Rapturous Rakes Bundle (35 page)

said, knowing she had to tell the truth to sooth her

brother’s conscience. ‘I love him.’

Daniel did not seem soothed. She could feel the

tension in his body. His face was set. ‘That is even

worse, if he is only playing games with you.’

‘He is not. He wished to marry me.’

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Mistress

There was a moment of silence and then Daniel

gave a short laugh. ‘Now I’ll admit you have surprised

me. So he wished to marry you before, but he no

longer does? What happened?’

‘He found out about you,’ Rebecca said.

‘I see.’ Daniel was silent for a moment. ‘You had

not told him.’

‘No.’

‘Because you were protecting me.’

‘Yes. It is a habit of mine.’

Daniel gave an angry sigh. ‘And now he does not

want to marry an outlaw’s sister?’

‘It is not that.’ Rebecca hesitated. ‘Lucas and I have

both kept many secrets from the other. We did what

we thought was best, but in the end we hurt each other

too much. There is no going back.’

Daniel leant his chin on his hand. ‘Could you not

resolve these matters once and for all?’

‘I do not know,’ Rebecca said honestly. ‘There are

many reasons why I should not marry Lucas Kestrel.’

‘You say you love him,’ Daniel pointed out, ‘so

give me one good reason.’

Rebecca made a slight gesture. ‘My whole life has

been wrapped up in my engraving, Daniel. I do not

wish to give it up and I certainly could not continue

to work were I to become Lady Rebecca Kestrel.’

Daniel shifted slightly. ‘You told me that your work

would decline anyway, because of this damage to your

wrist,’ he pointed out. ‘That is something you are go-

ing to have to come to terms with, Beck, sooner or

later. You are fortunate in that you now have another

alternative in life.’

Nicola
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265

‘I do not wish to think of Lucas as an alternative to

starvation!’ Rebecca protested.

‘Then think of him as a man who loves you.’

‘That is precisely the point!’ Rebecca leant on the

rail and took a deep breath of sea-scented night air.

‘Lucas does not love me. He wishes to marry because

he wants me and because he and I...we—’ Rebecca

broke off.

‘We’ll take that as read,’ Daniel said, a smile light-

ening the grimness of his tone. ‘It sounds as though

he has at least acted as a gentleman should.’

‘Oh, do not be so stuffy!’ Rebecca said spiritedly.

‘I refuse to marry because of Lucas’s misplaced chiv-

alry and sense of honour.’

‘Then you are a fool,’ Daniel said bluntly. ‘You are

in love with the man. You said so yourself. He wishes

to marry you. He may to all intents and purposes be

desperately in love with you, Beck, and simply not

very adept at showing it.’ Daniel shrugged self-

deprecatingly. ‘Not all men are adroit with such feel-

ings. Certainly—’ a hint of dryness entered his tone

‘—Lucas Kestrel has been doing a good enough job

of
playing
a man deeply in love, if all I hear is true.’

Rebecca was silent. With all her heart she wanted

to believe Daniel’s words. She wanted to think that it

would not be a compromise match, born out of gal-

lantry and need. That was a great deal, but it was not

enough for her. She loved Lucas and she wanted him

to love her too. Abandoning her engraving was a dif-

ferent matter and one that she would have to learn to

accept. She realised that now. Her whole world was

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The
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Mistress

changing, but she should not hide behind her loss and

use it as an excuse to refuse Lucas.

‘I cannot imagine myself as a lady,’ she said, a little

forlornly.

‘Why not?’ Daniel was bracing. ‘You were born

one.’

‘I am accustomed to working for my living.’

‘So?’ Daniel sounded severe. ‘You need not become

idle just because you marry a rich man, Rebecca. Your

life is there for the taking. You can do what you wish

with it. I never thought to see you refuse a challenge

because you were afraid.’

Rebecca stared out across the darkened sea. Dan-

iel’s words were hard, but she knew they were true.

She had been reluctant to give up the past, to trust

Lucas and to go into a different future. But now her

heart felt lighter and she went across and flung her

arms about Daniel and held him close, wordlessly.

He rested his cheek against her hair and said, ‘Does

that mean I can stop worrying about you again?’

‘I suppose so.’ Rebecca freed herself from his grip

and stood at arm’s length. ‘I must go back now.’

‘Thank the lord for that,’ her brother said. ‘We have

been hovering offshore these two hours past. It is dam-

nably dangerous.’

Despite that, it was Daniel himself who came with

her in the long boat to Kestrel Cove and escorted her

up the sandy path through the woods, leaving her only

when she was on the threshold of Kestrel Court. Re-

becca gave him another brief, fierce hug but they did

not speak, and, though she turned to watch as his tall

figure was swallowed up by the trees, he did not look

Nicola
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267

back. She turned away then. The lights of Kestrel

Court glowed bright through the autumn night and she

gathered up the green skirts in one hand and strode

forward boldly, belying the nervousness in her stom-

ach. It was time to meet her future and make of it

what she could.

‘A shocking accident.’ Owen Chance, the Riding

Officer, had been closeted with the Duke and Lord

Lucas Kestrel for over an hour, and Lucas was heartily

wishing him gone. He had nothing against Mr Chance

personally, for the fellow was a good man for a gov-

ernment employee and close as the grave. He and Jus-

tin had agreed that they had to take Chance into their

confidence in order to hush up the matter of the Mid-

winter spies and the further complication of Rebecca’s

disappearance. Chance was the only one outside the

family who knew she had been taken by
The
Defiance.

