Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
CLIFF WAS FURIOUS. “Your brother isn’t mad, he is standing right here, and he is not sharing a bed with a seventeen-year-old child.” He stormed into the house, absolutely disbelieving, but then, Rex’s morality had always been excessive and annoying.
In spite of his crutch, his brother followed him inside, just as swiftly. Cliff went into the library and poured himself a drink. Only then did he face his brother. “I have always preferred women a bit older than my own age, as you damn well know,” he added harshly. He slammed down the drink.
“Then you had better think about how you behave with your waif, as anyone with eyes will think as I have,” Rex said calmly, although he seemed very curious.
“You are mad!” Cliff exclaimed. “I am her protector, as she has no one else. And she is not my waif.” He hesitated. “She is my protégée—for the moment.”
Rex began to smile. “You are her protector? She is your protégée? What, exactly, does that mean? And since when have you had a relationship with any woman outside of a bedroom?”
Cliff slammed his glass down on the marble top of the sideboard. “I rescued her from a jeering, bloodthirsty mob. Her father was about to be hanged and a group of boys were throwing stones at her. Had you been there, you would have rescued her, too.”
Rex stared, brows high. “I see you have quite the story to tell. I have all night.”
Cliff began to calm. Besides, he undoubtedly needed his brother’s advice. “There is a hell of a story. Her father was a pirate and she has spent half of her life on the main, cruising for prizes with him.”
Rex was shocked. “Good God! She doesn’t look like a pirate’s murderous wench!”
“She isn’t. She is oddly naive—he never let her witness a battle, and he grounded her when she turned twelve.
However, she was raised amongst rowdy rovers and thieves.
She was allowed to run freely about Jamaica Island.
Before I rescued her at the hanging, I had seen her about, sometimes swimming in a cove, or on a raft, surfing the waves.
Everyone knew her as La Sauvage.” He smiled grimly.
“She was wild. Now—” He stopped. “Now she is caged up.”
Rex folded his arms, staring. “What does that mean?”
“In a way, I hate what I have done—and it isn’t taking her to bed.” But as he paced, he thought of the dawn after the storm, when he had done everything but take her innocence.
“Really? So you are not flushed with guilt?” Rex asked.
Cliff whirled. “She is a virgin,” he said, stressing the noun.
“And you would know that because…?”
Cliff felt like smashing his brother, just once. “She told me.”
“I see. A suitable subject for a protector and his protégée. By the way, the countess, Lizzie and Eleanor are here. “
Cliff tensed. “Amanda is afraid of society.” He shook his head.
“She spent all night beside me in near-hurricane winds, smiling, by God, as if a sea goddess, but she is afraid of the ton’s mockery and scorn.
I have brought her to town so she might meet her only living relative.
On board my ship, she has been tutored in the social graces.
I have never seen anyone more determined to master a subject they have no care for!
” He sighed. “I am glad the countess, Lizzie and Eleanor are in residence. If anyone can help Amanda make a successful transformation, it is those three.”
Rex was gaping. “You are trying to transform a pirate’s child into a lady?”
“It seemed the obvious course of action.”
“Of course it did.”
“Knowing she is innocent,” Cliff said sharply, “it is my duty to protect her, especially now, when the rakes in town will swarm after her, thinking her an easy mark.”
“Of course it is your duty. My charming, rakehell, conscienceless brother, infamous for his seductions of courtesans and countesses, is now the champion of a pirate’s daughter. This will be a very interesting Season, I think. You do plan to stay on?” Rex was now laughing.
“I promised her I would secure her future,” he said gruffly. “I see I am entertaining you!”
Rex widened his eyes, feigning innocence. “I am hardly amused…I am in shock, frankly. You are going to secure her future, too?”
“That is correct. She has no one else.” Annoyed again, Cliff went to the door and closed it.
“Actually, her mother is here in London, Rex. She has come to town to be reunited with the woman she believes is married to her father. Amanda has been told her mother is Dulcea Straithferne Carre and that she resides at Belford House. Do you know Lady Dulcea Belford?”
Rex was surprised. He limped to the sofa and sat. “I am sorry. I know of her and I see where you go. You think her mother is Lady Belford…which makes Amanda her illegitimate daughter.”
“Amanda has been devastated by the loss off her father,” Cliff said, joining him on the sofa.
