While the men battled to keep steaming walls and roofs wet down, and shovelled dirt and sand and upended countless water buckets on the great glowing pile, the women tended burns and blisters and abrasions, provided ale and fruit and sandwiches, and did all they might to sustain the workers. Redmond, still not fully recovered from his head injury, collapsed from exhaustion and was borne off to a bed, willy-nilly, but Devenish kept fighting until dawn, at which time it began to drizzle. Soon, rain was coming down in torrents. The weary firefighters packed up and went home, carrying with them the heartfelt thanks of the man they had assisted so unstintingly.
As always, the aftermath was crushing. Josie slept until late afternoon and awoke to a pervading smell of smoke. Maisie Fletcher was carrying in a tray of hot chocolate and biscuits. Before Josie could voice her immediate question, the gaunt abigail's features were illumined by a beaming grin. "He's up already, miss. Proper wrung out, but won't own it." Sipping her chocolate, Josie sighed, "Thank God no one was badly hurt. But—I dread to leave this room, Maisie."
Her dread was well founded. She stepped into a reeking hall, and although the suite she had moved into was on the northeast corner of the house, water had been bucketed along the halls, leaving the once gleaming floors thick with mud. Her eyes blurred. She thought, 'Poor old house!' but already the work of recovery had begun. Maids were scrubbing, rugs were being rolled up and carried away to be cleaned, smashed windows were being boarded up. A great sheet of tarpaulin billowed forlornly across the blackened end of the hall that had once turned into the old wing, but a footman told her that the side stairs were quite undamaged and that the master and Lord Redmond were in the bookroom. She hurried downstairs, her heart wrung by the chaos at the end of the inner court between the wings, and acknowledging to herself that the smoke and water seemed to have resulted in almost as much damage as the flames, and that the entire mansion would have to be redecorated, most of the draperies scrapped, furnishings reupholstered or recovered, and all the carpets and paintings cleaned.
Mitchell and Devenish were alone in the bookroom. They were talking in a rather subdued fashion when she went in, but at once both young men brightened and stood to greet her. She went to the peer first, and he kissed her hand and then her cheek with his customary courtly manners, and made light of her anxiety because his throat was bandaged, his dark hair had been roughly trimmed, and he looked, despite his cheerful grin, tired and drawn. "Whatever will Charity have to say to us?" she said worriedly.
"Not as much as we have to say to her," said Devenish, giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead.
Scanning his face, she tried to hide her consternation. It was not the ugly graze above one eye that dismayed her, nor his bandaged hands or the fact that Hutchinson had been obliged to shear off all his thick curls, leaving him looking oddly juvenile with the fair hair sticking up at uneven angles all over his head. His smile was dazzling and his manner charmingly optimisttic, but his eyes looked sunken into dark wells, and most alarming of all held the bright emptiness that had been so marked seven years ago, when he thought he had lost everything that made life worth living.
"What do you mean, dear?" she asked, longing to take him into her arms and comfort him.
"Why, this woodenhead has contrived to put me under obligation to him. Saved my life."
Josie felt cold and her hand flew to her throat as she turned to Redmond. He said indignantly, "Never believe it! You pulled me out of your little bonfire, Dev, and do not be saying otherwise!"
Devenish ushered Josie to a chair, protesting, "Fact remains, Mitch, that had you not come in after me, I'd have gone on up and been on the landing just when the third floor decided to join us!"
Clutching his hand, her own very cold, Josie whispered, "Oh—God! What are you saying? Dev, there is no possession worth risking your life to—"
"He thought you were up there," Redmond intervened quietly.
Her face crumpled, and she hid it against her guardian's sleeve, then said, "Dearest—you knew I had gone out driving."
He went over to straddle a chair and smile at her over the back. "Earlier, yes. But I was out riding all afternoon, and by the time we— I got back, the poor old place was…" His expression became sombre briefly, then he finished, "A trifle warm."
