Lucius sat dejectedly upon a rock, his chin cradled in his hand. His books and journal lay abandoned at his side as he stared at the dirt, feeling very sorry for himself. He began to wonder if he should have accompanied Evelyn and Josephine, instead of leaving the matter to their new friend, Samuel Davies. The tall Georgian seemed right enough, but they had only just met. The man could be a villain. What if the girls had not returned because he had made off with them and their money? Lucius began to bite his nails. That was a possibility he had not considered as he cheerfully sent them off.
He scanned the camp once more, picking through the hundreds of men to see Evelyn’s lovely face or Josephine’s white apron. He so longed after this vision that when he actually saw Samuel’s dark countenance standing above the rest, he almost didn’t trust his eyes.
He squinted and looked again.
“There they are!” he announced, leaping from his rock in joy. “We’re saved!”
Adele might have been offended if she was not so relieved to gain some assistance with the inconsolable child.
“Thank God,” she agreed.
The reunion was pleasant on all accounts. Lucius was pleased with his judgment of Samuel, who proved a worthy assistant; Adele was thrilled when Josephine picked up Bartholomew, whose screams transformed into silent whimpers; Samuel gladly fired up the sausages for a second breakfast, and Evelyn was eager to show Lucius her morning’s prize.
She approached him with a smile, arms crossed behind her back.
“Close your eyes and hold out your hands,” she told him.
Lucius looked at her suspiciously.
“You haven’t got some poisonous spider there, have you?”
“Should I be alive and standing here if I did?”
“I suppose it depends entirely upon whether you could be standing up while dead.”
“Don’t be absurd. I am no specter. Do as I say.”
Lucius closed his eyes, then abruptly opened one.
“No peeking!” Evelyn cried. “It’s a surprise.”
Lucius laughed.
“You don’t say?”
Evelyn shook her head with an exasperated sigh and produced the tin, which she placed in Lucius’ open palms.
“There,” she said. “Open.”
He did so, regarding the old, rusted tin with a dubious expression.
“I see,” he remarked presently. “You’ve found me a bit of rubbish. Are you trying to communicate something, Miss Brennan?”
“Oh, Mr. Flynn!” she cried. “You can be awfully thick, you know. Open it.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“No poisonous spiders?”
“No, but after this silly game, I am tempted to go looking for one. Now behave, or I shall release something frightful into your bed tonight.”
“Is that a promise?” he asked coyly.
Impatient, Evelyn grasped the tin and removed the lid, releasing the coffee’s pungent aroma. Lucius was immediately silenced, as the smell was strong and intoxicating.
“Dear God,” he muttered presently. “That is the most delightful smell.”
“If you behave like a gentleman henceforth,” Evelyn said, “I shall share some with you.”
“A gentleman?” Lucius was displeased. “You ask too much of me. I’m the one with the grinder, remember? You will have need of my services, and my fee shall be one cup per use.”
“Mr. Flynn, I have no qualm with using this lovely tin as a nosegay. My conditions are clearly stated, and if you do not behave, you shall not be permitted any usage whatsoever.”
“Nonsense. Besides, your standards for a gentleman are likely no more than girlish fantasies, unattainable for any true man.”
“On the contrary! You think me too proud, Mr. Flynn.”
“I think you are far too idealistic for your own good.”
“Coming from you, gold digger, I find that accusation laughable. No matter. I shall keep this precious discovery to myself.”
“You are insufferable. Tell me what you expect from a ‘gentleman’, and I shall see if your conditions are achievable.”
“It is really quite simple. I am curious how you acquired so many admirers in the past. You must have done something to make those girls believe you were capable of perfection. As things stand, I’m not so sure you didn’t pay off the lot of them.”
Lucius gasped.
“I am absolutely offended, Miss Brennan. I rightfully earned the affections of every lass I courted.”
“All I ask for is proof. Make me believe you.”
Lucius smirked.
