Redeeming the Rogue (44 page)

Captain Briggs promised to tell her of the spot where the
Irish Rose
exploded. After silently telling Rafferty of her everlasting devotion, Arianne tossed her bouquet into the water, saying good-bye to her true love.

“I still can’t accept that he’s gone.”

Arianne’s heart lurched. “Phineas!” She lifted the veil from her hat. “Where have you been?” Tears, never far from her eyes these days, fell again in well-worn tracks down her cheeks. She grasped his hands in her black gloves. “I’ve missed you so.”

He smiled into her eyes. “I had some matters of unfinished business to attend to. Rafferty would have wanted to make sure the boys were taken care of.”

“Yes. He would have wanted that.” She sighed. “I should have seen to that myself.”

He squeezed her hand. “You were too distraught. Sometimes, just breathing in and out is enough for one day.”

Tears flowed anew. He was the only one who understood. He placed her hand in the crook of his arm and guided her toward the bow of the ship.

“I can’t believe you’re on this crossing,” Arianne said. “I never got the opportunity to thank you for all you did for me that day. Once you delivered me to William, you just vanished.”

Phineas shrugged. “Rafferty would have haunted me to the end of my days if I hadn’t seen you safely home. North German Lloyd is the only line sailing from Baltimore to England. I suppose we both decided at the same point it was time to get on with our lives.” He stopped their promenade and faced her, his voice sober. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but Rafferty loved you more than I believe he thought was possible. I had never seen him react the same way, or care as deeply, about anyone as much as he did you.”

She dropped her gaze. “I know.” A teardrop fell to her bodice. She plucked a handkerchief from her reticule and glanced back up. “I loved him too. Only I discovered too late how very much. I wish . . .” She looked toward the water. “I wish I could turn back time, do it all over again. I would have said yes to his first proposal.” She laughed lightly and dabbed her eyes with the handkerchief. “I should have insisted he marry me when we met in Lord Henderson’s office. Wouldn’t he have been shocked then?”

Phineas smiled down at her. “That’s good to know.” He patted her hand, then raised his voice to normal tones. “I’m not traveling alone, you know. There’s a gentleman here who I think you know.” He spun her around.

“Lord Henderson!” She clasped the handkerchief to her lips a moment and smiled. “This is a surprise. When did you arrive in America? Why didn’t you come to the legation?”

He kissed her cheek in greeting and patted her hand in sympathy. “I arrived about two weeks ago. I left England the day I heard that Rafferty had been implicated in President Garfield’s attempted assassination.” He grinned. “I knew Rafferty had some unique methods of solving mysteries, but I couldn’t believe that allegation had merit. Still, I thought a treason charge was serious enough for me to personally intercede.” Like Phineas, he took her arm, and the three of them walked farther down the promenade deck.

“I’m sorry you arrived too late,” Arianne said. “Rafferty would have appreciated knowing you believed in him.”

“Obviously you believed in him,” Henderson said. “You could have knocked me over with one of my wife’s ostrich plumes when I received the cablegram that you were going to pretend to be his wife. I thought you cared too much about your reputation to become involved in such a public display.”

“He asked me to marry him, you know,” Arianne said with a soft smile. “I think Rafferty was more concerned about my reputation than I was.” She was too concerned about property issues at the time. She gave herself a mental shake. She’d grown through this whole experience, but at a terrible cost.

The day proved to be a beautiful one to be on the water. The movement of the boat, coupled with a slight breeze, added comfort to the early August afternoon. Smaller vessels harnessed the wind in a dance on the water on both sides of the liner. People jostled for position along the rail to watch the harbor’s retreat as they sped down the wide Chesapeake.

The breeze pushed at their backs as she and Lord Henderson approached the stern. A man in front of them left his coveted position at the rail. Her gaze was drawn to him, but she wasn’t sure why. His left arm, encased in plaster and stabilized in a sling, wouldn’t fit in his jacket; thus the loose material wanted to lift in the wind. He had to hold it in place with his right hand, which was bandaged as well. The poor man. She wanted to tell him to throw proprieties to the wind and not wear the contrary garment. He moved with a slight limp and kept his gaze down as if to watch his feet. His concentration reminded her of Rafferty. He’d had that same determination when he was learning to dance. So much so that . . .

