A Stroke of Luck (9 page)

"Well now, ain't this cozy."

Zara nearly laughed aloud. Though the grizzled little valet had more cause than most people to see the glass half empty rather than half full, he certainly maintained an optimistic outlook on things. Somehow, as she shook the worst of the dog hairs off the mangy blanket and spread it over the hay, she couldn't quite imagine that his fastidious companion would voice the same opinion about their present accommodations. Indeed, watching the duke gingerly pick his way around a mound of old chicken droppings, she fully expected a caustic comment to explode from his lips at any moment.

She could hardly blame him if it did. Why, even she, who was used to some rather rustic conditions, would hardly call the stone barn a comfortable spot to be spending the night. For one so obviously accustomed to every luxury that money could buy, it must seem a veritable hellhole.

To her mild surprise, he took a seat upon an overturned bucket without complaint.

"I would not go quite so far as to call this cozy, Stump," she replied. "However, it affords a roof over our heads, and given the bank of clouds I saw blowing in from the west, I think we may be grateful for the protection before the night is over." Sweeping bits of chaff and dried grass from the tiny hearth opposite the storage racks, she began to lay out a few bricks of dried peat. "Mr. McTavish says we may kindle a small fire, if we are careful of the flame." She doubted it would be of much use in warding off the pervasive chill, but a bit of flame might at least help brighten their tired spirits.

Another quick glance around showed that the labors of the day had taken a toll on everyone. The valet, for all his show of hearty cheerfulness, was looking pinched with fatigue, while her brothers, who normally could be counted on to keep up a stream of lively chatter, were unusually subdued.

As for the duke, he was silent as the surrounding stones, yet oddly enough, his expression did not appear sulky or spiteful, but simply... thoughtful.

What, she wondered, could be going through his head?

Perhaps he was contemplating committing murder with his bare hands? His raw and blistered hands, she added with an inward grimace. Good Lord, no doubt those long, well-tended fingers had never experienced such abuse. Indeed, his distinguished digits had probably never been called upon to lift anything weightier than a silver salver or champagne coupe. But she had to hand it to him—for all his condescending carping and peevish preening he had not sought to shirk the duties she had delegated to him. Rather, he had dug in and showed surprising stamina, conquering both the unwieldy spade and the teasings of her siblings.

She hadn't expected such a gritty display of fortitude from a fop. Or such an intriguing show of intelligence. What a pleasure it had been to discuss music! She had forgotten just how stimulating such an exchange of ideas could be, especially with someone who shared a real interest in the subject. His articulate insights had made it clear he was no mere dilettante, repeating bits of bon mots he had overheard at some ball or musicale...

"Are you celebrating some sort of victory?"

She started at the sound of his low words, the flint slipping from her fingers. "W—what do you mean?"

"You were humming the first movement of
Eroica
." Through the hazy flickering of the smoky peat, she thought she detected a smile. "Which was, as you know, first entitled
Bonaparte
by Beethoven, in homage to the triumph of revolutionary ideas. The composer, however, soon revised his opinion."

Zara quickly turned toward the drying racks, now filled to the very top with the fresh peat they had cut, hoping the dim light would hide the rush of color she felt flooding her cheeks. "I—I suppose I do count this day's work as a triumph. A small one, perhaps, but still a step forward rather than a retreat."

He gave a short bark of laughter as he crumbled the last bit of his bread between his fingers. "I imagine it would take Admiral Decres and the entire French fleet to make the Admiral of the Amazons haul in on her sails and alter course."

The casual quip struck a raw nerve. That he saw her as a bristling ship of the line, all flashing gunpowder and roaring cannons, should come as no shock. What took her aback was how much it hurt to be viewed as naught but a bellicose hellion of the high seas.

May Poseidon be skewered on his trident!
What did she expect—that the Duke of Prestwick would have found their brief conversation interesting or her company enjoyable?
Ha!
And Charybdis might turn into a placid little water sprite!

Her face took on a self-mocking grimace. Though embarrassed to admit it, even to herself, she had for a short time that afternoon actually entertained the notion somewhere in the back of her head that the two of them might come to be... friends.

Friends?
Her wits must be pickled in brine if she really thought that would ever come to pass. The duke might relax the strictures of propriety enough to be on familiar terms with a loyal retainer, but such a highborn, starchy gentleman would never, ever be friends with an unconventional hoyden and two scampy brothers who knew not the first thing about how to go on in Polite Society!

To her dismay, she felt the sting of salty tears against her lids.

Good Lord, there was no point in succumbing to a fit of girlish vapors, she chided herself. After all, she was hardly a pattern card for maidenly manners. She had taken every opportunity to jab a proverbial saber in his well-tailored rump! And as for her appearance—why, her hair must resemble a tangle of writhing sea snakes and her clothing the remnants of storm-torn sails. No matter the angle, perspective or diffusion of light, she did not remotely resemble the sort of elegant young lady with whom he spent time in London.

She sniffed. They, no doubt, were all perfectly coiffed, perfectly polished, perfectly poised, and perfectly able to converse with ease on music, art and literature at the drop of a butter-soft kidskin glove.

For some unaccountable reason, the thought made her feel perfectly awful.

"Stop crumbling that bread," she snapped, her own raw feelings giving a brittle edge to her tone. "Unless you wish to have mice crawling up your legs."

"Mice?" echoed Prestwick faintly. With a slight jerk, he stood up and flung the rest of the crust out the open window.

"Mice," she repeated, gratified to see his chiseled lips had taken on a slight green tinge around the edges. "Nibbling on your boot leather and shredding your linen."

"Here, sir. You look as if you could use a bit of this Bruichladdich." Stump passed over the small jug that McTavish had left along with their supper. "A swallow or two of Islay whisky and you will be ready to confront fire-breathing dragons, let alone itty-bitty mice."

