Her Willful White: Dark Duke’s Legacy Book 2

by Andresen, Tammy

  “Mary’s coming, too?”

  He sat back up and she followed, holding the covers around her chest.

  He gave a quick nod. “You’ll need a maid, and Mary has proven faithful. Besides, if your uncle realizes you’ve had an accomplice what would he do to her? Surely, she’d be out of a job.” Then he rose again, crossing to the mirror to tie his cravat.

  Her brows lifted as she watched. “What do you plan to say to him?”

  He winked. “Just that I’d like to marry very quickly. He’ll have his suspicions. And if he doesn’t agree, it’s off to Scotland we’ll go.”

  She looked over at the door. “Elope? What if my uncle locks me in the tallest tower? Or just my room? I’m not climbing down from the balcony to elope.”

  He gave a low chuckle. “Good point. Pack now. Not a trunk. A satchel. And be ready to leave for Cliffside.”

  She gave a quick nod as he stood. She’d expected him to leave by the balcony. Ring the front door.

  But he strode over to her bedroom door and exited into the hall.

  Her mouth dropped open and for a moment, she sat there. Apparently, Dez wasn’t keeping many secrets from the patriarch of her family.

  And with that she scrambled from the bed and pulled the bell cord. She’d need to dress and pack quickly because she had no intention of being trapped here. Her future was calling and her past, too, and she’d be ready to answer.

  But before she’d finished dressing, her mother opened the door, her eyes wide as she stared at her daughter. “Fleur,” her mother said, rushing in. “What have you done?”

  Her lips parted.

  What had she done? What hadn’t she done? “Ma mere, you might have to be more specific than that.”

  The door closed with a click as Mary dropped into a curtsy from her position behind Fleur.

  Her mother’s face was pale as she looked at her daughter. “Lord White claims you’ve found your father’s murderer and that he must take you away in order to keep you safe.”

  Oh. That.

  “I wish he’d told me what he planned to say.” She sighed. They’d have to work on his communication skills.

  Her mother shook her head. “That is what you have to say? No more explanation as to how you’ve come by this information or what it means?” Her mother sat on the bed, her features taking on a waxy hue. “And why would anyone wish to hurt your father? He was the most perfectly wonderful man.”

  Fleur winced. She’d kept much from her mother for just this reason. Her own rosy vision of her father had been colored by reality. Did she do the same to her mother? “It was this dreadful war, mother.”

  Her mother nodded. “I knew he should have stayed in France. Is that why Lord White is worried for you?”

  “Partially,” she said. “But he has several properties, and his brother is a duke. He feels he can keep me safe.”

  Her mother nodded. “You must go with him then.”

  Relief made her shoulders sag. “Do you think Uncle will agree?”

  “I don’t know.” Her mother sighed. “My brother isn’t the most…thoughtful man.”

  Truer words.

  Her mother glanced at the satchel she’d begun to fill. With a deep breath she rose from the bed. “Fleur, finish getting ready. I’ll pack for you.”

  Fleur smiled as she turned back to allow Mary to finish dressing her hair.

  “Have you and Lord White talked about the future? Where you’ll live?” her mother asked as she opened a drawer of essentials and began placing them in the bag.

  “Likely France,” she replied. “We’ve a vineyard and he owns a shipping company.”

  Her mother straightened, the color returning to her cheeks. “Oh, that is wonderful news.”

  Fleur stood, too. “Mother, be safe while I’m gone. We’re going to get through this.”

  Her mother nodded, her gaze casting down again. “I’m glad you’re going to marry, Fleur. Thinking of your future…it gives me hope.”

  She leaned over and placed a kiss on her mother’s cheek. “Je t’aime. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  With that, Fleur picked up her satchel as Mary ran to fetch hers. Then the two women headed down the stairs.

