by Andrea Kane
"That's the last thing I wish. But what about your excursion?"
"It can wait until later. The only reason I was hurrying off so early is that I hoped to leave Pembourne before…" Her voice drifted off.
"Before your brother spied you," Courtney finished for her. "Well, fear not. Slayde left Pembourne a few minutes ago. He'll be gone all day—maybe longer."
"Where did he go?"
Courtney chewed her lip, wondering how much Aurora knew, then deciding that dishonesty was no way to begin a friendship. "To Morland."
"Morland?" Aurora nearly toppled off her chair. "The Huntleys haven't been welcome there for six decades."
"Nor are they now. But Slayde intends to meet with Lawrence Bencroft."
Aurora frowned. "He thinks the duke is involved with my feigned kidnapping."
"Yes, he does."
"Do you?"
"Aurora, I've never even met Lawrence Bencroft. I'm certainly not qualified to judge his guilt or his innocence. But I do trust Slayde's opinion, which is obviously based on years of firsthand experience. So given what he's told me, yes, I believe it's possible that the duke is involved." Courtney drew a slow, inward breath. "To be frank, I'm clinging to the hope that he is—for Slayde's sake and for mine. I intend to unearth the filthy pirate who captured the Isobel. And if Lawrence Bencroft isn't the man to lead me to him, I'll find the one who is."
The bedchamber door opened, admitting Matilda and an aromatic tray of food. "Lady Aurora—I didn't know you were here." A twinkle. "Although I should have guessed."
"You know me well." Aurora smiled. "Matilda, would it be too much trouble for you if I breakfasted here with Courtney?"
An approving glint lit Matilda's eye. "Not at all. I'll just have a quick look at those bandages. Then I'll leave this tray and arrange for another to be brought up." She bent over Courtney, lips pursed as she scrutinized the young woman's forehead. "How are you feeling this morning, Miss Courtney?"
"Much better" was the grateful reply. "Thanks to your ministrations, the pain is nearly gone. Now, if only I could overcome this weakness."
Matilda straightened. "Eat every morsel on this plate and you will." With that sage advice, she hurried off to order Aurora's breakfast.
"Well?" Aurora teased. "What are you waiting for? You'd best have eaten at least half your food by the time Matilda returns, else you'll get quite a scolding." Sobering, she glanced at the timepiece still clutched in Courtney's hand. "That's lovely. Would you like me to hold it so you can eat?"
Courtney blinked, having momentarily forgotten her beloved treasure. "'Twas Papa's," she murmured, turning the watch over in her palm. "My mother gifted him with it on their wedding day. He gave it to me—rather like a legacy—right before he…" She swallowed. "It hasn't moved since then. But I'm sure you'd enjoy looking at it. There's an image of a lighthouse that probably resembles your Windmouth Lighthouse." She snapped it open. "You're welcome to—" Abruptly, she sat up, staring at the watch's face.
"Courtney? What is it?"
"The timepiece. It jumped ahead."
"I thought you said it had stopped."
"It had. At half after six, the precise time Papa went overboard. But just now, as I was looking at it, the time—and the scene—moved. Only once. Then it froze again. But it definitely moved." She looked up, a dazed expression in her eyes. "Maybe Papa really is alive."
Aurora stared. "Courtney, what are you talking about?"
"I had a dream. Papa was calling out to me, telling me he was alive. I know it sounds insane, but do you think what just happened with the timepiece was some kind of sign to that effect?"
Rather than dubious, Aurora looked intrigued. "You didn't actually see your father go down?"
"No." Courtney shuddered. "I heard his scream. That sound will haunt me forever. But when he was being thrown overboard, I was in the midst of being dragged below and locked in my cabin."
"And obviously his body was never discovered." Aurora was becoming more fascinated with each passing moment.
"But he was bound," Courtney felt compelled to reason aloud. "Weighed down by the huge sack of grain Lexley was forced to tie to his leg. To survive such an ordeal would be virtually impossible. Still—"
"Mr. Scollard." Aurora came to her feet. "We must bring you—and your timepiece—to Mr. Scollard. If anyone is able to discern the unknown, 'tis he. The instant you're well, we'll head for the lighthouse and discover if the watch's motion and your dream really are signs."
"You don't think I'm mad?"
"Of course not. Mr. Scollard has taught me that every belief, every legend—no matter how farfetched—has shards of truth to it. 'Tis up to us to unearth those truths, to discern fact from fiction."
"That's not always easy," Courtney mused, half to herself. "Nor, in all cases, is it practical. There's merit to Slayde's contention that my dream was merely a reaction to Papa's death, or rather to my inability to accept it."
"You told all this to Slayde? Why? And when?"
Hearing the stunned bafflement in Aurora's tone, Courtney desperately wished she could call back her words. Despite Slayde's justifiable, utterly proper reason for visiting her bedchamber last night, the outcome had been anything but proper. And to discuss even the innocent prelude to that outcome, especially with Slayde's sister, was going to be exceedingly difficult.
