Andrew Pepper - The Revenge of Captain Paine

Cumberland regarded him sceptically. ‘One cannot select kings and queens. Only God has that right.’

‘And yet what if one discovered that someone else’s claims to the throne weren’t as strong as most believed?’

‘If that could ever be proven, it would change the situation considerably.’

This time Pyke stared directly at him. ‘Do you think the young princess’s claims on the throne are weak?’

‘She is my older brother’s child. Therefore her claim is a legitimate one.’

‘Of course,’ Pyke said, racking his brains for additional ways to draw the duke out of himself.

‘But perhaps that is a question I should ask you.’

‘What?’

‘Whether or not the young princess’s claims on the throne are weak.’

‘Why ask me?’

Cumberland allowed himself a thin smile. ‘Perhaps I should be a little more bold. I think it would be fair to suggest that, until now, we haven’t enjoyed the most cordial of relations. But I don’t want to dwell on the past…’

‘How big of you,’ Pyke interrupted.

The duke shot him a fierce scowl. ‘It might also be true that you have held me in contempt and that, in the past at least, this feeling has been reciprocated on my part. But, and it’s an important but, we are both men of the world, are we not, and we don’t have to accept this state of affairs as preordained. You strike me as a practical sort of a chap, one not weighed down too greatly by wearisome morals, and as such I thought we might be able to come to an accommodation based on the laws of the marketplace. That is to say, you have something I might want and would be prepared to pay more than the going rate to secure.’

‘I’m not sure what you’re referring to.’ Pyke waited for a moment and stepped a little closer to the duke. ‘But I did want to tell you about the thuggish actions of two men who needlessly attacked a defenceless old man, my uncle no less, in his place of business, almost giving him a heart seizure.’

Cumberland licked his lips but said nothing.

‘One of these men wore a tiepin bearing the coat of arms of the Fifteenth Hussars. Your old regiment, I believe.’

The duke could have denied all knowledge of it but wanted to remain in Pyke’s favour. In the end, he reddened and stammered, ‘A most unfortunate business, that was. It should never have happened.’

‘But it did, didn’t it?’

‘I heard your uncle was recovering admirably. You’ll pass on my best wishes to him, I hope.’

‘For what they’re worth.’

For a moment, Cumberland appeared on the verge of apoplexy, being addressed in this manner by a commoner, but he managed to contain his outrage. ‘As I said, you’re a flexible fellow. And I could guarantee to top any offer that you might be made.’

Pyke walked round the piano in the direction of the door and yawned. ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to excuse me, sir. I’ve had a long day and I’m dead on my feet.’

The duke met him halfway across the room. ‘In a few days I have to return to my beloved wife and child in Berlin. Until then I can be reached at my house on Kew Green.’

‘And if I decide not to contact you?’

‘Then you’ll lose out on the chance to greatly add to your already considerable wealth.’

‘Perhaps I will, but then again perhaps I won’t.’ Pyke yawned again, this time not holding his hand up to his mouth.

Cumberland tried to hide his revulsion, not very well. ‘You have a couple of days. Use them wisely.’

Emily was waiting for him in her bedroom. She’d changed into her nightdress and was sitting up on the bed. Her hair was parted in the centre and had been swept back off her face; her pale skin glistened in the candlelight and there was a hint of a smile on her lips.

‘What did that old goat want?’

Pyke went across to the window and watched as the duke’s carriage disappeared up the drive. It was a long story and he didn’t feel like going into it. The less Emily knew, the safer it would be for her.

‘Aren’t you going to tell me?’ she said, an edge to her tone.

He turned around. ‘As you’ve been so forthcoming about what Jackman and the Wat Tyler Brigade have been planning?’

Her body stiffened with barely repressed anger. ‘Why does it always come back to that?’

‘I had it confirmed today that a senior judicial figure is about to lead a crackdown against the Wat Tyler Brigade. I was told it could get nasty.’

‘By whom?’

‘It would seem they’ve frightened some very influential people. You don’t do that by twiddling your thumbs.’

Emily let out a long, heavy sigh. ‘I said I’d tell you about everything in a couple of days.’

‘And what if by then it’s too late?’

‘Too late for what?’

This time Pyke didn’t know how to answer her question. They sat on the bed, each contemplating the other’s silence.

‘Do you remember the first time we kissed?’ Emily asked, eventually, at the same time brushing her hair.

‘It was in the cloakroom at the Theatre Royal during a performance of The Barber of Seville.’

The skin wrinkled slightly at the edges of her eyes. ‘At first that’s what I thought but I’m not sure we actually kissed on that night. I know I wanted to…’

‘You were wearing a pale pink crepe dress with thin gauze sleeves.’ Pyke smiled. ‘I wanted to throw you down on the carpet and take you there and then.’

‘Take me where?’ Nervously she fiddled with her hair.

‘Don’t make me answer.’ His smile broadened. ‘We kissed outside a tavern, if you remember. We’d just escaped from an angry mob.’

‘But that wasn’t a proper kiss, was it? It was the relief more than anything.’

‘It felt proper to me at the time.’ His smile suddenly evaporated.

‘I’m not saying it didn’t.’ But her expression seemed pained. ‘But I remember the time we kissed in your uncle’s apartment more clearly.’

‘Was that the night you told me you wouldn’t marry me?’

Emily shrugged. ‘I waited for hours. I didn’t know where you were or what you’d been doing.’

‘You didn’t tell me you were going to be there,’ he said, indignantly.

Emily’s eyes settled on him. ‘That’s exactly my point. We’ve always kept things from each other, played games. Both of us. I want it all to stop.’

‘The other day I saw a house for us in the West End.’ He tried to assess her reaction but her face remained opaque. ‘I put down a deposit. If you don’t like it, we don’t have to take it.’

‘Whereabouts in the West End?’

‘Berkeley Square.’

Emily whistled. ‘That’s quite an address.’

‘What you said the other night about wanting to be a proper family. I want that, too. This could be our chance to start again. I’ve never liked this old pile and the house in Islington is too cramped for all of us.’

‘Dare I ask how much or how big it is?’

Pyke tried to seem indifferent. ‘It’s modest, but large enough to accommodate our needs.’ Briefly he thought about the grandiose entrance hall, which extended up through the full height of the building and was topped by a pale blue dome that resembled Wren’s creation. ‘Will you at least come and see it?’

‘Do I have a choice? I mean, you’ve already paid a deposit.’

‘It can be a new start for us. All of us. You, me, Felix…’

‘And the girl?’

Pyke shrugged. ‘Will you come and see it tomorrow? We’ll all go together, Felix, too.’ He leaned across and kissed her on the cheek. ‘Afterwards, he can go for a walk in Hyde Park.’

‘All right.’ Smiling, Emily returned the kiss, this time on the mouth. ‘I thought you’d like to know I’m expecting our child.’