A Perfect Hero (26 page)

Garbed in black he was, from the enveloping folds of his cloak to the kerchief that obscured the lower half of his face. A silk mask was tied around his eyes; they were all that was visible of his features. Even in the dark, there was no mis
taking their color. They glimmered like clear, golden fire . . .

Her lover’s eyes.

A gust of chill night air funneled in. She knew that voice, knew it well . . . So softly querulous, like steel tearing through tightly stretched silk, she recalled dazedly.

Goose bumps rose on her flesh. She couldn’t move. She most certainly couldn’t speak. She could not even swallow past the knot lodged deep in her throat. Fear numbed her mind. Her mouth was dry with a sickly dread such as she had never experienced.

But this time it was not fear
of
him ...but a great deal
for
him.

***

Dane guided Percival through the grasses and ferns beside the road and settled back to wait. As always, Percival sensed the coach before Dane heard the rumble of wheels in the distance. Perci-val’s ears pricked forward. Dane tightened his fingers on the reins. Adjusting his mask, he drew his hat down low over his brow. And when it was time, his shout echoed in the clear crisp night.

“Stand and deliver!”

He slipped from Percival’s back, moving even as his feet hit the dirt.

“Throw the blunderbuss and the gun in the bushes,” he advised the coachman tersely. “Then reach high ...higher, man.”

The coachman, shaking and blubbering, did what he was told. Dane rifled through the boot. Damn, there was no sack! He yanked open the door of the coach. “Step outside, if you please.”

Three figures were pushed roughly—rudely— through the opening by someone inside. A woman. A mother and child. A ripple of shock went through him as his gaze skittered over them, then swung sharply back.

His heart surely stopped in that moment. Ju
lianna! What the devil was she doing here?

Even as the realization washed through him, her eyes cleaved to his. Her expression was strange, her eyes wide and dark. Desperate some
how. As if she were pleading. Imploring . . .

Another figure emerged.

It was Roxbury.

In his hand was a pistol—leveled straight at Dane’s chest.

Roxbury smiled. “The Magpie,” he said smoothly. “Oh, but I was hoping we’d meet.”

The instant the passengers were clear of the ve
hicle, the terrified coachman grabbed the reins. With a crack of the whip, the coach jolted around the bend.

Roxbury’s face contorted with rage. Vile curses blackened the air. He yelled at the three females.

“Stay where you are, all of you!”

Dane gave a sputter of laughter. “Well, well, Roxbury, could it be the driver has just left with your property?”

Shock skittered across Roxbury’s features. “Who the devil are you?” he demanded. “You coward, show your face!”

Dane ripped off the mask.

Roxbury’s lips flattened. “Granville!” he spat. “So it’s you!”

Dane offered a tight-lipped smile. “You seem surprised. But you’ve been caught, Roxbury. The Prime Minister himself knows what’s afoot.”

“The Boswells, I suppose.” Roxbury sounded disgusted.

“Yes. She overheard you and her husband. We were already aware someone in the Home Office
was involved. We knew how it was being trans
ported. We just didn’t know who was respon
sible.”

“That blathering bitch.” His soft pronounce
ment was a curse. “So. Your disguise as a high-wayman...the robberies. Put into play, I suppose, by you and Talbot so that you could conduct your investigation?”

Ten paces stood between them. Moonlight glinted off both weapons. The three females stood frozen, off to Dane’s right, to Roxbury’s left.

“What I don’t understand is why, Roxbury. Why involve yourself in forgery?”

Roxbury touched his patch. “Nelson at least acquired a title and glory. I was not so lucky. I was granted a dismissal and sent packing. Yet still it was never a question of loyalty to king and Crown.”

“Why then?”

“Oh, come.
Think
, man. I am hardly so well breeched as you!”

Dane’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

Roxbury’s smile was gloating. “It was there beneath your hand, man. Beneath your fingertips. There beneath everyone’s noses, and no one even suspected.”

Something echoed in Dane’s mind.
I have been searching for someone whose circumstances ap
pear to have bettered,
Phillip had said.
A man
whose dress is not the same. Perhaps someone who has made what appears to be an extrava
gant purchase beyond his means.

He sucked in a breath. “The statuette in your office.” It suddenly made perfect sense. “Where did you get it?”

“An old friend in France, who is well acquainted with an assistant curator who, like me, has no doubt found his extra funds—useful, shall we say.”

“Daphne Sterling,” Dane stated flatly.

Roxbury’s eyes narrowed. “Well. It seems I must give you more credit than I thought. But I do believe the Crown will thank me for ridding them of the Magpie.”

“You’ll be caught. Surely you know that.”

“Witnesses can be disposed of. Perhaps Talbot will meet with an accident, much like the Boswells. And now, enough talk, Granville. Throw down your weapons.”

Dane’s eyes glinted. “I think not.”