Benbow was more discreet than a clam and everyone

else had been told that Rebecca had been rescued by

a fishing boat and was currently resting after her or-

deal. The Midwinter tabbies were in a flutter about it,

of course, but it was nowhere near as bad as the huge

scandal that would ensue if the tale got out that Miss

Rebecca Raleigh, erstwhile cousin to the Duke of Kes-

trel, had been taken aboard a pirate ship and one,

moreover, which was the property of her brother, Dan-

iel De Lancey...

It was that that preoccupied Lucas now. He seemed

to notice every tick of the clock, and the agonising

slowness with which the hands moved around towards

midnight. Despite the message that De Lancey had

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The
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Mistress

sent, Lucas had been desperately uncertain that Re-

becca would come back at all, and with every hour

his doubts had solidified into an uncomfortable weight

in his stomach. He wanted her back. He needed her.

Damn it, he loved her and he would tell her as soon

as she stepped through the door.
If
she stepped through

the door ever again...

‘I agree,’ Owen Chance was continuing, ‘that it is

best to present the matter in the light of a disaster. Sir

John Norton and Lady Benedict, wishing to give the

invalid Sir Edgar a healthful sea outing, arranged the

trip on the yacht, only to fall foul of a most terrible

accident.’

Justin nodded. ‘Quite so. That is the story that we

have put about in the town.’ He shrugged. ‘Perhaps

Norton should have realised that the sea mist made it

an unsuitable day for a sail, but...’

‘But it is too late now,’ Owen Chance concluded.

He smiled a little grimly as he finished his brandy. ‘A

most satisfactory conclusion, your Grace, sparing us

all the unavoidable scandal of a treason trial.’

He got to his feet. ‘Well, if you will excuse me, I

shall be on my way.’ He shook Justin’s hand, then

Lucas’s. ‘They are searching for
The
Defiance,
’ he

said, and Lucas swallowed his irritation because he

understood Chance’s sincerity. ‘HMS
Plockton
is out

of Harwich—’

‘I feel certain that Miss Raleigh will be very well

and will be returned to us soon,’ Justin said, a shade

too heartily. He drew Owen Chance towards the door.

‘This way, old fellow. I cannot emphasise how much

we appreciate your help in this matter...’

Nicola
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269

Their voices faded away down the hall and Lucas

got up, unable to keep still any longer. He strode over

to the window and peered out into the darkness, but

could see nothing at all. He thought that he had heard

a sound. It was his imagination, of course. Or wishful

thinking. He dropped down into an armchair by the

fire and ran a hand through his disordered tawny hair.

He had never experienced such a mixture of hope and

fear. If this was love then he was not certain that he

had not been better off before. Except that it was far

too late now.

There was the softest click as the latch of the long

window lifted. Lucas looked up. Even though it was

the one thing that he had wanted to happen all day,

he found he could not actually move, or even speak.

He simply stared.

Rebecca was standing just inside the long windows.

It
was
Rebecca, although she was wearing a full green

skirt that looked as though it had come from a dress-

ing-up box. Her hair was loose down her back and

shadowed her face with a nimbus of dark curls. He

could see the doubt and hesitation in her eyes as she

looked at him. It exactly mirrored everything that he

felt inside. Then she smiled tentatively and held out a

hand.

‘Lucas?’

Lucas was across the room so quickly that he barely

had time to think. His arms went about her and he

held her close. ‘I was afraid you would not come

back.’ He scarcely recognised his own voice.

He felt her tremble on the edge of laughter and

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The
Rake’s
Mistress

tears. ‘I was afraid that you would think it proved my

guilt. I am sorry I never told you...’

Lucas pressed a kiss on her hair and tightened his

grip about her. Then he remembered that he had some-

thing to tell her. It was easy in the end. ‘I love you

with all my heart,’ he said. ‘Will you marry me?’

She tilted her chin up so that she could meet his

eyes. Her own were brilliant with tears of happiness.

‘I will,’ she said, a second before he kissed her.

Neither of them was aware of how long it was be-

fore the door opened and the Duke of Kestrel entered.

They broke apart, tousled and incandescent with hap-

piness.

‘Ah,’ Justin said, sounding as unruffled as though

he had stepped into the Prince of Wales’s drawing

room, ‘I am glad to see you returned, Rebecca. We

were becoming quite concerned for you. I kept Chance

talking a while for I did not wish him to meet your

brother on the way out.’ He looked from one to the

other and started to smile. ‘I take it that the wedding

will be going forward after all? I am very glad. But

you will be wishing me gone, I dare say. I shall bid

you good night.’

‘Such discretion,’ Lucas said, as the door closed be-

hind his brother. He sat down in the armchair and

pulled Rebecca onto his lap. She snuggled close,

pressing her cheek to his.

‘Would you like me to tell you what happened, Lu-

cas?’ she asked, muffled.

‘Just for once,’ Lucas said, ‘I would not.’ There was

a huge warmth and happiness in his heart and it

needed no words. He put a hand beneath her chin and

Nicola
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271

turned her face up to his. ‘For now,’ he said, ‘there

are better ways to pass the time.’