of them. The other, little Miranda, is
fine, if a trifle small.” He paused, allowing his words to
penetrate before he added, “Your son didn’t make it.”

Worded in such a way, Dare
felt his throat close up. His immediate instinct was to claw at his
neck, try to open up his windpipe to let in a desperately needed
breath.

But his countenance
remained stoic. All the panic was within, threatening to destroy
him—as it had been for the past six months.

The baronet continued
before he could make his voice work properly.

“There’s more,” Adam
reported with a bone-weary sigh. “Jenny is dying, Dare. Con doesn’t
know what to do. He said she should be fine but she’s declining
rapidly. He’s at his wit’s end. She doesn’t seem to want to
live.”

Dare’s expression didn’t
change one whit. None of his inner panic was revealed in his
features or demeanor. None of his affronted anger was displayed
either.

In an eerily calm tone,
Dare replied, “How dare she? Does she not realize she has a child
to care for?”

Adam, owning a perception
of which few men could boast, saw beneath Dare’s calm demeanor to
the demons lurking within. “It appears,” he said carefully, “that
she has forgotten that simple fact. Although Con has tried to tell
her.”

Dare turned his face away,
staring out the carriage window. “Spoiled brat,” he said
conversationally. “She will let my daughter grow up without a
mother just because her life has not turned out exactly the way she
planned. I’m tempted to go and beat some sense into
her.”