‘I should have stayed with him.’ Haviland said as the captain moved off. He blamed himself. One of the things that made his friendship with Brennan work was balance. Brennan made him laugh and, in return, he kept Brennan focused and out of trouble. But last night he’d been worried about the luggage and the arrangements and he’d left Brennan to fend for himself. Admittedly, he thought there’d be very little damage Brennan could do knowing there was an early departure. Apparently, he’d been wrong.
The trio headed towards the gangplank to board. ‘I’ll wager five pounds Brennan misses the boat.’ Nolan announced. ‘Archer, are you in? If I’m wrong, you can win back your losses.’
Once on board, they leaned against the rail, all three of them scanning the docks for a last-minute sign of Brennan. Haviland checked his pocket watch, the minutes racing by. It wouldn’t be the same without Brennan. Perhaps Bren could catch a later boat and meet them in Paris? Brennan knew the route they’d planned. Did he have enough money? Probably not. Brennan never had enough funds.
Beside him, Nolan started at the sound of chains rolling up. ‘They’re pulling the anchor. He’s not going to make it.’ Nolan blew out a breath and leaned on his arms. ‘Dammit, I didn’t want to win that bet.’ The three of them exchanged glances, their disappointment silently evident. Their trip was off to an ominous start.
The boat began to nudge slowly away from its moorings as commotion broke out on the docks. A horse pulling a heavy dray full of crates reared in its traces, followed by a loud, vituperative spray of cursing. A barrel fell. More cursing. Something, someone, was on the move. Haviland squinted. There was something else running, too. Was that a horse? He hadn’t time to consider it, all of his concentration was fixed on the figure sprinting towards them, two more figures some paces behind giving serious chase. Bare headed, shirt-tails flying, and coatless, the figure came racing.
‘It’s him! It’s Brennan!’ Haviland shouted. He waved and called out, ‘Come on!’ He didn’t like the looks of the men behind. As they closed, Haviland could see a pistol flash in one of the pursuers’ hands. He definitely didn’t like the looks of them now. Haviland cast a glance at the gradually widening gap between the boat and the dock. It would be impossible, even dangerous from where they stood, to hazard a leap. The gap was too wide, but at the rear, where the boat was still near the dock, it might be possible. It would be a hell of a jump, but Brennan would have his speed to carry him.
Haviland gestured wildly to the rear of the boat, shouting instructions through cupped hands as he raced towards the stern. ‘The back, Brennan, head for the back!’
Nolan and Archer were behind him. Archer shouted something that sounded like, ‘The horse, Brennan, get on the horse!’ The horse Haviland had spied had now passed the men in pursuit and had pulled up alongside Brennan, matching his stride to Brennan’s as if to encourage him to get on. This was madness! But facing two men with guns didn’t seem like much of an alternative. Brennan’s pursuers were too close now, the boat moving too fast for Haviland’s tastes. The horse would stand a better chance of making the leap. Haviland added his voice to Archer’s. ‘Bren, the horse, now!’ he urged.
Haviland watched Brennan swing up on the fast-moving bay, and watched the pier end.
They leapt.
They landed.
The horse went down on his knees.
Brennan rocketed towards Haviland, taking him to the deck as a pistol report sounded from the docks, a bullet whistling overhead. ‘Dammit!’ In the excitement over the horse, he’d forgotten about the gun and nearly gotten himself shot. What a fine start to the trip that would have been. Instinctively, Haviland wanted to rise and see where it had come from. He grunted at Brennan’s weight on top of him, but Brennan wouldn’t let him up.
‘Stay down!’ Only when the boat had moved a safe way from the docks and Brennan deemed it safe to rise did he let him up.
‘Good lord, Bren, what have you got yourself into now?’ Haviland rose and dusted off his trousers. Beyond Brennan’s shoulder he could see the men on the docks shaking impotent fists their direction. Whatever it was, it had been worth shooting someone over.
Brennan stopped in the midst of tucking in his shirt tails and quirked an auburn eyebrow at him in mock chagrin. ‘Is that any way to greet the friend who just saved your life?’
Haviland answered with a raised dark brow of his own. ‘My life, is it? I rather thought it was yours.’ He stepped forward and pulled Brennan into an embrace, pounding him on the back affectionately. ‘I thought you were going to miss the boat, you stupid fool.’ Sometimes Brennan worried him. He took too many risks, treated his life too cavalierly as if he doubted his own worth.
Greetings exchanged, the horse being looked after in a makeshift stall by Archer who had some explaining of his own to do, the threesome took up their places at the rail. ‘So,’ Nolan drawled, tossing a sidelong glance Brennan’s direction. ‘The real question isn’t where you’ve been, but was she worth it?’
Brennan threw back his head and laughed up to the sky as if he hadn’t a care in the world, as if he hadn’t been dangling over the side of a boat minutes ago with an angry man shooting at him. ‘Always.’
Haviland smiled into the distance, a little spark starting to ignite deep inside of him. It was a good sign. He wasn’t dead yet, wasn’t entirely numb yet. England faded from sight. It would be a while before they’d see those shores again but in the meanwhile, it was going to be one hell of a trip.
One month later—the viewing room of the Leodegrance salle d’armes
Mon Dieu! The Englishman was exquisite. Alyssandra Leodegrance’s breath caught behind her peepholes as he executed an aggressive flèche against his opponent in the main training salon. Every movement spoke of lethal grace, his foil a natural extension of his arm as he effortlessly deflected Monsieur Anjou’s sophisticated series of ripostes.
Alyssandra pressed her eyes more firmly to the peepholes of the salle d’armes’s private viewing chamber, hardly daring to believe what she saw: Monsieur Anjou, the salle’s most senior instructor, was labouring now with all his skill to launch a counter-offensive and yet still the Englishman would not be thwarted.
‘He has forced Monsieur Anjou into redoublement!’ She could hear the excitement in her own hushed voice as she tore her eyes away long enough to toss a smile at her brother, Antoine, seated beside her in his wheeled chair, his own gaze as raptly engaged as hers.
Antoine gave a wry grin at her smug tone. ‘You’re enjoying it too, aren’t you?’
Alyssandra shrugged her shoulders, feigning indifference, although they both knew better. There was the courtesy of professional respect between her and the senior instructor, but not much else. She put her eyes back to the holes, not wanting to miss a moment more. Redoublement was probably the last position Julian Anjou had expected to take up.
It had been ages since she’d seen Julian beaten and it did her heart good to see the arrogant master humbled. He hadn’t been humbled since the time she’d beaten him. That had been two years ago and he would not admit to it. He preferred to call it a draw done at his expense to save her pride. Not that he wasn’t an excellent fencer. Julian Anjou’s arrogance was well deserved, but having earned it didn’t make him any more tolerable.
The Englishman initiated an elegant balestra followed by a lunge, a traditional but fearless combination, his efforts confident and deliberate. He knew precisely what he was doing and what he hoped to accomplish. The sparring match had become a chess game. ‘Checkmate,’ she whispered under her breath as they circled one another again—Julian pressed to the extreme to keep the tight frame he was known for, the Englishman athletic and unwinded even after the long bout. A crowd of students and junior