Roxbury moved before Dane could stop him. Before he could get off a shot.

He snatched the child against his chest.

The muzzle now rested on the little girl’s temple.

Her mother screamed. “Annabelle!” The child began to whimper.

Roxbury’s gaze drilled into Dane. “Do it, I say!” he barked.

Fury and fear pumped through Dane. He wanted to lunge for Roxbury’s throat, even as dread coiled sickly in his belly.

“All right. All right!” Slowly he tossed aside the pistols, first one, then the other. They landed with a dull thud, off to his right. “Let the child go.”

Roxbury released the little girl. Weeping, her mother sank to the ground, clutching her to her breast. Julianna hadn’t moved. Dane sensed her terror.

Tersely he spoke. “Are you truly such a mon
ster, Roxbury? If you’re going to kill me, do not do it in front of them. Do it elsewhere.”

“As you wish,” Roxbury replied pleasantly. “I will spare their sensibilities.” He hitched his chin toward the copse of elm trees where Percival was tethered. “There. Behind you, near your mount. Face me and walk back.”

Dane’s gaze flitted to Julianna. For a fraction of a second, their eyes collided. Hers were huge, her features panicked and half-wild. His hands held high, he began to step back.

“That’s far enough!” Roxbury barked.

The moon slipped out from behind the clouds, casting a milky glow over the earth below.

Roxbury smiled. A fingertip caressed the trig
ger. His tone was silky. “I do hope you realize this is going to give me a great deal of pleasure.”

Roxbury never saw the rise of the shadow be
hind. But Dane did. His gaze shifted to a point just beyond Roxbury’s shoulder, an almost im
perceptible movement of his eyes.

“Shoot,” he said softly.
“Shoot.”

t was not a time for reflection. Not a time for fear. Nor was there time to think. Most certainly not to waver, either in the mind or in the heart
.. . .
Sparks and fire flashed from the barrel of the pistol. A shattering roar filled the quiet of the night, magnified by the stillness; the sound echoed eerily through the treetops. A cloud of smoke hung in the air.

Roxbury pitched forward without a sound. Dane knelt at his side, feeling for his pulse. Then he leaped up.

Julianna clenched the pistol so tightly he had to pry it from her grasp. He shoved it into his breeches.

Julianna’s knees weakened. She would have
fallen if he hadn’t reached out and pulled her against his length. Dane’s voice was a low mur
mur against her forehead.

“Steady now.”

Julianna couldn’t tear her gaze from Roxbury’s form. “Is he...?”

“Yes. What about you, kitten? Are you all right?”

Her nod was jerky. “My God,” she said numbly. “My God, Dane.” Reaching up, she touched the plane of his cheek. “He was going to shoot you...he would have . . .” Her throat closed. She couldn’t bear to say it aloud. A shud
der tore through her.

With his hand he cupped the back of her head. Her hair had come unpinned. He combed his fin
gers gently through the chestnut mass.

“My brave, brave girl,” he soothed.

She sagged against him. Dane’s arms tight
ened. Julianna squeezed her eyes shut and clung. Their embrace was both reassuring and almost desperate, for both sought the comfort of body and heart and warmth that only touch could give.

The pounding rhythm of hooves made him look up. Phillip and two other men leaped from their horses.

“I heard the shot,” Phillip said, striding for
ward. “Anyone hurt?”

“No,” Dane murmured. “But there’s also a
woman and a little girl. Someone should see to

them.”

Phillip nodded to one of the other men.

“I should have known I’d miss the excite
ment!” Phillip glanced at Roxbury’s body and whistled. “Nice shot, old man.”

“No,” Dane said with a rise of brow. “Not me.” He drew back and nodded at Julianna.

Phillip cocked his head. “A crack shot. I don’t suppose we could persuade her to join us?”

He was promptly given a withering look.

Phillip sighed. “I thought not.”

Dane’s hands dropped on Julianna’s shoulders. “Julianna,” he said almost sternly, “while I thank you for saving my life, I should like to know what the
hell
you were doing on that coach.”

Julianna bit her lip. Her gaze flitted to Phillip.

Dane’s eyes narrowed. He looked from one to the other.

Phillip cleared his throat.

“It’s a bit of a long story. But there’s a woman locked in my office with a clerk standing watch.” He paused. “I think perhaps you should meet her.”

The night was not yet over.

She sat on a bench in a narrow hallway in the Home Office. Sebastian and Justin were there as well, Sebastian on the end of the bench, Justin
with his shoulder propped against the wall. They had been apprised of the night’s events. An hour earlier, Dane, Phillip, and another tall, austere man named Barnaby had walked through the door on the opposite wall.

The three were not privy to what was unfold
ing inside that room.

There was no denying the sizzle that hung in the air. It wasn’t tension, Julianna decided curi
ously, so much as...expectancy.

Their mother was in that room. The mother they had not seen or heard from in twenty-four years.

