A Lily Among Thorns(53)

“I said I was sorry—”

But Solomon was only winding up. “And Mother! She lost a stone and didn’t even alter her clothes! Father couldn’t get into a proper rage for months! It was painful to hear him preach, and Susannah—why didn’t you write to us? And now you’re right here in London looking as debonair as ever, only more so because I would wager a hundred guineas that’s Parisian tailoring, and I only know because Serena saw you in the street?”

“I was on my way here, you nodcock! As if I haven’t been going mad wanting to see you all this time! I’ll tell you all about it later, all right, only not now—”

They were too caught up in their argument to realize how loud they had become. So when the door across the hall opened and a tousled René in an elegant violet dressing gown stuck his head out, they jumped back with identical expressions of guilty chagrin. It was easy to picture them as caught-out little boys. It was adorable.

Then Elijah’s expression changed. So did René’s; he broke into a delighted grin. “Thierry!”

“René,” Elijah acknowledged as he was seized in a warm embrace. René stepped back, beaming. Elijah looked less pleased. He shook René’s hands off his shoulders with a glance at Solomon that said, God spare me from emotional Frenchmen. René did not stop beaming. Serena suddenly got a very unpleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Thierry! Your idiot of a brother told me you were dead!”

“He thought I was,” Elijah said flatly. “Everyone did.”

“But—but how is this possible?”

“I was in the army. They seconded me to a Spanish unit. We were on a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines and a bullet killed my horse. I hit my head falling, and when I woke up my unit was gone.” He glanced at Solomon. “I had no hope of getting back to the English army—I didn’t even know where it was—and I spoke French well enough to pass, so I got rid of my uniform and decided to make my way back to England through France. I thought they could ship me out again from here if they wanted. But when Boney was sent to Elba, I decided to stay and see a little of Paris.”

He looked at Solomon again and said, “I sent you a few letters. I suppose the reestablished mail lines weren’t as reliable as they claimed. And then war broke out again and I couldn’t get out. I had to go back to pretending to be French. That’s when I met René.” He looked at René and raised his chin a little.

“He was in a tavern brawl,” René revealed. “He could barely walk. I took him in out of the goodness of my heart.” Elijah glared.

“How lucky that you found such a selfless benefactor as our own marquis,” Serena said when Solomon said nothing in response to this touching narrative.

Elijah smiled incredulously. “Marquis?”

“Yes,” René said quickly. “It appears we were both incognito. I am the marquis du Sacreval. Or I will be, when Louis XVIII restores my titles.”

Elijah started, frowning. “You’re the marquis du Sacreval?”

“Yes.”

“Oh Lord, I haven’t time for this now. I’ve got to speak to my brother.” And grabbing Solomon’s arm, Elijah towed him into his room and slammed the door.

Serena and René were left standing in the hallway. They looked at each other and then at Solomon’s door. “We are not going to listen in,” Serena said. “And to make sure of it, you’re going to come and have breakfast with me in the kitchen.” He gave her a pleading glance, but she swept majestically past him down the corridor to the servants’ stair.

Halfway down, Serena remembered what she was wearing. She could go back up and change, couldn’t she? And if she overheard something, that wasn’t her fault—

She hovered, undecided, and René said mischievously, “So now that you’ve seen Elijah, I imagine you won’t have much use for his brother, hein?”

Let everyone stare. There was no way she was letting René near those boys if she could help it. She took off her hat and handed it to him. “Quite the opposite,” she said coldly as she re-pinned her hair. “Elijah is a dear, but there’s something showy about him, don’t you think?” René laughed softly and Serena felt very irritated indeed.

In the Stuart room, the two brothers faced each other awkwardly. “I’m sorry,” Elijah said again.