Rapturous Rakes Bundle (34 page)

‘Thank God I taught you to swim, Beck.’

Rebecca opened her eyes. The light was pale golden

and was flooding in through a porthole in the stern,

making water patterns on the pale panelled walls. For

a moment she thought that she was asleep and dream-

ing, and then she remembered. She sat up with a

groan. When Daniel had scooped her up onto the deck

of
The
Defiance
she had felt well and strong and ex-

ultant to be alive. She had hugged him tightly, asked

a barrage of questions and laughed in delight as his

grinning crew pressed around to shake her hand. It was

mortifying that her strength had then withered swiftly

and she had fainted—actually fainted—for the first

time in her life.

Daniel sat down on the end of the bed and placed

a tray in front of her. He looked just as she remem-

bered him: the strong, tanned face, dark, curly hair and

slashing white smile that warmed his eyes and less-

ened slightly but not entirely the dangerous image that

he cut.

‘You have slept for hours, Beck,’ he said, appraising

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her thoroughly. ‘It is good to see there is colour in

your face again. Would you like some soup?’

Rebecca’s stomach gave a long rumble. Daniel

laughed and pushed the wooden tray towards her.

There were rolls and delicious-smelling vegetable

broth. Rebecca took a few spoonfuls and gave an ap-

proving nod.

‘You do not stint yourself, Daniel.’

‘Did you think I lived in squalor, with cutlasses

hanging from the ceiling?’ her brother asked plain-

tively. ‘I assure you we are far more civilised than

that.’

‘I suppose so.’ Rebecca looked around the well-

appointed cabin. There was a desk of cherrywood and

two matching chairs and paintings of seascapes on the

white walls. And on a low shelf the afternoon sun

sparkled on a slender vase of engraved glass with the

picture of an anchor and the motto
Celer
et
Audax.
It

was a match for the one in her studio.

Suddenly his words penetrated Rebecca’s wander-

ing thoughts and she put the spoon down with a clat-

ter.

‘You say that I have slept for hours? Then they will

think me dead—’

‘I sent a message telling them that you were safe,’

Daniel said calmly, holding on to the tilting tray. ‘Be-

sides, Lucas Kestrel saw you come aboard the ship.

He knows you are here.’

‘Lucas?’ Rebecca’s heart jumped. ‘How could he

know? Did he come after me?’

‘He did,’ Daniel said. ‘In a fowling boat. Madness

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The
Rake’s
Mistress

under such dangerous conditions, but most impres-

sive.’

Rebecca swallowed the lump in her throat. There

was a fierce ache inside her. Lucas had come after her,

no matter the odds, no matter the danger. Evidently he

had cared enough to try to save her. And now, no

doubt, he would think her guilt proven beyond doubt

when she had clambered aboard
The
Defiance.
She

sighed sharply, turning her face away. ‘Damn it, why

do matters never turn out right?’

Daniel got up and strolled across to the porthole.

‘They may yet do so,’ he pointed out reasonably.

Rebecca applied herself to the rest of the soup with

gusto.

‘I must go back,’ she said, her mouth full. ‘I cannot

leave them all wondering what has become of me.’

Her brother turned to look at her. ‘I thought you

would say that.’ There was something odd in his tone.

‘We need to talk first, Beck.’

Rebecca nodded and looked around. ‘My

clothes...?’

‘Ruined.’ Daniel went across to the chest beneath

the window. ‘There may be something here that will

fit you.’

Rebecca gave him a look. ‘I shall not ask where

they have come from.’

‘Best not.’ Daniel flashed her a grin. ‘I will see you

on deck shortly.’

He left Rebecca to rummage through the chest and

come out with a curious selection of clothes that made

her feel like a refugee from a Drury Lane theatre.

There was a full green skirt with voluminous petti-

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259

coats, a tight black jacket and a huge lace shawl. Gri-

macing, Rebecca scrambled into the outfit, cast one

quick glance at the mirror on the bulkhead, pulled a

face and went out.

The fresh air hit her as she went up the companion-

way and out on to the deck.
The
Defiance
was not a

small ship as schooners went, but it was exceptionally

trim. The paintwork was fresh and the decks scrubbed

like a warship. Daniel was in the bow, chatting to one

of his crew. He turned when the man touched his arm

and nodded towards Rebecca, and gave her another

flashing grin, coming down the steps to meet her and

draw her into the shelter of the wheelhouse. The sun

was starting to set now, laying a trail of gold across

the pale sea. From somewhere about the ship came the

smell of roasting chicken.

‘You look better than I had expected,’ Daniel said,

holding her at arm’s length and nodding approvingly.

‘It is good to know that Molly’s clothes, if not Molly

herself, have come in useful in the end.’

‘What happened to Molly?’ Rebecca asked lightly.

Her brother shrugged. ‘She left me. She said that

she had thought life on ship would be exciting but it

was no more than one bout of seasickness after an-

other. She asked to be put ashore in Ireland. I hear

that she runs a waterside tavern there now.’

‘I see,’ Rebecca said, fascinated by this insight into

her brother’s personal life. ‘Well, I am grateful for the

loan of her wardrobe.’

‘We are prevaricating,’ Daniel said, with a slight

smile.

‘So, where do we start?’ Rebecca asked.

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The
Rake’s
Mistress

Daniel laughed. ‘At the beginning?’