  Dez’s carriage already sat on the drive and Fleur didn’t bother to wait as she headed out the door and into the vehicle. It was time to put the past to rest.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The sun set as Fleur stood next to Dez on the deck of his new ship, the Destiny. It was one of two he’d bought from Ben.

  The wine had been loaded in the hull, a decision Fleur had wholeheartedly agreed to. They were going to drop the bottles for storage with Sayden on their way to Scotland. They’d decide what to do with them at a later date but in the meantime, they needed to be stored in a cool, dry place.

  They couldn’t sell them here, not legally, and they couldn’t return to France, so this was the best solution for now.

  And with the delegation discussing the end of the war and an alliance against Napoleon, there was hope that they wouldn’t need to wait long.

  Fleur leaned her head on Dez’s shoulder. “How long until we sail?”

  “Not long,” he answered, slipping his arm about his soon-to-be wife. “I’m sorry your uncle didn’t agree to a quick wedding here in Dover.”

  She shook her head. “It’s all right.”

  “But your mother…she can’t attend.”

  Fleur gave him a small smile. “She understands, and she’s thrilled I’m getting married and that we might return to France one day. She misses her home with my father.”

  He squeezed her close. “I’m glad she understands.”

  Fleur winced against him, tilting her head up to look at him. “She doesn’t know about what he did, about how he smuggled wine, and I would prefer that she didn’t. His death has been hard enough on her.”

  Dez understood. Ben and Justice came out onto the deck, Millie and Chloe just behind them.

  His family had decided to attend, a fact for which he was very grateful.

  Despite their past hardships, the siblings were rallying around one another. It only added to his hopeful feeling that they could overcome their past and have bright futures.

  Ben clapped Dez’s shoulder as he came to stand next to Fleur. Justice fell in on his other side. Chloe came to stand next to Ben and Millie next to Justice.

  “Everyone settled in?” Dez asked. “Apologies for the tight accommodations. It’s not a passenger ship by trade.”

  “It’s lovely,” Chloe replied airily. “And I’m thrilled to be here, though I can’t believe you’ll be married before us.”

  Ben chuckled. “We could wed while in Scotland, as well.”

  Chloe gave him a large smile. “What a marvelous idea. Dual family weddings.”

  Justice snorted. “Don’t expect me to catch your disease.”

  “Disease?” Millie said, wrinkling her nose. “Are you comparing marriage to a sickness?”

  Fleur leaned up and whispered in his ear. “Your sister talks.”

  He chuckled, whispering back, “Not in front of many. She must like you.”

  “I heard that,” Millie called. “And you’re right. Since Fleur is family, I’ve decided I need not give her the silent treatment.”

  “Is it a treatment?” Ben asked. “A choice you make? Or can you not help it?”

  Millie shrugged. “That’s for me to know.”

  Ben quirked a brow as he looked at Chloe.

  “Don’t ask me,” she replied. “Even after all these years, the Whites can still be a mystery.”

  Dez couldn’t argue with that. “I lived with our father for eighteen years and never understood him.”

  Ben shook his head. “That is the truth. Even his death is a bit of a mystery.”

  “Mystery? How so?” Justice asked, leaning around Millie to look at Ben.

  Ben shrugged. “By all accounts he was completely healthy two days before his death.
And then there were the spots on his body.”

  Fleur’s hand gripped Dez’s arm. “Spots. What kind of spots?” she whispered.

  Dez’s stomach did an odd flip. Ben must not have heard Fleur’s whispered words because he kept going. “At first I was worried there was some sort of foul play. I mean, could Esme,” he looked at Fleur, “that was my father’s second wife, have been happy with him? Would she have harmed him? Of course, the answer was no, but Lord knows he had enough vitriol that multiple people wished him dead and gone.”

  Justice frowned. “Still. Hating the man is one thing. Killing him is another entirely. You don’t actually think his death wasn’t natural?”

  Fleur tapped Dez’s arm. Her eyes were wide and afraid as she looked at him. “Ask Ben about the spots.”

