Wildblossom (58 page)

"Your bride arrives in April. Her name is Micheline Tevoulere," the duke continued, his tone triumphant now. "You'll be married at Aylesbury Castle, of course, and King Henry has assured me that he intends to be present to join in the festive celebrations!"

* * *

A fire blazed in the winter parlor of Lord Sandhurst's town house, casting shadows that leaped and danced up the walls. On one side of the chamber his lordship presided over a table covered with the remains of supper. He was alone except for his friend Sir Jeremy Culpepper, who nibbled leftover bits of cheese, meat pie, and a fig someone had discarded after one bite.

"I still can't believe it," Sandhurst muttered. He'd lost count of the tankards of ale he'd consumed that day. Raising the latest, he took a long drink and sighed loudly.

"You've said that already," Jeremy complained. "Dozens of times. What's that little carcass on your dish? Quail? Did you pick it clean?"

Glancing heavenward, he pushed the plate across the table. "How can you eat at a time like this?"

"I'm
not the one getting married to a stranger... from
France
," Culpepper replied cheerfully. "D'you suppose the chit speaks English at all? What'll you do if she can't
learn?"

Leveling a deadly stare at his friend, Lord Sandhurst said, "If you find this amusing, you can go upstairs and have a few laughs with my father." He drank again, then added, "Besides, now that the shock's wearing off and I've had the day to think about it, I doubt seriously that I could participate in this farce."

Sir Jeremy Culpepper was a pudgy young man with curly blond hair, an unguarded tongue, and a tendency to flush when overcome by emotion. His cheeks were quite red now as he cried, "Be reasonable, old fellow! You'll be ruined if you refuse to go along with this plan of the king's! Not only will you be penniless, but you'll be shunned at court. Come to think of it, you'll be shunned by
everyone
in Britain!"

"Say no more," Sandhurst mocked. "You're scaring me!"

"But how would you live?"

He felt himself relaxing, muscles untensing as a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I believe that I could make my own way rather well. You know, this house is mine. I bought it with profits from the horses I breed in Gloucestershire. I could sell it and buy another place in the country, then support myself with the horses." He paused, brightening. "The prospect of being out from under my father's thumb is rather appealing, actually."

"Look here, you've got to consider this matter carefully! You're talking about a decision that would affect not only your life but also the lives of your descendants. Just because you chafe under your father's admittedly overbearing efforts to dominate you, that's no reason to punish your offspring! He's an old man; he'll be dead soon. How will you feel then if you're breeding horses at some manor house while that ticklebrain
Rupert
is lord of Aylesbury Castle and the
Sandhurst
estates in Gloucestershire?! What will you tell your children? Don't raise that eyebrow at me! One day you'll have a family. How will your children feel when they grow up and
Rupert's
offspring own what's rightfully theirs?" Jeremy paused, breathing hard, then leaned forward to play his ace. "And what do you think your mother would say if she were here?"

Sandhurst wasn't smiling anymore. He closed his eyes and drained the tankard of ale. "I refuse to go like a lamb to the slaughter, Jeremy." He sighed. "My father would have a collar and a leash fitted for me, and I'd be angry for the rest of my life." After a brief pause, he added, "Even angrier than I am already."

"I know, I know. And you'd doubtless take it out on your poor little French wife, and then on your children," Culpepper fretted. He drank from his own tankard, brows knit in thought.

His lordship was thinking, too, turning the various aspects of the situation over and over in his mind, yearning to discover a ray of light in the darkness.

"It's possible," Jeremy murmured doubtfully, "that the girl in France might be a beauty. Perhaps she's even a bit of a rebel, like you—maybe that's why they want to exile her!" Warming to his imaginings, he reached for a half-eaten sweetmeat on a distant plate and nibbled on it happily while continuing, "You might take one look at her and fall desperately in love!"

"It's more probable that Mademoiselle Tevoulere is a plain, shy fourteen-year-old with spots..." He rubbed the edge of his jaw, staring into space. "However... it might be prudent to investigate further before I make a decision."

Sir Jeremy Culpepper swallowed the sweetmeat and leaned across the table to grip his friend's forearm. "Yes! Yes! You're brilliant! That's the answer!" Then a shadow crossed his face as he dropped back into his chair. "But how can you
do
it?"

