Amanda Scott (24 page)

“Yes.”

“You look a good deal better,” he said with a little smile. “Come along, then. Our dinner is waiting.”

The inn was a small one off the main street in Le Havre, but the parlor to which Simon led her was cozy with a beamed ceiling and a crackling fire. Pettyjohn served them.

Diana contained her surprise admirably until he had gone, leaving them alone. Then she asked, “Does your valet always serve you in this fashion when you travel alone, Simon?”

“He does when I travel abroad. There are often things to be discussed that are not for every ear to hear. I can trust him. Is that beef done to your liking?”

“Yes, thank you.” She cut a piece, speared it with her fork, then hesitated. “Simon, I’m sorry I made you so angry, but I wish you will believe me when I say that neither I nor the baby was ever in real danger. I rode as fast as I dared, but I had a very good horse under me and I took no chances.”

“Eat your dinner, Diana. We’ll talk afterward.”

“Simon, please!”

“I’m not angry now. I do know you would not purposely harm our child, but I cannot agree that you used good judgment. And that’s all I wish to say about the matter until after we eat. You may, if you wish to talk, tell me more about what the comte said. Are there truly emeralds at Beléchappé?”

“Yes, and Simon, I’m sure Rory won’t agree to go back to England without them. The comte promised him Sophie in return.”

“Rory will do as I tell him to do,” Simon said flatly. “He won’t be given a choice in the matter.”

“But the comte gave him his signet ring, after he refused to entrust it to his son. Rory will think himself duty-bound to retrieve the emeralds. And he won’t leave Paris without Mademoiselle Beléchappé and her mother. I’m sure of that.”

“I have barely met mademoiselle, but her parents are well-connected and perfectly respectable, although they are no longer as powerful as they were in France, of course. The Vidame de Lâche is another matter. A nastier piece of work I hope never to meet. I have no duty toward that family, Diana, nor does Roderick.”

“He won’t agree with you,” Diana said flatly.

“The very fact that he has not so much as mentioned her to me or to my father tells me he cannot care for her as much as you seem to think he does, my dear. For the treasure, perhaps.”

“I cannot believe you said that,” she told him, putting down her fork. “You of all people must know how strongly Rory feels things. His emotions rule him, Simon. They always have. Love has now replaced the bitterness and envy he felt before, and he is determined to take control of his life, but that does not mean he doesn’t realize that neither you nor the marquess will take kindly to the notion of a French émigré wife. Her parents may be well-connected and respectable, but without the emeralds they have only sufficient money to make themselves comfortable. You may not wish for him to marry Lady Sarah Fane, but you do want him to marry money, to add to the Warrington fortunes.”

He was silent for a moment, but she doubted he was really listening to her. He seemed to be applying most of his attention to his dinner. At last, however, he said, “I would not wish to leave anyone in Bonaparte’s clutches. That last meeting in London served to convince me that there is little time left before he will make his true colors known, so if I am able to effect a release for the comtesse and her daughter, I will do so. But nothing can be done about the emeralds, Diana. They cannot be worth all that much, whatever you may have heard, and the risk is too great. First, as you admit yourself, there is every reason to believe that de Lâche has already informed the First Consul of their presence in France. The chances are very great that Bonaparte already has them in his possession. If he does not, it would certainly be foolhardy beyond belief to lead him directly to them, which is exactly what we should be doing if we set foot next or nigh Château Beléchappé after convincing him to release the family.”

She could not argue with his logic. The comte had said very much the same thing, and she knew that Lord Roderick would put Sophie’s safety above everything else. Nonetheless, she could not doubt that once Sophie was safe in Simon’s care, Rory would insist upon taking a stab at retrieving the emeralds. When she attempted to convince Simon of this, however, he merely glared at her and repeated his earlier statement. “Rory will do as he’s told. Just as you will, Diana mine. I will leave at first light, but you will stay with Darby and the others on the
Sea Maiden
until I return. I will not tolerate disobedience this time. Do not even attempt to persuade me to allow you to accompany me to Paris, and do not think for a moment that by following me on the road, you will force me to take you along. If you do such a thing, I promise you, you will regret it—painfully. Do you take my meaning?”

