скачать книгу бесплатно
“Very seldom do people welcome new taxes, sire,” Anthony said dryly. Especially, he refrained from adding, when they know they will likely be spent to buy a new carriage for the king’s latest mistress.
“And there’s another problem,” the king continued, ignoring Anthony’s comment. “There have been robberies...several. It seems a masked highwayman has been assaulting the gentry. The villagers are making him into some kind of hero. They say he strikes with the full moon. Last month the Bishop of Lackdale was robbed of a small fortune that he had collected to refurbish the church.”
“To refurbish the size of his girth is more likely,” Anthony grumbled.
Charles laughed. “Impious as usual. Someday your irreverence will catch up to you, my friend.”
Anthony gave one of the slow, lazy smiles that had won him more conquests than any man at court except the king. “I fully intend to repent on my deathbed, your majesty.”
Charles impatiently waved away the formal address. He and Anthony had been in too many escapades across the length of Europe to become sudden observers of proprieties. “Will you do it, Anthony?” he asked in a cajoling tone that still managed to sound regal. “Will you go to Yorkshire and find out the truth?”
Anthony made one last attempt at refusal. “I’ve ever been better at fighting than at intrigue, sire. Spying is not to my taste.”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Anthony. It’s not really spying.... Just consider that you’re doing me a favor.”
“A royal favor.” Anthony’s tone was of one who knew he had little choice in the matter. His dark eyes looked directly into the king’s. There had been times, in earlier days, when they had been mistaken for brothers. Both were tall and dark complected. Both had an innate charm that brought people effortlessly under their spell. But whereas Anthony, five years the younger, had retained his lean form and high energy, the king had mellowed in the four and a half years since the Republican generals had given him back his throne. His face was softer, and he preferred the company of his ladies to sparring with his courtiers.
Charles sighed. “Not a royal favor. A personal favor. If Fairfax is working against me, I need to know immediately. On the other hand, if he’s still loyal, I don’t want to risk his anger by bearing down too hard on the dissenters there.”
“And what about your moonlight marauder?”
“He’s just what we don’t need at the moment—some kind of romantic hero for the masses, demonstrating once again the age-old disparity between rich and poor. Which was not, by the way, invented by my ministers, no matter what the opposition might say.”
The king boosted himself off the high bed and started to pace the room, warming to one of his favorite topics. “Oddsfish, I’ve been poor myself, you know. I’ve passed hunger and thirst and...”
“Deprivation,” Anthony filled in obligingly. Over the years the script of Charles’s adventures in exile had become more elaborated than one of Master Dryden’s productions at Drury Lane.
“Yes, deprivation,” Charles continued. “No one can say that I don’t understand my people.”
Gently Anthony tried to shift back to the topic at hand. “You were saying, sire, about the Yorkshire highwayman...?”
Charles stopped in midstride, his mind pulled back to the present. “Yes, blast it. Find the man, Anthony. Shoot him or hang him—I don’t care what you do—just get rid of him.”
Anthony gave a short laugh. “At least my mission won’t be without some sport.”
* * *
The shimmery gray silk of Sarah’s dress matched exactly the cold glitter of her eyes. “I don’t care what my uncle ordered,” she said with controlled fury. “No so-called Surveyor of the Royal Stables is coming anywhere near Brigand. That horse is mine. He doesn’t belong to the Fairfax stables.”
The old servant shrugged and pulled on his cap. “Begging yer pardon, mistress, but I believe the gentleman is already down there inspecting the lot of them. Brigand along with all the rest.”
Sarah jumped to her feet and took off at a run down the path toward the stables. She was breathless by the time she reached the old stone structure, and took a minute to compose herself. She could already picture the scene. One of Charles’s foppish cavaliers mincing along through the muck of the stable in high heels, ribbons adorning his artificially curled lovelocks. And putting his hands on her beloved horse. It was not to be borne. Her anger building, she stepped over the top of the wooden sty and tugged with all her might on the stable door. It swung open with a crash.
In the darkened interior of the barn, two men straightened up from their perusal of the foreleg of one of her uncle’s prized stallions.
“It’s my niece,” she heard her uncle say to the other man. Then he called to her, “Sarah, come in and join us.”
Slowly Sarah walked along the stalls, her eyes adjusting to the gloom. She could now see that the man beside her uncle was, at least, no fop. Taller than her brother, Jack, and handsomely built, he needed no high heels to emphasize his stature. Instead of the lace and furbelows understood to be de rigueur at court functions these days, he wore a leather jerkin over a simple, but fine, linen blouse and breeches that molded well-muscled thighs.