“I hope you realize the danger to which you have willingly submitted yourself,” he told her.
“Whatever are you talking about?”
“Oh, nothing,” he shrugged. “But you must guard your heart, Miss Brennan. I take no responsibility for making you fall in love with me.”
“Mr. Flynn!”
“Just remember you asked for this.”
“You are so conceited.”
“I am whatever you want me to be, m’lady.”
Evelyn narrowed her eyes at him.
“You’ve begun, haven’t you?” she asked.
He took her hand and placed the tin on her palm.
“I am only too happy to oblige,” he replied.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
After they had eaten, Samuel gave Lucius directions to the spring while the women gathered their soaps and laundry. They went about their work excitedly, for it had been weeks since they had enjoyed a proper bath.
“Listen for the cannons,” Samuel instructed them as they departed. “They announce when the ships arrive. If you return quickly, you will have a proper chance of gaining passage.”
“Thank you, my friend,” Lucius replied. “I will see that we return as soon as we are able.”
Samuel’s directions led them to a rough, narrow trail, hacked and forged by machete. It was evident the Georgian was not the only man to walk this path, for fresh footprints marked the ground since the last rain. It was everyone’s hope they would be the only visitors to the spring that day, for the women hoped to remove their dresses, and Lucius was easy enough to be rid of. They had no jurisdiction, however, over the locals.
As they walked, Lucius sidled up to Evelyn.
“Did I tell you just how fine you look today, Miss Brennan? I could not help but notice how well this southern air agrees with you.”
“How kind of you to say, Mr. Flynn. Indeed, it is very becoming when a woman perspires with the heat, and when the humidity causes her hair to stand on end. I am so pleased you noticed.”
Evelyn rolled her eyes and lumbered forward, her arms strained with the burden of a heavy wash pile.
“Might I assist you?” Lucius asked.
Evelyn released the load with pleasure.
“I thought you would never ask,” she replied saucily.
Lucius began to think this test was a little unfair, as he and Evelyn had too much history, and she was not generally the type of woman he pursued. She was too innocent, too moral, and too stubborn. Besides, when had he ever courted a female whose full name he knew?
“Must a gentleman seek first to compliment a lady,” he asked, “or provide her with a service?”
“A gentleman must first be of upright character, and all else shall flow from that.”
“So if I genuinely think you are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen, do I simply blurt it out? Or should I practice propriety and not say a word?”
Evelyn almost forgot she had requested this special sort of treatment. She was not prepared for this sort of wooing. Especially not from Lucius.
She hesitated, fumbling for a reply.
“Well,” she began, “I suppose it depends upon the lady. Words are sweet, but unless they are followed by some sort of action, they lack substance. Every lady wants to hear she is beautiful, but she also wants to believe she is beautiful, and that belief only comes when you have proven yourself capt
ivated by what is on the inside, as well as what is on the outside. You may tell her that she is the most beautiful woman in the world, but unless you are intrinsically aware of the beauty within, she will see right through your sentiment and think you are a liar.”
“You are a fair scholar of your own sex.”
“But a harsh one of yours, I’m afraid.”
“I speak on behalf of mankind when I confess we have done you an injustice, Miss Brennan. We have allowed ourselves to be seduced by your enchanting eyes, your noble brow, your radiant hair, and- might I say- your gorgeous neck. We were content to look no deeper. But you are right. Underneath your flawless skin is a tender heart and noble mind, worthy of every bit of attention that has been given to your lovely external form. Thank you for enlightening me. You are a most adequate teacher.”
Evelyn took note of her increase in speed, for her step reflected the quickening of her heart.
Should she thank him? He seemed genuine enough; but Lucius Flynn was rarely genuine. Lucius Flynn was a flirt and a tease, rarely engaging in conversation that was not entirely superficial.
She should make him stop before she came in danger of being flattered.
“You may desist now, Lucius,” she told him.
“Desist what?”