She nodded, unable for once to meet his gaze. He had spoken softly, his words as ominous as they had been earlier in the cabin on board the
Sea Maiden
. She swallowed carefully, then forced a smile. “I’ll obey you, Simon. I haven’t much choice. This riding habit is all I brought with me. I can scarcely appear at Bonaparte’s court in such a rig.”

He relaxed. “I wouldn’t present you to that man, whatever you chose to wear.”

She asked him to tell her more about the man who ruled France, and Simon complied, relaxing more and more as he talked and sipped his wine. Their meal was long finished and the covers cleared away before he stopped, wiping a hand across his forehead with a rueful grin.

“I must be boring you by now, sweetheart.”

“No, I like to listen when you talk.”

“But not when I shout, right?”

She dimpled. “I’m afraid you think I do not listen at all then, sir.”

He shook his head in mock exasperation. “If I were not awash with wine and more tired than I can remember being in my life, I’d accept that challenge, Diana mine, and we would continue our earlier conversation. But I have decided to delay that discussion until we have ample time and privacy to pursue it. There will be some changes made, my wife, but I do not intend to discuss them tonight.”

Diana sighed. “I doubt you will discuss them at all, sir. You will merely issue orders and commands as you always do.”

He stood up. “Perhaps, but you have made it very clear that more is needed than orders, my girl. That’s the part I intend to think about on the road to Paris. But right now, I’m for bed. Come along.”

He led her into the corridor, but instead of turning toward the front of the inn, he turned toward the stairway. Diana looked at him questioningly. “Are we not going back to the
Sea Maiden
, Simon?”

“We are not. In case you didn’t notice, my bed there is sadly lacking in size, and I’ve no intention of spending my night in a smaller cabin or a hammock on deck. You came after me. You may warm my bed, little wife.”

She chuckled, making no objection when he put his arm around her, but later in bed, as she lay with her head in the curve of his shoulder, she said solemnly, “I do not mean to defy you, Simon. I wish you will believe that.”

“You are a stubborn, willful chit who wants taming,” he said softly against her hair. “Defiance comes as naturally to you as breathing does.”

She snuggled against him, rubbing her hand across his broad chest. “Lydia says our problem is that I am as accustomed to having my own way as you are to having yours. Do you suppose there might be some truth in that viewpoint?”

He caught her hand, bringing it up so that he might nibble at her fingertips. She could feel his lips moving when he said, “Nonsense. You cannot always have had your own way. I have met your mama, remember?”

“But she does not go against Papa’s wishes, and he always had the final say. And he, my lord, always let me do as I pleased. Even Mama said I should learn better from the consequences of my actions than I should if people were always preaching at me. Consider that, my lord.”

“I believe you might better consider what you said about your mama always submitting to your papa. You should follow her excellent example, Diana mine.”

She sighed, then gave a little gasp when his fingers touched her breast. After that she found it difficult to concentrate upon anything other than the movements of Simon’s hands and body. When he settled over her at last, preparing to consummate their union once more, he paused for a moment, holding both her hands over her head and looking down into her eyes.

She smiled at him. “I am utterly helpless, my lord. Is this how you would keep me?”

He chuckled. “I like the idea.”

“Do you, Simon?” she asked gently. “Do you, really? Would you truly prefer a wife who said always, ‘Oh, Simon, how strong you are!’ or perhaps ‘Dear Simon, how wise you are!’ and who never had so much as a thought to call her own? You know a good many women like that, Simon. We both do. Why did you not choose one of them instead of me when you went looking for a wife?”

His only response to that question was a growl, low in his throat, before he claimed her, and Diana, wrapped up in her own passions, had no wish to pursue the matter.

He woke her when there was little but soft gray light at the window. Indeed, for a moment she thought it must have snowed, so dim was the daylight. But she soon discovered that the sun had not yet arisen, that the day had scarcely wakened, itself. Simon, however, was in a hurry. He bustled her into her clothes and scarcely allowed her enough time to swallow a cup of coffee and a few morsels of beef and bread in the taproom before he conveyed her back to the
Sea Maiden
.

