The Rake to Redeem Her

by Julia Justiss

  Max frowned. ‘Are you sure? If her testimony cleared my name, I might indeed be able to revive my government career. There would be no limit to my gratitude! I don’t know how you mean to get on, now that you’ve resigned your army commission. Papa should have made you an allowance when you returned, but …’ Max grimaced ‘… no great surprise that he’d conveniently forget his promise. If I’m in London, Caro will need help here. She’d never give up the stud; breeding horses is in her blood. You could take my place as manager, be the go-between at Newmarket, take a percentage of the sales. She raises excellent horses; it would pay well. You could have a comfortable position for life, accumulate enough to buy property of your own, if you wished. Become a “landed Ransleigh” at last.’

  ‘Thereby finally earning your father’s respect?’ Will said derisively. ‘Though I thank you for the offer, as it happens, I’ve accumulated sufficient funds on my own. And even if I hadn’t, I’d never bargain for Elodie’s life.’

  Max’s frown deepened. ‘You obviously care for this woman. Does she return the favour?’

  Will swallowed hard. ‘I’m not sure. She’s fond of me, I know. But … losing her son again has devastated her. I don’t think she’s capable of feeling anything now.’

  ‘She’s “fond” of you,’ Max repeated, a bit dismissively. ‘You would betray your oath to me for a woman who you’re not even sure loves you, or has any appreciation of the consequences of your dishonouring your pledge?’

  Trust Max to strip fine rhetoric down to its bare essentials. Unpalatable as it was, that was truth. ‘Yes.’

  To Will’s utter shock, Max gave a crow of laughter. ‘So, it’s happened at last! Wagering Will’s bet was called by a lady with a better hand.’

  Sobering quickly, he clapped a hand on Will’s shoulder. ‘As I said at the outset, I can’t begin to express my appreciation and admiration for all you’ve done, going to Vienna to find madame and bringing her back. I’m not sure any man deserves such loyalty. But you needn’t risk the life of the woman you’ve come to love.’

  ‘So, you’re … not angry?’ Will asked, amazed, too rattled by Max’s unexpected response to dare believe it to be true. ‘Then why did you try to tempt me with a position here?’

  ‘From the look on your face when you spoke of Madame Lefevre and how protectively you hovered around her, I suspected you loved her. I’ve never seen you that way with any other woman. But I wanted to discover just how deeply the attachment ran. True, I might not always have felt so forgiving towards her. After Vienna I was angry, dismayed, disbelieving. My world and the future I’d always dreamed of had been destroyed and I didn’t think I’d ever be content or fulfilled again. But then I met Caro. Worked with her. Fell in love with her and the farm. I have what I want now, Will. I think, in Elodie Lefevre, you have what you want, too. Am I right?’

  ‘Would I have abandoned my vow for any other reason?’

  Max nodded. ‘I thought as much. I suppose I recognised the devotion; I feel the same about Caro, as if I’d battle the whole world to keep her safe. Give up the rest of the world, if that were the price of keeping her.’

  ‘Then you do understand. But you know your Caroline loves you. I’m not sure what Elodie feels or wants. I planned to take her away to the Americas, where she’d be safe, but I’m not even sure she’ll go with me. When she lost her son after directing all her efforts for nearly two years towards reclaiming him, it was as if she felt her whole life was over.’

  ‘I can appreciate her grief and despair. I thought losing the career I loved the greatest tragedy that could befall me … until Caro had difficulty in childbed and I almost …’ his voice broke for a moment ‘… I almost lost her and my son. I can’t imagine how one recovers from such a blow. But as I understand it, Madame Lefevre’s son isn’t dead, so surely there is some hope of seeing him again?’

  ‘Yes, I’m examining some possibilities, but they’ll take time to work out. Grieving as she is, I don’t want to propose anything; if the plans went awry, I don’t know how she would bear another disappointment.’

  ‘She’ll need time to heal. I did, and I lost only the career I thought I wanted, not the persons most dear to me. Teach her there is still beauty and fulfilment in life.’ He grinned. ‘And that you can provide them.’

