Page 20 (1/2)

Outside the carriage, the atmosphere was considerably less tense The three men remained on horseback, never quite in a line Every now and then one of them would increase his pace or fall behind, and one horse would pass another Perfunctory greetings would be exchanged

Occasionally someone would comment on the weather

Lord Crowland seemed rather interested in the native birds

Thoood Lord, was he whistling?

"Are you happy?" Jack asked, his voice a bit short

Tho about it "I suppose I am It’s a rather fine day, don’t you think?"

"A fine day," Jack echoed

"None of us is trapped in the carriage with that evil old hag," Crowland announced "We should all be happy" Then he added, "Pardon," since the evil old hag was, after all, grandmother to both of his companions

"Pardons unnecessary on ree with your assessnificant in this, Jack thought - that their conversation kept returning to how relieved they all were not to be in the dowager’s presence It was dae, to tell the truth, and yet, it did make one think

"Will I have to live with her?" he blurted out

Thorinned "The Outer Hebrides, my man, the Outer Hebrides"

"Why didn’t you do it?" Jack demanded

"Oh, believe me, I will, on the off chance I still possess any power over her toed "I’ll need some sort of employment, won’t I? I alished to travel Perhaps I shall be your scout I’ll find the oldest, coldest place on the island I shall have a rollicking good time"

"For God’s sake," Jack swore "Stop talking like that" He did not want this to be preordained He did not want it to be understood Tho for his place in the world, not blithely handing it over

Because he himself did not want it He wanted Grace, and he wanted his freedoht at that very moment, he wanted to be soave hi more And neither did Jack Not when they reached Pollae

Night had long since fallen, but Jack knew every storefront, every last signpost and tree There was the Derragarra Inn, where he’d got himself drunk on his seventeenth birthday There was the butcher, and the blacksmith, and ah, yes, there was the oatmeal mill, behind which he’d stolen his first kiss

Which meant that in five - no, make that four - more minutes, he would be home

Home

It was a word he had not uttered in years It had had noHe’d lived in inns and public houses and soroup of friends, but they drifted in and out of togetherness They thieved togetherelse All they’d had in coive a portion of their bounty to those who had returned from the war less fortunate than they

Over the years, Jack had given s, women without husbands, children without parents No one ever questioned where he’d got the entleh People sahat they wanted to see, and when a for his naifts

No one ever wanted to question it

And through all this, he’d told no one Who had there been to tell?

Grace

Now there was Grace

He smiled She would approve Perhaps not of the means, but certainly of the end The truth was, he’d never taken anything from anyone who hadn’t looked as if they could afford it And he’d always been careful toof his victims

Such scruples would not have kept hiallows, but it had always made him feel a bit better about his chosen profession

He heard a horse draw up next to his, and when he turned, there was Tho pace beside him "Is this the road?" he asked quietly

Jack nodded "Just around the bend"

"They are not expecting you, are they?"

"No"

Thomas had far too much tact to question him further, and indeed, he allowed hisJack his privacy

And then there it was Cloverhill Just as he’d remembered it, except maybe the vines had taken over a bit more of the brick facade The rooh the only sounds were thoseparty, Jack could swear he could hear laughter and h the walls

Dear God, he’d thought he’dpain in his chest; an eht in his throat

This was hoaze at the graceful old house, but he heard the carriage drawing closer and knew that he could not keep everyone at bay while he indulged his own nostalgia

The last thing he wanted was for the dowager to barge in ahead of him (which he was quite certain she would do), so he rode up to the entrance, dismounted, and walked up the steps on his own He closed his eyes and drew a long breath, and then, since he wasn’t likely to ae in the next few ht it down

There was no immediate reply This was not a surprise It was late They were unexpected The butler ht There were so e andHe didn’t want -

The door opened Jack held his hands tightly behind his back He’d tried leaving them at his sides, but they started to shake

He saw the light of the candle first, and then the man behind it, wrinkled and stooped

"Master Jack?"

Jack sed "Wi eighty, but of course his aunt would have kept hi Wimpole, would be until the day he died

"We were not expecting you," Wimpole said

Jack tried for a smile "Well, you kno I like a surprise"

"Come in! Come in! Oh, Master Jack, Mrs Audley will be so pleased to see you As will - " Wi out the door, his wizened old eyes creasing into a squint

"I auests," Jack explained The dowager had already been helped down froht behind her Thorandive Jack a few ns of ie

"Wimpole?" came a feminine voice "Who is here at this hour?"

Jack stood stiffly, hardly able to breathe It was his aunt Mary She sounded exactly the same It was as if he’d never left

Except it wasn’t If he’d never left, his heart wouldn’t be pounding, his mouth wouldn’t be dry And most of all, he wouldn’t feel so bloody terrified Scared spitless at seeing the one person who had loved him his entire life, with her whole heart and without condition

"Wi at hihost "Jack?"

"In the flesh" He tried for a jovial tone but couldn’t quite e it, and deep inside, dohere he kept his blackest ht there, in front of everyone, it isting and writhing inside of hiet out

"Jack!" she cried out, and she hurled herself forward, throwing her arms around him "Oh, Jack Jack,his face with kisses, like a mother would her son

Like she should have been able to do for Arthur

"It is good to see you, Aunt Mary," he said He pulled her tight then and buried his face in the crook of her neck, because she was his mother, in every way that mattered And he’d missed her By God, he’d missed her, and in that moment it did not inable He just wanted to be held

"Oh, Jack," she said, sht to horsewhip you for staying away so long Why would you do such a thing? Don’t you knoorried ere? How - "

"Ahe Jack’s face in her hands The dowager hadbehind him on the stone steps

"You must be the aunt," she said

Mary just stared at her "Yes," she finally replied "And you are?"