His groom and Pettyjohn were to accompany him to Paris, and Diana wondered as she saw them drive off together how he would manage to bring Rory, madame la comtesse, and Mademoiselle Sophie all back safely. But she told herself that Simon would manage, and turned her mind to other things. The first of these concerned her clothing. She could not wear her riding habit for the week or more that it might take Simon to accomplish his mission.

But even as she considered the problem, her thoughts turned again, almost of their own accord, to Lord Roderick and the question of the emeralds. She did not for one moment believe that Rory, so near his goal, would agree to leave France without them. No matter what Simon thought, she knew he underestimated his twin’s feelings for Sophie and his desire to prove himself to the Comte de Vieillard. Simon might think all he need do was to order his brother home to England. Diana was quite certain Rory would refuse to go.

The results would undoubtedly be violent, but even assuming Simon could best his brother in a contest between them—an assumption that, under the circumstances, she was not prepared to make—Rory would not be easily balked of an attempt to retrieve the emeralds, and would very likely do something rash enough to endanger them all. Clearly, something must be done before then to ensure that he would board the
Sea Maiden
when Simon demanded it. And since there was no other recourse, Diana would have to contrive by herself. But she could not do the thing entirely alone. Glancing about her, she spied the burly young sailor, Darby, near the offshore railing. Calling to him, she sat down upon a bench nailed next to the bulkhead and invited him to join her there.

Darby flushed to his eyebrows at her request, but Diana merely laughed at him. “I’m hoping you can help me solve a problem,” she said cheerfully. “I’ve nothing at all to wear beyond what I’ve got on my back. Do you think that if I were to give you my measurements and what money I’ve got left, you might contrive to find something in the town? Even peasants’ clothing would be preferable to living in this habit.”

He looked her over appraisingly. “I’ve a young sister at home, m’lady, and I’ve brung her things from France afore what fit well enough. I don’t speak the lingo, mind, but likely I’ll manage.”

Pleased by this small success, she moved ahead to the next hurdle. “Is there perhaps an inn or a livery stable where one might hire a horse or two? I confess, I don’t look forward to staying on board the
Sea Maiden
for so long without any exercise.”

He looked doubtful. “His lordship said you was to stay put, m’lady. I’d not like to cross ’im, if it be all the same to you.”

Diana bit her lip. “I know you would not want to make him angry, Darby, but…oh, dear, I see I must trust you. I had hoped perhaps to ease you into my plan quite slowly, but that will not do. You see, Darby, I need your help quite desperately.”

T
HE SKIES WERE OVERCAST
and the wind had risen the following day when Diana and Darby set out for Château Beléchappé, located some four miles west of the village of Deauville. The
Sea Maiden
rested uneasily at anchor outside the small harbor, its skiff tied to the outermost of the narrow umber piers pointing inward from the stone breakwater that protected the harbor from the rougher waters of the Baie de la Seine. The two sailors from the yacht who had come ashore with them and who would await their return carried weapons, as much because they had little belief in the trustworthiness of the French as to protect Diana and Darby, should they require such protection upon their return.

The task of convincing Darby to help her had not been an easy one, but Diana had not spent more than twenty years cozening her doting father into bowing to her will for naught. By emphasizing, indeed exaggerating, the danger to Simon, she had finally begun to turn the young sailor from his stolid insistence that he could not disobey his master’s orders. Even then, particularly since she had no wish to reveal all she knew about the Beléchappé emeralds, it had taken patience and all her wiles to make him listen to her. At last, faced by his seemingly unyielding determination to follow orders, Diana had had no hesitation in resorting to outright prevarication.

“My lord is on a very dangerous mission,” she had said, glancing about and keeping her voice very low. “I should say nothing at all about it, of course, but I see there is naught to be gained by keeping you in ignorance. When he returns from Paris, there is every likelihood that there will be French soldiers on his heels and that he will be in a great hurry. If he has to flee without all he came to get, he will believe he has failed. Indeed, he
will
have failed. His very honor is at stake, Darby. I am persuaded you must understand what his lordship’s honor means to him.”