“At sea, miss! How shocking. But not to worry. His lordship had your sister’s closets filled with clothing he ordered from Paris, and I know she’d want you to use some. Just let me take care of everything. Is there anyone you wish me to inform that you’re in town?”
She shook her head. Luca had left her without a word, and all she wanted to do was hide.
Seven days. Seven days without her, seven days to first get roaring drunk, get in a fight, argue with Billy, threaten to take the ship out again and run it aground, hire a private detective, give Wart a fortune, punch his fist into a wall, almost breaking his hand. Seven days without her and he was going mad. How was he going to live the rest of his life if he didn’t find her?
Billy had been philosophical. “Clearly she don’t want to be leg-shackled to a sailing man.”
“Or a gypsy,” he’d said bitterly.
“There’s that,” Billy had agreed, never one to spare his feelings. “Even if she didn’t say no when you asked her, this is her answer.”
“Asked her what?” he demanded, annoyed.
Billy had given him a long, measuring look. “Asked her to marry you?” he said in a careful voice. “Told her you were in love with her?”
“I didn’t.”
“You didn’t,” Billy echoed flatly. “And you expected her to sit around and wait until you said something?”
“I didn’t think she needed a bunch of words. Words are easy.”
“Not for you, apparently. Jayzus!” Billy exploded. “I know more about women than you do and I don’t even like the creatures! They need those words, Luca. They don’t guess, they don’t live on hope. We took off to the harbormaster without a word and you thought she’d sit around and wait for you? They have their pride. You have to tell them. Fact is, the same is true of men. If you love someone you tell them.”
“What makes you think I love her?” Luca snapped. He’d been a fool to even consider the possibility. The first chance she got she left him.
“Oh, maybe it’s the way you’re looking for a fight everywhere you go, or the way you’ve been drinking, or the fact that you’re about to jump down my throat for even suggesting such a thing.” He shook his head in disgust. “I’ve taught you everything I know, but I never thought I needed to explain something as simple as this. Didn’t you tell that Haviland woman you loved her when you proposed?”
He glared at Billy. “Of course. It was a lie.”
“And other women you bedded?”
“Yes.”
“So what makes the difference?”
Luca had paused, wishing he had an excuse to punch Billy, knowing he only had the truth to offer. It was wrong, and inescapable. “You know the answer as well as I do. Because I really do love her.”
Billy nodded. “Exactly. So go out and find her.”
In the end it wasn’t Wart, but Billy himself who found a trace of her. The newspaper had been three days old, but Billy had always had a fancy for reading the society posts, something Luca could never understand, and he’d found the notice buried in a paragraph of massive unimportance.
“Miss R. is in town, staying in Berkeley Square at her sister, the Countess of K.’s house while she and her husband, Lord K., e
njoy a honeymoon abroad.” With its refusal to name names it had taken Billy a while to make the connection.
“She’s still in town, right under our noses,” Billy had said. “And chances are she doesn’t want a damned thing to do with you. But you’ll never know unless you ask, eh?”
“She made her choice,” Luca said flatly. “If she had feelings for me she would have stayed, not managed to sneak out the moment my back was turned.”
“You didn’t give her a choice, you moonling!” Billy snapped. “Listen to me. You’re a pirate and a gypsy. You know how to get what you want. I’ve never known you to wait for permission. Unless you’d rather mope around like some moonstruck virgin, giving a bad name to pirates the world over.”
Luca had glared at him. “Tomorrow,” he said.
Billy glared back at him. “Right now,” he said. “What’s more important? Pride? Or love?”
“Pride,” Luca said flatly. A moment later he was gone.
Maddy should have been feeling better. It had been a week of cosseting, of specially cooked meals and people looking out for her every need. It was a week living in a luxury she hadn’t experienced since her father died, a week where she didn’t have to clean, didn’t have to work, didn’t have to worry about anyone. She could sleep as late as she wanted, stay up as late, wander around in the back garden when no one was watching. She was safe and well cared for. Surely she should be feeling better by now.