My Lord Rogue (14 page)

After experiencing a
n arranged
marriage
built on
friendship
and trust, she needed more in her in life than promises. She wanted love ¯ Simon’s love.
Would
what he suggested, joining Nelson’s Tea, serving
England beside him
be enough
? Or
would his nearness tempt her to seduce him into
something more?

~~~
~

“
Take thy seat of actors first:

For such thy art, thou seem’dst as thou wert born

For the stage only — yet thy manners such,

They probity so great, thou seem’dst unfit

To have been there—
”

~
Jubilee

The door
to
the study
opened
,
and Goodayle announced
, “
Lord Henry
Melville.
”

An irritated
and somewhat impatient
Melville pushed his way into the room
grumbling about timetables
.

“Is everything arranged?”

Before Simon could rise, Melville
moved forward and
took his place by the fire
. He slapped his palms against his legs
and
then
gazed about the library fully outfitted with an array of mahogany bookcases
. The shelves had been
filled with
first edition books,
nautical charts, and maps of England, Spain, and France.
Everything
Nelson’s Tea
would need at their disposal
.
Nothing had been left to chance, including a secret escape through the very same bookcases.

Melville
arched a brow and
pointed to the
encased naval sword
hanging
above the fireplace
.
“
Yours?”

“Yes,” Simon answered with deceptive calm
, remembering all too clear
ly
the day
the enemy
had used his own sword against him
during
the battle of Calvi in June of ninety-four
.
He’d placed it there as a reminder that no one could be trusted, especially
an opponent or
men with ulterior motives.

The great
-
minded lord nodded and then grimaced. “
Number
Eleven
, Bolton Street
?”

“I take it you
don’t
approve.
”

“
What I think
doesn’t
matter.
Admiral Nelson
, however,
may not
appreciate the slight
. You do realize Lady Hamilton used to
be kept
on
Clarges by
Greville
.
”

“All the more reason for the admiral to be seen on this street, don’t you agree?
Especially since the Hamilton’s have set up residence at 23 Piccadilly.
”

Melville gazed about the room as if contemplating the weight of
his words
. “I hesitate to bring this up,
Danbury
.”

“But you will,” Simon
interjected
.

Melville’s smile didn’t reach his eyes
. “
This is a harebrained scheme.
You
’
ve got your work cut out for you.”

“I take it you’ve read the invitation list.”

“I have and I’m not sure I’m on board. First sons? Lords, officers, tars, farmers, and pirates? Are you insane?
I’d just as soon hire a magistrate to pilot a ship.
”

Simon drained his brandy and rose to get
his third. He was anxious, entirely too nervous for his own good. Not about Nelson’s arrival or the collection of souls they’d tasked to join Nelson’s Tea
.
But
about
whether or not Gillian would join him.
He simply couldn’t imagine running Nelson’s Tea without her now.
Reaching the side bar, he picked up
a crystal
decanter and
lifted it
. “Brandy, my
lord
?

Melville frowned. “No. No. I want to be completely sober when this meeting commences.”

“You do
agree that events at Drury Lane proved our measures
are beyond satisfactory
.” Simon sat down and swirled his brandy, sniffing the aroma.
G
ood stock
, a gift from Earl Pendrim, the father of one of his newest charges
.
He downed another. “
A
collected effort by unorthodox means will produce the result we
strive
for.”

“
Marques
s
Stanton? Are you half
-
mad?
The man’s father
is a member of the House of Lords.
”

“As is the admiral,” he stated.

Melville shrugged. “Will you let me finish.
Like father, like son, Stanton
has a penchant for melodrama.
If that result outweighs the means, I am all for it. But I warn you, there are those in the Admiralty office
quick to ridicule
.”

Simon stopped himself
from
saying that was the point
.
Leading the enemy astray. Concocting a visual image
,
which
in turn
masked their
true intent
.
“Keep Barre and the others busy,
including
the Admiralty Board.
By whatever means
necessary
.
Nelson’s
Tea will do the rest.”

“How do you propose
to fund
this outlandish venture
?
I cannot in good conscience solicit money from the naval treasury
without fear I’ll be discovered
.
”

“That,” Simon replied without inflection,
“has already been arranged
by
the king.”

‘King George?”
Melville gasped. “You took this above my head?”

The door to the study opened. Both men rose
in
succession
.
