GypsyDukeEpub (31 page)

"Good morning, love, sleep well?" he asked, picking her up to twirl her around.

Kitty laughed. "John, put me down. I have not had my morning tea."

He gave her a resounding kiss before releasing her. He was in an irresistibly good mood. "Then you shall have it. Come sit by the fire."

"Uh…I prefer to wait until later."

"Whatever for?" he asked as he walked in the direction of the fire. Suddenly he stopped, chuckling. "I see. You have found the bear." The arm resting across her shoulders drew her close. "I told you there was nothing to fear from him. He is trained."

They stood a few moments, watching as the girl gave the bear several commands, which it obeyed.

"Come." John pulled her back to the fire.

It looked as if Kitty was going to meet a bear whether she wished it or not.

John waited until the bear completed a command before introducing Kitty to the trainer. "Serena, I would like to introduce my wife. She
would like permission to meet your bear."

Permission? Kitty dug her elbow in John's side. He grunted, but otherwise ignored her. Kitty recognized the girl from the wedding festivities, but there had been so many gypsies, she wasn't sure she'd ever met this one.

"This is Boris," she said. "And he's just a big baby." She vigorously rubbed the area behind his ears.

The bear bellowed, apparently in satisfaction, as he pushed his muzzle closer to her ministrations.

Serena laughed. "You see? Come, Boris would like to shake your hand."

There was nothing Kitty would like less, but she took a hesitant step forward and nearly fell to the ground when Serena said sharply, "Up, Boris!"

The animal obeyed, towering over Kitty by almost two meters.

She thought of clenching her eyes shut, but she was made of sterner stuff than that. She wouldn't cower before John's gypsy family. Her hand shot out to hold the bear's enormous paw. She felt long claws resting against the soft skin of her palm, but without aggression.

Kitty grinned. They were right! The bear was charming. "He is adorable, John."

John raised his eyes to the sky, shaking his head. "Never would I have expected you to say that. Adorable he is not and eats like a…"

"Like a bear?"

Serena laughed along with them, scratching the bear's chest. "Down, Boris. It's time for your walk, you lazy thing."

The two lumbered away from the fire, and John reached for the pot, already steaming over the bright red coals.

Kitty seated herself on a fallen log and looked about the camp and the wooded area that surrounded them, while John made tea. The gypsies drank coffee, and yet John was prepared to accommodate her. That pleased her no end.

She smiled, absorbing the pleasant atmosphere. A light fog hovered in the tops of the trees, but near the fire, it was pleasant. Later in the day, it would be quite hot. How did these people live day in day out without a home?

Sleeping in a wagon had been one thing. Sleeping in a tent with no privacy…Kitty shuddered.

John held the tea out. "A chill?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her.

"Not really." She took a sip of the hot tea, made a satisfied sound,
and leaned her head against his shoulder.

He kissed the top of her hair, which Kitty knew must be an absolute fright after sleeping with it loose.

"Robert and I have arrangements to make for the channel crossing. Whatever you do, do not leave this camp. You will be safe here. No one in their right mind would tangle with a bunch of gypsies." He rose. "I will see you later." Then he walked off.

Kitty wanted to stomp after him. She'd come along to be a part of this adventure, and he calmly left her sitting alone, basically telling her to stay out of trouble. She sighed. Some things never changed.

She brightened, however, when Maria came to sit beside her, a plate in her hand. "Here, Kitty. John thought you might be hungry."

Kitty accepted the plate thankfully. Once she tasted the simple fare of bread, cheese, and dried figs, she realized she'd been having too much fun during the celebration to eat much of anything.

She smiled at Maria. "I had a lovely time last night. I don't really understand all of it, but I enjoyed it."

"I'm glad. I'm sure John would be willing to tell you anything you wanted to know."

Kitty tipped her head. Was that Maria's way of saying she wouldn't tell Kitty anything John didn't want her to know? She sighed. Not even the women in a supposedly free society had any more freedom from their men than she did. Such was life.

"Kitty, if you'd like to see more of our way, you should walk through the camp before we leave. It's time for us to travel to the next site."

"You are leaving London?"

Not that they were really in London, but on the outskirts, where it was safer for gypsies to set up their little fair.

Maria nodded. "Ardaix doesn't want us near the coast while John attends to his business. It would be too easy to seek reprisals against the Roma if anything goes wrong."

"How will we find you again?"

Maria flashed a bright smile and laid a soft hand on Kitty's arm. Obviously, the thought that Kitty wanted to be able to find them again pleased her.

"You won't return to us, your grace. Somerset Park awaits the new mistress."

"Please don't call me that. I am Kitty to you, as you are Maria to me."

"Very well." She hesitated a moment then leaned over to the ground. "I will teach you how you can always find the Roma. Never tell another soul you know this. And don't be afraid to seek help from other clans because of your experience with Bratu. Normally, the Roma protect their own. You have but to use our name and you will be given sanctuary."

"What is your name?"

"Lovell."

Maria bent over the sand around the fire-ring and positioned two twigs.

"This is the patteran and indicates the road by which we traveled. Two twigs or leaves placed like this on the road every few hundred feet serve as a sign for which direction we go. If you come to a cross-road, two or three handfuls of grass lying at a small distance from each other down one of the roads will inform any Roma the route we have chosen." She glanced up at Kitty's watchful face. "Do you understand?"

"You do that in case you get separated so the others will know which bend to take in the road."