"But—did you not ask for me? Surely they would have told you—"
"Seems to have been a difference of opinion," Mitchell put in again, his gaze steady on Devenish. "One of the chaps who came to help thought he saw you upstairs at the window. Dev didn't wait to hear more."
She gave a gasp, chilled by the what-might-have-been. "Was there anyone in the house at that time?"
"Yes," said Devenish with a twinkle. "Thank heaven! Had she not been, I doubt you'd be chatting with either of us now, m'dear."
Curious, Mitchell said, "You didn't tell me a lady was with us."
"Don't tell you all my secrets, m'lud."
Mitchell did not return the smile, and Devenish went on. "She gave me a smacking great kiss—hot-blooded wench!'' They both stared at him, and he laughed, "No, really! Have you ever had your face licked by a pig? I tell you, Lady Godiva's tongue is like coarse sandpaper! I wonder I've any skin left on my poor phiz!"
Awed, Josie said, ''You never mean it? Lady Godiva went in there after you?''
"Not exactly. She was already inside when I got there. I'd pointed her in the right direction, but she hasn't the brains of a swine. When Mitch and I came rolling down the stairs, we were both rather knocked out of time, and I fancy the poor gal was anxious to get out, so she revived the nearest guide. You'll never know what a shock it was to come back from the land of dreams and find myself surrounded by smoke and flame and with a blasted porker slobbering all over my face! For a moment, I really thought my sins had caught up—" He checked, seeing that Redmond's amusement had been cut off and that he was coming to his feet. As he glanced to the door, his heart sank.
He thought, 'Gad—I'd forgot this business!' and he called "Welcome, Monsieur le Chevalier! I trust you'll forgive our desordre temporaire.''
Coming forward to gingerly clasp Devenish's hand, the Chevalier Emile de Galin threw a shocked look from his insouciant host, to the amused and battered Baron Redmond, to the polite smile of the girl. "Désordre?" he gasped. "Mon Dieu!"
Walking carefully through the debris, Josie said, "It has been a great shock to him, you know, Mitch. However he tries to hide it."
Redmond glanced back at the house that looked rather wrenchingly forlorn. "Of course it has. Dev will have his hands full, restoring the place. Which may be as well." He slanted a glance at her. "He tells me you mean to marry soon."
After a pause during which they both halted and stood looking at the many figures toiling amid the rubble, she answered, "It is not official yet. In fact, I'm rather surprised he would mention it."
"Probably wouldn't have, but"—he turned to face her squarely—"he was a touch overwhelmed when we crawled out of the house yesterday and Cornish told him you'd not been trapped inside."
"Oh," said Josie huskily and, not daring to dwell on it, asked, "Mitch, do you know why the Chevalier is here today?"
"No. I've heard only good of him, though. Fine old family. Fought gallantly in the war—against us, regrettably. Got himself stove in at—Salamanca, I believe. St. Clair thinks the world of him. Interesting chap."
"Colley certainly thought so."
They both laughed.
"D'you remember," said Mitchell, "how Colley badgered poor Dev to sit for him, and—" He broke off, his fine eye widening. "By Jupiter! Perhaps de Galin is come to ask permission to pay his addresses! I noticed how he stared at you the night of the ball. Though, of course," he added staunchly, "any fellow who did not do so would have to be blind."
She stood on tiptoe to kiss his chin. "Thank you, my lord, but I rather doubt it is a case of l'amour. Now, tell me, dear peer, do you go back to Town?"
"Er," he said vaguely, "I may stop first and— Oh,
your pardon, Josie, but I want a word with Cornish. He came into that furnace to help Dev drag me out yesterday. From the bottom of my heart I must thank him!"
He kissed her and went off, and he certainly did thank the footman until that brash individual was red to the ears.
Having safely pocketed a magnificent douceur, Cornish protested, " 'Adn't oughter done that, yer baronish. I'll tell yer straight, I went in there 'cause me little rocket got 'isself into a spota trouble."
"And would have left me to fry, had I not been with him, I suppose," said Mitchell, indignant.
Cornish pursed up his lips. "Dunno, mate. Lord mate. Mighta. I don't risk me littel silk socks fer many blokes, and that's truth."