"I suppose I shall have to go to France. The girl's supposed to remain with the French court until the 'wedding' in April, so that would give me nearly two months."

"Do you propose to just present yourself to King Francois and announce that you've come to inspect Micheline Tevoulere before agreeing to the marriage?"

He laughed softly. "Obviously not. No, I'll have to pretend to be someone else."

"And why would a made-up person be welcome at court?"

"Ah, now there's the rub. Obviously I can't use my title to gain entrance, so I'll have to think of something else to offer." A genuine smile lit his face for the first time that day. "My canvases and brushes may be of use at last, Jeremy."

Culpepper had nearly forgotten that Sandhurst could paint. He'd shown talent as a youth and the duchess had sent him off to Florence to study for a year under the Italian masters. That had been a dozen years ago, at a time when she was as eager to separate him from his father as to nurture his artistic abilities.

"Are you any good at it?" Jeremy demanded bluntly, which elicited more low laughter from his friend.

"Actually I am. Hard to believe? You'll be even more surprised to learn that I still paint from time to time when I'm at Sandhurst Manor. Remember the portrait of Cicely in the hall?"

Jeremy stared in consternation. He'd always assumed that Holbein or one of the other artists favored at court had done the exquisite painting of Lord Sandhurst's sister which dominated the town house's great hall. "You're ribbing me," he muttered, then took a candlestick from the table and went out to investigate. In the lower righthand corner of the canvas he discovered a familiar
S,
barely a shade darker than the rose of Cicely's skirt.

A kitchen maid had come in to clear the table at last before retiring for the night, so Sandhurst didn't notice at first when his friend reentered the parlor. Jeremy stood clutching the candlestick, its flame accentuating the stunned expression on his face.

His mouth gaped open before he managed to exclaim hoarsely, "Unbelievable—incredible!"

"Come and sit down before you faint."

Jeremy staggered back to his chair. "Why didn't you say anything? I never imagined..."

"There was never a reason to talk about it. Now, however, my adequate talents may prove highly useful."

"If
I
could paint like that, I'd be boasting to anyone who'd listen! God's bones, Sandhurst, there's absolutely no question that you could pass yourself off as an artist at the French court! You've got charm and wit and extraordinary good looks to go with your talent. How could you fail?"

"You flatter me, but I do agree that the masquerade ought to succeed if I keep my wits about me." He indulged in wicked laughter as the plan fell into place. "It could almost be amusing to become acquainted with Micheline Tevoulere under such circumstances."

Beaming and nodding, Jeremy exclaimed, "By God, I wish I could be there too!"

"But you
will
be there!" Sandhurst informed him smoothly. "You're coming with me. I'll need an extra pair of eyes and ears, not to mention a valet—you know, for appearance's sake. Joshua's perfectly capable of looking after my clothes, but I doubt that he'd be up to subterfuge. Besides, I don't want to involve him in all this. The less he knows about this, the better."

Jeremy's mouth hung open again, forgotten by its owner. "But—but—that is—I don't see how—" He fell silent, digesting his friend's speech, then narrowed his eyes suddenly. "Wait just a moment! You're saying that you expect me to be your
valet
while we're in France?!"

"Don't get into a huff, old fellow. I didn't mean to imply that you are my inferior in any way."

"Next door to it!"

"Look, you won't exactly
be
my valet; we'll just pretend that you are. It will be a role, like my role as a painter of portraits." Sandhurst arched a brow and grinned. "We'll both be commoners for a few weeks. It should be quite amusing!"

"This is all more your style than mine. What if we're found out? God's teeth, imagine the humiliation!"

"Jeremy, you know you wouldn't miss this adventure for the world, so why not spare us both the ordeal of this conversation and just capitulate?"

He sighed loudly. "All right then. I'll go."

"A toast, my friend!" Raising his tankard, he proclaimed, "To our adventure!"

"And its safe conclusion," muttered Jeremy. He drank deeply, Sandhurst's laughter echoing in his ears.

Page forward for an excerpt from Cynthia Wright's

BRIGHTER THAN GOLD, another wonderful Western romance set in 1864 San Francisco and the gold rush town of Columbia, California. It's the story of a mysterious highwayman who falls in love with the daughter of one of his victims...

Excerpt from

Brighter than Gold

by

Cynthia Wright

Chapter
1