Scoundrel (Lost Lords of Radcliffe Book 4) (17 page)

Bryce grinned. “The same old Chase.”

“Yes, the same old Chase. Luckily I have money to send.”

Amelia had had the same rough childhood as Chase, but she’d married into Lord Sidwell’s family and he’d gifted her and her husband, Lucas, with a fine estate as a wedding present. These days, she wasn’t struggling.

“I hope he intends to come home,” Bryce said.

“I expect he will—if he isn’t attacked by pirates again on the way. I’ll pen my reply later tonight. I’ll inform him about Radcliffe Castle and your title. He’ll be thrilled.”

“He always encouraged me to fight for what was mine.”

“Well, in this instance, he was correct for once.”

They laughed, and she asked, “Would you like me to include a message from you?”

Bryce pondered forever. Did he have a message for Chase? Had he forgiven Chase? He thought he had. Chase was one of those outrageous souls who blustered through life like a bull in a china shop. It was easy to get angry with him, but it was hard to stay angry.

“Yes,” he said, “add a message for me. Tell him I’m back in England. I’ve wed Katarina, my injuries are healed, and I’m very happy. Tell him to call on me the moment he returns. If he doesn’t, I’ll find him and give him a good clout alongside the head.”

“I’ll make certain he knows.”

“Tell him too—this is the most important part—that all is forgiven and forgotten.”

Amelia smiled. “I will tell him, and I’m so glad for both of you.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“What if we left?”

“Left where? The villa? Is that what you mean?”

Chase stared at Ralston and said, “What if we went home?”

“To England?” Ralston asked.

“Yes.”

“Well…”

Ralston’s jaw dropped in shock.

They’d just had their daily fencing lesson, so they’d been hot and sweaty and had headed to the bathing pool. They lounged on the stone benches like a pair of decadent, lazy kings.

“I didn’t think we had the money,” Ralston said.

“I have some now.”

“Where did you get it? You didn’t rob anyone, did you?”

“I suppose it depends on your definition of the word
rob
.”

“It’s either robbery or it isn’t.”

“When I was thrashing those criminals, I told them I’d stop if they paid me damages.”

“And they paid you? Just like that?”

“Yes.”

Ralston scowled, never quite able to figure out if Chase was serious. As a vicar’s son, he’d never gone anywhere or done anything until he was seventeen and had begun his job with Mr. Fitzwilliam. His adventure with Chase was a revelation.

Chase barged through the world, enjoying himself, breaking things, taking things, and generally living as he pleased. Ralston tiptoed around, never shirking a duty or avoiding a responsibility. It wasn’t in his nature, while Chase, at his very core, seemed rotten and unreliable.

Most of the time. Those other tiny slivers of time, he was a grand fellow. Ralston owed Chase his life, which was a debt he could never repay. But he owed him something else too. Loyalty, maybe? Friendship and constancy?

Chase never talked much about his past except to say that it had been a tad difficult. He was an orphan with one sister whom he’d rarely seen as a boy. They’d been separated when their parents had died and attended boarding schools in different areas of the country.

He had no hoards of siblings, no scores of cousins or parlors full of grouchy aunties, no strict neighbors who would march over to your mother and tell her the minute you misbehaved. Ralston thought Chase was lonely and the most solitary person he’d ever met.

“You have a few gold coins,” he said. “Is that what you’re claiming?”

“It’s more than a few actually.”

“How much more?”

“Enough to buy you a suit of clothes and a ticket to London.”

Ralston’s scowl deepened. Was Chase planning to send Ralston on his own?

“What about you?” Ralston asked. “You wouldn’t stay behind, would you? Because I won’t go if you don’t.”

“I’d go, I guess.” Chase glanced away and peered out at the sea. He looked sad and forlorn as if the prospect of leaving was incredibly painful.

“What about Sister Faithful and the rest of them?”

“I have enough to take everybody.”

“The girls too? Rowena?”

“Yes.”

“Well…” he said again.

He couldn’t decide how he felt about it.

In the first weeks after they’d struggled onto the beach down below, he’d been anxious to depart. But as the months had passed, as he and Chase had settled in, London had started to seem very far away.

