Prince of Ravenscar (Sherbrooke Brides 11)

Richard shook his head.

“I have, needless to say, known her all my life. At home, I have never seen her agree with my father, not one single time, but in company she is so compliant, agreeing with everything that comes out his mouth, it makes me stare. I find myself wondering—are all ladies like this? Do none of them even like their husbands? Is their behavior in polite society a sham?”

Richard never looked away from Devlin’s face. He said slowly, “It appears I must think about this.”

When they joined the ladies a scant ten minutes later, Leah was seated, silent and docile as a lamb, next to the dowager duchess, admiring her needlework. Roxanne and Sophie were off by themselves, obviously arguing about something.

What was it? Julian wondered.

38

Ravenscar

THE FOLLOWING MORNING

Julian wasn’t surprised when he heard Sophie’s light footsteps behind him. He sighed as he turned to her. “I had hoped you would not notice my leaving. It did not enter my mind that you would follow me.” Well, it had, but he wasn’t about to tell her that.

She smiled at him as she stepped into the low-hanging cave entrance. “You were clever, asking Pouffer to say you were riding to Ravenscar Village to hire men to clean up the Dower House and begin the rebuilding. However, Cannon was still in his stall. Then I saw you walking this way, looking shifty and secretive, so I followed you.”

There was a touch of humor in his voice as he said, “I should have waited until midnight.”

“I am a light sleeper. I would have heard you pass by my bedchamber and followed.” She paused, then stepped in farther and stared. He was standing not six feet away from her, holding a lit lantern. “Goodness, this is amazing. Where is the ceiling? How big is the cave? Oh, my, look at all those formations. What are they called?”

He grinned at her, couldn’t help it. She’d outwitted him. “Come on in, I’ll show you everything.”

He pointed out a formation of stalactites that looked like a pipe organ in a church, raised the lantern high so she could see the cave ceiling. “And look over here, I swear it looks like Oliver. One of his ears is longer than the other.” He found himself telling her boyhood stories of when he’d protected his cave from the French. “I remember fighting to the death many times.”

“You always won?”

“Naturally.”

“Do you know, I’ve only been in one cave before—Roxanne’s small cave in Yorkshire. It was quite paltry, really; you had to bend nearly double to walk inside. But this one is grand, indeed. And now . . .” She walked right up to him, came onto her tiptoes, and said an inch from his nose, “Why are you here, Julian?”

Lie. No, give it up. “I’m a smuggler, have been for a very long time. My favorite landing beach and cave are near Chichester, at Saint Osyth. The last time I brought in smuggled goods, I knew someone was watching. It didn’t take me long to figure out it was Richard.”

“When was this?”

“Not long ago. But I knew I wanted one final run before I retired. I decided it would be safe here, even though Richard lives only a couple of miles away. When I was here yesterday—”

“That’s all right. I knew you were lying when you spoke of walking in the home wood. Listen, there is no way Richard could find out.”

She gave him a blazing smile, clasped his hands in hers. “It will be our secret. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone, including Roxanne. Does Devlin know about your . . . hobby?”

“Hobby? That makes it sound like a lad collecting seashells. Actually, it is illegal, Sophie, and dangerous. Excisemen are out to catch smugglers. They’re a ruthless lot.”

“But you’re right, no one will know—particularly, Richard.”

“I hope you’re right. I actually think of smuggling as a service to my fellow countrymen. I make goods available that don’t carry the heavy import duties. Ah, but the truth is—it is a lot of fun.”

She lightly touched her fingertips to his cheek. “It is also something that is yours, isn’t it, Julian? Just yours.”

He said, “You asked about Devlin. I took him along with me some five years ago, after he’d come down from Oxford. I told him no more, since the future Duke of Brabante couldn’t very well take the chance of being deported to Botany Bay if caught. He’s argued with me, but I’ve held firm. He quite liked landing the boats, trading midnight jests with my men, and unloading the goods.” Julian didn’t mention the profits, which were usually quite substantial.

Sophie said, “Do you know, Devlin is particularly well suited to smuggling, since it always happens in the middle of the night. Add a full moon, and he’d be in heaven. But wait, you wouldn’t want a full moon; the darker the better.”

He laughed. She joined him, their laughter echoing all around them. She thought she sounded like a braying donkey and quickly shut her mouth. Julian thought it a shame he could no longer hear the sweet sparkling bells. He said, “It isn’t a lark, Sophie; one must be very careful. I never brib

ed any of the excisemen before. Why let them dip their hands in my pockets?”