The stranger stopped in front of her and sniffed. His head lifted. A smile spread on his face. Through the cuts and abrasions, she could see a light shimmer in his eyes. He cocked his head. “Hello, darlin’.”

She froze, afraid to believe her eyes. She pressed her handkerchief to her open mouth. “Rafferty?” she whispered. Then her voice came out a little louder. “You’re alive? How can that be?”

He squinted his eyes a little. His lips tilted in that half smile she remembered in her dreams. “I’ve asked myself that question a number of times, and all I can say is—” She crashed into him. “Umph! Careful, darlin’, the bones are still mending.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his neck, his jaw, his cheek. His bandaged hand slipped along her jaw, before he tilted her chin and captured her lips. The kiss lasted longer than decent by society’s standards, but she didn’t care. It could have gone on forever. He pulled back and stroked the side of her face with his fingers. “I missed you.”

Lord Henderson stepped beside them. “Lady Arianne, I’d like to introduce you to Sir Michael Rafferty.”

“
Sir
Michael Rafferty?”

“It’s not exactly official yet,” Rafferty said. “I received this cablegram from the Queen.” He fumbled in his pocket for a paper. “Something about gratitude and risking my paltry life for the good of the Crown. I believe there’s some sort of presentation in store. You might have to help me with the proper etiquette.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tears slipped from her eyes. “I thought you were dead.”

“I should have been,” Rafferty said softly. “They tell me the explosion threw me a long distance away from the lifeboats. They missed me in all that nasty debris. I held on to a life preserver long enough for a fishing boat to pull me from the water.”

“He was unconscious,” Phineas said. “They took him to St. Agnes. That’s where I found him.”

“You!” She should have brought her fan so she could have smacked him with it. Of course that would have meant she had to let go of Rafferty, and she wasn’t ready to do that. “Why did you keep it a secret from me?”

“I don’t think Phineas left Rafferty’s side the entire time he was unconscious,” Lord Henderson said.

“And then I told him not to tell you,” Rafferty added.

That hurt. She glanced up, the question in her gaze.

“You were free. As a widow, there could be no questions of a certain nature,” he said quietly.

She had a few words to share with him about this free business, but she’d do that in private. She turned to Lord Henderson. “How did you find him?”

“The explosion of the
Irish Rose
was in the Baltimore papers. I had planned to come to the legation to express my sympathies, but I was waylaid by young Ben, who took me to the hospital.”

Miffed that everyone knew that Rafferty lived but her, she was too ecstatically happy to give it weight. She laughed. “I suppose that you’re all on this same voyage is a grand coincidence?”

“That would be my doing,” William said from his position at the rail.

“William? You arranged this?” Had anyone ever been so manipulated?

“I saw Ben hanging about outside of the legation. Once I caught him by the collar, he told me that Mr. Rafferty—”

“Sir Rafferty, if you please,” Rafferty corrected.

William grimaced. “Sir Rafferty was alive and had asked him to watch over you. He told me Lord Henderson had come over as well, so I went to have a talk with these fine gentlemen.” William took Arianne’s hand in his. “Anne, I only want what’s best for you. I wanted you to have a choice about your future and not be forced into anything. Part of being free is knowing what choices are available.” He pointed his chin toward Rafferty. “As that one suggested, you can return to London as a widow to find a proper aristocrat. But you needed to know that Sir Rafferty was alive and available as well. So I told them of our travel arrangements.”

“Thank you, William.” She squeezed his hand. “Thank you for loving me enough to look out for my best interests. I’ve considered my options over the past weeks very carefully, and I choose the man I know is worthy of being married to the sister of a duke.” She captured Rafferty’s gaze and held it. “I wish to be Mrs. Michael Rafferty, if you’ll have me.”