“Now she will learn her parents were not wed. I fear for her reception, knowing Dulcea even as little as I do. But I am determined to make this reunion work. Amanda has suffered enough. She deserves some of life’s good fortune. ”
Rex shook his head. “You must be smitten. Cliff, society is unkind and you probably know it better than anyone. You may be able to ignore the gossip behind your back but she seems quite young and fresh to me. Whatever you think you have done on your ship, Miss Carre does not look ready to enter the ton—and not because she dresses like a boy. Of course you must attempt this reunion with Lady Belford, but I would think twice about casting her into society.”
“As for her dress, she has no gowns. I sent a Regent Street seamstress a missive from the docks and I expect a reply before this evening is out. Amanda will not be ridiculed when she enters society, because I am going to be with her and we will wait until everyone agrees she is ready.” He stared.
“And I am not smitten. I am being honorable, that is all.”
Rex patted his shoulder. “It is about time.” He chuckled. “Very well. We will call your feelings those of honor. When will you attempt to introduce mother and daughter?”
“I don’t know. I am eager to have the help of our ladies now. And I do not mind deferring to their advice, either. In fact, I welcome it.” Rex laughed again, and Cliff ignored him. “I will call on Lady Belford tonight, alone. The sooner I make certain she is amenable to the reunion, the better.”
Rex shook his head, his smile gone. “I am very aware that, like Devlin, you are a master of the seas. London society is not the main. Your power is finite here. I hardly recall you being at the pinnacle of society. There are whispers behind your back—whispers you seem to encourage and covet. You can do your best to shield Miss Carre from any unpleasantness, but you cannot force Lady Belford to take her in, nor can you make society accepting of her rather unique ways. In fact, society might have some of the very same questions about this odd pairing that I have had.”
Cliff stood. “You are wrong. I can and will shield Amanda. I have tolerated those whispers because they amused me. Now, I will throw my wealth around town so blatantly it will be obscene, and the whispers will cease. I never fail. I do not intend for this to be the first time.” He started across the room.
“Where are you going?” Rex asked softly.
“I am going to check on Amanda and see if she is pleased with her accommodations. She is not used to servants and I doubt she has asked for a single thing.”
“Cliff.” Rex stood. “She may be in breeches, but she is a young and very beautiful woman. You’re not on your ship.
You can’t meander into her private rooms so casually.
It will be below stairs and then upstairs and all about the ton before dawn.
Will you ruin her reputation before you have even launched her?
You alone are fodder for gossip, but now you add La Sauvage into the equation.
I want you to succeed, but you must proceed with caution. ”
Cliff felt an unwelcome frustration, for Rex was right. “I am going to check on her—but briefly.” He hesitated. “We will speak in the hall.”
Rex simply stared after him, his thoughts clear. This was not going to be a mission so easily accomplished.
AMANDA LEAPED TO HER FEET at the sound of Cliff’s steps outside of her door.
Before he had even knocked, she threw it open, terribly relieved to see him.
He stood there, appearing somewhat surprised by her manner, and she had to remind herself not to fling her arms around him. “You did not forget me!”
He smiled. “That would be impossible.”
She bit her lip. “You are flirting.”
“Am I?” He glanced past her into her room. “Are you comfortable in these quarters, Amanda?”
“Am I comfortable?” She had thought the furnishings at Windsong to be luxurious, but this was so very different.
The bedroom reeked of past centuries, of a family heritage and tradition she could barely understand.
There were faded portraits in old gilt frames in the hall, and the secretary in the bedroom looked as if it belonged in another place and time.
Harmon House was so obviously a part of the de Warenne family’s history that she could actually feel their ancestors lurking in the shadows of the corridor.
“I take it you approve?”
She nodded. “Why are you standing in the hall? Can’t you sit down and talk to me for a moment?” She gave in to what she really wanted to know. “What did your brother say when I left? And what did you tell him about me?”
He hesitated. “I can’t come in. I am a notorious bachelor, and if I cross that threshold and a housemaid sees us, your reputation is over before we have ever introduced you to anyone.”
She felt her anxiety heighten. In a way, she had already entered society. She was queasy. “I don’t really care.” Yet that was a lie.
“But I do.” He smiled at her again. “I will have a supper tray sent up.”
She stared. “You didn’t answer me.”