They talked as the sun went down in a trail of red

and gold and the coastline of Suffolk shifted in the

haze on the horizon. They spoke of old times and

home and family, of Rebecca’s life in London, the

engraving studio and her work. At some point the lan-

tern in the wheelhouse was lit and someone came to

bring them ale and fried chicken, but no one inter-

rupted their conversation. Rebecca told Daniel, as she

had told no one before, of her fears of not being able

to work again, and the loneliness that had stalked her

through the long months following the deaths of their

aunt and uncle. Daniel nodded, his face grave and still

in the falling twilight.

‘So how comes it that you are here in Suffolk?’ he

asked, ‘and guest of the Duke of Kestrel, no less?’

Rebecca hesitated, but she knew that there could be

no further concealment. She told him of Lucas coming

to Clerkenwell to look for the Midwinter engraver and

how he had persuaded her to accompany him back to

Midwinter so that she could help unmask the spy once

and for all.

‘Did you know that I was here?’ she asked.

Daniel smiled. ‘Oh, yes. I hear—and see—many

things, Beck. Everyone was talking of the Duke of

Kestrel’s supposed cousin, Miss Rebecca Raleigh, and

the fact that Lord Lucas Kestrel was mad in love with

her.’

Rebecca blushed. ‘That was merely part of the plan

to hide my true reason for being here.’

‘Was it?’ Daniel’s dark blue gaze was searching.

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261

He tossed aside a chicken wing and reached for an-

other. ‘Perhaps we may return to that, Beck.’

Rebecca was not certain she wanted to talk about

Lucas. She wrapped the voluminous shawl more

closely about her for the evening breeze was strength-

ening. ‘How did you know that I was on Norton’s

yacht?’ she asked, trying to turn the subject.

Daniel laughed. ‘I did not. I did not come to rescue

you, Beck, much as I would like to take credit. I knew

that Norton intended to take
Breath
of
Scandal
out

today and I was waiting for him.’

Rebecca stared. ‘You knew... Did you know he was

the spy?’

‘I knew that he and Lily Benedict between them had

been involved in a conspiracy. I even heard rumours

of a third who was their ally, but I never knew his

name.’

‘Sir Edgar Benedict,’ Rebecca said. ‘We were all

misled by the tale of the housebound invalid.’

Daniel whistled. ‘Cunning. A man who could come

and go as he pleased behind the cover of his illness.’

‘Then you were not...’ Rebecca hesitated ‘...you

were not their contact?’

‘Certainly not.’ Daniel sounded amused, to her re-

lief. ‘I may be a smuggler, Beck, but I am no traitor.

Norton worked with a French privateer. I almost

caught the Frenchman once,’ Daniel added wistfully.

‘That would have put an end to their games much

sooner, but unfortunately his Majesty’s Navy inter-

vened and I had to run for my life. And then they

merely took the privateer’s cargo and allowed him to

escape, the incompetent idiots.’

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The
Rake’s
Mistress

‘It seems a shame,’ Rebecca said softly, ‘that you

are outside the law when you do so much that is

good...’

Daniel gave her a sharp look. ‘What do you mean

by that?’

Rebecca shifted a little. ‘Why, merely that there are

stories about you too, Daniel. Many and many a story,

of how you harry the French and save those who wish

to escape Bonaparte’s tyranny.’

Daniel drained his tankard. ‘Steady, Rebecca.’ His

tone was dry. ‘Next you will be telling me that I take

from the rich to give to the poor.’

‘Don’t you?’

‘Not at all.’ Daniel’s smile was twisted. ‘I discov-

ered early on that I have an aptitude for this way of

life and I make a good living from it. If in the course

of my work I discover certain information that might

be useful to the British government I might pass it on

to them by my own means. If I can help anyone fleeing

Bonaparte, then I shall try to do so. It is as simple as

that.’

Rebecca let it go. She knew that her brother had his

own code of honour and one of his principles was that

he would never tell her more than she needed to know,

in the same way that she would never contact him and

draw him into danger. It was an unspoken agreement

between them and she would not contravene it now.

‘Which brings us rather neatly back to you, Beck,’

Daniel added. ‘Tell me about Lord Lucas Kestrel.’

‘You mean the pretence of a love affair?’ Rebecca

said.

‘No, I mean the genuine article.’ Daniel got to his

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263

feet and took a few paces away, leaning on the deck

rail. ‘When Tovey brought you the money that night

in London he saw more than he expected,’ he said,

over his shoulder. His voice was moody. ‘Lucas Kes-

trel stayed with you all night, Beck, yet you say there

is nothing between you. I hope you are lying.’

Rebecca stared at him. So this was what Daniel had

meant when he said that they had to talk. She felt a

shot of anger. ‘You choose a fine time to play the

protective elder brother, Daniel! What is it to you?’

Daniel turned back for the rail, repressed violence

in the lines of his body. ‘What do you think it is to

me? I am only too aware that I have failed utterly in

my responsibility to protect you, Rebecca. Oh, whilst

Uncle Provost was alive I could square my conscience

and think that you were safe. A letter here, a little

money there—’ He broke off and turned away. ‘It was

never enough, I knew that, but it had to do. And then

you were left all alone and I did not even hear of it

for months, and then Tovey came and said there was

some nobleman prowling around and that you had be-

come his mistress! It was what I had always feared for

you.’

Rebecca got up and came across the rail. She put a

hand on his arm. The wind was cold, carrying spindrift

in its wake. ‘It was never like that with Lucas,’ she