Courtney's voice quavered as she grappled with her self-consciousness, opted for brevity. "Slayde heard me crying and came to check on me. I blurted out my dream."
Aurora rolled her eyes, exasperation rendering her oblivious to Courtney's discomfort. "You blurted to the wrong person. While my brother is perhaps the most decent, responsible man on earth, he is also the most pragmatic and unemotional. He believes in nothing, least of all that which he cannot see."
"You're referring to the Huntley curse."
This time Aurora's brows did go up. "Slayde spoke of that?"
Much safer ground. "Yes. But actually, he didn't need to. Papa has mentioned it, as have his crewmen. Your family—and the black diamond—are renowned at sea."
"Renowned? You mean notorious." Aurora folded her arms across her chest, her palms rubbing the fine muslin as if to warm away her trepidation. "I'm so relieved the stone is gone, together with all the ugliness it embodied. It's destroyed our family, whether or not Slayde chooses to believe it."
"Oh, he believes it. The only difference is, he believes the curse is not the diamond itself, but those who seek it."
Aurora's gaze grew speculative. "You've been at Pembourne for but a few days. Yet my brother has shared more with you than he has with anyone, including me."
"Aurora, he hasn't—"
Swiftly, Aurora waved away Courtney's protest. "You don't understand. I'm not upset. In fact, I'm elated that Slayde has allowed someone to venture past those bloody walls of his. Perhaps he's finally recognizing that none of us can survive alone. If so, there just might be some hope for him after all, but only if he accepts the fact that needing others is not an affliction but a blessing."
* * *
Slayde would not have welcomed Aurora's proclamation.
A mile from Pembourne, he steered his phaeton into its fourth circular trip around the picturesque country road, berating himself yet again for departing from Pembourne at the absurd hour of six A.M.
Absurd because, even with the stops he intended to make, the ride to Morland—just six miles inland of the small town of Dawlish where Pembourne was situated—would take no more than an hour. Plus, the businessmen he meant to visit prior to descending upon the duke would hardly be at their establishments at the first light of dawn.
Which meant he could do naught but drive aimlessly for hours.
Nevertheless, he'd needed to get away.
The need itself was unsurprising. Most of his return trips to Pembourne were brief, characterized by a restless unease that took him away almost as soon as he arrived. He'd stay only long enough to ensure Aurora's well-being, then dep
art on another business journey—abroad and as far from the past as possible.
Not this time.
This time, he'd been troubled not by restlessness or even unease, but by a myriad of conflicting emotions, the result of which was an unprecedented combination of tenderness, determination, and guilt. All of which pertained to Courtney—Courtney and whatever had transpired between them last night.
What had transpired was merely a kiss, he amended silently. What had happened was another story entirely.
He'd never forget the look on her face when he'd left her: not distress or guilt or even regret, but wonder. There had been wonder in her sea-green eyes, an exhilarated awe that both humbled and terrified him.
Because he'd felt it, too.
This whole situation was insane. He'd rescued the woman from death, taken her into his home. 'Twas only natural that she reach out to him for comfort, that he reach out to offer it.
Comfort, hell. That kiss had been deep, consuming, underscored by an unknown, but no less profound, emotion that shook him to his soul. Not to mention desire, desire as unfamiliar as it was intense, simmering beneath the surface like the first embers of a fire about to blaze out of control.
For a man who'd lived one and thirty years and who, despite his solitary existence, was no stranger to passion, it was sobering to feel more shaken by a kiss than he'd felt as a result of his most ardent sexual joining.
His behavior prior to that kiss was even more unsettling.
Never had he gone to a woman's bed without the mutually agreed-upon decision to couple. Yet last night, long before their embrace was even a thought, much less an action, he'd stretched out alongside Courtney as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do, held her without a shred of discomfort, talked with her—not as an overture to coupling, but as an entity unto itself.
And told her things he'd never told another.
Oh, his recountings could hardly be described as great revelations, not when half of England was privy to the details of the Huntley curse. Still, he'd never shared his thoughts, his feelings, with anyone. Like his life, they were his and his alone.
Until last night.
Moreover, it wasn't only their talk that unnerved him, or even their kiss—although God help him, he couldn't forget the taste of her mouth, the softness of her skin, the delicacy of her frame. It was the aftermath that shook him.
Never had he carried memories of a woman with him, much less wanted to slay her dragons the way he did Courtney's. He was determined to find the pirate who'd killed her father—regardless of whether Morland was involved—and drive a sword through his heart, just to give her back a semblance of what she'd lost.
All in all, Slayde concluded, his fingers tightening about the reins, he'd just enumerated far too many nevers to suit him. Consummate realist that he was, he forced himself to acknowledge the truth: not only did Courtney Johnston have an amazing effect on him, but after a matter of days—or perhaps right from the start—she'd touched something inside him he hadn't known existed and would will away if he could.