“You know very well what.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
She took one more step and tripped over a protruding root. Lucius reached out to catch her, but she righted herself before allowing him to touch her.
“I’m all right,” she said, flinging herself a step ahead of him and smoothing her skirts.
He struggled to keep up with her pace, but it seemed as though she was trying to lose him. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Adele, Josephine, and the baby were getting further and further behind.
“Miss Brennan,” he called, “we should slow down. The others are having difficulty keeping up, and unless you know exactly where it is we are going, you must not feel as though you need to lead the way.”
Perturbed, Evelyn stopped abruptly.
“What are you doing, Lucius?” she demanded to know.
He stared at her, clueless.
“Whatever are you talking about, Evelyn?”
She indicated towards the others, who were still far from hearing distance.
“Why do you care so much? All of a sudden? Hm? Looking after a widow and two children, spewing nonsense about ‘the most beautiful creature I have ever seen’. What’s that about?”
Lucius was stunned into laughter.
“Why?” he asked. “Is it working?”
Evelyn would not even consider the answer to that question. After all, how could she, Lucius’ oldest friend, believe that Lucius found her beautiful? He had certainly never treated her as such. And besides, she didn’t want him to think she was beautiful. Did she?
No. No! Lucius Flynn was vile. Lucius Flynn was petty. Lucius Flynn was corrupt. And Lucius Flynn had had a thousand other girlfriends of whom Evelyn Brennan was not the slightest bit jealous.
Or maybe she was.
But that wasn’t the point! The point was that Lucius was unsuitable. The point was that Lucius was a terribly good actor, and the longer he played at this charade of being a gentleman, the more Evelyn would be inclined to wish it were true. In the end, it would only leave her gravely disappointed.
Just as it had that day in the stables.
“Of course it isn’t working,” she argued. “It is a silly charade. Surely you didn’t expect me to believe a word of it.”
“Miss Brennan, we had an agreement. You requested to see this side of me.”
“But this isn’t a side of you. This isn’t you at all.”
“Are you so certain?” He took a step closer, his eyes intent upon hers. “I believe you find me false because the moment I begin to speak the truth, you refuse to look at me. You don’t want to see it, or hear it, because you don’t want me to prove you wrong. That’s it, isn’t it? You have this preconceived idea of who I am, and you refuse to believe differently. You want to believe that I have no character, that I am heartless, that I am perfectly incapable of being a gentleman.”
He seemed sincere, which made her believe he was lying, a fact that was terribly disconcerting because she found herself wanting to believe him. Yet she knew she could not, since she had put him up to this challenge.
“I cannot reconcile your velvet tongue to the callous heart I know to exist,” she said. “I see through it entirely, Lucius. I know what you are capable of. The fact that I am here in this God forsaken jungle is evidence enough.”
He grimaced. She knew what he was capable of. Like striking her across the face when she was just a girl.
“You filter everything I do through the sting of a childhood memory,” he told her, sadly. “I understand. I hurt you. But it was an accident, Evelyn.”
“As everything else in your life just happens to be an accident?” she cried, incredulous. “Like your luck with cards? Like the night my father died?”
Lucius gritted his teeth.
“As you are a woman,” he spoke presently, “I shall forgive your exhaustive romantic imaginations. There was nothing grand and everything terrible about that night. It was simple, it was quick, it was devastating, and for my part, Evelyn, it was unavoidable. A man without respect or principle, a man who despised your precious Ireland, provoked me, and when he came at me with a knife, your father stepped between us. That was it. That was what really happened.”
“An accident.”
“Yes, an accident.”
“You have to take responsibility for something, Lucius.”
Lucius threw his arms in the air.
“Have I not done that?” he wondered. “There are certain parts of our past that I cannot change, no matter how badly I wish I could. And I apologize for that. But I am making an effort to make the most of here and now, Evelyn. Can you not see that? Will you even permit it? Will you not allow me to be a better man?”