  ‘I’m not sure I know where to begin,’ Will admitted. I don’t even know if she’ll agree to stay with me, once she learns we won’t be taking her to the Foreign Office. I wouldn’t put it past her to disappear in the night, thinking she offers me nothing and I’d be better off starting anew, without her.’

  ‘Is she that elusive?’

  Will thought of how she’d loved him to satiation and then slipped away. ‘Oh, yes.’

  ‘If you love her that much, surely you’re not going to despair of winning her before you’ve even begun! I’ve seen you beguile women from blushing dairymaids to bored ton beauties. I can’t imagine you’re not capable of beguiling a lady you actually love. True, trying to win her is a gamble. But Wagering Will never met a bet he wouldn’t take. Comfort her, stand by her and marry her.’

  Will sighed. ‘I want to, but what do I know about being a husband, creating a family?’

  ‘I thought your cousins taught you a good bit. My father, you remember, wasn’t much of a model, either. But then, when you hold your wife’s hand while she brings your child into the world, then touch his perfect, tiny hands …’ A sense of awe and wonder passed over Max’s face. ‘I can assure you, the rewards of fighting for a life with the woman you love far outweigh the risks of failing.’

  How Will wanted that, too, a life with Elodie, her lovely face finally freed from the shadows of pain and sorrow! He hadn’t thought beyond the dread of this interview and the necessity of making all speed to catch a ship to the colonies. Now, buoyed by Max’s encouragement, Will started rapidly examining other alternatives.

  Winning Elodie’s heart, forging a life here … with his cousins nearby. In time, perhaps, giving her another child to cherish, a complement to the one she’d already borne with whom, if the scheme Will was pondering came to fruition, she would forge a new relationship.

  ‘There is another property I’ve had my eye on, over in Sussex,’ he said, running a vision of it through his mind’s eye. ‘It has a wonderful garden.’

  Max raised his eyebrows. ‘Another property? Just how many do you own?’

  Will grinned. ‘Not as many as Alastair or your family, but several. What, you think I just frittered away all my gambling winnings? You remember Hal Waterman, from Eton?’

  ‘That large, inarticulate lad who’d never be lured into playing cards because, he said, the odds were always in the dealer’s favour? A sort of mathematical genius, as I recall.’

  ‘Yes. Two misfits, he and I, who later banded together. I happened to meet him in London after Oxford, when I’d had my first really big win at faro. He said if I liked gambling, he could recommend something for which the odds were as risky as gaming, but the potential rewards much greater. Not just in blunt, but in forging the future of the nation. Turns out he’s fascinated by finance and technology, and with that limitless fortune of his, has begun exploring the opportunities to invest in new scientific developments. He talked me into putting almost all the blunt I’d won at faro into a canal-construction project he’d put together. With the earnings from that, I bought my first property. I’m also invested in coal mines, mechanical stoves and what Hal claims will be a system that will revolutionise transport, the railroad.’

  Max shook his head. ‘Does my father know?’

  Will laughed. ‘Know that his barely civilised, reprobate nephew has become a man of means without his will or intervention? Certainly not! The shock could probably kill him.’

  Max chuckled. ‘It might at that.’

  ‘However, manufacturing and commerce are close enough to vulgar middle-class shop-keeping that if he does learn of it, I’m sure he’ll manage to maintain his disdain.’

&nb
sp; ‘You could have told the Rogues,’ Max reproved.

  ‘I would have, had the war and … other projects not intervened.’

  ‘So you’re a man of means.’ Max shook his head ruefully. ‘It’s almost as hard for me as for Papa to think you no longer need my help.’

  ‘I’ll always need your friendship.’

  ‘That, you’ll always have. So, go buy your manor. Would you like us to watch over your Elodie until you return? I must admit, the story you’ve told piques my curiosity. I liked her when I knew her in Vienna. I’d very much enjoy becoming better acquainted with the remarkable woman who performed so many amazing feats. Not the least of which was capturing my elusive cousin’s heart.’

