The Rake and the Recluse REDUX (a time travel romance) (25 page)

She broke away from him, shaking her head. She started to sign
What if
, but her hand dropped and she looked down, unable to finish.

“What if…we never learn?”

She nodded, her eyes stinging with the threat of tears. She’d never imagined she would be refused when she finally tried to give it up.

“I have to try,” he said slowly. “I simply must. It’s the proper thing to do.”

But we’ll never learn because I don’t belong here,
she thought, frustration tensing her features. She shook her head in resignation, feeling more lost than she ever had.

He pulled her back into his embrace, stroking her face and hair, imploring her to calm. “Francine, look at me,” he said.

She gazed into his fiery green eyes and something inside her shifted, filling a void like a puzzle piece.

“I am not known to be a patient man. I will
not
look forever.”

She studied his face, reading the honesty in the depths of his emerald eyes, and it eased her mind. She could trust in him. She nodded once, then smiled.

He chuckled, grasping one of her hands in his and bringing it to his lips. He was so taken with her. At no point in his life had there ever been a moment where he felt this complete.

“Now. Tell me how you solved my maze,” he said.

She signed.

“I— wait, what?”

She shook her head with an exasperated expression. Taking his hand, she pulled him to one of the exits and pointed at the flowers woven into the wall of the hedge. He shrugged.

She led him down the row to a juncture, pausing to look at the different walls and rows before pulling him toward another row. She pointed again to the tiny flowers that dotted the walls of the hedgerow. He looked, seeing the same small yellow flowers she had pointed at the last time.
It cannot possibly be that simple,
he thought, as understanding sank in. She ran ahead to the next juncture, picking out the row covered with yellow flowers. The answer was so uncomplicated it was genius.

“You followed the flowers— I must need to work on my vowels.”

She took his hand and they followed the yellow flowers out, exiting on the south side of the maze facing the stables.

“You are magnificent.”

She smiled.

Gideon and Francine strolled back to the manor. She showed him some simple signs like
sunrise
,
sunset
,
supper
,
mother
,
brother
,
good
,
bad
,
horse
,
eat
, and a few others. When they arrived at the threshold of the great entrance he paused.

“Thank you for a wonderful morning,” he said, reaching for her hand. “I would be honored if you would accompany me to a formal supper this evening,” he whispered, pulling her hand to his lips and placing a kiss in the palm. He meant the indecent gesture to carry all of his hopes to her.

Her mouth dropped open slightly as she watched him.

He couldn’t quite place the expression on her face. “What?” he asked, afraid he had gone one step too far.

She shook her head, suddenly worried. She didn’t want to insult him, but the food was terrible and she didn’t want to fake her way through a formal dinner with him watching. Francine pulled her hand away, considering how to turn down an offer she didn’t want to decline.

Worry,
he thought.
Worry and—fear?
He frowned. He needed to change his tactic. “It’s only that Chef has returned from a trip to France to retrieve some wines and recipes for an extended house gathering I’m planning at the end of the Season. She needs to try the recipes on as many people as possible so she can finalize the menu, and of course my brother and Mr. Shaw will attend with—”

He stopped as a smile broke across her features like the dawn. He grinned triumphantly, but he wasn’t sure whether to be happy that she was going to join him for supper, or sad that she didn’t want to join
him
for supper. He shook his head as she nodded hers. “Well, it is settled. Until then.”

She nodded, still smiling.

Until tonight,
he signed slowly. He took her hand again, gently touching his lips to her wrist.

She tilted her head as the heat from his kiss spread like wildfire through her veins. She gasped, and he looked into her eyes with a half-cocked grin. Her heart bolted.

He stood tall, putting his hands behind his back as he lifted his chin. She touched her wrist where his kiss had seared her exposed flesh, then turned to the stairs, ascending slowly as he watched.

Mr. Shaw appeared at the crest of the staircase and gave a curt bow when she stopped before him. “Miss Francine, how lovely to see you again.”

She smiled and signed,
Thank you, nice to see you as well. How are the plans?

“Very well, I believe. Will we see you at supper this evening?”

Yes, I’m excited. I wasn’t aware the regular chef was away. I was worried.

He laughed, understanding most of her remarks, certainly the important parts.

She signed goodbye and turned for her room. Mr. Shaw looked down the stairs into the angry eyes of a wellborn duke. The sight had him retreating before he realized it.

Roxleigh bounded up the grand staircase toward Mr. Shaw. When he gained the landing he watched Francine as she disappeared into the guest suite, then he turned on him. “What was that?” he asked.

“I beg pardon, Your Grace. I was coming to meet you, as we had planned. I merely held a polite conversation.”