  Dez turned to his brother. “What kind of spots?”

  Ben frowned. “I don’t know. I mean…the doctor said his body was covered in purple spots.”

  Fleur slumped against him, her face ashen. He wrapped his arms about her, the fear drumming in his chest. “Fleur. What does it mean?”

  “My father also had purple spots,” she choked out. “LeBouef, for whatever his input is worth, claimed it was arsenic.”

  Silence fell about the group until Ben banged his fist on the rail.

  But Dez’s mind was spinning. How? Why? Who would want to hurt his father, and did he have any connection to what was happening with Fleur’s family and Dez’s smugglers? “But surely my father and yours had no relationship?”

  Ben leaned his head down, resting his forehead against his closed fist. Chloe’s hands came to his back, her face scrunched in concern. “Ben?”

  He lifted his head again. “I don’t have a specific answer, it’s just that…” he looked out over the water. “Well. Not everything in the dukedom is as it first appeared.”

  Silence descended over the group at those words.

  Dez’s head was spinning as he held Fleur tight. Was it possible that his father was connected to what had happened to his business?

  Not even his father could be that awful, could he?

  But the question fell from his thoughts as a scent wafted under his nose.

  He drew in a sniff, his brow crinkling. Was something burning?

  “Shit,” Justice mumbled, straightening. “Do you smell that?”

  Dez slowly let go of Fleur, turning his head this way and that to find the scent.

  And that’s when he saw it…at the back of the boat. Flames.

  “Fire,” he boomed. “Get the buckets!”

  * * *

  Fleur stood frozen for a moment as the men sprinted into action around her.

  She’d seen the devastation fire could have on a ship, but she hadn’t been on board that time. She’d been safely tucked on the shore. But anchored as they were a short distance from the piers, there would be no alternative but to swim if the fire spread.

  That thought spurred her into actions. “Ladies,” she called to Millie and Chloe. “We need to help.”

  Men poured over the few ladders, creating bucket lines to douse the flames and Fleur joined one, passing empty buckets back to be filled.

  Minutes passed in agonizing terror as the sailors fought the flames, trying to keep them from spreading.

  Finally, after an hour, the last of the fire was out.

  Fleur crossed the deck where Ben, Justice and Dez stood assessing the damage.

  “She’ll float,” she heard Dez say. “But to take her all the way to Scotland…”

  Ben gave a nod. “You know best.”

  “We should get her out of Dover, though. If they want the wine, might as well not leave it here for them to steal back,” Justice said as he bent down to look at the damage.

  “Agreed,” Ben added, crossing his arms. “And much as I wanted to go to Scotland with you, I need to do some more research here.”

  “Understood,” Dez answered. “To be honest, I’m not sure I’m going to Scotland either.”

  Her stomach dropped down to her toes. “Not go to Scotland?” Had he changed his mind about marrying her? Decided this had all gotten too complicated? She wouldn’t blame him. That was the difficult part. If her father’s and his father’s death were tied together…

  He turned to her, reaching for her arm as he pulled her close. “Fleur.”

  “It’s all right,” she said, but her voice broke. Perhaps it was the danger they’d faced or the energy it had taken to put out the fire, but emotions were overwhelming her. She did not wish to cry, not now, not in front of his siblings but tears welled in her eyes. “I’d understand.”

  “Understand?” he said, incredulity lacing his voice. “I left your uncle’s house with you in my carriage.”

  She blinked away her tears. That was true. In fact, her uncle had made a few declarations about not returning. “But if your father was killed by the same men…”

  His brows lifted. “Then we still have the same enemies?”

  She gasped, her hand covering her mouth. “I suppose that’s true.”

  “If my father landed himself in trouble, Fleur, it was his own making. That has nothing to do with you. And honestly, it was what I was trying to say the other day when I told you to think of your future. Your father was engaged in criminal activity. Don’t let his bad choices ruin your future.”