Muttering under his breath, the duke tossed back a long draught. It nearly came up as quickly as it went down. Choking and sputtering, he winced, his face turning as red as flame from a monster's mouth.

"Hell's teeth," he swore, clenching his own so hard that to Zara they looked in danger of cracking. "A swallow or two of that swill will do more than buck up my courage, it will likely put me out of my misery!" Wiping the drops off his chin, he growled, "Which, all things considered, may not be such a bad idea."

"Aw, come on, sir. It ain't been so bad as that. You always say you are keen on learnin'. Well, you learned somethin' new today, didn't you?"

"Yes—I learned that the next time you take it upon yourself to arrange our travel plans, I should lock myself in my library and throw away the key. That is, assuming we manage to survive this bloody fiasco."

So, the peevish peer was back, she thought.
In spades.

"Do try to temper your curses, sir. And if you plan on getting jug-bitten you can damn well do it outside!" With a flounce of the fleabitten blanket, she lay back into the straw. "I will not tolerate what passes in your circles for gentlemanly language in front of my brothers—"

"Actually, he speaks Greek," said Perry sleepily.

"He may speak Hindu, Russian or Cantonese for all I care, as long as he does it with a civilized tongue."

"Civilized? Ha! That is rather like the pot calling the kettle black," shot back the duke before turning on his side and drawing his own blanket up to his chin.

On that high note, the fire slowly burned down to ashes and darkness descended over the barn.

* * *

The rain had started again, a hard, slapping fall of drops that echoed the pounding of the seas against the wooden hull. Prestwick clutched at the gunwales and ducked a froth of flying spray, more out of instinct than for any practical reason. Already soaked to the bone, another splash was hardly going to make a difference.

His mood couldn't be dampened any further either, he thought glumly. Though why he should allow a confounded chit to stir up such waves within him was unfathomable. He had thought for a brief time that they had been in harmony with each other, but for some reason, the feeling had proved as fleeting as the trilling adagio of a violin. He had seen the sudden change come over her face. One moment her features had been singing along with the beauty of the music. Then, in an instant, the notes had gone flat, the resonance gone, replaced by the clang of sharp steel.

Hell and damnation!
The Admiral of the Amazon's moods seemed as quixotic and unpredictable as the ocean itself.

A sound—something between a sigh and snort—escaped his dripping lips. All the other young ladies of his acquaintance were proper, well-mannered misses. They would not, in their wildest dreams, think of saying or doing anything that might rock the boat, while the confounding Miss Greeley kept him constantly off balance. Wiping at the rivulets of water streaming down his cheeks, he peered into the swirling fog and wondered how much longer it would be before they reached
terra firma
.

There, at least, he might feel on solid footing.

"Auch, just a wee bit further, around yonder point, an we'll be there," said McTavish, as if reading the duke's mind. He shifted his pipe from one side of his mouth to the other so that he could take a small nip from his flask, then added, "Now, if the weather had been bad, it mighta become a mite rough."

Stump gave a low groan. "Sir, if I ever suggest a sea voyage again, I give you leave to drown me in your bath tub."

Prestwick's hand shot out and grabbed hold of his valet's collar just in time to prevent a repeat of their earlier mishap. "Trust me, I shall not require a second invitation," he replied dryly. The slam of a swell forced a pause as a shower of seawater shot up in their faces. "The sooner we are off this cursed craft and can arrange for more comfortable transportation, the better."

He and Stump would continue their journey to Uncle Aubrey's estate, while the Greeleys...

Where
were
they headed? The duke realized he had not thought to ask. Just as well, he assured himself. It wasn't any of his concern. They had made it this far on their own, so no doubt they would manage to reach their destination, even if a lack of funds forced them to wash a few more dishes or wield a few more spades.

He meant to smile, but his lips instead formed a harried frown.

"Land dead ahead!" Perry, his normal exuberance restored by a night of rest, had climbed up into the rigging and was clinging to the bucking spar.

"Do come down from there," called his sister. She was sitting in the lee of the whisky barrels, the canvas bags containing their few possessions stacked neatly at her feet. "I would rather not risk yet another nautical disaster."

Prestwick noted that she did not so much glance in his direction as she spoke, which only caused his expression to grow grimmer. Like the blisters on his toe and fingers, she was a niggling irritation, a constant prickling against his skin. But like them, she would soon be gone, he assured himself.

And his shout of relief would echo up to the very summit of Mount Olympus!

The small craft rounded the jutting rocks and with one last pitch and roll sailed into calmer water. A small wharf materialized from out of the mist, along with the silhouettes of several other boats and a cluster of whitewashed buildings.

"Hell's bells!" exclaimed Stump, shading his eyes with his hand. "Do you see what I see?"

"Land. Not quite dry land, but it will do." The duke forced a quip though he was not really in any mood for joking.
Hell's Bells,
he repeated to himself. It made no sense. His spirits should be as light and airy as a Handel chorus, yet for some reason they felt as dark and stormy as a Beethoven symphony.

"No. Over there," said Stump.

He peered to where his valet was pointing. After a blink or two he was able to make out two masts, then a sleek hull, its polished brass fittings winking brightly despite the hazy light.

"It's
Nereid
, sir!"

Indeed, it
was
his private yacht that was tied stem and stern to the barnacled pilings. McTavish maneuvered his own boat in between the graceful ketch and a fishing dory, and made the mooring ropes fast to a pair of rusting cleats.

"Here you be, lassie." He held out a hand and helped Zara scramble onto the weathered wharf.

"Thank you, sir. I—"

"Auch, no need te be thanking me. A deal be a deal, an you all worked herd for your part of it." He gave a wave of his pipe at Prestwick. "Even His Majesty, I reckon."