Now they waited.

The door slid open with a
whoosh
. Phillip stepped out, slanting them a faint smile, followed by Mr. Barnaby. Dane was last.

While the other men moved down the hall, Dane stepped before the three Sterlings.

Justin swung around to face him. Sebastian and Julianna got to their feet.

Sebastian broke the silence. “What’s hap
pening?”

Dane’s hesitation was obvious.

“Please don’t try to spare us,” Justin said with a faint smile. “The truth is best.”

“Apparently she was aware of Roxbury’s counterfeiting scheme. For that reason, any charges brought against her will be very serious.

Granted, the fact that she
did
come forward will

play in her favor.”

“Does she know we’re here?” he asked.

“She does.”

“We’d like to see her.”

He nodded. “Actually, she asked to see you. But I fear you may only have a few minutes be
fore Barnaby comes back for her.”

Dane opened the door and Sebastian stepped inside. Julianna followed.

Last was Justin.

She sat behind a small table, white-gloved fin
gertips folded before her. As small and delicate as she appeared, there was a sharpness about her vivid green eyes—something about her manner that portrayed a seasoned worldliness.

Silence filled the room, a silence that seemed to go on forever.

It was Daphne who broke it. “Well,” she said lightly. “This is rather awkward, isn’t it? I cer
tainly never imagined that we would meet again under these circumstances.”

“I should imagine you didn’t think we would meet again at all,” Sebastian said quietly. His ob
servation was not meant to be confrontational; it was merely a statement of fact.

“No,” she said with a lift of her brows. “Frankly, I hadn’t.”

At least she was honest.

“You look exceedingly well. All of you.”

It was Justin who voiced the question in all of their minds.

“We thought you were dead. All those years... Why did you never come back?”

Her smile wavered. “Oh, but I couldn’t. Never in this world! It wasn’t that I didn’t think of the three of you. But your father and I ...well, he stifled me. And...I am what I am. I realize that. I am not perfect. But he could never accept that. We would surely have torn each other apart. We would surely have destroyed each other. And once I left ...once it was
done
, it could not be
un
done.

“James Roxbury understood me, in a way your father never did. He loved life as I did. But when he drowned, well . . . It was my chance to begin life anew, to change who I was forever. I couldn’t go back. I couldn’t
look
back. I
didn’t
look back. Yes, there were times I wanted to see you. Times I wondered ...But I knew the three of you would be taken care of. You had your nurses. You had each other. But I had no one. And I had to go on. If I was to be happy, it was up to
me
.”

Oddly, Sebastian understood. Perhaps it was because he was the eldest. Perhaps because he’d known her as she was, a frivolous, beautiful creature.

He didn’t see the shadow that sped across
Justin’s face. His head was bent down, but sud
denly it came up.

“Wait,” he said, his voice very low. “I haven’t thought of this for a long, long time. But now you’re here and...and I have a question only you can answer.”

She regarded him, her head tipped to the side.

“It’s no secret there were other men in your life. James Roxbury. The man you married in France. And others before that, I presume.”

She neither confirmed nor denied it.

Justin’s tone was strained. “The night Father died, I goaded him. I goaded him with how his wife had left him for her lover. That perhaps
he
was not my father, or—or any of ours. Yet he must be forever saddled with your children, won
dering if any of them were his own. That he had to claim us, because he just didn’t
know
.”

“Didn’t he?” The merest smile creased her lips. “Always the fool, wasn’t he?”

Sebastian had sent Justin a sharp glance. Ju
lianna sucked in a breath.

“Is he?” Justin went on. “Is William Sterling our father? Or is it possible we are not his? All of us. Any of us.
One
of us.”

There was a sharp rap on the door. It opened. A grim-faced guard stepped inside. “Time’s up,” he announced. He came around to take her arm.

Justin turned as she was whisked around the
desk. He stared at her. “Do you even know?” he asked quietly.

She was at the door now. Her expression held an almost curious whimsy as she looked back over her shoulder. Then something flared in the brilliant emerald eyes so like his. “Justin—”

“This will have to wait.” The guard sent him a glare. “Mr. Barnaby wants her removed to the magistrate’s office immediately.”

Her gaze broke with Justin’s; it swept the three of them. “
Adieu
, my little ones.
Adieu
.”

Perhaps they were still reeling—still in shock, the three of them, for so much had happened! For they could only watch as their mother disap
peared from sight
.. . .

When Dane, who had been standing at the end of the hall with Phillip, stepped up, Julianna could only look at him, her eyes huge.

“Dane,” she said faintly, “what will happen to her?”

His hand curved around her elbow.

“There’s nothing any of you can do right now. Go home and rest”—lightly he squeezed—“and wait for me there.”

In truth,Danehadaverygoodgrasp of the situation
.. . .

And he would do whatever he could.

Whatever must be done.