For Love of the Earl (27 page)

"Mind if I borrow your hat, pirate?"
 

Nathan obliging took the thing off his head.
 

"Nothing would give me more pleasure."
 

The gangplank lowered, and they were moving even before it hit the treads of the pier.
 

Even at this late hour, there was activity on the docks, but not the kind of activity that welcomed genteel company.
 
Alec kept his arm around Sarah as they made their way swiftly to the shore road where they could pick up a hackney that would take them away from this docks.
 
Nathan and Nora moved ahead of them, a distinct distance between them as Nora clearly looked every inch a man and somewhat threatening in her authoritative walk.
 
His brother had most certainly gotten himself a remarkable woman.

They gained purchase on the shore road, and the traffic moved swiftly past them, carrying gentlemen to and fro as they made their way from gaming hell to gaming hell and then to brothel.
 
Alec's arm tightened again.
 

"If you squeeze anymore, I shall shatter," Sarah said, and he loosened his arm immediately.
 

Out of the flow of traffic, a carriage suddenly appeared before them, and Alec had never been so happy to see the colors of the Duke of Lofton.
 
Nora was opening the door even as Nathan jumped up on the box with the driver.
 
Alec did not hesitate.
 
He swept his wife up into his arms and boarded the carriage.
 
The door shut with a snap, and Alec caught a flash as Nora swung onto the tiger's step at the rear.
 
And then the carriage was moving.

"That must be the best damn housekeeper I have ever met."
 

Alec looked down at his wife as she sat cradled in his arms, raising his eyebrows at her indelicate words.

"I would have to agree with you, Lady Stryden.
 
I would have to agree with you indeed."
 

And then he just held her as the carriage raced through the traffic of Dover, taking them away from the things which threatened the happiness they so recently found.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Dover, England

April 1815

Sarah lay perfectly still on the bed, letting the entire world collapse on her like a wave that ran the length of her body before disappearing from reach.
 
She felt its cool, fleeting touch, but before it could spark worry or fear in her person, it simply disappeared, and she was left feeling nothing at all.
 

Nothing, except the warm touch of her husband's hand in hers.
 

When they had arrived at The Owl and Fork Inn, they had entered the establishment through the rear, keeping to the servants halls and stairs until finding their way up to the suite of rooms reserved by the Duke and Duchess of Lofton for their belated wedding trip.
 
Sarah did not know how she had had the energy to move at all at the point, let alone up so many flights of stairs.
 
With the edge of danger removed, her body had quite simply given up, and now it wanted rest.
 

But the duke and duchess were awake and alert when they had entered the chamber and had immediately started asking questions.
 
Sarah could remember very little of the entire thing as Alec did the talking, and she stood there, trying desperately not to fall asleep.
 
Baths were ordered for both of them, and then Nora was helping her out of the remains of her dress.
 

It was just she and Nora, alone together in the room set aside for Alec and Sarah upon their rescue.
 
A fire roared in the fireplace even though it was the middle of the night.
 
And between the warmth of the flames and the heat of the bathwater, Sarah knew she was going to fall asleep.
 

She remembered reaching out to Nora, telling her to stay, to keep her awake.
 
And she had.
 

Nora sat on a stool by the fire, working her way around Sarah's gown as if determining if the garment could be salvaged.
 
Sarah had more gowns that she would ever wear in a lifetime and knew this one would not be missed.
 
But she also knew that Nora came from an entirely different background than she, and that saving any garment was a priority.
 
So she kept her mouth shut and listened to Nora tell her about what had happened after Sarah had run off after Alec and they both got themselves kidnapped.
 

She listened to how Nora and Nathan had been wed under the pressure of discovery and how Samuel had discovered what had happened to Lord Archer, the man Nathan had been assigned to assassinate because of his treasonous acts for the French.
 

And she listened when Nora told her how she had shot and killed the man who had raped her so many years ago.
 
It was at this story that Sarah had become fully awake, sitting in now tepid bath water, the aches in her body receding with every word Nora said.

And then Nora was fetching a nightgown and robe for her, and before she could protest, Nora had her tucked in bed, the covers a comforting weight on her bruised body.
 

She had almost been asleep when the soft click of a door knob turning told her her husband had entered their room.
 
She had been wondering where he was in some lost corner of her mind, but the tired ache of her body trumped any other thought, and she had only been concentrating on sleeping.
 
But then the bed dipped with his weight, and she rolled slightly toward him.
 
His hand found hers, and they lay that way for several moments before he finally spoke.

"You hit him with a water jug?"
 

Sarah forced her eyelids to open.
 
It would not do to fall asleep on Alec after they had so recently come to a sort of truce between them, a truce that was quickly leading to better understanding.
 
Sarah had never even imagined that their discord was a simple case of misunderstanding, but then, she most likely had never given enough due to proper communication.
 
She rather thought yelling at a person solved all matters, but even she could be proven wrong.
 

"I did," she said.
 

"Where did you get a water jug?"
 

Sarah thought back to the old man who had helped her, who led her through the dark passages of their prison to the hatch that would gain her freedom and bring her back to Alec.

"A friend," she said.
 