Simon first, then Melville.

“
Pardon
me,”
Goodayle
said
, bowing.
“
It is
time
, my lords
.”

Melville shot
the
butler
an accusatory glance.
“
You?
”

Goodayle swept into a courtly bow, arm bent before him. “At your service, my
lord
.”

“This is
entirely
unorthodox,” Melville bleated.

“I have every confidence in Goodayle. In fact, you will soon learn that no one man is any better than another. The difference being whether or not a man is willing to sacrifice everything to serve his King. I know of one who has, is
,
and will. He shall soon be here.” Simon nodded to Goodayle. “I shall join you shortly
, my good man
.”

Goodayle bowed his head
and then
turned on his heel, quietly closing the library doors.

“I have to object,” Melville said
, his voice
raising
an octave
.
“There must be a law against this.”

“Life is an illusion, my
lord
. That is a tact that we shall use to our
best
advantage. One, I’m afraid, you will learn far outweighs the means.” Simon grabbed his lapel and straightened his broad coat. “
Now, let us be off. This is the moment
you’ve
been
impatiently waiting for, eh?
”

“That remains to be seen.”

“
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans ey
es, sans taste, sans everything…
”

~
William Shakespeare’s
All The World
’
s a Stage

“Vi
c
e
-
Admiral
of
the Blue
,
”
Goodayle announced
,
his tone
ceremonial
as he stepped into the dining room
.
“
The Right Honorable Horatio Nelson, Viscount Nelson, Knight of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath,
Baron
Nelson
of the Nile and
Burnham Thorpe in the County of Norfolk, Baron Nelson of the Nile and
Hilborough
County of Norfolk
, Duke of Bronte
.
”

Staccato of footsteps.
Admiral Horatio
Nelson
appeared
and came to a
n abrupt
halt
.
T
he boisterous cacophony quieted
as Nelson surveyed the crowded room
.
People
turned toward the doorway
,
focusing their attention
on
the figure situated there
. Nelson
stood stiffly in all his glory, a brilliant glow illuminating
him
as he
spotted
Simon, clicked his heels, nodded, and then bowed a greeting
.
T
he admiral
rose
to
his full five-foot-seven
-inch
height. He reached up and
removed his hat
,
turned and
offered
it to Goodayle, who
grasped the
bicorn
like
a
prized
piece of porcelain then
backed
respectably
out of the room
.

“Thank you, Goodayle,” Nelson said
,
a
bemused
grin
lighting
his face
.

Ah, what a pleasurable man Nelson was
.
P
ropriety
and manner
were not
mundane nuisances
for
the admiral
,
but everyday tasks. Nelson’s
m
ilitary
bearing
,
strictly enforced
throughout his career
,
was
evident by
his
firm constitution
,
the
set of his brow, the
s
mile
that didn’t quite reach his
eyes
. He’d proven himself
in battle against bitter enemies,
foreign and domestic,
in the midst of pain and loss
. Harsh living and entitlement
were second nature,
no matter
his
surroundings;
a
phenomenon
Simon had witnessed
firsthand
.
In private,
Goodayle
praised
the man
.
They’d
both served alongside
Nelson on the
Agamemnon
at Toulon and Calvi
.

For men of action, living a dua
l existence created no real hardship. One did what one had to do. But how
did
Nelson manage
?
He was married to a woman who abhorred him
. He flaunted a mistress before
his wife
, the admiralty, and the
ton
, carrying not a whit for public speculation, nearly making himself look ridiculous. And yet
Nelson
held
the hopes and dreams of
the
countless wives and children
of the men who followed him,
carrying his orders and the burden of responsibility
on his back.
How did the admiral do it?
Even now
,
Simon struggled to attain his height under
the weight of
twenty lives perched
on his lapels
.
Nelson had
balanced
far more
nearly
his entire
life
.
What was a little
pressure
on Simon
now
?

Simon
sighed resignedly.
The long search for men to aid Nelson’s cause had come to an end. Crew assembled
at last
,
Nelson
was
t
here to
meet each and every one
,
measur
ing
them for muster
.
T
o initiate their plan, t
he admiral’s
approval was paramount
.
Nothing could get in the way of
men
serving
England in whatever
fashion they
sought
.

Melville cleared his throat and Nelson’s eyebrow rose.
