Delight (2 page)

A touch of tradition to hide the uncouth scoundrel beneath.

His scowl deepened. It amazed him that he
'
d sunk Spanish galleons with less forethought than he had put into impressing this Rowena of Hartzburg, who, by the way, wasn
'
t traveling day and night to meet a disgraced pirate, but rather the pirate
'
s respectable half-brother, Sir Matthew Delacourt, a former Grenadier Guard.

"
She probably won
'
t even spend a single night when she finds
out her Sir Galahad isn't here,
"
he said darkly.
"
She
'
ll scamper home like a frightened squirrel the moment she realizes I am the black knight on the chessboard.
"

"Perhaps not,
"
Gemma said encouragingly. "We still don
'
t know why Matthew arranged to meet her in Dunmoral when they both have lodgings in London at their disposal.
"

But Douglas knew. Matthew had been boasting of his personal relationship with Rowena for years. He had described her in great detail, her warmth, her charm, her wealth. He was proud to have fought for Rowena
'
s family when rebels threatened to attack her palace.

Saint Matthew, the dragonslayer and polished courtier.

Douglas, the dragon and social outcast.

"
Do you think he was hoping to woo her?
"
Gemma asked curiously.

Douglas arched his brow.
"
I would bet my astrolabe on it. I think he means to use this castle as a stage for his seduction. He knows I am i
n no position to pass judgment.
"

"
Shame he's stuck in Sweden with a broken leg,
"
Aidan said from the shadows.

"
Isn
'
t it though?
"
Douglas's voice was so
ftl
y mordant.

Gemma sighed, too innocent to understand the undercurrent of sarcasm.
"
Matthew probably meant to marry her in the Highlands."

Not if I have my way.
Douglas straightened his wide shoulders as if preparing for the challenge. He had accepted this earldom in the hope of finding an antidote to his inner pain. He
'
d wanted to forget the lives he had ruined in his blind passion for power and riches. Instead, he had stumbled upon a village of people more in need than he, ravaged by civil wars, famine and raiders. The princess would help him accomplish this.

"
Poor Sir Matthew.
"
Dainty gave a tragic sigh.
"
And him so brave, trying to rescue
an injured horse from a ravine.
"

Douglas laid his hand over his heart.
"
A hero in the truest sense of the word.
"

"
Only a pirate would take advantage of another's misfortune,
"
Aidan murmured.

"
A pity we aren
'
t pirates anymore.
"
Douglas
'
s voice was solemn, but devilish lights danced in his obsidian eyes.
"
As subjects of the Crown, we are expected to welcome the princess in my brother
'
s place with open arms.
"

"
If you say so, Douglas,
"
Gemma said, shaking her head.
"
But don
'
t forget we lost everything except our garters when the
Delight
was wrecked. We
'
re paupers living in a grand castle. I still think you should swallow your pride and accept Matthew's offer of a loan.
"

"
A loan, Gemma.
"
He reached down to ruffle her glossy black curls. He flashed her a smile of sheer wickedness.
"
I think we can do even better than that, lass—if o
ur honored guest ever arrives.
"

"
Dinna fret, sir,
"
Baldwin said.
"
Someday yer princess will come.
"

2

R
owena lowered her longbow and retreated
into the cave as the two horsemen thundered back toward the hills. A badger-skin quiver slid off her shoulder. The men had searched the woods with weapons drawn.

"
They were definitely looking for someone.
"
Her low smoky voice echoed against the cavern walls.
"
I wonder where they came from. There
were no lights in the distance.
"

"
They came from the depths of Hades by the look of them,
"
her older co
mpanion replied with a shiver.
"
Who but scoundrels would attack two women lost and a
lone in this inhospitable land?
"

"
They har
dly attacked us,
"
Rowena said.
"
They never even saw us. For all we know, Matthew might have sent them as our escort, and we, like spineless ninnies, hid so they could not help us.
"

"
Sir Mat
thew—send men like that? Never.
"

Rowena sighed.
"
While we may be lost, we are no longer alone. That
'
s Frederic coming through the woods.
"

The princess, as straight and strong as one of the arrows she could shoot with such deadly accuracy, motioned to the rider with her sable muff. Her thick chestnut-brown hair tumbled in tangles to her hips. The November chill had turned the tip of her nose pink. Her temper was frayed from traveling all the way from London to meet her old friend.