He’d been lured into complacency, had grown accustomed to the luxury. Was he ready to toss it all away? He supposed he was. After all, how long could a man continue on in a fantasy?

He peered out at the sea too, wondering what it would be like to wake up some morning and not have that glorious view. He wondered what it would be like to not have marble tiles under his feet, to wear shoes again, to dress like a fussy clerk.

He’d never strut around half-naked, would never have hair hanging down his back or tan every inch of his skin. He’d never bathe out in the open, practice fencing under a palm grove, or lounge on a bed of soft pillows as servants handed him food.

“What brought this on?” he asked. “Obviously you’ve had the money for awhile, but you didn’t tell me. Why?”

“I was thinking.”

“About what? Keeping it and spending it on yourself? Or perhaps sneaking away without us?”

“No,” Chase scoffed, “I wasn’t thinking that.”

“What has you so vexed then?”

“I don’t want to go.”

“You have to someday. We’ve talked about it.”

“Do I have to though? I’m not sure. I could return to Cairo, to Monsieur Valois. I’m positive he could find an interesting project for me.”

“You hated Cairo,” Ralston reminded him.

Chase frowned. “I did, didn’t I?”

“You’re inventing memories that never existed. You had an awful trip to Egypt, and your friend, Bryce, was nearly killed there. This place is a mirage, and if it’s time to leave, London should be our destination.”

“There’s nothing for me there.”

“There’s your sister.”

Chase smiled a secretive smile. “I received a letter from her.”

“From Amelia?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Today. A farmer who was walking by brought it from town. One of the servants handed it to me a bit ago.”

“A letter! My goodness.”

The news was so strange. They’d been so isolated that an item as ordinary as a letter seemed foreign and exotic. If Chase had insisted an angel had flown down from Heaven for a chat, Ralston couldn’t have been any more surprised.

After their initial arrival at the villa, they’d both written letters, Chase to his sister and Ralston to his oldest brother who was a vicar in a large parish. The servants had taken them to town and given them to a ship’s captain, but neither Chase nor Ralston had ever truly expected the missives to be delivered or that they’d hear back.

It was a small miracle.

“What did Amelia say?” Ralston asked.

“She said I should stop loafing in Africa and get my butt to England immediately.”

Ralston laughed. “I can’t wait to meet her. I’m certain I’ll like her.”

“I’m certain you will too. She’s a much better person than me.”

“That’s quite a low bar, isn’t it? Everyone in the world is a better person than you.”

“My greatest regret is that I’ve hardly been able to corrupt you at all. Once we’re in England, I’ll never round your edges. You’ll always be as honest and decent as you are right now.”

“Did your sister mention my mother or my brother? Had she corresponded with them?”

His father had been dead for several years, but his widowed mother would be frantically worrying over the delay in his return.

“She didn’t mention your family,” Chase said, “but I told her about you, so I’m sure she’ll contact them.”

“So…it took hearing from Amelia to convince you to leave?”

“Not really, but it’s definitely poked a dart into the middle of my fantasy life. It’s made me remember that nothing here has any bearing on reality.”

“In my book, reality is highly overrated.”

Chase chuckled. “Maybe I’m rubbing off after all.”

“Maybe.”

Chase sighed, then admitted, “Amelia advises me that Bryce is home safe and sound.”

“My! That’s fabulous, isn’t it?”

“Suddenly he’s enjoying enormous good fortune. Every grand conclusion—and it was all deserved—has happened for him. He’s recovered his health, married the woman he loved, and he retrieved his title.”

“His title? Was it lost?”

“It’s a long story.” Chase glanced out at the water again. “He added a message for me to the bottom of the letter.”

“What was it?”

“He tells me that all is forgiven and forgotten.”

An odd expression crossed Chase’s face. He looked abashed, relieved, and sad. Ralston had never seen him so discomfited.

“All is forgiven?” Ralston asked. “What did you do to him? Should I be wary? I have some idea of the sorts of nonsense you’re capable of, but could it be much worse than I imagine?”

“No, you shouldn’t be wary. I got you this far, didn’t I?”

“Is this the spot where I thank you again for saving my life? I’ll always be grateful, you know. I won’t ever tire of saying it.”