Her uncle reached out and took her hand as she drew near. “My dear, this is Baron Anthony Rutledge. The king has honored us by sending Lord Rutledge to review our horses as possible candidates for the royal stable.”
Sarah swallowed her angry words as her eyes met the newcomer’s. They were magnetic, almost black in color...and, to her dismay, showed a keen intelligence. Her own quick mind did a short reprise of the situation. The only thing worse than a visit from a foolish representative of the king would be a visit from a king’s man with wits to challenge her own.
“Sarah?” her uncle prompted.
She lowered her eyes from the baron’s dark gaze and gave a demure curtsy. “How d’ye do,” she murmured.
When she looked up at him again, his expression had become distinctly predatory. A slight smile curved his lips. Inexplicably, Sarah felt herself growing warm.
“I’m at your service, mistress.” The words were correct, but they were spoken in a low, caressing tone that made Sarah’s toes want to curl up inside her slippers. She glanced quickly at her uncle, but he was smiling congenially as if nothing untoward were occurring.
Perhaps she was imagining things, Sarah told herself. Since her uncle’s retirement from public life, they did not receive many visitors at Leasworth. She was sadly out of touch with society these days. For all she knew it might be normal for a court gentleman to devour a lady with a mere gaze, as their visitor was doing at this very moment. Or perhaps it was just that the day was unseasonably hot.
She took a step backward.
“Sarah is the best horsewoman in the shire,” Uncle Thomas said fondly.
One of the baron’s dark eyebrows lifted in an expression that managed to combine interest with amusement. “Is that so? I would be happy to see an example of such prowess.”
Sarah shook her head and tried to clear her mind. Where were her wits? she asked herself angrily. She needed to think what to do with this unwelcome intruder. The last thing she needed was a representative from the king hanging around and discovering the natural riding skills she had inherited from her father. And what about Jack? Since her father’s death four years ago, she had fiercely protected her younger brother, trying to keep him from any notice by the king. Though King Charles had said the punishments would end with the executions of those responsible for his father’s murder, Sarah had never stopped worrying that the king’s vengeance could somehow extend to the families of the convicted men. “I fear my uncle exaggerates,” she said finally.
“I hope you’ll give me the opportunity to judge for myself.”
His gaze had gone from her face to linger briefly on the close-fitting silk of her bodice, then to her narrow waist and the gentle flare of her hips. Sarah felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “I wouldn’t want to keep you from your business here, Lord Rutledge. I’ll just go up to the house and inform the cook about the midday meal. You will be staying to eat with us?”
“I’ll be here well beyond that,” Anthony said with another devastating smile. “Your uncle has graciously invited me to stay at Leasworth while I view some stock in the area.”
Sarah gave a faltering smile in reply. “We’re honored to have you, of course. If you’ll excuse me...”
She backed up another step, then another, then stumbled as her foot hit a hay rake. In an instant the baron was beside her, supporting her with one strong arm around her back and another at her right elbow. “Are you all right, mistress?” he asked softly, his face just inches from hers.
She could see the black stubble along the lean line of his jaw. A small cleft parted his chin. Through the thin silk of her dress, she felt the solid hardness of the muscles of his arm. She took an uneven breath. No, this man was definitely not one of the soft court dandies she had heard about. It was time to gather her wits about her.
“Thank you, my lord. How clumsy of me.” Deliberately she put a hand on his chest. “I do believe you saved me from a nasty fall.” She looked around her with distaste and wrinkled her nose. “And in all this filth. What a dreadful thought.”
Anthony felt her soften in his arms and gave a satisfied smile. Perhaps his stay in Yorkshire wouldn’t be so dull after all. This slender beauty would be a conquest worthy of his expertise. He looked down to where her soft white hand rested against the leather of his jerkin. The lass seemed amenable, at least. He wondered how closely her uncle guarded her virtue. He knew that many country folk had kept more of the old standards from the Puritan days of the Republic than had the people in London. As far as Charles’s court was concerned, virtue had never been a high priority, even during the days of exile in Europe.
“Dreadful, indeed,” he agreed pleasantly. “Would you like me to escort you back to the house...to be sure there are no further mishaps?”
“That won’t be necessary, but thank you so much.” Sarah’s smile was sweet. Anthony’s eyes were drawn to her full lips, which were naturally pink and moist without, he was sure, any of the paints used by all the ladies at court these days—and some of the men. He felt his blood quicken.
“I will look forward to seeing you at dinner, then.” He lifted her hand from his jacket and brought it slowly to his lips.
