When he felt water dripping onto his face, he opened his eyes and smiled up at her. She was drenched. The skirts of her gown were soaked and her hair was plastered to her head. Love and anguished concern blazed in her eyes. She had never looked more beautiful.
"Harry. Harry, are you all right? Tell me you are all right." She crouched beside him, cradling him against her damp bodice.
"I am all right, love." He caught her fast, heedless of her wet clothing. "I am all right now that I know you are safe."
Augusta clutched at him. "Dear heaven, I was so terrified. How did you realize what was happening? How did you know he was bringing me to Weymouth? How did you know which vessel he had planned to take?"
It was Peter who answered her questions as he came up behind her. "The Spider always did have the devil's own luck. But Graystone, on the other hand, was known for being able to second-guess old Lucifer himself."
Augusta shivered and glanced over the edge of the gangplank. Lovejoy was floating facedown in the water.
"You are cold, darling," Harry said quietly. He got to his feet and turned her away from the sight of Lovejoy's body. "We must get you into some warm clothes."
He led her toward the warmth of a nearby tavern.
Augusta, Harry, and Peter arrived back at Graystone late in the afternoon and the entire household rushed out to greet them. The servants grinned broadly and told each other they had all known their master would rescue the mistress.
Clarissa Fleming beamed in relief from the top of the steps as Meredith went running toward her parents.
"Mama, you are safe. I knew Papa would save you. He told me so." Meredith wrapped her arms around Augusta and hugged her fiercely. "Oh, Mama, you are so brave."
"So are you, Meredith." Augusta smiled down at her. "I shall never forget what a brave little girl you were when I found you in that cottage. You didn't even cry, did you?"
Meredith shook her head violently, her face still concealed by the skirts of Augusta's gown. "Not then. But I cried later when Miss Ballinger took me away and we realized you had not been able to follow us."
"I did not know what to do then," Claudia said, standing to the side with her hand in Peter's. "I heard the pistol shot and was absolutely frantic. I realized I could not risk Meredith's life by turning back. So I kept going. Graystone and Peter were just arriving at the house when Meredith and I got there. They guessed immediately Lovejoy was heading for Weymouth."
"Once we knew we were too late to keep you out of his clutches, Weymouth was the next logical place to look," Harry explained. "The Spider was always fond of the sea as an escape route. Sheldrake and I rode straight for Weymouth and got there ahead of Lovejoy's carriage. Then we went looking for a ship called the Lucy Ann."
"It turned out to be an old smuggler's craft," Peter said. "The captain had apparently worked for the Spider occasionally during the war. We persuaded him to let us take over his vessel for a time this morning."
"You persuaded him?" Claudia smiled skeptically.
"Let us say the man soon saw the light of sweet reason when Graystone used a bit of cold, clear logic on him," Peter said blandly. "Graystone is very good at logic, you know. It is obvious your cousin Richard had concealed information about the Spider in that coded poem. He was trying to get word to the British authorities the night he was killed."
"Peter was right," Harry said much later. "I am very good with logic."
Augusta smiled. She was lying in his arms in the deep shadows of his bed. She felt warm and safe and wanted. She felt she had finally come home. "Yes, Harry, everyone knows that."
"But I am not particularly clever about a few other things." He tightened his arm around her and drew her close. "I did not, for instance, recognize love when I fell straight into it."
"Harry." Augusta raised herself up on one elbow so that she could look down into his eyes. "Are you telling me that you fell in love with me right from the start?"
His mouth slanted in a slow, wicked smile that sent delicious shivers through her. "Obviously that must have been what happened, madam. Otherwise, there really is no accounting for my totally irrational behavior during our courtship and marriage."
Augusta pursed her lips. "I suppose that is one view of the situation. Oh, Harry, I am so happy tonight."
"That delights me more than I can say, my love. I have discovered that my happiness is forever linked with yours." He brushed his mouth across hers and then grew more serious as he watched her through narrowed eyes. "You risked your life to save Meredith today."
"She is my daughter."
"And you are fiercely loyal to the members of your family, are you not?" He smiled slightly as he ran his fingers through her hair. "A little tigress."
"It is very good to have a family again, Harry."
"You told me just before I sent you out of London that you knew Meredith was my greatest weakness. But you were wrong. You are my greatest weakness. I love you, Augusta."
"And I love you, Harry. With all my heart."
Harry's hand wrapped around the back of her head. Augusta's hair tumbled over his arm as he dragged her mouth down to his once more.
Harry came awake abruptly the next morning as his wife leaped from the bed and grabbed the chamber pot.
"Excuse me," Augusta gasped as she bent over the pot. "I believe I am going to be very ill."
Harry got up and went to hold her head. "Nerves, no doubt," he announced as she finished being sick. "Too much excitement yesterday, I imagine. You must spend the day in bed, my dear."
" 'Tis not nerves." Augusta glowered at him as she used a damp cloth to wipe her face. "No Northumberland Ballinger was ever ill from nerves."
"Well, then," said Harry quite calmly, "in that case, you must be pregnant."
"Good Lord." Augusta sat down abruptly on the edge of the bed. She stared at him in shock. "Do you really believe it possible?"
"I would say it was a distinct possibility," Harry assured her with satisfaction.
Augusta thought about that for a moment. And then she smiled gleefully. "I would think that the combination of the Northumberland Ballinger bloodlines and those of the earls of Graystone should prove very interesting. What do you think, my lord?"
Harry laughed. "Very interesting indeed, my love."
21
Three months later Augusta was entertaining Claudia, who had recently returned to Town after her wedding trip, when Harry stalked into the drawing room. She saw at once that he was scowling ferociously over a document he held in one hand.
Augusta arched a brow. "What on earth is the matter, my lord? Did your publisher reject your manuscript on Caesar's military campaigns?"
" 'Tis far worse news than that." Harry handed her the document. "That is from the solicitors who have just finished settling Sally's estate."
"Is something wrong with the way it was handled?" She scanned the legal paper quickly.
"You will notice," Harry said evenly, "that you are named in her will."
Augusta was delighted. "How thoughtful of Sally. I would so love to have something of hers as a keepsake. I wonder what she left me. One of the pictures in Pompeia's, perhaps? We could hang it in the schoolroom. Meredith and Clarissa would enjoy it."
"That is an excellent notion," Claudia agreed, eagerly looking over her cousin's shoulder. "I was wondering what would happen to all those wonderful paintings."
Harry's scowl deepened. "Sally did not leave you a painting, Augusta."
"No? Then what was it? A silver bowl or one of the statues, perhaps?"