  ‘Would you let her stay here and watch out for her? Although …’ Will hesitated, trying to guess how his complex, devious Elodie might react. ‘I know it’s not fair to keep the knowledge from her, but could we let her go on believing that a visit to the Foreign Office is forthcoming? Not that you need to tell any deliberate mistruths, just be evasive, if she asks directly. I don’t think she will. She’s committed enough to making recompense for the harm she did you in Vienna that if she thinks I’ve left Denby Lodge to make preparations for London, she’ll not … wander off before I return. It will also give me a chance to think how best to woo her.’

  ‘I may now be a horse breeder, but I’m still a diplomat at heart; I can finesse anything. Especially if it involves the happiness of my dearest friend. So, if you’re not going to linger at Denby—and while you’re still muddy and smelling of horse—let me give you a quick tour of the stables and stock. My world now.’

  ‘Do you not miss being involved in government?’ Will asked, still finding it hard to believe Max could have abandoned so completely the goal that had driven him for as long as Will had known him.

  ‘The idea that I am working for something larger than myself? A bit. But the back-biting and intrigues of those whose mindless ambition far outweighs their concern for the public good? Not at all. I have considered perhaps some day standing for Parliament. Being elected by the men of the district whose respect I’ve won, whom I respect in turn, giving voice to their concerns in the halls of power, is a more worthy task than what I would now be doing, had Vienna not intervened. Lurking about the Lords, a lackey for my father.’

  ‘Standing for Parliament is an excellent idea.’

  ‘Well, we shall see. For now, I’m just grateful for the blessings of being able to watch my son grow and spend every day—and night—with my wife.’

  ‘So …’ Max raised his glass, motioning Will to pick up his own ‘… to your safe return. To finding love, and cherishing it. To Ransleigh Rogues.’

  Now that he was recovering from the shock of realising he would not lose Max’s friendship after all, Will felt a rising euphoria and an eagerness for the future he hadn’t known since that moment he’d awakened before Paris, marvelling at the peace he’d found in Elodie’s arms.

  ‘To all of that,’ he replied. ‘And to “Ransleigh Rogues, for ever”.’

  Chapter Twenty

  Two weeks later, on a mild summer afternoon, Elodie sat embroidering her new gown in a beam of sunlight in the front parlour at Denby Lodge. Strange, she thought as she methodically set small, perfect stitches, that she was now marking time awaiting the trip to London as she’d spent the hours before leaving Vienna. But instead of longing and anticipation, she passed her days numb and drifting, the only small joy on her horizon the hope to see Will Ransleigh again before the final resolution.

  She did wish Will had taken her with him when he left to consult with the authorities about setting up her interview. After he returned, there would be very little time left to share with him. It would take them a few days at most to travel back to the metropolis before she gave her testimony, that end of the road beyond which she could envision nothing further.

  Dull as her spirits still were, she missed him. His acute observations, his teasing eye, his stories … and the surcease from sorrow she found in his arms, when he loved her so sweetly and completely that nothing, not even anguish and loss, could tarnish the bliss. She’d hoped he would come to her some time during the one night he spent at Denby Lodge before leaving for London, but he hadn’t.

  The day of his departure had dawned all the more dreary for that lack.

  Surprised at first that Max Ransleigh had not gone with Will to instigate the proceedings, she’d thought he must want to consult with her about the now-distant events in Vienna, so her account of it, when she at last spoke to the authorities, would reinforce what he’d told them of the affair. But to her bewilderment, he had not sought her out in private to quiz her about her memories, nor had he referred to the matter in any way when in company.

  Her host and hostess had insisted she dine with them, and though Max had initiated several discussions of Vienna, their object seemed more to entertain Caro than corroborate what she remembered. He described some of the most notable balls and receptions they’d attended, asking her to share her recollections, or else he traded impressions with her about the colourful array of notables and hangers-on who’d attended the Congress.