"Why, you damned hedgebird! Give me back my gold!"
Cornish looked at him askance but, reassured by the twinkle in the grey eyes, gave his broad, gappy grin.
Mitchell laughed, his amusement heightened when Cornish's screaming mirth augmented his own. He drew the footman on with him towards the stables.
"I am already deeply indebted to you," he said, his manner sobering. "But I want more of you."
Cornish regarded him curiously.
Mitchell went on, "I must warn you, it is something that Mr. Devenish would not at all like…"
"I wondered why you insisted we come here!" Rushing into the low-ceilinged private parlour that separated their rooms, Lady Isabella tossed her sables onto the practical leather-cushioned sofa, and advanced upon her indolently sprawled brother, her dark eyes flashing fury.
Fontaine, who had just composed himself for a pleasant nap, opened one eye, but made no attempt to rise from the armchair before the fire. "You know, Bella," he murmured, "if you keep going into the treetops every time some little circumstance annoys you—"
"Some little circumstance?" she hissed, halting before him, livid with fury. "You have been skinning cats, Elliot! And— damn you! I'll not have it!"
Sighing, he sat up. "You know it offends me to hear a lady swear.''
"And it offends me that you would try to kill the man I love! Oh, never deny it! I saw one of your sneaking spies downstairs! I might have known you stayed here because—"
"Because it gets the sea breezes, m'dear. Very bracing."
"Much you care for bracing! You are intent on destruction— not restoration!" She leaned closer. "Had you killed him, Taine, I would—"
"Do nothing." His voice was soft still, but deadly, the light in the cold blue eyes so menacing that Isabella paled and stood motionless.
Fontaine rose and stretched lazily, then wandered to the window. "You could see the smoke from here, they tell me. I wonder you did not." He chuckled. "So near. And yet—so far."
She sat on the arm of the chair he had vacated, looking at him resentfully. "And that is why we stay in this revolting inn, when we might be enjoying the comforts of Oak Manor, where—"
"There are too many eyes, m'dear. Too much interference."
"It is only sheer luck you are not a murderer today, dear brother.''
"Nonsense," he retorted, perching on the deep window ledge and looking out at the lush sweep of meadow and hill. "I did nothing. Finlayson—"
"Set your miserable blaze, I've no doubt."
He bowed slightly, mockingly. "You are all intelligence, Bella. And another of my lads encouraged your cavalier to trot back into the blaze. From whence he duly trotted out—alas."
Her hands gripped passionately at the back of the chair. "Knowing his death would break my heart! My God! Much love you have for me!"
He shrugged and inspected a fingernail. "He—annoyed me."
"And because a man—annoys you, you have him murdered?"
"Upon occasion." Without raising his head, he glanced at her slyly. "I have suspected for some time that he has the unmitigated gall to judge me! I had hoped to cause him—shall we say, embarrassment?—in a pair of neat little schemes at the ball. The damnable clod would seem to bear a charmed life, for neither materialized. But… you know how that old saying goes, third time lucky… or something of the sort."
Isabella caught her breath. Magnificent in her rage, she leaned forward, her eyes blazing, her voice as low as his had been. "What is in us that makes us so intense in our loves and hates, I do not know. But my blood carries the same thirst for vengeance as does yours, Taine, and I tell you now, as God be my judge, if you hurt him again—"
"Oh, please! Do not bring your God into our quarrel! It will avail you nothing. And besides, I must reluctantly confess I was unwise. I should have denied myself such jolly but impractical ventures. I lost my temper, merely. And so—I have decided, lovely one, to help you." Watching him uneasily, she asked, "How?"
"Trust me. I deplore your taste, but—you have my word on it. Before the week is out, you will be betrothed to your crippled cavalier."
Chapter 16
Devenish frowned a little, the apprehension that had seized him when first he took up the Chevalier's calling card returning full measure. "As much as I know of my ward…" he repeated slowly. "Hum. Well, to start with, sir, I have long suspected she is French born."
