Claire Thornton

by The Wolf's Promise

‘Very well,’ Benoît glanced shrewdly at Lord Ellewood, then broke the seal and quickly scanned the letter. He smiled faintly, and began to read aloud.

  ‘Dear Papa, you will be glad to learn that I have safely delivered your letter to Mr Faulkener. I arrived yesterday afternoon, when he was away from home, but his mother made me very comfortable while I waited for him. She remembered you from your previous visits to Sussex—’

  ‘Determined to make it sound like an ordinary social call!’ the Earl interrupted scornfully. ‘As though that could make it any better.’

  Benoît grinned and carried on reading.

  ‘When I met Mr Faulkener I was relieved to discover that, to all appearances, he is a very respectable gentleman—’

  ‘Ha!’ the Earl exclaimed.

  ‘I am sure he has both the ability and the means to rescue Harry. He has indeed agreed to do so. Unfortunately, he will not tell me when or how he intends to set about it. I confess I am a trifle disturbed by his reticence because we do know so little about him—’

  ‘Hoist by my own petard,’ said Lord Ellewood fatalistically.

  ‘However, I did have the great good fortune to see your old friend Sir William Hopwood this morning, and he appears to be well acquainted with Mr Faulkener. It seems a pity to leave before I have taken this opportunity to discover more about him, so I will return to London tomorrow. I am sorry that I left without discussing my plans with you, but we had an uneventful journey yesterday and Martha and John Coachman have taken good care of me. With all my love, Angelica.’

  Benoît folded the letter and put it back into Lord Ellewood’s hand.

  ‘Thank you.’ The Earl weighed it for a few seconds in his fingers. ‘I would have been infuriated by her impertinence if I’d received this in London,’ he remarked.

  ‘I don’t think that was her intention,’ Benoît replied quietly.

  ‘No. I know.’ Lord Ellewood returned the letter to his pocket. ‘William hasn’t said anything about meeting her at Holly House before their encounter in Littlehampton,’ he said curiously.

  ‘They didn’t meet face to face,’ Benoît explained, smiling faintly. ‘She overheard Sir William accusing me of being a dastardly smuggler and a traitor to England into the bargain. That’s why she stayed in Sussex. She thought I might sell Harry back to the French. And why she followed me when I went to meet Adam.’

  There was a further silence while Lord Ellewood absorbed that information.

  He could hear the waves lapping gently on the sands beside them, and he could remember the glittering expanse of the beach that stretched out before them. There was a little less pain in that memory now than there had been.

  ‘No, that’s not why,’ he said at last. ‘I know my daughter better than that, and I believe I know you better than that. She didn’t think you were a traitor. But it doesn’t matter now, she’s your wife.’

  ‘Yes, she is,’ said Benoît.

  ‘You’ll take better care of her than I can,’ said Lord Ellewood harshly.

  ‘I’ll take care of her,’ said Benoît quietly.

  ‘Where is she?’ Lord Ellewood demanded.

  ‘About a hundred yards away.’

  ‘What?’ The Earl was very shaken.

  ‘You don’t think she’d have let me come alone, do you?’ Benoît asked quizzically. ‘She and Harry both. We followed you from the Manor, but I wanted to talk to you first. They’ve been waiting with the horses.’

  ‘My God!’ Lord Ellewood drew in a deep, unsteady breath. ‘I didn’t expect that. Harry as well, you say? My God!’

  ‘They’ll come when I signal to them,’ said Benoît. ‘And I’ll do that when you give me the word.’

  ‘No more ambushes, hey?’ Lord Ellewood tried to inject a note of liveliness into his voice. ‘That seems to be my destiny on these beaches, doesn’t it? To walk in darkness and run blindly on my fate.’

  ‘Not necessarily,’ said Benoît calmly.

  ‘My God! I hope if you and Angelica have children they inherit your tact!’ Lord Ellewood exclaimed forcefully. ‘Why don’t you just tell me I’ve made my own darkness these past two years?’

  Benoît chuckled.

  ‘That would be impertinent, wouldn’t it?’ he observed. ‘I think your own children are getting rather impatient, my lord. May I…?’

  ‘Yes, yes,’ said Lord Ellewood hastily.

  They began to walk back along the beach. The Earl listened intently for sounds of Angelica and Harry’s approach. Then he heard quickly running feet.

  ‘Angelica?’

  ‘Papa.’ She flung her arms around him.

  Lord Ellewood hesitated fractionally, then embraced his daughter stiffly. It was still so hard to unbend.

  But it was even harder not to respond to her. He felt her sunny curls beneath his harsh cheek, and suddenly he was hugging her so tightly she thought her ribs might crack. He had been afraid he might never hold her in his arms again.

  ‘Harry’s home, Papa.’ She lifted her head to look at him.

  The Earl grunted, not trusting himself to speak. He lifted his hand almost tentatively, and felt the tears which stained her cheeks.

  ‘Of course he is,’ he said gruffly. ‘Do you really think I’d entrust my son’s life to an incompetent jackass? Well, where’s Harry, by God?’

  ‘Here, sir.’ Lord Lennard came forward, grinning broadly.

  His likeness to Angelica was unmistakable. His unruly curls were almost angelic in their golden fairness, and his blue eyes were as clear and lucid as hers. But his debt to his father was also clearly apparent. He was thin-faced and sallow from months of hardship, but there was no doubting the determination in his firm jaw, or the vigour in his long-limbed body.

  Lord Ellewood gripped his son’s shoulder fiercely.