  Perhaps he didn’t wish to distress his wife, who was still recovering from her confinement, by referring to the scandal. Elodie’s initial favourable impression of Caroline Ransleigh had quickly deepened to a friendship she would sorely miss when the time came to leave for London. Not since Clara in Vienna had Elodie had a female friend with whom she could converse freely, and growing up an exile with no sisters, she hadn’t ever had a confidante from her same level in society.

  Though Caro insisted she might borrow any garments she liked, not used to being idle, Elodie had asked Max to sell one of the small pieces of jewellery she’d carried with her, so she might purchase material to make herself some garments. Accompanying Caro to the village, she’d bought several dress lengths, and was now completing the second of two stylish gowns.

  In addition to the sewing keeping her occupied, she thought that, if she wished the officials at the enquiry to find it credible that she had been the hostess of a high-ranking French diplomat at the most glittering assemblage of aristocrats and government leaders ever gathered in Europe, she couldn’t appear in one of her tattered old gowns, looking like a rag picker.

  If prison were the outcome, she might be able to sell the new garments to obtain the coal and candles that would make her existence less miserable. And, if the worst happened, at least she’d have something attractive to be buried in.

  At that moment, her hostess entered the parlour with her characteristic, brisk step. ‘Elodie, what exquisite work!’ she exclaimed, coming over to inspect her embroidery. ‘I can easily believe an exclusive Vienna modiste clamoured for you to embellish her gowns.’

  ‘Hardly “clamoured”,’ Elodie replied. ‘But she did pay me promptly and rather well for a seamstress.’

  ‘I’m so hopeless, I can’t sew a stitch! I ought to commission you to make some gowns for me. I’ve never cared two figs what I wore, as long as it was modest and serviceable, but now that I’m regaining my figure …’ A blush heated her cheeks. ‘I’d like to have something new to intrigue my husband and remind me I’m more than just a mama.’

  ‘Something that shows to advantage that fine mama’s bosom,’ Elodie teased, smiling when Caro’s blush deepened. ‘I would be happy to make you something, if I have time enough before I leave.’

  A shadow crossed Caro’s face. ‘I do wish you didn’t have to go. But I don’t mean to speak of that, for it will only make me melancholy, and heavens, it seems lately the merest nothing has me wanting to burst into tears! Me, who has never in her life been missish,’ she finished with disgust.

  ‘It goes with becoming a mama,’ Elodie said.

  ‘The nursery maid is just finishing Andrew’s bath. Shall I bring him down?’

  ‘Please do! I’ve been working on a gown for him, too.’

  ‘You’re sure? Sometimes I worry that s
eeing him must make it … more difficult for you.’

  ‘I should miss Philippe every day, even if I never saw another child. But a baby should be a joy. Not for the world would I want yours to diminish, because of my loss! It lifts my spirits to see you with him and know that such happiness still exists in the world. Besides, who could resist such a handsome charmer as your son?’

  Caro beamed. ‘He is handsome, isn’t he? And demanding. Which is good. If I didn’t have him to occupy me, I don’t know how I would bear the inactivity. I know the doctor said I must not ride for another two weeks, but I’m feeling perfectly fine and cannot wait to get back to my horses!’

  ‘Go get your son and we’ll let him entertain us,’ Elodie said.

  Smiling, she went back to her stitching. She’d not just reassured her new friend to ease her anxiety; she did enjoy seeing the child. Holding and playing with the infant, recalling as it did memories of happier times with Philippe, always lifted her spirits and eased the dull anxiety that sat like a boulder in her gut, an ever-present worry over a future she didn’t want to envision.

  What if they only interviewed and then released her? Though she tried to keep herself from contemplating anything beyond that meeting in London, occasionally speculation about a different, better resolution crept into her thoughts.

  What was she to do with herself if she did not end up in prison or on the gallows? Though she knew her new friend would invite her to stay indefinitely at Denby Lodge, she didn’t wish to be a burden. Perhaps she could get lodgings in London and find employment as a seamstress. Rich women would always need new gowns.