Rook(37)

Sophia met his gaze, forge-fire blue in the dim of their flickering candle, for once not immediately looking away. He was teasing her, she could see that, but there was something else behind it, and she could not tell what that expression meant. She studied the coverlet again. “So, your mother sends you to the Commonwealth to marry a girl you’ve never seen because …”

“She says I need a firm hand.”

“… to tame your wicked ways. But then she is imprisoned, and your cousin offers to release her if you find the Red Rook. And you do not agree to this because …” She left the question in the air.

“Oh no, Mademoiselle. I told you that LeBlanc is not going to release her either way, but my maman has taught me much better than that. I accepted LeBlanc’s offer. I told him I would find the Rook, and so I did. But do not reach for my dagger.” He sat back, grinning. “I agreed because I wanted the Red Rook for myself. Perhaps Adèle Hasard will not give in, but that does not mean I will let her rot out her years in an Allemande hole. It is possible I could break her out myself, of course, but when the opportunity came, I thought, why not go to one who has had, may I say, such spectacular success?”

Sophia played with a thread from a hole in the coverlet.

“And so I sailed to the Commonwealth to engage myself to a girl I may not have the inheritance to marry, to find the identity of the Red Rook and convince him that Adèle Hasard should be the next prisoner on his list. All so that I could have the inheritance to pay the fee for this same girl that I did not so much wish to marry.” He put his elbows on the mattress again, and she looked up to find the blue eyes very close, gazing at her from beneath heavy lids. “Imagine my surprise.”

Yes, she could imagine it. It had to be almost as extreme as hers was right now.

“Make a bargain with me,” he said, voice low. “You are thinking to bring out your brother, yes? And Jennifer Bonnard? Get Adèle out of the Tombs as well, and I will help you. And there are many ways that I can help you, Mademoiselle.”

Sophia frowned down at the bed, considering.

“Come to the city as my fiancée and you can travel openly. Nothing would be more natural, and my connections in the … less than legal circles of the city are many. I can give you the flat to operate from. I can get you whatever you need. I can even smuggle them out. I can smuggle you out.” He waited before he said, “I think you will not be able to rely on the methods of the past. LeBlanc will be careful with this prize, and this will not be a mission the Red Rook will wish to leave to chance.” He straightened the edge of the blanket. “I believe that you will need me.”

He was right. On every single count. She’d been upset earlier, barreling about as if she were going to ride for the next ferry, when she knew this was going to take careful planning. Planning she’d never done without Tom. She kept her eyes down as she said, “If LeBlanc does confiscate your mother’s fortune, and if you were to scrape together everything you had left, would you have enough for the marriage fee?”

“No. But if Maman is out of LeBlanc’s reach, there may be things we can do. I could force my claim, make LeBlanc fight me. But what do the laws of the Sunken City mean now? LeBlanc may take it anyway. Or it may be that we gather our assets and flee. But I will not do so without Maman. She is head of the family. The flat, the ships, they are in her control.”

Ships. Maybe that was how he’d gotten the physique of a sailor. “But if she gets out? What then? The assets that are in her control, without the money. Would it be enough for the fee?”

René met her eyes. “I do not know. Possibly.”

But still, “possibly.” Then getting Adèle out could save her father, and Bellamy House. Possibly. And what would she do, what would she risk, for even the slimmest chance to set all this right?

“Mademoiselle,” he said. “Sophia.” She watched him hesitate. “I would suggest that we leave the discussion of our marriage until after your brother and my mother are out of the Tombs. There is much here that is not known. Do you agree?”

Sophia looked down at her own hand, showing creamy tan against the rolled-up edge of the gold brocade. Two weeks ago she would have never believed that she would go to such lengths to marry anyone, especially an admitted liar and thief with a half grin and hair that shone like dark red fire in the candlelight. She knew she couldn’t believe a word he said. She nodded.

“And Adèle?” he asked.

Maybe René could be trusted where his mother was concerned, but for everything else, she would have to be on her guard. The truth was that she found him fascinating, down to the tiny little pulse that she could see beating at the base of his neck, just beyond the open collar. And he could trick her so easily. He already had. She needed him, but she was vulnerable, and she could never let him know it. She could not allow him to manipulate her. She looked up.

“Yes. Help me get Tom and Jennifer out, and I’ll get your mother, too.”

This smile came slower onto René’s face. He took her free hand and lifted it to his lips, like he was the one wearing the gold brocade, like they were standing in the Bellamy ballroom. His mouth was warm on her hand. “Agreed,” he said. “And you may even enjoy it, Mademoiselle …”

Sophia jumped hard as the door to the bedroom flew open. René’s gaze darted up, and Spear stood looking in at them, a stampede that had come to an abrupt halt in the doorway. Feathers from the decrepit pillow floated gently to the carpet. Sophia pulled her hand from René’s and pushed herself upright.