The Deception (Baron 3)

ht,” Edmund said slowly. “I’ve seen him read. You don’t think he’s pretending to read just to draw me in so I’ll do it too?” “I’d guess he enjoys reading.” He eyed her suspiciously. She examined her thumbnail. “If you learn your letters, Edmund, I promise you that after your father returns to London, I’ll swim with you mornings that are warm enough.” She frankly couldn’t imagine even sticking her toe in the cold sea, but if it remained warm, she’d do so. And she’d teach Edmund how to swim better than his father had.

He looked her up and down. “You are big enough,” he said, then leaned over to feel her arm muscle. She flexed it. “Yes,” he said, “and you’re strong, for a girl.” But still he fidgeted, looking everywhere but at the blocks of letters strewn out over the desktop.

She sighed deeply and folded her hands over her heart. “All right, if you learn your letters, then I’ll play the highwayman and you can chase me down.” “Can I shoot you once I catch you?” “Yes,” she said, her head drooping. “You can shoot me.”

Edmund smiled. He squared his shoulders. “All right, I’ll do it.”

“A is for an apple that’s big and red and tastes tart and wonderful.” She placed her hand over Edmund’s fingers, tracing the letter. “Can you think of another word that begins with A?”

Edmund said almost immediately, “A is for ass. Papa’s always calling Phillip Mercerault an ass. I can’t tell you what Phillip calls him. It’s not a good word, my papa told me, for a lady’s sensitive ears. He said I was never to say it unless I was alone or with my pony.”

“Very well, then don’t say it. A is for ass. Yes, ass is an excellent word.”

And on they went. She didn’t crack a smile when Edmund announced that P was for proud, just like his papa. Evangeline was surprised, when she chanced to look up at the clock, at how quickly the time had passed. She gave Edmund a quick hug, for he had proudly written out his name. She glanced up to see the nursery door open and a very tall man, so thin he was gaunt, step into the room. She’d seen him several times in the past two days, but hadn’t yet met him. He was dressed in unrelieved black.

Edmund jumped to his feet and ran to the man, clasping his hands around his leg. “Bunyon,” he yelled. “You’re here to save me.”

“I’m not precisely certain just whom I am here to save,” Bunyon said. There was only a hint of a smile on that thin mouth. “Forgive my intrusion, ma’am,” he said as he disengaged Edmund from his leg and walked to the study table. “His grace suggested that I relieve you of your duties at just the point before Lord Edmund made you into a stuttering bedlamite. I am Bunyon, you know, his grace’s valet.”

“I can write now, Bunyon, just look. See, that’s my name and I printed it all by myself.”

Unlike Ellen, Edmund’s principal worshiper, Bunyon did not appear to be overly gratified by the Heir’s attention. Indeed, he paid Edmund no heed, his dark eyes on Evangeline’s face.

She smiled and rose from her chair. “I’m not even to the brink of stuttering. Edmund has agreed to learn his letters, and he’s doing quite well. And here is his name.” She watched as Bunyon examined the large block letters.

“His grace,” Bunyon said, “will be pleased. You have done well.” He shook Edmund’s hand. “Now, it’s time for you to find your bed and close your eyes. Not for long, just an hour.”

Edmund said, “Eve said she’d let me shoot her if I learned my letters. Will you help me come up with a strategy so I may catch her before I shoot her?”

“It will gratify me to be used in such a fashion,” Bunyon said. “Does Madame know what’s in store for her?”

“Tell him, Eve. Tell him that you promised to be a highwayman. I’ll catch you, then shoot you.”

“A bribe,” Evangeline said. “Purely and simply a bribe. Devise an excellent stratagem, if you please, Bunyon. I would not want to be shot after only a paltry chase. Shall I call Ellen, Bunyon?”

“Oh, no, ma’am. I shall tuck him in. He has Ellen wrapped around all his fingers. It’s shameful.”

The duke rode at a leisurely pace back to Chesleigh, quite pleased with himself. He’d purchased the hunter he wanted, and at a price that suited him. Indeed, he thought, he’d been tight-fisted, as was his father’s occasional habit. When he turned Emperor into the stable yard, he saw Evangeline standing next to McComber, in serious conversation. His eyes crinkled in amusement, for she spoke very expressively, her hands leaving no doubt of her meaning. “I really didn’t test Dorcas’s mettle much this morning, McComber. Just look at the duke on Emperor. He looks magnificent.”

This is interesting, McComber thought as he watched the duke ride into the stable yard. He cleared his throat and said, “I exercised her myself this early afternoon, Madame. She won’t give you a moment’s worry.”

The duke called out as he reined in Emperor, “Hello, Evangeline. You’re ready, I see.” He leaned forward to pat his neck. “My fellow’s tired, so you can forget any racing. You won’t rub my nose in the dirt today.”

“Perhaps Trevlin can have Biscuit fetched for you, your grace.”

He looked at her white throat just above the lace of her blouse. “I suppose I wouldn’t get away with it,” he said, and flexed his fingers.

“I know what you’re thinking, and no, you wouldn’t. I’m very strong. Edmund agrees.”

Not many minutes later, the duke led them southward along a narrow road overlooking the sea. He was in the midst of telling her of the hunter he’d purchased when a loud horn blast sounded from an oncoming mail coach. “Pull over, Evangeline,” the duke said, guiding Emperor down a slight incline off the road.

Evangeline tugged Dorcas’s reins just as the rumbling coach pulled around a bend in the road. The driver sounded the horn once again, and Dorcas, startled, reared up and twisted, ripping the reins from Evangeline’s hands.

She looked blankly at the duke as she went flying off her mare’s back. She landed on her bottom by the side of the road. For a moment she simply sat there.

The duke was at her side in but a moment. “Are you all right? Where did you hit yourself?”

She rubbed her hip. “I’ll be all right. At least that’s where I have the most padding.” “I wouldn’t say that, but it should be enough.” “I don’t think anything is ever enough for you.” “Quite possibly,” he said, and pulled her to her feet. His hands were out to rub her hips, perhaps pull her close against him whilst he was rubbing her hips, when he realized what he was about to do. He cursed and dropped his arms to his sides.