“Don’t gush. It annoys me.” Chase shook off his peculiar mood and glared at Ralston. “I don’t believe we should remain here another second. I vanquished those blackguards in town, but I can’t guarantee that they won’t come for us.”

Ralston’s scowl was back. “You think they would?”

“I hope not, but I wouldn’t put it past them. So what’s it to be, Mr. Robertson? Should we head to England or not?”

Ralston studied his friend who was more a brother than any of his brothers had ever been. Chase had shown him how to live, how to thrive. Chase had shown him how to be tough and valiant and brave. He’d provided Ralston with a taste of adventure he probably never should have experienced or survived.

The villa was exotic and splendid, their revelry sinfully glorious, and they’d made full use of their sojourn in it. They’d wrung out every drop of pleasure. There was naught for either of them in England, but their country seemed to be calling.

“You have to force me to commit to this, Ralston,” Chase very quietly said. “I can’t wrap my mind around the notion of leaving. Tell me I have to. Don’t give me a choice.”

Ralston couldn’t refuse Chase any request.

“You have to go home, Chase.” His tone was scolding. “It’s time.”

“Yes, I suppose.”

“You know it is. Don’t grouse about it.”

“All right, I won’t.”

“And we’re taking the women, yes? You were serious about that, weren’t you? I won’t abandon them in this godforsaken land.”

“We’re taking them.”

Ralston pushed himself to his feet and climbed out of the pool.

“Where are you going?” Chase inquired.

“To inform Rowena.”

“It’s
Sister
Rowena to you.”

“She wants me to call her Rowena. She asked me to.”

“Behave yourself,” Chase actually had the temerity to say.

“I’ll start when you do.”

* * * *

“Rowena! May I speak with you for a minute?”

She was with the girls on the verandah, playing a game with string. She glanced up, and Ralston was standing there.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I have to tell you a secret.”

“Ooh, a secret! I like the sound of that.”

“May we come too?” Mary said. “I’d like to know a secret.”

“Me too,” added Martha.

Little Millicent didn’t chime in. Since those horrid men had carried her off, she hadn’t uttered a word.

Rowena was concerned about her and wasn’t sure how to make her feel safe. She suspected Millie had simply endured too much trauma over too short a period. She was only five. Her parents were deceased, she was lost in Africa and living in a mansion with people who weren’t her relatives. Strangers had tried to kidnap her and sell her into slavery.

It was a bit too much for a child to absorb. Hopefully she’d talk again once she realized the worst had passed.

“No, you scamps can’t come,” Rowena said. “If he tells everyone, it won’t be a secret.”

Rowena stood, and they looked terrified. Since they’d returned to the villa, they wouldn’t let her out of their sight. They even slept in her room.

“All of you sit still, and don’t move a muscle.” A servant was over in the corner observing their game, occasionally fanning them with a palm frond. Rowena pointed to her. “She’ll watch you until I return.”

“How long will that be?” Mary asked.

“Not long at all. Why don’t you count to a hundred, and I bet I’ll be here when you reach ninety-nine.” She started to walk away, and Martha grabbed her skirt. Rowena gently pulled her hand away. “It will be fine, Martha. Don’t worry. Don’t any of you worry. When I get back, I’ll ask if you worried, and if you say
yes
, I’ll be very upset.”

Rowena went over to Ralston, and the girls stared at them with haunted eyes. She couldn’t bear how anxious they were. She considered staying where they could see her, but since the drama in town they’d been with her every second, and she hadn’t had a single moment alone with him.

They hurried around a corner, then down the hall, slipping into an alcove that was partially shielded by a wall of potted ferns.

“Guess what?” he said.

“What is it? You’re scaring me.”

“We’re leaving for England.”

“Who is?”

“All of us.”

“Who is
all
? Me? You? Faith? The girls?”

“Yes, and Chase. He’s paying.”

“I assumed he was penniless.”

“He forced those bandits to give him some money.”

“Really?”

“It was a substantial amount too. Enough to cover all our fares.”

“And…Mr. Hubbard is willing?”

“Don’t look so surprised.”

“He’s a rogue and a rascal. I wouldn’t have imagined he’d be that generous.”

“He puts on a tough front, but deep down, he’s actually a gallant fellow.”