Page 25 of The Governess and the Rogue

“Mrs. Rawson is acquainted with Colonel Beresford?”

“No, but she met his oldest brother once, many years ago, at an assembly in Bath. She still talks about it.”

“I’ve never heard her.”

“You never hear anything. You’re forever off with the children. But I remain with the ladies. I hear everything.”

Bea hated that she was curious. “Is there so much to hear?”

“Oh yes.” Pearl drew the coarse blanket up over them in the berth. “According to Mrs. Rawson, Colonel Beresford fought in the Crimea before coming to Delhi. But India didn’t sit well with him. He left shortly after for Persia, and from there to Egypt on extended leave. Mrs. Farraday found out he would be staying at Shepheard’s Hotel, and arranged that she and her daughter would be there too. That was when she nearly caught him.”

Bea felt a sharp twinge of pity for Jack. Goodness. He really had been pursued. “Fortunately for him, he managed to get away,” she observed dryly.

“It wasn’t the first time he’d been chased, I don’t wonder,” Pearl said. “He returned to fighting in Persia before Mrs. Farraday could play her final card. When she heard he was badly injured in some battle in the desert, she feared he’d been killed and that she’d lost her chance forever.”

“But he didn’t die,” Bea pointed out. “Obviously.”

He’d said that his horse had fallen on him, and that he’d had several surgeries to repair the damage. That admission too had been exceedingly cavalier. Still…

Bea had sensed there was something more behind it. Regret, bitterness, possibly even anger.

“Which was splendid news for Mrs. Farraday and her daughter,” Pearl went on. “Once she learned that he’d survived, and that he’d returned to Cairo for surgery, she made inquiries at all the local hospitals, but was unable to find him. Mrs. Rawson claims that Mrs. Farraday would be there still, searching the four corners of the city, if her money hadn’t begun to run out.”

Bea swallowed the acrid taste in her mouth. Jack Beresford was more than capable of taking care of himself. Even so, she hated to think of him lying injured in a hospital bed, barely conscious after surgery, a helpless victim to any scheming, marriage-minded mama who was determined to capture him.

“I hadn’t realized Mrs. Farraday was so ruthless in her efforts,” she said.

“Any mother might be,” Pearl replied. “Colonel Beresford is a prize.”

“Nonsense. He’s no trophy for Mrs. Farraday to hang on her wall.”

“No, indeed. She intends to hang him on her daughter’s wall.”

“Really, Pearl,” Bea chided.

Pearl giggled. “When she discovers that he’s on the ship⁠—”

Bea shot her a sharp look. “You mustn’t say a word.”

“They wouldn’t listen if I did,” Pearl said. “To them, I’m invisible.”

Bea was immediately chastened. Her problems were nothing in comparison to the trials Pearl must have endured as a servant of mixed heritage. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“I’m not.” Pearl’s smile turned impish. “Invisibility has its benefits. You would do well to cultivate it if you mean to remain in your position.”

Bea feared that ship had already sailed. “It’s too late for invisibility where I’m concerned,” she said. “Whatever happens to me tomorrow, I have a sinking feeling that everyone on this ship is going to hear about it.”

* * *

“The day you’ve long been awaiting has finally arrived, Maberly,” Jack said on rising the next morning. He passed his batman the shaving razor. “Shear me.”

Maberly accepted the implement with a look of skepticism. “Are you in earnest, sir?”

“I’ve never been more so.” Jack sat down in the wooden chair near the washstand in his cabin, his injured leg stretched out before him. If he once again had to be Jack Beresford, he intended to be him in every way. And Jack Beresford never sported a beard or mustache.

Maberly got straight to work lathering the shaving soap. “And your hair?”

“Trim it,” Jack said. “As of today, you and I will be joining the rest of the passengers.”