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‘It very nearly did not. I was in despair.’ She had calmed herself enough to look at him again. The steely look seemed to have gone from his eyes. Perhaps it was difficult to maintain when you were in pain. But the pain had been there before the coldness, she realised with a sudden flash of insight. She wondered what had caused it and remembered it was not so long since he had lost his wife.
‘We were pursued by the owners of the uniforms we were wearing,’ he went on slowly. ‘I had locked them in a room at the inn near the prison, but they must have managed to spit out their gags and raise the alarm. Once they had been let out they would soon have found spare clothes and set off in pursuit. I knew it would happen, but I thought we would have time to effect the rescue and be on our way before they could catch us, but everything took longer than I expected.’ The long speech had been an effort and he stopped to catch his breath. ‘But all’s well that ends well.’
‘But it is not at an end, is it?’ she queried. ‘France is still suffering, King Louis and his Queen are still being vilified and my brother is still in the thick of it.’
‘I regret I cannot, for the moment, do anything about that.’
It was meant to be a joke and she dutifully laughed. Was this stiff Englishman capable of humour after all? ‘I think it would take more than one or even two brave Englishmen to remedy the situation in France,’ she said.
‘No,’ he said wryly. ‘But perhaps three or four might do it.’
She stood up, still smiling at his little sallies and wishing she could make him see how very grateful she was. She wished she could heap all her jewels and money on him, but that would leave her and her father impoverished. Besides, she felt sure he would be affronted. ‘I will leave you to rest now and go and see how my father is.’
His right hand lay on the cover of the bed very close to her hand. On an impulse she picked it up and pressed her lips to the palm. ‘Thank you,’ she said and fled.
He lay there, looking down at his hand as if it did not belong to him. What, in heaven’s name, had prompted her to do that? He came to the conclusion she was simply overwrought, and who would not be, given the circumstances? She would be able to relax now the danger was past and look after her father. What would the pair of them do when they landed in England? How much money did they have? Could they maintain themselves? Did they have friends they could go to? Or would they throw themselves on the mercy of Earl Wentworth?
The Earl was not the one who had banished his daughter—he had long gone—but his son and presumably Lisette’s uncle. Jay hoped that if Lisette appealed to him, he would be welcoming. Why was he bothered? He had fulfilled his task and brought them out of France—did they expect anything more? But the fact that she was related to the Wentworths could not be banished from his mind. Did wickedness run in families?
He was tired of lying idle, in danger of letting the past overwhelm him. He needed a distraction. He shouted for Sam, who appeared almost immediately. ‘Yes, sir?’
‘Get me a clean shirt and coat. I’m getting up.’
‘Sir, I don’t think—’
‘I did not ask you what you thought, Sam, I bade you find me clothes.’
‘Aye, aye, sir.’ Suitably admonished, Sam did as he was bid.
Jay sat up and swung his legs over the side of the cot and looked at his crumpled nether garments. ‘Breeches, too, I think. These have got blood on them.’
The breeches were changed for another pair in dark blue and a clean shirt, being loose, was easy to put on, but the coat was another matter. It was tailored to fit and it would not go over the bandage and trying to force it was a painful business.
‘I knew you should not try to dress,’ Sam said. ‘Lieutenant Sandford is easily able to sail the ship.’
‘Of course he is. It is what he is paid to do,’ he said sharply. ‘I do not mean to take over from him, but I do not like to be below decks when we are under sail. It feels wrong. The weather is warm, I will go without a coat. Pray tidy this cabin while I am away.’
‘Aye, aye, sir.’
Jay went on deck and stood breathing in the salty air. It was like being back in the navy, except the ships he had commanded in the service were considerably bigger than the Lady Amy. His father was not normally extravagant, but in this instance he had been; though small, the yacht was luxuriously appointed for passengers. Lisette and Hortense would be comfortable in the main cabin and the Comte and his grandfather sharing a slightly smaller one.
He paced the deck, noting the crew were going about their duties cheerfully and efficiently. All sails were set and they were tacking into a wind on their starboard side. Lieutenant Sandford approached him. ‘We should reach the Kent coast by dark, sir. Do you wish to put in at Dover? the tide should be with us at dawn.’