The Chevalier's brilliant eyes widened. "Pourquoi?"
"Because—when I found her—"
"And when precisely was that, Monsieur, s'il vous plait?"
"In May, 1816." Devenish's thoughts turned back, his eyes becoming remote. "I'd been robbed and left afoot in the country, late at night and miles from anywhere. I met this poor little waif. I thought she was a boy at first."
"How old was she then?"
"Who knows? I thought perhaps seven, no older than nine."
"Not if my hopes, they are justified. But—pardon—from where had this waif come? There was no home? Parents?"
"She had nothing, God bless her!" Devenish's jaw hardened. "She'd been beaten and starved and worked half to death for all her young life by a set of the most rascally gypsies you ever saw. The damned rogues were getting ready to sell her to a Flash House! You wouldn't know what that is, but—"
De Galin swore and said in a near snarl, "Of a certainty I know it! So you rescued this waif, n 'est-ce pas? But what have cause you to suppose she is French?"
''She spoke a few words of your language next day. Properly conflummerated me, I can tell you! Here the little sparrow could scarce speak decent English and out she pops with "Très bien, Monsieur," with an accent as perfect as—as your own."
De Galin gave a slow smile. "You recall the exact words, mon ami! After these many years?''
A little red in the face, Devenish said that it had been such a shock, he was not likely to forget. "Even," he added defiantly, "after a century!"
"Je comprends. And—this waif, what could she tell you? Did she remember anything? Anything of the smallest?''
"Very little, I'm afraid. A beautiful lady who once sang to her; a few words of French—then. She's very proficient now, as I fancy you've discovered. And the fact that she was stolen as a small child."
The Chevalier gripped his hands, obviously in a state of strongly repressed excitement. "And—was she called Josie Storm when you found her?"
"No, no. We arrived at that between the pair of us. Her abductors had nicknamed her Tabby, because she scratched them when they—abused her. I couldn't stand that, of course."
"Mais non! But—why, Monsieur, is it that you choose these names?"
"Well, I had, I thought, seen her safely home that night, and I went on alone. As it turned out, she'd gulled me and she followed and crept into a barn where I was sleeping. There was a tearing great storm when I discovered her, so we chose that for her surname."
"Ah—and, the other?"
"Josie? Not my choice. She said she seemed to remember it, and wanted me to—" He paused as the handsome face was lit by a beaming smile.
"Voila! It is as I have think, then!" The dark eyes were suddenly full of tears, and de Galin bowed his head, muttering brokenly, "Merci beaucoup! Merci beaucoup, mon Dieu!" He groped for a handkerchief, and blew his nose, s
aying unevenly, "A thousand apologies! You—you will think me the silly emotional Frenchman."
"No such thing," said Devenish very gently. "To find your child after all these years, must be—"
"No, no, Monsieur! Would that it were so, but—she is not mine."
Devenish crossed to refill their glasses, taking his time so that the Chevalier might have time to compose himself before he returned.
"You are most kind," said de Galin gratefully. "And now, if you permit, I will tell you my short tale. You must know that I have a twin brother who was"—he shrugged sadly—"everything I am not."
Devenish stared at him, wondering if the brother had been a human being.
Interpreting that look correctly, the Frenchman smiled. "Monsieur, you are what the ladies would call a very handsome gentleman. Ah—you scowl. Why? Is it that your looks they have not been the boon?"
"A damned curse, more like. You also, eh?"
"Oui. Tragically so. We both, my brother and I, fall in love with the same lady. The most beautiful, sweetly natured, angelic of creatures. But, despite the fact that my features they have happen to come together so as to be pleasing to the gentle sex, Michelle, she love my Charles. I tell you before, Monsieur, that he have everything I have not. This it is very truth. Charles, he have charm, wit, and an intelligence that is near genius. All my life, he have make me feel—inadequate. Only in looks, over which I have no control, and for which I may take no credits, do I excel. Pah! What folly!"
Patricia Veryan - [Sanguinet Saga 11] - Give All To Love Page 24