Page 74 of Truly, Madly, Daring

“Well, I’m right glad to hear it,” Wells said, clearly relieved. “You was our best customer.”

“Good to know you missed me,” Wrexham said with a bark of laughter. “Now bring us two pints of your finest before we die of thirst.”

“With pleasure, Lord Wrexham, and to prove I’m a man of my word, these two are on the house.”

The man bustled off and Wrexham became aware of Humboldt chuckling to himself.

“What?”

“He really meant that. I reckon that’s the first free pint the fellow’s ever given out in his life.”

Wrexham grinned and hoped the landlord hurried back. A bit of liquid courage to settle his nerves would not go amiss. Much as it was good to discover his old life was just where he’d left it, he had a dragon to slay, and he’d just as soon get it over with.

Emmeline patted her horse’s neck and tried to admire the lovely view of the house and the lake beyond, glittering in the dying rays of the afternoon sunshine. It would be dark soon and she really must go inside. Apart from anything else, she was frozen. She had been far too jittery to go back to the house and had chosen instead to walk her mare around the grounds. Cawston was vast and lovely, and she was so looking forward to exploring it and discovering its secrets. Today, however, the beauty of the place was lost on her; she chafed too much at being left behind. She ought to be with Wrexham, by his side, but between her husband and her father’s protective instincts, all her efforts to be included in the coming confrontation had been soundly rebuffed.

Anxious and irritated, she made her way back to the stables to find her mother waiting for her.

“There you are!” Mama exclaimed, hands on her hips, looking remarkably fierce.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realise you were waiting for me,” Emmeline said in surprise as she kicked her stirrup free and dismounted.

“Never mind that. Why the devil are you here when Wrexham is facing his father and that worm of a half-brother by himself?”

Emmeline frowned, handing her horse over to the care of the waiting groom. “He’s not by himself. Papa and Lord Latimer and all the others are there, and—”

“And?” Mama asked, eyebrows raising.

“And they told me I wasn’t to come! I tried to change their minds, but you know what Papa is. He said I must stay here,” Emmeline said indignantly.

Mama threw up her hands. “Emmeline Knight, have you learned nothing from me, not to mention your sisters?”

Emmeline stared at her, wide-eyed as her heart leapt. “You think I should go?”

She watched as her mother tsked and then put her hand in the pocket of her pelerine and tugged out a little slip of paper.

“I picked up the book you’ve been reading, and this fell out,” she said, waving it under Emmeline’s nose. “Don’t you think this is the perfect opportunity to fulfil it?”

Emmeline’s heart skipped as she regarded the thin strip of paper, the one she had pulled out of the hat of dares. It seemed a lifetime ago. She took it from her mother’s hand and unfolded it, staring at the writing, which suddenly seemed prophetic.

Defy convention and stand up to injustice.

“I rather thought I already had,” Emmeline retorted. “I eloped with Wrexham to thwart his father, didn’t I?”

“You did,” Mama agreed, grinning. “And I was never prouder of you, but I do hate to see a job half done.”

Emmeline considered the devilish glitter in her mother’s green eyes for a moment and her lips twitched. “That is true,” she said slowly “I suppose I ought to make certain the duke is quite thoroughly routed.”

“You certainly ought.” Mama nodded.

“Very well. In that case, I shall go.” Emmeline began to turn away, but paused. She glanced nonchalantly over her shoulder. “Want to come with me?”

“Oh, Emmeline,” Mama said with a huff. “I thought you’d never ask!”

When the door finally swung open and a tense silence filled the room, Wrexham discovered he was perfectly calm. Since his accident, he had lost his confidence, lost his belief in his own ability to manage his life after struggling so to perform the simplest of tasks by himself. But being blind and managing his life, or even his estate, was no different from riding Jaeger. Yes, sometimes he needed guidance from people he trusted, but he was still in control. It was still his judgement, the decisions he made, that counted.

Emmeline had made him face the truth, and proven to him the future was not the bleak, unwelcome prospect he had assumed it to be. She had given him back his life, and he wished suddenly that she was beside him. It had been wrong to leave her out of this when it would be their moment of triumph, not just his. For he would not be here without her. He no longer feared his father’s power over him, not with so many people willing to take his part, but Emmeline had been the one who’d brought all these people together. Admittedly, she’d had help from the force of nature that was her father, but the apple had not fallen far from the tree.

“The duke has entered with your half-brother, my lord. There are four dangerous looking men, and what looks like a medical man with him.”