"What were you doing scampering about in the middle of the Duke of Kent's gardens that night?
 
I know why I was out of bed, but what were you doing out of bed?
 
Surely, your father and Jane didn't know what you were about."
 

She heard Alec turn his head on the pillow beside her.
 

"I was going to meet a girl," he said without hesitation, and Sarah turned her own head to look at him.
 

"A girl?
 
Truly?"
 

Alec smiled in the dark of the room, the warm glow from the fire casting shadows across his face.
 

"A very pretty girl.
 
But then I ran into you and got most distracted."
 

"Why did you help me that night?
 
I could have taken care of myself."
 

Alec shrugged under the weight of their many covers.
 

"I liked you.
 
I remembered you from earlier in the day when we children had been assigned the task of playing croquet with the nannies and being told to enjoy it.
 
I recalled that you struck the balls as hard as you possibly could and smiled rather mischievously when they toppled into the pond."
 

Sarah smiled then at the memory of it.
 

"I was most bored," she said, as if that would justify it.
 

"I was, too, but I was not brave enough to demonstrate it the way you did."

"Do you think that was impolite of me?"
 

Alec shook his head.
 

"I think certain things are expected of people born in certain places at certain times, but no one considers the fact that we're all just humans.
 
And sometimes, we would like to be left to do what we wish to do."

"What do you mean?" she asked, and even she marveled at the fact that she had just asked her husband to explain himself further when in the past, she would have called him an uncomplimentary name and changed the subject.

She knew Alec noticed it, too, when he raised his eyebrows at her in the near dark.
 

"I mean that class isn't really anything other than a label applied to a person.
 
The label is worthless if the intrinsic qualities of the person is found lacking."
 

Sarah felt her mouth fall open.

"That must be the most intelligent thing I have ever heard you say, Alec Black."
 

Alec laughed softly.
 

"It's hard to sound intelligent when a person is focused on making another person laugh."
 

Sarah wanted to ask something about that, but Alec kept going.

"Sometimes society can be harsh, Sarah, but it truly is not worth getting your nose bent about it.
 
Who cares what an old biddy has to say about the color of your skirts if she herself has never said a kind word to anyone in her lifetime?
 
I would rather not care for such a person's opinions.
 
What was it you were saying about dodging carriages and what not as a child?
 
I think that stuff speaks volumes to a person's character and not so much a person's luck on being born into the right family.
 
Luck doesn't require courage or bravery or intelligence.
 
How can luck be the judge of anything?"

Sarah did not speak.
 

She let her husband's words wash over her, the wave returning once more only this time it was gentle and serene and its weight barely noticeable.
 
His words were a caress, consumed by such a level of love and understanding that Sarah had not witnessed the like of it before.
 
But she had to be sure.
 
She had to be certain before she allowed the caress to lure her into hope.

"Alec, are you saying that you do not care if I am a bastard?"
 

Alec looked at her, his gaze unwavering.
 

"Sarah, I believe there is a very important part of my life that you have failed to take note of.
 
Have you met my brother, Nathan?"
 

Sarah blinked at him.
 

"Of course, I have met Nathan-"

She stopped speaking, feeling her eyes grow round.
 

"Oh, Alec.
 
I am a complete idiot," she whispered, and he laughed softly again, the noise a musical sound in her ears.

"Oh, come now, love, I wouldn't be quite so harsh.
 
You are not a
complete
idiot, but perhaps you missed a thing or two."
 

"But Alec," she said, coming up on an elbow to lean over him.
 
"Your brother is a bastard.
 
His mother...your father...he," she couldn't get the right words in the right order.
 

"Yes, our father and his mother were not wed when Nathan was conceived and born, and I could not have asked for a better brother."
 

"So you do not care that I am-" she couldn't find the word.
 

"I do not care about any of that, Sarah, but I am most interested in how you managed to secure clandestine rides on carriages without being caught.
 
That topic requires much greater detail from the source, I believe."
 

Sarah matched his smile and lowered herself back down to the pillows.
 

"A lady never tells her secrets, my lord," she said and did not flinch when she referred to herself as a
lady
.
 

"Not even to her husband?"
 

"Not even," she said, smiling at him in the dark.
 
"But there is something you could tell me.
 
Why is it so important that you make me laugh?"
 

Alec's smile faded, and he turned away from her.
 
But Sarah was already moving, bringing her hand up to his face and drawing him back to her.
 

"We are no longer playing this game, Stryden.
 
I talk and you listen.
 
You talk and I listen.
 
No more hiding, and no more misunderstanding."

Alec looked at her.
 

"When did you become such a demanding shrew?"
 

"When you taught me how," she said.
 
"Now do not change the subject.
 
Why must you make me laugh?"
 

She thought he would evade the question again, but it appeared he was merely thinking how to word his response.
 

"It's a very long story, Sarah."
 

She nodded.
 

"And where else do I have to be at this moment exactly?"
 

"You should be sleeping, getting the rest your body truly needs."

Sarah shook his head.
 

"I'll hear this story first, and then I'll sleep."
 

"Demanding," he muttered, but then he took a breath to tell her what he meant.