A feast to the eyes d
ressed in
military blue
,
buttons shined to
brilliant gold
,
right sleeve pinned upward
conspicuously
, polished
black
pumps
,
and
form-fitting
white
stockings
, Nelson had dressed to impress, to win each an
d every heart of the men Simon h
ad
selected
.
Aye, t
he hammer
had arrived
to
smith
Nelson’s Tea
and forge
Engl
and’s future
with naught else but
the
tempered steel
of freedom
.

As applause erupted,
Simon allowed
his
awe-struck men to absorb Nelson’s presence
a moment longer
.
The
assassination attempt
on Nelson’s life
never
far from
his
thoughts
, he knew
Nelson
was safe due to
Lucien
’s dedication and
Gillian’s
stubbornness
, her unwillingness to let Lucien’s death be for naught
.

Odd how his
mind gravitated toward Gillian
when nearly a year’s worth of work
rode on Nelson’s first
impression
of the men he’d chosen for this task
.
Here
.
Now
.
Simon
inhaled a deep breath
.
S
pit and
polish
ed
,
brilliantly
outfitted,
he turned his focus on
the admiral
,
who
acknowledged
him
.

“
Danbury
.
Melville.” Nelson bowed.

“Admiral
,
”
Simon
returned, bowing
his head
as Melville did the same
.
“Welcome to Bolton Street.”

T
hree
aides de camp
entered the room behind
Nelson
. One
of them
,
Lieutenant
Langford
had
served with Nelson in Boulogne
and had been injured alongside Nelson’s devoted aide Parker. Beside Langford was
Nelson’s
manservant Tom Allen
,
a
more
bold-hearted
fellow couldn’t be found. According to
the admiral
,
Allen was clumsy
. Nelson’s fondness for the man was
a fact no one
in the admiralty understood
or could prevent
.
Simon trusted Nelson’s judgment.

“Never had
an
affectionate man been possessed with
a more
heroic nature
,”
Nelson had complemented
Allen
.

Simon understood Nelson’s attachment.
Men
from afar, men from nearby
counties
,
the inhabitants of
the room had come from
varied
origins
, whether
by
peerage or orphanage
, dock, street, or farm
.
The quiet awe
each man
gave Nelson proved his stature had far exceeded the Admiralty Board’s efforts
to use
him
as a rallying cry
among the British people
. Overlooked
by
P
arliament and the House of Lords,
the
ton
,
the
merchant class, these men
, this group
, this clandestine organization they’d aptly named
Nelson’s Tea
stood
to serve
England
and a man who’d lost an arm and an eye for the cause —
kith and kin.

“Will you do the honors,
my lord
?” Nelson asked, locking
eyes
with Simon. “I’m eager to
meet
the gallant souls you’ve hand-picked for the cause
.”

He didn’t need to be prodded
.
“With pleasure.”

Nelson’s three aides
st
epped forward, st
opp
ing
short of passing Nelson before bowing
a greeting
to
Simon and Melville
.
The looks on their faces warned they weren’t supportive of th
is
addlepated
scheme.
Or was there something more?
Nelson
wasn’t
at his best.
Only those who knew him
well
notice
d
.
Dark circles
shadowed
his
eyes
. H
e appeared drawn, tense
.
Had the events at Drury Lane
, Gillian’s disguise and insinuation of being Nelson’s embittered wife
,
kept the adm
iral awake the past night?

Gillian.
Inwardly,
Simon
groaned.

Odd that
he
thought of
Gillian
when everything he’d worked so hard to achieve neared fruition. She
’d saved Nelson’s life,
sacrificed
her own safety to do it.
That alone had
earned her
a
place
among them
. But
that wouldn’t be enough
,
and he knew it. She’d been trained to court danger
.
Damned incredible
mix
of intelligence and sensuality
they’d be wise not to neglect. And he had no intentions of neglecting Gillian one minute
, one hour, one year
more.

W
here was she?
Had his retaliation
for her foray into his home
scared her off?
In faith,
his sole purpose had been to teach her a lesson
— never cross him
. The end result was she’d driven
him
half-crazed
with desire
.
Whenever he closed his eyes, she was there, disrobing
by candlelight
, her dewy body a sensual lure
. His
conscience
damned him for
remembering
. Nevertheless,
he still feared never seeing
her again. That she’d forego his offer. That she’d
fled
during
the night
to escape him
as
swiftly
as
she’d reentered his life
. It would most assuredly serve him right to
be
desert
ed
in
his hour of need.