  ‘Good lad,’ he said roughly. ‘You’ve seen some sport since you were last home, I’ll be bound. You must tell me all about it.’

  ‘Yes, sir!’ said Harry enthusiastically.

  ‘I look forward to it.’ The Earl shook Harry back and forwards a couple of times to emphasise his words. Then he turned his attention back to Angelica.

  ‘No more books for you,’ he said abruptly. ‘No more books for me, either. I’ve been talking to Adam Kennett. He plays a damned good game of chess! He won’t tell me how he managed to get himself wounded, but he has told me about the tricks Faulkener’s groom teaches his horses. So I was thinking—how hard can it be to ride along an empty beach?’

  Angelica stared at her father in amazement, then turned to look at Benoît. He grinned.

  ‘I’ll talk to Thomas immediately, my lord,’ he promised.

  ‘Good! We’ve wasted enough time,’ said Lord Ellewood briskly. He hesitated. ‘I’ve been following your husband’s career for years,’ he said gruffly to Angelica. ‘You’ve made an excellent choice, girl. I’m proud of you! Harry!’ he continued before Angelica could respond.

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Walk me down the beach,’ the Earl commanded. ‘I want to hear all about your adventures now!’

  Angelica turned to Benoît as her father and brother strode away. Tears of happiness and relief sparkled in her eyes as he took her in his arms.

  ‘I’m so happy,’ she whispered. ‘After all these months of waiting, you’ve come home—and Papa…’ her voice was temporarily suspended. ‘I didn’t mean to cry,’ she murmured, leaning her head against his broad shoulder.

  Benoît smiled, stroking her golden curls gently.

  ‘I’m not complaining, mon aimée,’ he said softly. ‘I think my impatience to get home was greater than Harry’s! I’ve never left a wife behind before. It’s an experience I intend to avoid in the future!’

  Angelica gave a watery chuckle.

  ‘I’ll hold you to that,’ she assured him, and sighed contentedly, happy simply to be in his arms.

  The past few months had been very hard. She had done her best not to worry about Benoît and Harry, but it hadn’t been easy.
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  And all the time she had known her father was only a few miles away, enduring exactly the same anxiety, but refusing even to speak to her. There had been so many occasions when she’d longed to talk to him; but she hadn’t visited him a third time because she hadn’t been able to bear the possibility that he might reject her yet again.

  But now she was here on the sunlit beach with her husband, and the Earl had said he was proud of her.

  She lifted her head and looked at Benoît. His brown eyes gleamed with the familiar half-teasing, wholly loving expression as they smiled into hers. His black hair glinted in the sunshine, but his lean, watchful face was relaxed and unguarded. The wolf within him slept.

  She touched his cheek with gentle fingers, then slipped her arms around his neck, drawing his head down to hers.

  ‘I am so glad you’re home,’ she murmured. ‘I missed you so much.’

  He kissed her gently, and then with growing passion. The blue sky arched above them, and only the lightest of summer breezes tugged at Angelica’s skirt. It was hard to remember how bleak and desolate the seashore could be—and the pitched battles which had been fought here.

  ‘Hmm,’ said Benoît rather hoarsely, some time later. ‘I think I’ve mentioned before the hazards of going out in public with you, my lady!’

  Angelica started to laugh from pure joy, and a second later he was laughing with her. He picked her up and swung her exuberantly round on the shining sands, while seabirds rose, protesting, above them.

  ‘Faulkener!’

  Benoît set Angelica down on her feet again and they turned to see Lord Ellewood striding towards them. Angelica tensed instinctively. It was a long time since she had seen her father move so purposefully, but then she saw Harry was grinning and she relaxed.

  ‘Faulkener!’

  ‘Yes, my lord,’ Benoît responded, his hand still on Angelica’s waist.

  ‘William’s been telling me tales about a villainous gang of smugglers that were terrorising the countryside a few months ago,’ said the Earl energetically. ‘He said he found it impossible to obtain any solid evidence against them. Everyone was too frightened to talk. Then one day the three ringleaders vanished and the whole thing fell apart.’

  ‘Really, my lord?’ Benoît said politely.

  He drew Angelica back to lean against him, slipping his arms loosely around her waist from behind, and looked at the Earl over the top of her head.

  ‘So I understand,’ said Lord Ellewood briskly. ‘Hopwood’s been going around in a state of thwarted curiosity for the past three months. He almost came to blows with Kennett the other day when Adam swore he didn’t know anything about it!’

  ‘Dear me,’ said Benoît mildly. ‘Why should he suppose Adam knows anything about it?’

  ‘Because you’re as thick as thieves?’ Lord Ellewood suggested dryly.

  He laughed suddenly, startling and delighting Angelica because it was so long since she’d seen her father in such a good humour.

  ‘Now you’re back, you can indulge my curiosity,’ he said pleasantly. ‘In lieu of asking for permission to marry my daughter. What the devil did you do with those murderous brutes, Faulkener?’

  Angelica twisted in Benoît’s arms to glance up at him. A twinkle of shared amusement passed between them, then Benoît glanced from Harry to Lord Ellewood and grinned.

  ‘They suffered the same fate you once suggested for me, my lord,’ he said matter-of-factly, but with a hint of amusement in his voice. ‘I had them pressed into the navy.’

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-2985-3

  THE WOLF’S PROMISE

  Copyright © 1996 by Alice Thornton

  First North American publication 2006

  Originally published in Great Britain in 1996 under the name of Alice Thornton.

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  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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