Sarah’s stomach jumped at the touch of his warm mouth. But at the same time, she immediately thought of the calluses on her palms, which told of endless hours of chafing against leather reins. She smiled at the baron through her long lashes, hoping he wouldn’t notice the abrupt way she pulled her hand away from his.
“Yes, until dinner,” she said hastily. Then she turned to leave before this unwanted visitor had her in a complete dither.
She berated herself for her foolishness all the way back to the manor house. She had always prided herself on her cool head. When Jack would get into a lather over some slight hitch in one of their midnight forays, she would be the one to stay calm and collected. Now suddenly the presence of a handsome king’s man had her feeling like a witless dairy maid.
The best thing would be for both her and Jack to stay out of the way as much as possible while the gentleman was here. That would be no problem at all for her brother, whose comings and goings were little noted by the other members of the household. But in the past couple of years her widowed uncle had come to rely more and more on Sarah as mistress of the house. There was no way she could escape dining with their guest.
She rubbed her telltale palms together and wondered if Baron Rutledge had noted them. She was sure that at court a lady would rather be caught naked than riding without gloves, but Sarah was unaccustomed to such refinements. She had been raised in a thoroughly male household. Her mother had died giving birth to Jack, and John Fairfax had been too involved in his Puritanism and his politics to worry about finding a replacement.
Well, Sarah said to herself resolutely, if Lord Rutledge were to be so ungentlemanly as to comment on her roughened hands, she would merely tell him that life in Yorkshire was not as soft as in the palaces of London. Here in the country ladies worked rather than whiling away their days stitching fine tapestries or planning elaborate masques.
She was so lost in her own arguments that she almost missed seeing Jack skirt around the crumbling ruins of an old enclosing wall and make his way toward the stables. At her call he detoured in her direction.
“Have you just come from the horses, Sarah?” he asked eagerly. “I’ve heard there’s a royal surveyor visiting from the king.” His smile died as he took in Sarah’s sober face. “What’s the matter?”
Sarah motioned with one hand for him to lower his voice. “You heard right. There’s a representative from the king. And you’re not going anywhere near him.”
“Is he very grand, Sarah? Are his clothes as magnificent as they say?” Her brother’s eagerness was unabated.
“Do you understand what I’m saying, Jack? I don’t want him to know you’re here. It’s bad enough that he’s already got his eye on Brigand.”
As the import of her words gradually dawned on him, the smile faded from Jack’s face like the dimming of a lantern. “And you think he might have heard reports of the robberies?”
Sarah shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s supposed to be just a royal surveyor, but it makes me nervous to have a king’s man staying here, especially one who knows horses. There’s not a horse like Brigand in all the surrounding shires.”
“And when the villagers tell their tales of the moonlight bandit, they sing the praises of the magnificent moonlit stallion ‘he’ rides,” Jack added soberly.
“I probably should have ridden one of Uncle’s horses,” Sarah said ruefully. “Though Brigand has taken me out of more close scrapes than we can count.”
“Well, it’s too late to do anything about it now. The horse is already known.”
Sarah gave a deep sigh. “We’ll just have to make sure that master surveyor Rutledge has absolutely no reason to suspect any connection between the highwayman and anyone here at Leasworth.”
“And how do you intend to do that?”
Sarah felt her cheeks grow warm again as she remembered her intense reaction to the man back at the stables. “Perhaps I can turn his thoughts in other directions.”
Jack eyed her suspiciously. “What do you mean...other directions?”
Sarah gave him a determined smile. “Never mind. Let’s just hope he won’t be here for long. And you, brother dear,” she added, putting her arm around his neck, “are to stay well out of his way.”
Jack pulled away from his sister’s embrace. “It’s about time you stopped giving me orders, Sarah. I’m eighteen now—full grown.”
“Eighteen you may be, but you’re still my little brother.”
Jack bristled. “Norah Thatcher didn’t think I was so little yestere’en after the Wiggleston fair.”
Sarah’s eyes grew wide. “Jack! What are you saying?” she asked, her voice rising with shock.
Jack’s neck colored just below his ears. “It’s just that I’m not a lad anymore, Sarah, and it’s time you recognized the fact.”
Sarah was still taking in the implications of Jack’s earlier statement. Norah Thatcher was one of the more notorious of the village maids. If she had been with Jack late at night after the fair, there was only one possible interpretation. “Fornication is a sin, Jack,” she said sternly.
Jack dropped his defensive expression and gave an easy laugh. “Hadn’t you heard, Sarah, love? There’s no such thing as sin in the merry reign of King Charles.”