She considered. This was a game of persuasion at which Lucius excelled. How else had he won the desire of so many others? As their conversation dragged on, his skills were becoming repellent, because she knew she should see right through them. But she could not. His words, even his body language was convincing, and everything she thought she knew about him was threatened. But Evelyn was not accustomed to being wrong. Lucius was right about that. She hated being wrong, yet in this maddening moment, for the first time, she wanted to be.
The worst thing, however, was that she was probably right.
“Your motives are questionable,” she told him.
“No, Evelyn,” Lucius refuted. “My intentions are the same as what I told you the day of our wedding: to partner with you in a quest for liberty. I want us to work together, to be allies, maybe even friends. I have seen you, Evelyn. I know there is more to you than this bitter young woman who is bent upon making my life miserable. Because the night I almost died, you proved I meant something to you, though you would never admit it. Despite what you wish to believe, I am not heartless. I cared about you that day in the stables, and I care about you today. I’ve never stopped.”
She searched his eyes for what felt to him an eternity, and he thought that perhaps she might believe him.
But then, she gazed past him, where Adele, Josephine, and the baby approached.
She forced a smile.
“I apologize,” she told the others. “We rushed ahead. It was my fault, really, but Lucius has been such a gentleman. He insisted upon waiting for you, which proves he deserves his little prize, doesn’t it? Lucius, remind me to give you that coffee when we return to camp. The charade is over. Let’s continue, shall we?”
So that was it then. The game was over. And Lucius, for all his honesty, had lost.
That was why he had always pursued the easy women. For all their faults, they had never judged him for his, and they had never let him down. Not like this.
; “Certainly,” he said, resigned. “Allow me to lead the way.”
* * *
They approached a clearing through the trees and there, right before them, was a pool so bright and blue it looked as though a piece of sky had been cut out and positioned in a little hole of earth. The company released a corporate sigh as they drew nearer, awestruck by the beauty before them.
The water shone like an aquamarine stone, clear and still as glass. There was perfect visibility all the way to the bottom, where one could see all kinds of sticks and roots and stones.
The pool was surrounded by enormous ferns, aromatic flowers, and trees whose round, naked trunks wound every which way, crisscrossing through one another, forming vertical labyrinths in the air and dipping laterally over the water, like an animal lapping at a spring. Heavy vines sagged from the presiding canopy of treetops and large, blue boulders protruded from the still water like miniature mountains.
“I have never seen anything like it,” Evelyn whispered, keeping her voice soft lest the vision startle and disappear.
Lucius felt as though he had stepped into one of his better dreams. He gaped at the scene, his eyes bulging with excitement. He physically felt his body being drawn to the water, while forcing his mind to remain behind with the women.
He could not just take off and leave the ladies standing there without an explanation, so he turned to them and said, “well, it is quite fortunate I am here to act as your guide and protector, ladies. If you will excuse me, I shall do my duty by making certain this pool is absolutely safe for your enjoyment.”
He dropped the bundle of laundry and sprang forward, where he disappeared behind a massive tree. The women saw his head bob in and out of various locations, first out of a bush, then through a veil of moss, and again from behind another tree. They heard his feet tramping through leaves and underbrush, and listened as he muttered, “all right, nothing there. Yes, yes, all clear. Not a crocodile in sight. Snakes? No snakes, either. Bloody…! Oh, I see, I see. But it’s just a bit of web.”
After a moment, they could not hear him at all.
“Where has he gone off to?” Evelyn asked Adele, who simply shook her head in reply.
There was an abrupt scuffle nearby, causing a fleet of birds to burst from hiding and abscond into the air. A man’s cry followed, and a shirtless Lucius appeared, hands clasped around a vine as he swung from between the trees and high over the water. He released the vine and plunged into the pool with an ungraceful splash, breaking the tranquil surface. When he reemerged, he wiped the moisture from his eyes and grinned boyishly at the women.
Liberty Hill (Western Tide Series) Page 25