Roxleigh looked through him and Shaw looked back. “Your Grace. I am, most certainly, overstepping my bounds in saying this. However, I would like to make my position plain. I appreciate honesty and feel that you must as well. I am betrothed to a young lady in London. It is a love match. I have no ulterior motives when speaking with your Miss Francine, other than to treat her with courtesy.”

Roxleigh’s shoulders relaxed.

“If I may say, Your Grace, she seems to be a wonderful girl. You are quite fortunate, and I believe so is she. I hope that in the future I will do nothing to disrespect you.”

“There are few men who would dare speak to me in such a manner,” Roxleigh replied. “I appreciate your candor. It is difficult at times to know whom to trust or believe, particularly with a title that demands certain proprieties.” Roxleigh studied him for another moment, then his countenance changed with the blink of an eye. “Shall we investigate your measurements?”

Shaw let out a long breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding. “Of course.” The tension dissolved entirely and the two men walked to the panel between the two main family suites.

They spent the rest of the afternoon measuring, checking, and re-measuring, trying to find the discrepancy to no avail. There was unquestionably a void in the manor that could not be reached from any of the known entries or passageways. Unfortunately, it was getting late. Even if they hadn’t needed more light, they couldn’t explore further if they were to be ready in time for supper.

Perry woke from his nap to a banging behind the fireplace in his suite. He hadn’t seen his brother all day, even as hard as he endeavored to intercept his path within the manor. He wasn’t going to enter the maze, that was certain; first, because he wasn’t sure what Gideon would do if he happened upon his brother behaving in an improper manner with his young, beautiful guest—he imagined it would be similar to coming upon a lion in its den—and second, because he had no desire to find himself lost in that bloody hellhole of a maze ever again. Once as a child was quite enough.

He stood, straightening his disheveled clothes, and left his suite only to find Gideon speaking quite excitedly with whom he assumed was the architect.

Gideon stopped when he caught sight of Perry. “Look at this! Here, look at this,” Gideon said, striding over to him. “There is a disparity.”

“Measure it again,” Perry replied dismissively.

“No, no, we
have
measured it. Checked it three and four times on some walls. There is an inconsistency,” Gideon said, as close to beaming as Perry had ever seen him. It was a bit discomfiting.

Perry stared at his over-excited brother like he was a bit off, but he couldn’t help but to catch a bit of the excitement oozing from him. “Are you mad?”

“Possibly, but in this there is no error.”

“Don’t you mean there
is
an error? That’s incredible. How could we have never discovered this? Running about as children, you would think—”

“You would,” Gideon said, “but we never— We need to find the way in.” The first dinner bell rang, and he grunted. “But, of course, it is too late.”

“We shall find it tomorrow,” Perry said definitively.

“Tomorrow,” Gideon replied with a nod.

Shaw watched, his arms crossed over his chest, rocking on his heels as he enjoyed the jovial display.

Perry clapped his brother strongly on the shoulder. “Damn, I knew Marcus was a bit off, but this is beyond expectation.”

“Yes, quite.” Gideon looked at him with a broad smile, then turned to Shaw.

“Blast it all, I forgot. Shaw, this is my brother. You will call him Trumbull.”

Shaw took the viscount’s proffered hand. “At your service, my lord.”

“Please, not at all. You have managed to make this visit infinitely more enjoyable than I thought possible. I am in your debt.” Perry placed his other hand on his chest and inclined his head slightly.

Shaw smiled. “Well, gentlemen, I must go dress for supper. I understand we have a special guest, and I am covered in dust.”

“Of course,” Gideon said, panic dawning over his stern features. “I must take my leave as well, for quite the same reason. Trumbull, Miss Francine will be joining us for supper.”

“So I take it. This should provide an even better distraction than the missing suites.”

Gideon scowled at the thought of dinner with his brother and Francine and stormed off.

“Roxleigh!” Perry boomed, but the only response he got was a stiff wave behind Gideon’s head without so much as a turn or pause.

Shaw was aghast at the effective handling Roxleigh had succumbed to. He smiled and looked at Trumbull, who turned on him in surprise.

“You still here?” Trumbull gave him a knowing glance. “Good God, man, we shall get along fine, just fine,” he said, then went to his suite to ready for supper.

Shaw watched him go, pondering the show that had just taken place before him. He was quite aware that an outsider such as himself had probably never been privy to such cavorting between these two extremely powerful men, and he was genuinely taken with the honesty of their actions.

Francine could not stop smiling. She’d thought there had been no way to improve upon the night in the garden from last week, not until this very moment. She walked through the entry, the sitting room, and into the bedchamber, where she stopped cold.