Maria nodded vehemently which shook her wide earrings against her face. Like the other gypsy people Kitty had seen, she was expressive. Kitty had never seen so many hands flying and heads twisting as when the Roma spoke to one another. Compared with the staid ways of the ton, gypsy body language was a sight to behold.

Maria held up a finger. "Now…this is only one way to leave a patteran…a trail. By the time you return from France, grass and twigs will have blown away."

Again she looked at Kitty to make sure Kitty understood. Kitty nodded and watched as Maria took a stout stick and gouged deeply into the earth. Then she crossed it and looked up at Kitty.

"You see the cross? We draw it at the entrance of a road, the long part or the stem points down the road we have taken. But…the rain can wash away such marks."

She reached for a larger, clefted stick. "This will help you even at night. We leave this sign close by a hedge or the edge of the road with the little arm in the cleft pointing down the road we've taken. Always…we leave it…on the left-hand side."

Maria kicked at the dirt and sticks and sat back to look at Kitty.

"Thank you, I shall not forget."

Maria beamed, reaching into her pocket. "One last thing…" She dropped several white stones into Kitty's lap. "Always manage to keep a few of these handy…" She looked up sharply. "White only. This will indicate you have found the Lovells. Only we add the white stones to the sign." She gave Kitty a tight hug. "Now you can find us any time, bori."

Kitty lifted her eyes to Maria's face. She was a lovely woman, although it was apparent she'd had a harsh life from the lines around her eyes and mouth.

"What is a bori, Maria?"

"Daughter-in-law." She held a finger to her lips before rising.

Daughter-in-law? What was that supposed to mean? And why was it a secret? If that was even what Maria meant by holding her finger to her mouth. How could it be a secret when John understood everything they said? She would have to ask him later.

The rest of the day Kitty observed frantic preparations as the gypsies dismantled the entire camp and stored their provisions. Even the wagon where she and John had slept was filled with supplies.

She wandered through the camp, looking for the meeting that John was supposed to be having with Robert. She was restless on her own, and the gypsies were far too busy to baby-sit her.

She came around a wagon and stopped at the sound of angry voices.

An old cracked voice hissed out. "He has the right to know who he is."

Was that the voice of the old fortune-teller? Kitty couldn't be sure

"He's a duke. That's all he needs to know."

That assuredly was the voice of Ardaix, and they were discussing John. He was the only duke among gypsies.

"He should know everything. He earned that right."

"Listen well, old woman. You gave up the right to make decisions in his life long ago. Don't tell me how to handle him now."

"Bah! You are a stubborn old fool."

Kitty heard the woman spit. She wrinkled her face in disgust, but it was an expressive tool of the Roma.

"You are the old one. Now dodder off and pack your things."

The conversation had reached an end, and Kitty didn't want to be found eavesdropping. She turned and fled…right into the arms of John.

He chuckled as he embraced her. "I've been looking for you. It's almost time to leave."

"The boat is ready?"

"Yes, come this way."

He led her to a large tent. She peeked inside as John held back the tent flap. Inside seated on rugs and cushions, she found Robert,
Rasvan, Michel…and Ardaix. How in the world had the man reached the tent before them?

She stepped inside and sat on the ground beside them. John joined her. Robert, she noted, gave John a calculated look as he sat. "They say they're going with us."

"Who is going with us?"

"We are," said Michel.

Kitty watched John look around the circle of men, assessing each one. From their stern faces, she didn't see how he could discern anything.

"Fine. But you'll have to wear appropriate clothing. Out-riders often accompany a carriage of nobility. It will make our scheme more believable."

Kitty nearly jerked when Ardaix spoke.

"I'm going as well."

John stiffened, and his eyes flashed with anger as he lifted his chin.

"I do not require your assistance."

"Nevertheless..."

"The more the merrier," said Robert. "There's strength in numbers, don't you know."

Kitty almost laughed. Robert sounded like a buffoon, a habit of his when he didn't want anyone to know what he really thought.

John looked back at Ardaix. "Get your gear together."

"We have already placed it in your wagon," said Rasvan with a cocky grin.

"Am I allowed to make any decisions concerning my own mission?"

"Apparently not," said Kitty as she cocked her head to smile up at him.

They had all maneuvered themselves into John's company, herself included. And like Robert said, there was strength in numbers.

At that point, John smiled at her before looking at Robert.

"Did we ever have a chance to speak with Newport?"

"We did not. We were otherwise occupied at the specified meeting time, and I could not locate him later. We shall have to proceed without him."

Kitty felt miserable. She knew what had occupied them...her rescue.

"What about my solicitor? Did you have an opportunity to find out who bought my estates out from under me?"

What was this? John had lost his estates? How could that be? When she'd left home, everything was fine at Somerset Park. She gave him a frantic look that he ignored though he did clasp her hand tightly in his own.

Robert nodded warily. "I did. But you won't like the answer."

John's eyes narrowed dangerously. Kitty had never seen him that way. He looked as if he might kill someone.

"Who was it, Westley?"

"Newport."

She gasped. This was the man John trusted? She searched his face and found grim satisfaction.

"It changes nothing. Let's go."

Chapter 14

It was nearing dark before they were finally ready to board the boat that would carry them to France.

Kitty eyed it suspiciously. Faded timbers with gaps in certain areas that surely caused it to fill with water in a rough sea. It didn't look seaworthy, but she trusted John's judgment.