Scandal (17 page)

“If you care for him, then you’ll try and convince him to give up on his challenge.”

“Is it truly a challenge?” she asked, her mind experiencing some measure of relief that at least that part was true.

“I’ve told you more than I should already.”

Anna spun away, crossing to the cabin’s door before turning back again. “Someone wants him dead, someone who has much to gain if Rein loses his wager.”

Mr. Stills remained silent.

“Obviously, the person who wants him dead must be the man he’s wagered against.”

Still no words.

“Well, then, what
can
you tell me?”

“Nothin’.”

Anna came toward him, her face only inches from his as she said, “Do you realize my life might be endangered, too? And my grandfather’s?”

“I do.”

“Then should I not be told what that danger is?”

Mr. Stills looked away from her; Anna felt hope.

“Obviously what’s happened has changed things,” he said at last—not the words Anna had hoped for. “I’ll need to speak with someone to find out just how much. I can’t promise I’ll be able to share with you all that I know, but I’ll try. Meanwhile, I’ll arrange with the captain to have you and Rein stay here.”

“Absolutely not,” the captain said to Freddie a short while later. “This is not a passenger ship. This is a yacht. Without the duke of Wroxly’s permission I shall not allow those two to stay.”

“Then you’ll have the duke’s permission by sunset. I’ll see to it myself.”

The captain looked none too pleased, but Freddie held his ground. The way he saw it, Wroxly would be safe here. But now that he knew whoever had sent that threatening note truly meant business, he had to go to the solicitor and explain that the challenge needed to be stopped… and whichever cousin who stood in line to inherit the title should be questioned about his involvement.

“Why is the duke involving himself with these people?” Captain Jones asked.

Freddie chose his words carefully. “The new duke has a great interest in the lady’s sails. More than that, I’m not at liberty to say.”

“And the man she is with?”

“He is a personal friend of the duke’s.”

The captain let out a scoff-filled laugh. “Him? Why, he looks like an outcast from Little Dublin.”

The man was closer to the truth than he might know.

“He dresses so as to look in place, but I assure you, Mr. Hemplewilt is well acquainted with the duke.”

Captain Jones looked a bit concerned for a moment, and Freddie wondered just what the man might have done. Whatever it was, it wasn’t his problem. He had other problems to contend with.

“I’ll be back with your letter of permission.”

“No, no. No need for that,” the man said, waving his arms. “I’ll take you at your word.”

Freddie nodded, already turning away.

Chapter Twenty

Hours later Rein woke in the captain’s bed, the immediate pain that gnawed at his arm an instant reminder of all that had transpired. He looked around the small room, eyes squinting as he tried to make out the face belonging to the dark blob in a corner.

“Mr. Stills, is that you?”

The shape rose, the big man like a horse in a too-small stall. The chair he sat in scraped the wood floor until it hit the blue and white rug that lay next to the bed. No window allowed light to filter into the room, but Rein didn’t need any to see Freddie Stills move the dark-blue armchair closer to the bed. Rein closed his eyes, moving his uninjured arm so that he could place a hand against his aching head. “I’ve not felt like this since I was a lad.”

“Should drink a bit more, it’ll ease the pain,” he said as he took a seat, the black wool cap he wore clutched in his big hands.

Rein shook his head, “I need to think,” he said, his eyes opening and then peering around the room. “The time?”

“Late afternoon.”

“Anna?”

“Up on deck.”

“Has she been asking questions?”

“Aye, a passel of them, all of which I’ve been avoiding or ignoring.”

And it was then that a new thought penetrated his brain with the blinding clarity of a light being shone into his eyes. “Someone tried to kill me,” Rein said, his rather muddled head clearing.

“Aye.”

“If I hadn’t have moved when I did…”

“You’d be dead.”

“Damnation.”

“I believe,” Mr. Stills said, his hands idly spinning the hat, “that your threatening letters have gone beyond a threat.”

“Indeed so,” Rein murmured, the notion that someone wanted him dead almost too much to comprehend.

“Went to see Mr. Lassiter,” Mr. Stills said.

“And what does my uncle’s solicitor have to say?”

Silence. Outside Rein could hear water lapping against the side of the ship, and though the cabin looked sparkling new, Rein could still smell the sour tang of sea salt. It clung to the ship like the smell of vinegar clung to a decade-old vinaigrette.