'
Twasn't like Matthew to send such a summons and then forget an escort, but Rowena did not want to agree with Hildegarde aloud.

They had been following a haphazard road for three days, relying on Rowena
'
s instincts. Now those instincts warned her something was amiss.

A tall man with a goatee dismounted to approach the cave. He bowed from habit before he spoke, the gold epaulets of his blue velvet jacket covered in dust. Frederic was her personal advisor and bodyguard, dependable if dour. He too showed the strain of traveling under such dangerous circumstances.

Hartzburg was a tiny principality beneath the Vosges mountains in the Rhine basin. France was her neighbor and friend. Yet even France had pretended not to notice that the rocky enclave was on the verge of collapse with rebels threatening to seize control.

Rowena's brother, Prince Erich, the heir of Hartzburg, had mysteriously disappeared while hunting. No one knew whether foul play was involved. But fearing Rowena would be abducted and used as a political pawn, her father Prince Randolph had packed her off to London.

Shortly after
her arrival, Sir Matthew Dela
court had contacted her. His letter haunted her on this bitterly cold Scottish night.

Dearest Rowena,

I have learned of your plight. You must be protected. Meet me at Castle Dunmoral in Scotland. Should I fail to make our meeting on time, place your trust in my brother the Earl of Dunmoral.

Your servant, Matthew

"
There was trouble?
"
Frederic frowned in suspicion at the bow lying against Rowena
'
s tapestry valise.

Hildegarde answered for her.
"
Two horsemen were hunting down someone. They had the look of cutthroats about them.
"

Rowena shrugged.
"
They could have simply been two husbands who had been out hunting and were now hurrying home to supper. What did you find out? You've been gone all day.
"

His thin face tightened.
"
For lack of encounter
in
g a single human being who could speak a civilized language, I was forced to return to the crossroads where we abandoned our carriage. There I met a minister of the kirk who begged me not to let you go any farther.
"

Hildegarde smothered a gasp of alarm. She was younger than she appeared, not yet fifty, but grief had taken its toll, graying her hair, destroying her faith.
"
The rebels from Hartzburg have sent men here to ambush us?
"

Frederic scowled.
"
Woman, you have an imagination like a windmill, always going at full tilt. I did not say anything about rebels.
"

Hildegarde's chin trembled at the rebuke. Rowena patted her hand, remembering the times when the woman had not been so afraid, before her husband and three strapping sons had been slaughtered by the robber barons who haunted the mountains of Hartzburg.

"
Everything will be fine,
"
she said calmly, studying Frederic
'
s face.
"
What did this man say? Is all not well with Sir Matthew?
"

"
The minister I met had never heard of Sir Matthew
.
"
Frederic paused for effect.
"
The Earl of Dunmoral is another matter. A rumor is circulating that he is in no way related
to the ancient family whose titl
e he claims. The castle may well be under the command, and I use the term loosely, of the nefarious pirate once known as the Dragon of Darien.
"

Rowe
na
'
s temples began to throb.
"
But I thought—the London broadsheets
said that the Dragon was dead.
"

"
Apparently, he is very much aliv
e.
"
Frederic
'
s frown deepened.
"
According to rumor the Crown has insisted he take on a new identity and play a more productive role in society than a brutal sea robber. How is it
you
know of such a miscreant. Highness?
"

Rowena suppressed a smile.
"
He was part of history, was he not? And history was my favorite subject at the convent school. But I never dreamed he was Matthew
'
s half-brother. Matthew mentioned him but never went into any detail.
"

Frederic said,
"
One usually does not discuss the black sheep of th
e family, and from what I under
stand, they do not come any blacker. The earl is said to hold orgies in his hall. Village women have entered his keep never to return home.
"

"
Then perhaps they were enjoying themselves too much to bother,
"
Rowena said.
"
Besides, Matthew once risked his life for us, and if he says I am to trust the earl, then that is the end of it. Anyway, Frederic, you know b
etter than to listen to gossip.
"

"
He might be a pirate!
"
Frederic exclaimed.