Love and lust smoldered in his eyes, warming Arianne to the tips of her toes. “Oh darlin’, that I will.”

WILLIAM PUSHED HIS HANDS BETWEEN ARIANNE and Rafferty, separating them. “There will be no
having
or
willing
until after a valid marriage.” He brushed aside the jeers and hisses from Phineas and Henderson. “Furthermore, there will be no public kissing of widows in full mourning, even if the man she’s kissing looks as if he has one foot in the grave. Let us keep some sense of propriety.”

“William!” Arianne scolded.

“Need I remind you that I am a duke—and your brother—which presents sound footing for pronouncements in this regard. I believe it is this very oversight that placed us in such extreme conflict in the first place. I insist that the legalities be completed.”

“I agree,” Rafferty said, to William’s obvious surprise. “I recall espousing a similar position not too long ago.” His gaze at Arianne started a familiar tingling in her rib cage and below. “Speed, however, is of the essence.”

Captain Briggs and his wife, having witnessed the reunion at a respectful distance, joined the celebratory gathering. Mrs. Briggs hugged Arianne. “I’m so happy for you. I knew you would choose Rafferty, but your brother insisted you should be given a chance to consider otherwise. He must have never seen the way you two look at each other.”

“Captain Briggs,” William said. “I understand you are just the man we need. Can you marry these two before they surrender to scandalous behavior?” He puffed out his chest as if it were decorated with medals from past military campaigns.

Rafferty leaned closer to Arianne. “Your brother is a bit of a pompous—”

“Yes, I know,” she replied, patting Rafferty’s arm. “He means well, though.”

“The thing is, Your Grace,” Briggs said, a bit more humbly than Rafferty anticipated. “I can’t really do that. I only have the authority to record a marriage, not actually perform one.” He glanced about the crestfallen faces. “As I’m not the captain of this ship, I haven’t even the authority to do that.”

While the other passengers laughed and pointed at the passing scenery, a heavy fog of silence engulfed the group. “Can the captain of this ship . . . ?” Mrs. Briggs asked hopefully.

Briggs shook his head. “Not unless the laws are different in Germany. A British sea captain hasn’t the authority. What you need is a minister or a justice of the peace.”

“Phineas?” Rafferty asked with a raised brow.

He nodded and melded into the crowd of passengers.

Arianne gazed up at Rafferty. “It’s all right if we have to wait. I wouldn’t wish to be married in all this black.” She held out her skirts. “The important thing is that you’re alive and near. If we have to wait a little longer, I can do that.”

The Duke’s cheek tightened. “You wouldn’t be getting married in black.”

She turned. “I wouldn’t?”

“Remember I said no man would approach you in all that morbid veiling?” He fluttered his hand over the excess of black lace and black crepe. “I instructed Kathleen to pack colorful clothes for the journey and to especially include that white dress you wore to the red, white, and blue ball.”

“You did? William, thank you.” She kissed his cheek. “Thank you so much.”

“Now let us hope Phineas can locate someone.” Mrs. Briggs sighed.

“Have no fear. We’ll be married by nightfall,” Rafferty said confidently. “Phineas will find a minister.” He leaned over and murmured in Lord Henderson’s ear. “Even if he has to impersonate one himself.”

 

LATER THAT EVENING, BEFORE A GATHERING OF FIRST-CLASS passengers in the ballroom of the SS
Koenig
, Lady Arianne Chambers, in her white ball gown accented with a white silk lace mantilla, loaned to her by Mrs. Briggs, repeated her vows before God and an Anglican minister on holiday. Sir Michael Rafferty placed a ring on her finger, binding her to him before various members of London society, family, and friends. There was no pretense, no false appearance, no masquerade. They were undeniably, truly married, though William had already insisted that they repeat the ceremony in Bedfordshire in the chapel at Deerfield Abbey for the sake of his wife, Nicholas, Emma, and Thackett. Two weddings had served him well, he’d said. It would do so for them as well.