  “I understand.” Her hands spread out on his chest. “And I agree.” She cocked her head to the side, as she looked up at him. “I don’t want to endanger myself, but I do still want to help you finish this. I’m not sure I still want to avenge my father’s death as much…” she took a breath. “As much as I want to prove that I am capable of avenging it.”

  Dez softened under her hands. “Did you see how you sprang into action when the fire broke out?”

  “It didn’t break out,” Justice grunted. “Someone started it.”

  “Fair point,” Dez replied. “And I’m sure I know who.” Then he looked back at Fleur. “But the point is, Fleur, you’ve tracked a spy, you’ve survived a ship explosion and fire. You’re capable of anything. Don’t you know that yet?”

  “She tamed a White,” Justice added with a grin.

  That made a small laugh rise to her lips and she pressed her lips together to keep the sound from coming out as Dez grimaced at his brother. “Tamed?”

  Ben chuckled.

  But it was Millie who answered, coming up behind Fleur and Dez. “My brother is right. You’re very brave. I should like to be like that myself.”

  “No,” all three brothers said at once.

  Millie crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s all right for Fleur to go around solving mysteries but not me?”

  Dez glared at her sister. “I would have stopped Fleur, too, if I could have, but I arrived too late. You, however, need to stay out of trouble. We’ve enough on our hands.”

  Millie’s hands dropped to her hips. “Has it ever occurred to you that I would be an asset and not a liability?”

  “No,” Dez said with a fierce glare.

  Fleur tapped his chest. “Dez.”

  He let out a long breath as he looked into her eyes, reading her warning. Then he looked back to Millie. “I’m sure you’re more than capable.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without your brother,” Fleur said to Millie. “Any of it.”

  Millie harrumphed but Fleur turned back to Dez. “If we’re still to marry, where and when will it happen if we’re not to go to Scotland?”

  Dez frowned. “We’ll have to discuss the options. But for now, let’s return to Cliffside. At least for tonight.”

  Ben nodded. “I hate to admit it, but we might need to relocate to Whitehaven in the morning. Dover is getting dangerous, and Whitehaven is a near fortress.”

  Dez nodded. “I know you’re right, but I hate that place.”

  “Me, too,” Ben shook his head. “We could sneak off to another one of the properties.”

  “Let’s discuss it after we’re back at Cliffsi
de.”

  “Am I staying here with the ship or coming back to Cliffside with you?” Justice asked.

  Fleur answered. “The wine is far less important than the people here.”

  “Well said,” Ben answered as Chloe joined the group. He put an arm about her shoulders and pulled her close, grazing a kiss along her temple. “And Justice, we need to discuss some of your friends in London who might be looking for employment.”

  Justice nodded as Fleur scrunched her brow. What did they mean by that?

  But she didn’t get an opportunity to ask as the ship was brought back into the harbor and their belongings unloaded once again.

  By the time they’d made it back to Cliffside it was late, and she wished for nothing more than to collapse into bed.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Dez stood outside Fleur’s door, rocking back and forth on his heels, his hands clasped behind his back to keep from knocking.

  They weren’t married.

  They had no immediate plans as to when and where the blessed event would happen.

  But knowing she was right down the hall…

  They needed to talk. Alone. They had plans that needed to be made. And then there was her safety. She’d be much better off if he were with her. Then he scratched his neck because both of those reasons were just justifications. After sharing her bed with her last night, his seemed…lonely.

  What had happened to him? Justice would laugh to see him in front of this door like an earnest schoolboy.

  But he was well and completely smitten.

  Worse. He was in love.

  He knocked on the door, softly, knowing that if she were asleep, it wouldn’t be loud enough to wake her.

  He heard her pad across the floor. “Who is it?”

  “It’s me,” he answered as she opened the door. He didn’t hesitate. Stepping into her room, he closed the door behind him and then gathered her into his arms.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked wrapping her arms about his neck.

  “We need to talk.”

  “Now?”