Sarah looked at her brother closely. He was no different than he had been when she had broken fast with him this morning, but all at once she realized that he had shoulders as broad as their father’s had been. His chin showed traces of a man’s whiskers. His clear blue eyes and thick blond hair were no longer those of a boy. “Surely you’re not going to pattern your morals on the court’s,” she said soberly.
Jack, his typical good humor restored, leaned over to give his sister an affectionate kiss. “As I was just saying, Sarah, I’m a man now, and my morals are no longer the concern of my big sister.”
Tears stung Sarah’s eyes. “Don’t ask me to stop worrying about you, Jack. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you. You’re all I have.”
Touched by her unaccustomed show of emotion, Jack took her in his arms. “We’ll take care of each other, Sarah. You’re all I have, too, you know.”
Embarrassed by her tears, Sarah pushed at him and gave his chest a glancing blow with her small fist. “I’m all you have? What about Norah Thatcher?” she teased, covering the emotion with a grimace.
Jack grinned. “Norah has become...shall we just say, a good friend.”
Sarah shook her head and laughed. “You’ve ever been bad, Jack Fairfax.”
“Now that’s funny,” he said innocently. “Norah says I was ever so good.”
Sarah felt her cheeks grow hot again. This was a side of her brother she was not sure she was ready for. She had been both sister and mother to him for so many years. It was difficult to think of him moving on in life into activities that could not, by their very nature, involve her.
Jack’s smile faded as he saw that he had truly embarrassed her. “Don’t mind me,” he said, pulling her close to him once more. “You’re absolutely right. I am bad. But it’s just that...bad’s a lot of fun, Sarah.”
Unaccountably, Sarah once again had a vision of the almost carnal look in Lord Rutledge’s dark eyes as he had watched her in the stables. She stepped back from Jack and tried to rein in her spinning thoughts. “Just promise me you’ll do as I say, Jack, and stay out of the baron’s way.”
Jack looked down at her, his eyes full of love. “If it will make you happy, big sister, I’ll make myself as scarce as hen’s teeth.”
She gave his arm a squeeze, taking note of his rock-hard muscle. When had Jack suddenly become so big? “Thank you, little brother. I only wish I could do the same. But, alas, I must be the proper hostess for our guest. And if I don’t get up to the kitchens, the grand baron from London will be supping on raw rabbit stew,” she added with a giggle.
Jack joined in her laughter. “Run along, then. I’ll just take myself off to the village. Perhaps Mistress Thatcher needs some help today in the tannery.”
“Jack!” Sarah chastised.
“You said you wanted me out of the way, remember?”
Sarah gave a reluctant smile. “Just mind what you do, little brother.”
Jack grinned. “Oh, I intend to mind it very well, Sarah.” Then he turned and took off toward Wiggleston in a dead run.
* * *
Anthony stretched out his long legs toward the huge fire that blazed in the great room of Leasworth manor. He was tired, though not entirely displeased with the results of his day. Oliver, his colleague on the mission, had reported that his men had made some progress in the village gathering information about the moonlight highwayman. And as for Anthony’s own day at Leasworth, it had been more than satisfactory. To his surprise, Thomas Fairfax actually did possess a number of horses that would rival any in London. There was one in particular that was a magnificent animal, a dark gray roan stallion with sleek lines and powerful legs that made it look as if it could run the breadth of the country without stopping.
And then there was the girl. Fairfax’s niece. She had the look of a little country dove in her plain gray dress, but she had the features of a classic beauty, and her body... He’d only held her for a moment, but that had been enough. She had all the lush curves of a woman, but with an underlying strength that promised that she would be an exhilarating match in bed.
It was a pity that he was too tired to woo her yet tonight. She should be willing enough, he reasoned. As he’d come out of the stables, he’d seen her with what must have been one of her country swains. She’d been embracing the strapping young lad. She’d even kissed him there in the plain light of day. It shouldn’t be too hard to get her to turn her attentions to an experienced courtier like himself. After all, he had wooed and won the most brilliant women at court, at least those that Charles had not marked for himself.
The door to the cavernous room opened. It was she, the niece—Sarah. The name was plain, but it suited her elegant simplicity. So did the gown she was wearing—solid black, with a stark white vee bodice that emphasized her full breasts and narrow waist. Her hair was swept up from her slender neck in a graceful twist. Her finely etched cheekbones glowed in the firelight. She looked serene and dignified, but her gray eyes watched him with the deceptive calm of a wolf ready to strike. He rose to his feet. Perhaps he wasn’t too tired, after all.
Chapter Two
“Please don’t trouble yourself to rise, sir.”