"
And he might not,
"
Rowena said.
"
What
matters is that he is Matthew
'
s brother—oh, goodness, what a
wonderful combination, Matthew
'
s military skills and the Dragon
'
s daring.
"

Fre
deric drew an outraged breath.
"
To lead you into a pirate
'
s lair—well, my imagination does wicked things.
"

So did Rowena
'
s.

Any sensible princess would have hastened back to the safety of her London-based friends. She would have sniffed into her scented hanky, lamenting her papa
'
s fate as she dressed for a masked ball. She would have flirted with King Charles, who, famous for his roving eye, had already sent her a patch box along with condolences for her plight.

But Rowena had a mind of her own, and for the first time ever, she was on her own. Freedom shimmered before her like an unexplored map of mysterious avenues and shadowed pathways leading to endless little adventures. Or misadventures.

Cosseted, sheltered, trained, she chafed like a filly against the bridle of her upbringing. Besides, no one else had a plan to help her papa. A fortnight should be long enough to persuade the Dragon to take on another crusade. She would enlist Matthew
'
s help.

Rowena had nothing to lose.

She also believed in fate.

Even in her obscure European principality, known mostly for its arrogant rulers and truffles, the Dragon of Darien had been discussed at the dinner table, his exploits admired or abhorred depending
on one
'
s political viewpoint.

"
Is he married?
"
she asked matter-of-factly.

"
Highness,
"
Frederic crie
d,
"
what could you be thinking?
"

Hildegarde smirked at him.
"
If the princess has a premonition, it must be obe
yed.
"

"
Premonition about a pirate? This rogue has killed people for gold. He is tainted, with no regard for human life—
"

"
The barons who threaten to hold Papa hostage in his own home
are barbarians,
"
Rowena said.
"
They have burned hamlets and slaughtered entire families. They killed my poor Hildegarde
'
s family. Who better to conquer them than a pirate who has perfected the art of plunder?
"

Frederic studied her with grudging respect.
"
The nuns may not have tamed that stubborn will, but they did teach you to think.
"

"
Thank you, Frederic.
"

"
I am not sure thinking is a good thing in a woman,
"
he added.

"
But you will do as I ask?
"
Rowena said, crossing her fingers inside her muff.

His jaw tightened.
"
Your father gave me funds to assemble an army of mercenaries to send back home. He believed that these Highlands breed fierce fighting men."

"
Even an army of mercenaries needs a leader,
"
Rowena said.

Frederic let that remark go unchallenged.
"
I suppose I could allow you a fortnight or so in the castle while I visit General Crichton in Dunbrodie. The man is retired but he has offered to help m
e recruit some decent soldiers."

"
Is it far from here?
"
Hildegarde asked.

"
A three-day ride each way,
"
he said.

"
I will watch over the princess,
"
Hildegarde said.

Rowena felt a sense of relief sweep over her.
"
My grandmother always said that one's true destiny leads to unimagined delight.
"

"
Or disaster,
"
Frederic muttered.

Hildegarde snorted. "
Destiny, I don't know. I
'
d settle for a warm fire and bowl of tasty mutton soup. These Highland winds cut straight to the bone, not to mention giving one an appetite.
"

Rowena brushed around her.
"
Help me dress— the ermine-trimmed purple, I think. Find my perfumed gloves and pearls. And Mama
'
s tiara.
"

"
Tiara?
"
Frederic shouted.

Rowena stifled a giggle.
"
I want to make a good impression.
"

"
Impression?
"
He clapped his hands over his eyes.
"
On a pirate? God in heaven!
"

Rowena started to laugh in earnest then. She just couldn
'
t help herself. She couldn
'
t wait to kick up her damask slippers and link up with a man who had dared to live out his most dangerous dreams. She had been led to Scotland for a reason, after all.

It was time, at long last, for the princess to raise royal hell.