GypsyDukeEpub (21 page)

The door opened, and a noxious odor accompanied the entrance of the thug. He wanted to recoil in disgust, but he had a job to do. First, to make sure of success. "Well, then?"

"He copped it." Beady eyes set in a ratlike face darted about the confines of the carriage.

"What do you mean?" Anger like a wave rose to choke him. Surely this idiot could kill one person.

"Some gents came alon' an 'e took off on 'is 'orse. They were after 'im, though. Thought 'e was givin' me a bit o' the rough." He cackled at the misconception then spat at the floor.

So…the duke was still running around dressed as a gypsy. That made things much easier. "Was he with anyone?"

"That 'e was. Some right proper bit o' fluff and that other gent what works with ye."

He frowned. He hadn't planned on killing Viscount Newburn's heir, but he would if the man got in his way. Now the girl…that presented possibilities.

"Do you know the girl?"

"Aye…seen 'er afore at that masked ball 'e went to."

"Excellent. Watch her house. Somerset won't be able to stay away. And when he shows up, kill him." A sudden thought occurred. Why not take the girl and force Somerset's hand? No one could connect him to such a kidnapping. "If you can't get to Somerset, take the girl. You know where to bring her?"

"Aye, but she might be noisy."

"I think you know how to take care of that. But keep her alive. She'll be useful."

Kitty was reluctant to lie down that night as she waited for John. She hoped he would come sooner than he had last night, yet it did take so long for everyone in the household to quiet down. It wouldn't do at all for him to be discovered. Not until she'd had a chance to explain to her parents why she'd felt this deception necessary. She only hoped they understood about John's need for secrecy…and her need for John.

She might just surprise him. She was completely dressed and her cape ready to go out after him, if he wasn't a little more forthcoming. If she was his intended, she had every right to know who he was, and she would find out even if she had to follow him.

How many places could a gentleman dressed as a gypsy hide? Not many. It would be easy to follow him.

When she heard a sound outside, she rushed to the window. Under the tree, in flickering shadows, stood the man who confessed to want her above all others. Her heart palpitated with excitement and happiness.

"But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Katherine is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief that thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. Be not her maid, since she is envious."

Kitty giggled, as her heart beat even faster. Lord Knight was quoting Romeo and Juliet. Now, that was a romantic man. She would pay him back with more of his own. She spoke the next line from the play, brief though it was.

"Aye, me."

He grinned at her. "She speaks. Oh, speak again, bright angel!"

"Oh Lord Knight! Wherefore art thou, Lord Knight? Deny thy identity and refuse thy mask; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Belfont."

This man was so entertaining, unlike anyone she knew. She could not keep the smile out of her voice.

"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?"

"'Tis but thy mask that is my enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a gypsy. What is a gypsy? It is not hand, not foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. Oh, be some other man! What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet. So Lord Knight would, were he not masked, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that mask. John, doff thy mask; and for thy mask, which is no part of thee, take all myself."

Kitty's heart pounded. Would he take off the mask?

"I take thee at thy word."

He reached behind his head and released the mask.

Kitty gasped. She felt as if she might cry. She had yearned all along for it to be her John, the Duke of Somerset, her closest friend and confidant since she was a small child. But never had she allowed herself to dwell on the need. His voice was slightly changed, deeper even, but his face held all the characteristics she'd loved.

"Art thou not John…or Duke of Somerset?"

John held up his hand toward the window. "Neither, fair maid, if either thee dislike."

A tear slid down Kitty's cheek. He had come back for her. And she saw by his face that he truly wanted her. Her throat was thick with unshed tears as she continued her part in Shakespeare's play.

"How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore, considering who thou art, if any of my kinsmen find thee here."

John laughed again. "With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls; for stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do, that dares love attempt. Therefore thy kinsmen are no stop to me. I have night's cloak to hide me from their eyes; and but thou love me, let them find me here. My life were better ended by their hate than death prorogued, wanting of thy love."

Why had John chosen this particular prose? Had he planned to recite the entire love scene to her? Was he aware of the next words? She decided to risk rejection. He wouldn't have come if he didn't want her.

"Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say aye; and I will take thy word. Yet, if thou swear'st, thou mayst prove false. At lovers' perjuries, they say Jove laughs. O gentle John, if thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully."

"Lady, I vow by all that I hold dear, I love thee."

Kitty burst into tears. "Oh, John. I've missed you. I cannot bear to be parted again. Please tell me you will confront my father so we can go home to Somerset."

The reluctance on his face told its own story, and Kitty fled the window in tears.

"Kitty, wait! Please come back."

She hesitated for several seconds. The weight of the pain in her chest was almost unbearable. She would do most anything to have it assuaged, yet she was torn. It seemed as if she'd been waiting for John Seymour, Duke of Somerset, for half her life. And now that he was back, he wanted her to continue waiting. But did she have any choice? She truly loved him. Years apart hadn't changed that.

A rustling in the leaves outside brought Kitty back to the window. John was scaling the tree, had almost reached the level of her window.

"John," she cried in an outraged whisper, "whatever do you think you are doing? Someone will hear you and come to investigate. Do not think my father will hesitate to blindly shoot you dead."

"I have no doubt, your father has no love for me. But what of you, Katherine? What other man of the ton would so despise his reputation as to climb a tree for you?"