“He refuses to let you cancel the challenge.”

Rein’s arm fell back to the bed.

“He says the provisions of the will are clear. You’ve started the challenge, you finish it twelve days hence. There ain’t no provision about canceling, and certainly nothing about what to do if someone should try ta kill you.”

“I wonder whyever not,” Rein said sarcastically.

But Mr. Stills seemed unamused.

“You should give up, Your Grace. Challenge the will in a court o’ law. No magistrate on earth would think ill of you for calling an end to this nonsense.”

“No, I would think not. But I cannot be certain.” He shook his head slowly, though it’d begun to ache nearly as much as his arm. “And therein lies the crux of the problem. Dare I wager my future upon such logic? Is it reasonable to assume that a court will agree that this challenge is a farce? Would they have not done so already during probate?”

Freddie jumped up from his chair even as he bent his big body so that their heads were near. Rein felt his brows lift. “It’s not you I worry ’bout. ’Tis Miss Brooks.”

Rein felt the weight of those words as if they’d fallen atop him and pressed against his chest.

Anna. His brave Anna. If she’d taken one more step…

“And it’s not just her,” Mr. Stills continued, “but her grandfather as well. I went to check on the cull and the daft cove let me in. Who’s to say someone else might not do the same, enter his rooms, take the man hostage and use him as leverage to get you to leave St. Giles?”

“Bloody hell.” Fury at himself for not having thought of such a thing made Rein shake his head—a mistake, for it sent pain shooting around again.

“Who?” Rein found himself asking. “Who the blazes would go to such lengths to frighten me?”

“Frighten you? Whoever it was meant to
kill
you.”

Dead. An unknown cousin wanted him dead.

“And does it matter who?” Freddie asked, straightening. “The point being that you and those near to you are in danger.”

Rein opened eyes he hadn’t even known he closed as an old suspicion returned. “Who’s to say you are not involved somehow?” Rein said before he realized that it might have been more wise to wait and hurl such an accusation until other people were present. “You were outside Anna’s building the day her sails were destroyed.”

Freddie’s eyes turned as cold as a winter storm. “I’m not the bastard what shot at you today. Nor the person what tried to ruin Miss Brooks’s chances at the competition.”

“No?” Rein challenged recklessly. “You might have had someone working with you who might have shot at me today.”

The big man leaned toward him again. “If I wanted you dead, Your Grace, I’d no’ have missed. And if I had missed, I’d be taking care of the matter now, at this very moment, if you catch me meaning.”

Yes, Rein did, his fears somewhat allayed. Or was it a clever ruse to turn his attention? But, no, the man had a point. So if not the Runner, could he truly have a cousin after the wealth? And how did they catch the fiend? And what about Anna? What did he do about her?

“You have to leave the ship.”

Rein’s gaze swung back to Mr. Stills.

“Mr. Lassiter insists upon it. He was none too happy to allow you the use of this ship in the first place. Frankly, I was surprised he agreed. But he seemed swayed by your argument that you had nothing to gain from the use and that Miss Brooks was the one who needed the help. But now he says you must leave and go back to St. Giles else he’ll consider your stay aboard the ship as flagrant use of your resources to keep out of harm’s way.”

“Leave,” Rein repeated, honest enough to admit that such a thought filled him with fear.

“We’ve the cart waiting. The sails are ready to be transported back to shore, but before you and Miss Brooks leave, I’ll ask you to consider her safety. I’m beggin’ you once again to give this whole thing up and place your future in the court’s hands.”

“I shall speak with someone on the morrow about my chances of contesting the will. In the interim Anna and her grandfather must be moved out of harm’s way.”

Mr. Stills straightened, nodding his head in approval.

“She’ll not want to go,” Rein admitted.

“You want me to take her?”

“If it comes to that, yes.”

“Leave?” Anna repeated, looking at Rein in surprise. His bloody shirt caught her attention so that her stomach rolled yet again. “Rein, someone tried to kill you today. Over money. I’ve no idea how deep a game you play, but it must be deep indeed if someone is willing to kill you over it. I want to know who you wagered against. I want to know what is at stake. And I want to know
now
.”

She had waited all afternoon to hurl the questions at his idiotic head. All afternoon she replayed the morning’s events: the blood, the fear, the mad dash back to St. Giles. She was furious at this Mr. Stills for keeping all to himself, unsure of what exactly the Runner’s part was in this. Thus she wanted answers and she wanted them now.