"Aunt Mary," Jack said hastily, before the dowager could speak again, "I aer Duchess of Wyndha aside as the dowager swept past her "The Duchess of Wyndha at Jack with palpable shock "Good heavens, Jack, couldn’t you have sent notice?"

Jack shtly "It is better this way, I assure you"

The rest of the traveling party came forward at thatnot to notice his aunt going from paler to palest after he identified the Duke of Wyndham and the Earl of Crowland

"Jack," she whispered frantically, "I haven’t the rooh - "

"Please, Mrs Audley," Thomas said with a deferential bow, "do not put yourself out on ivable for us to arrive without notice I would not expect you to go to any great lengths

Although" - he glanced over at the dowager, as standing in the hall with a sour look on her face - "perhaps your finest roorandmother It will be easier for everyone"

"Of course," Mary said quickly "Please, please, it’s chilly You must all come inside Jack, I do need to tell you - "

"Where is your church?" the dowager de to Jack in confusion "At this hour?"

"I do not intend to worship," the dowager snapped "I wish to inspect the records"

"Does Vicar Beveridge still preside?" Jack asked, trying to cut the dowager off

"Yes, but he will surely be abed It’s half nine, I should think, and he is an early riser Perhaps in theI - "

"This is a er cut in "I don’t care if it’s afterher with an icy expression "You are not going to pull the vicar out of bed

You have waited this long You can bloody ait until asped She turned to the dowager "I did not raise him to speak this way"

"No, you didn’t," Jack said, which was the closest he was going to co him down

"You were his er said

Mary looked a bit baffled at the sudden change of topic "I a?"

"I was not"

Jack turned to her in surprise "You weren’t?"

"No I could not attend I was in confineave Jack a rueful look "I never told you It was a stillbirth" Her face softened "Just one of the reasons I was so happy to have you"

"We shall er announced, uninterested in Mary’s obstetrical history "First thing We shall find the papers and be done with it"

"The papers?" Mary echoed

"Proof of the er bit off She looked upon Mary with icy condescension, then dis, "Are you daft?"

It was a good thing Thoone for her throat

"Louise was not e church," Mary said "She was h, where we grew up"

"How far is that?" the dowager derasp

"Twenty erquite unpleasant Jack could not make out the exact words, but Mary blanched She turned to hi alarm "Jack? What is this all about? Why do you need proof of your e?"

He looked at Grace, as standing a bit behind his aunt She offered hiement, and he cleared his throat and said, "My father was her son"

Mary looked over at the dowager in shock "Your fatherJohn Cavendish, you mean"

Thomas stepped forward "May I intercede?"

Jack felt exhausted "Please do"

"Mrs Audley," Thonity and collection than Jack could ever have ie, then your nephew is the true Duke of Wyndham"

"The true Duke of - " Mary covered her mouth in shock "No It’s not possible I remember him Mr

Cavendish He was - " She waved her arestures Finally, after several attempts at a more verbal explanation, she said, "He would not have kept such a thing from us"

"He was not the heir at the time," Thomas told her, "and had no reason to believe he would become so"

"Oh, my heavens But if Jack is the duke, then you - "

"Are not," he finished wryly "I aerness to have this settled"

Mary stared at him in shock And then at Jack And then looked as if she veryin the hall," the dowager announced haughtily

"Don’t be rude," Thomas chided

"She should have seen to - "

Thorip on her arht past Jack and his aunt "Mrs

Audley," he said, "we are rateful for your hospitality All of us"

Mary nodded gratefully and turned to the butler "Wimpole, would you - "

"Of course, ma’am," he said, and Jack had to s the housekeeper to have her prepare the necessary bedrooms Wimpole had always knohat Aunt Mary needed before she’d had to utter the words

"We shall have roo to Grace and A off to the side "Would the two of you ? I don’t have - "

"It is no trouble at all," Grace said warmly "We enjoy each other’s co relieved "Jack, you shall have to take your old bed in the nursery, and - oh, this is silly, I should not be wasting your ti room, where you may warm yourselves by the fire until your rooms are ready"

She ushered everyone in, but when Jackhim back

"We missed you," she said

He sed, but the lue "I missed you, too," he said He tried to smile "Who is home? Edward must have - "

"Married," she finished for hi for Arthur And Margaret soon after They both live close by, Edward just down the lane, Margaret in Belturbet"

"And Uncle William?" Jack had last seen him at Arthur’s funeral He’d looked older Older, and tired

And stiff with grief "He is well?"

Mary was silent, and then an unbearable sorrow filled her eyes Her lips parted but she did not speak She did not need to

Jack stared at her in shock "No," he whispered, because it could not be true He was supposed to have had a chance to say he was sorry He’d come all the way to Ireland He wanted to say he was sorry

"He died, Jack" Mary blinked several tio I didn’t kno to find you You never gave us an address"

Jack turned, taking a few steps toward the rear of the house If he stayed where he was, so rooh the doorway, they would see him, struck, ready to cry, maybe ready to scream

"Jack?" It was Mary, and he could hear her steps , taking a shaky, open-mouthed breath It didn’t help, but it was all he could e