His teasing smile was endearing, but Kitty hardened her heart.

"You know I have always had only one man in my heart. But I am no longer a little girl, and I will no longer sit idly by, waiting for and trusting a man that gives me no indication of when he will return. If you cannot treat me like the woman I am, release me from our vows."

John sighed. A treetop was not the best place for an intimate conversation. It wasn't as if he could proclaim across the branches that he'd been a spy all the years they were apart and not by choice.

But Kitty was right. She'd always been the adventurous sort, and yet, for him, she'd put aside her own desires to run free and waited patiently at home. He owed her more than an explanation.

"What a story you will have to tell our children...of me in a tree! Here, catch. I have something for you." John pulled out the small gold box he'd been carrying around all day and tossed it through her window.

Kitty leaned against the window frame and opened the box. Inside was a brilliant, round green emerald surrounded by flashing diamonds. She held the box out to the light and gasped as the gems sparkled at her.

She hadn't said a word, but he knew this was the time to speak his heart. First, he would try the Romeo.

"Katherine Antoinette Belfont, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?"

He knew he'd made the right choice when she held the ring to her chest and smiled. "What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?"

"The exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine."

"I gave thee mine before thou didst request it!" Kitty's happy laughter was a promising sign. "Three words, dear John, and good night indeed. If that thy bent of love be honorable, thy purpose marriage, send my father word tomorrow, by one that I'll procure to come to thee, where and what time thou wilt perform the rite; and all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay, and follow thee, my lord, throughout the world."

"By and by I come!"

Kitty put the ring on her finger, and held it out for John to see.

"It's perfect, John." She stood and spoke the farewell words of Juliet. "A thousand times good night."

When she left the window, John felt the loss immediately. "Katherine, wait a moment longer." Her face rose before him, still smiling. "I know a tree is not the place to pledge my heart, but nothing in our lives has been the usual. I will come tomorrow and speak to your father." He smiled as she gasped with delight. "Then I will have to leave you again for a short while. I will beg him to take you back to Somerset Park to await me. And Kitty, I swear it, unless I am dead, I will return to you. There is no other with whom I wish to spend my life."

Kitty would have turned away from the window then, but she heard a
sound, a distinctly familiar sound. What would an owl be doing in the fashionable streets of London…an owl that sounded like a man?

She pulled back into the shadow of her room and watched John drop from the tree then rush to the back gate.

Michel was waiting for him, but she couldn't make out their words.

Michel! Of course! John wasn't disguised as a gypsy. He was a gypsy. That's why Michel had been waiting for her years ago when John left the estate.

If she hurried, she could follow them to the gypsy camp. What an adventure this was going to be!

Kitty grabbed her cape and fled from the house. She'd never been so thankful for plush carpets as when she ran down the stairs. There wasn't a soul in sight as she tiptoed outside.

Dew glistened on the grass from the light of the moon. After one sweeping glance of the gardens, she lifted her skirts. She was on her way. Once she caught up with them, they couldn't refuse to take her with them. It was a perfect plan. Perhaps she could even help John with his spying. She was clever. They would get along with this adventure famously.

The gate creaked as Kitty swung it open, but she was past caring about drawing attention to herself. No one from the house could hear such a sound.

At the end of the alley, she saw two figures turn the corner. She had them!

Kitty took a light step into the alley, hurrying toward John and Michel. The darkness would have been unnerving, if she hadn't just seen John walk this way. And the smells! Ooh, what a horrible place!

She stepped gingerly around a dark pile in the street, uncertain of the contents. It certainly radiated enough stench to raise the dead! But she wouldn't let that dampen her spirits.

Before she could reach the main thoroughfare, it got far darker in the alley. Kitty increased her pace. If it was too dark, she wouldn't be able to tell what direction John had taken.

She was almost to the end of the street, when she heard a sound. Footsteps! And they weren't exactly furtive about their presence. She remembered what John had said about the danger of what he was doing and broke into a run.

She'd traveled a mere four steps, when she was hauled violently backwards.

"Nay, nay gel. Ye ain't going nowheres." She heard choking laughter. "Least...nowheres I doesn't want ye ta go."

If the odor of the alley had been wretched, the smell of this man was horrifying, a blend of smoke, rotten body odor, and even more rotten teeth.

Kitty gagged, nearly casting up her stomach, but a cloth covered her face, and she found herself fighting the terror of not being able to breathe.

John and Michel walked through the foggy streets of London toward Robert's townhouse. Michel had found Reginald Newport and a meeting was arranged for the next day.

That would have to be worked around John's appointment with Kitty's father, but time was of the essence in both situations. Before he made his presence known to the traitors, John needed to remove Kitty from danger.

"Tomorrow will take a bit of management. I've also agreed to meet with Kitty's father."

Michel laughed. "The earl will take one look at you and laugh his head off, if he doesn't shoot you first for daring to speak with his precious princess."

"I'm not going as myself. I mean…I am going as myself…my other self. Confound it. I'm going as the duke."

Michel laughed again. "I think love has you on the high ropes. Be careful. There is rarely enough air up there for mere mortals to breathe."

John stepped widely around a glowing street lantern. "Just what I needed in my life…a poet gypsy. What has my mother done to you?"

"What has my father done to you? You're the most disreputable duke I've ever seen."