“Anna, what you ask is reasonable, especially given the danger you are in.”

“Danger? Me?”

Rein nodded, his green eyes serious. “The game has reached a new level, one that might ultimately involve you.”

“Game,” she hurled back. “’Tis what you consider this? A game? Someone tried to kill you, now you say someone might try and harm me. Over a wager? Do you think me daft? This is no game. There is something much larger at stake.”

“I cannot tell you what.”

“Can’t tell me,” Anna all but yelled, closing the distance between her and the bed to wave a finger beneath his nose. “Damn you. Do you have any idea what it was like to see blood on your person? To not know for a moment if you were mortally wounded or just grazed? I thought you might die….”

She turned away, knowing he would see her tears if she did not, so disgusted with him she didn’t want him to know how much she cared.

“Anna,” he said softly.

“Don’t you ‘Anna’ me,” she said, turning on him. “I want answers, Rein, now. How deep do you play? What is at stake? Who would want you dead?”

“They are answers I cannot give you, Anna. Not at present,” he said, pushing the covers back to get out of bed.

“Don’t you dare come near me,” she said, stepping back. “The truth, Rein. Now. Or do you fear I cannot keep a secret?”

“No, Anna, I know you would keep all to yourself,” he said after a pause during which Anna could feel her heart beat harder and harder. He’d looked away from her as if weighing his words.

Tell me.

“I am trying to win back an inheritance, the size of which is quite large. The person who shot at me today is most likely a cousin, one who stands to gain my wealth should I fail this challenge.”

“An inheritance? You wagered your inheritance?”

“Not precisely.”

“What do you mean, not precisely?”

He got up out of bed, gasping as the effort jostled his arm.

“Do not,” she ordered, moving toward him with the intention of pushing him back down.

But he stood, swaying a bit. She was reminded of the first day they met. Damn him, didn’t he know how much she fought the urge to go to him, to wrap her arms around him and tell him she loved him?

“My real name is Reinleigh Drummond,” he said when he’d regained himself. “There, does that appease you?” he asked, lifting his good arm to stroke the side of her cheeks.

It did appease her. A bit. Reinleigh. It was why he was called Rein, no doubt. And… Drummond. She closed her eyes. Drummond was his surname.

“Why would you be so cork-brained as to wager your inheritance.”

“It wasn’t
I
who wagered it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I at times,” he said with a shake of his head, one that ended in a wince. “Suffice it to say that even I would never be so foolish.” He held up his hand when she opened her mouth to ask another question. “More than that I cannot say.”

But there was one question she wouldn’t let rest. “Are you noble born?” she asked.

He looked like he wouldn’t answer, but then he gave a slow nod. “I am connected to a noble family, yes.”

“Which one?”

“It does not matter, Anna. What matters is that you get to safety.”

“It
does
matter,” she said.

“Why? Will your feelings change for me once you discover who my family is?”

She pondered the question a moment, then slowly shook her head. “No.”

“I did not think they would. Thus I shall explain all to you later. For now I would like Mr. Stills to take you someplace where I know you’ll be safe. Stay there, with your grandfather and your sails, until the day of the naval competition. By then I hope to have things resolved.”

She shook her head, grappling for words for a moment. “Why?” she asked with tears in her eyes. “Why should I go?”

His face hardened as if he meant to turn away, but then his expression changed, slowly at first, only to quickly change to one of resignation. His mouth softened just before he said, “Because I love you.”

She searched his eyes, those wonderful green eyes. What she saw made everything still, and then move forward at a rapid rate, her pulse, her breathing, her mind.

“I love you,” he said, bending forward and kissing a spot near the side of her mouth. “I love you,” he whispered into her ear.

He loved her.

She closed her eyes, losing herself for a moment in the magic of those words.

“The thought of you going out there, in danger…” She felt him shake his head, draw back from her. “I love you, Anna, and if anyone were to lay a hand on you, I should die.”

“Oh, Rein.”

He reached up, placed a hand against the side of her face. “But if you do not go to safety, I will give it all up, the challenge, the money, my future. You’re more important to me than anything I might win.”

“Oh, Rein,” she whispered again.

“So it is your choice, you see. Go to where I will send you. Or stay and I will give it all up.”

And in the end, she realized it was no choice at all.