Ironic that he would do so more for her sake than for his own.
'Twas true, he was a loner. He'd been that way all his life—from Eton to Oxford. How much of that trait was inherent and how much a result of the alleged curse and its ramifications, he hadn't a clue. The fact remained that, since childhood, he'd relied only upon himself. His parents' murder had heightened that independence and inner strength, because from that day forward, he had no longer been a man unto himself. He was needed—by Aurora, by the enormous responsibilities left to him as the Earl of Pembourne. And he was determined, having endured the profound devastation rendered by those who sought the black diamond, to retain his autonomy, not only emotionally, but in fact.
Thus, on the day he discovered his parents' bodies, he vowed to himself that the last generation of Huntleys had suffered the hatred and greed spawned by his great-grandfather's theft, that the last drop of Huntley blood had been spilled.
That the family name would die with him.
It wouldn't be difficult to accomplish. He and Aurora were the last remaining Huntleys. Aurora would marry—he'd see to it—and her children would bear her husband's name. After which, if Slayde died without wife or issue, Aurora's offspring would inherit the Pembourne estates and fortune while remaining immune to the Huntley curse.
If Slayde died without wife or issue.
Accordingly, his responsibility was to relinquish any thought of marrying or siring a child. And he'd fulfilled both aspects of that responsibility—the former by undisputed decision, the latter by discipline and by choosing seasoned bedmates who were equally as adamant about avoiding conception as he.
Hardly a description of Courtney.
No, a woman like Courtney was destined for a loving husband, a houseful of children, and a lifetime of untinged tomorrows, none of which he could offer her. So attraction or not, wonder or not, she had no place in his life. And since she was clearly too naive to recognize this, it was up to him to protect her.
To save her—again. Only this time, from himself.
Jaws tightly clenched, Slayde urged the horses toward the town of Newton Abbot—and toward the meetings that would culminate in a confrontation with the Duke of Morland.
It was just past ten o'clock when Slayde steered his phaeton around the bend leading to Morland Manor.
Grimly, he contemplated the tactics he would take in light of what he'd learned from those of the duke's colleagues with whom he'd spoken.
His findings had been most surprising.
Evidently, Morland had changed considerably over the past few months—not in his finances, but in his behavior. According to two local merchants and the local innkeeper, he'd emerged from his estate, not once but several times, using the inn to meet with colleagues whose descriptions Slayde recognized as belonging to a prominent Devonshire banker and an equally respected solicitor.
Meetings he'd been sober enough to conduct.
Seeking out the two men in question, Slayde had been blocked by a wall of professional ethics, gleaning nothing save his own inference that Morland was re-emerging into the business world.
Why? More importantly, what could have prompted this sudden and drastic transformation?
Slayde intended to find out.
A wry smile twisted his lips as he passed through Morland's iron gates and regarded the desolate structure looming ahead. First, he'd have to get inside, push past the servants, and get to the duke. Needless to say, he didn't anticipate a particularly warm welcome.
His assumption was confirmed five minutes later by the pinch-nosed butler who answered his knock. "Yes?" he inquired, his bland tone telling Slayde he had no idea of his caller's identity. But then, why should he? Slayde had never so much as crossed Morland's threshold.
"Good day," he replied, equally aloof. "Kindly advise His Grace that the Earl of Pembourne is here to see him."
Comprehension struck.
All the color draining from his face, the butler sputtered, "D-did you say…?"
"Indeed I did. Now that we've confirmed that I am indeed Slayde Huntley, go tell Morland I'm on his doorstep, with no intentions of leaving until we've spoken."
Forcibly, the butler restored his composure. "His Grace is out."
"'Out' as in away? Or 'out' as in passed out—drunk?"
A haughty sniff. "Away, my lord."
"Fine. Then I'll wait for him to return."
"That could be hours."
"I'm in no hurry." So saying, Slayde shrugged off his coat and slung it over the astonished butler's arm. "Is the library down this corridor?" he inquired, already heading in what seemed to be the logical direction. "I'll pass the time reading."
"But, Lord Pembourne, you can't—"
"Thayer, whose phaeton is that around front?" The voice at the front door brought both men up short. Turning, they watched Lawrence Bencroft step through the entranceway. "I'm not expecting anyone."
/> "Ah, but someone is expecting you," Slayde said, his tone ominously quiet.
Morland's head came up, like a wolf scenting danger, his eyes narrowing on his guest. "Pembourne."
"Ah, you're sober enough to recognize me. An impressive feat, considering the fact that we haven't seen each other in—let's see, how long has it been since you shut yourself up in here with only a bottle as company? Eight years? Or is it nine? I believe it was nine—a mere year after my parents' deaths."
"What the hell are you doing in my home?" Morland nearly flung his coat into Thayer's arms, heading toward Slayde with angry—but steady—steps. "Get out. Or I'll have you thrown out."