Her healing moved with amazing swiftness and she recognized that it was because of the added energy from Cade and Madame LeBlanc. At some point she felt Andre join them and she realized that he’d gone to collect their horses so they could ride on as soon as she was finished. She spared a moment of gratitude at how well all their gifts blended. Then she returned to her work.
When she’d done as much as she could, she asked quietly, “How do you feel, Monsieur Bastien?”
His eyes had been closed but they opened now, and his gaze was focused in a way it hadn’t been before. After a long, fraught moment, he said unevenly, “My mind feels very different, but yet . . . I am myself.”
She removed her palm from his forehead and stepped away. “It will take time for your mind to settle down, but you should soon be comfortable within yourself. Your men will wake soon, none the worse for their rest.”
He stood up and shook his head, then stretched his long limbs. The resemblance to Cade was stronger now. “Thank you, Lady Tamsyn. Tante Agnes, I think you will find me less interested in hurting people. I hope we will see more of each other?”
“I hope so also. Please call on me tomorrow if you can, Claude. We have much to talk about.” His aunt smiled and patted his cheek. “But now we must be off.”
As she collected her horse, Bastien’s gaze moved to Cade. “Take good care of my cousin and your little witch.” His expression hardened. “It will be best if you don’t return to these parts, Tremayne.”
Cade’s expression was like granite and Tamsyn sensed that he was thinking of the excruciating pain the other man had inflicted on him. The two of them would never be friends, but they were no longer sworn enemies. “I will gladly leave this side of the channel to you, Bastien.”
Madame LeBlanc looked at the sky, then mounted, muttering several words that well-bred French ladies weren’t supposed to know. Raising her voice, she said, “If we ride hard, we might be able to make our rendezvous. Follow me!” She set off down the beach at a speed that was surely faster than was safe.
Tamsyn was exhausted from all the work she’d done on Bastien. Not surprisingly, Cade noticed and caught her around the waist, then lifted her up onto Zeus’s saddle. She looked down at him and said softly, “That was very presumptuous of you, Caden, yet for some reason I never mind when you touch me.”
They shared a glance of intense intimacy. He smiled up at her. “You look tired, Tam, and it’s easy to lift you because you’re just a little bit of a thing.”
“ThatI mind!” She chuckled as she gathered her reins and took off down the beach after Madame LeBlanc. A few moments later she heard the hooves of two more horses as Cade and Andre mounted and followed.
A strengthening wind had blown the fog away and there was enough patchy moonlight to show the way. Reminding herself that Madame LeBlanc knew this coast well, Tam followed the older woman’s lead as to changes of speed and avoiding obstacles.
She felt a rush of exhilaration as she flew through the night on the way to freedom and home. It was accompanied by a matching fear that they wouldn’t be in time and the smugglers would have left without them, but Cade was right behind her so surely all would be well.
Several times the horses splashed ankle-deep in water and twice they swung briefly away from the sea when blocked by a tumble of rocks. Once in a shadowed area she almost missed seeing a large tree trunk that had been washed up onto the sand in front of her. She had just enough time to signal Zeus to jump and they soared safely over the obstacle.
After perhaps a quarter of an hour of riding, Madame LeBlanc crested a small hill and called over her shoulder, “Almost there!”
Tam caught up with her and saw a small cove below. Her breath spasmed when she saw the dinghy containing three men that was moving away from the shore, already halfway across the cove.Too late!
“Halt, Captain Jones!” Madame LeBlanc shouted with a note of command in her voice unlike anything Tamsyn had ever heard before. Command must be one of the older woman’s gifts that hadn’t been needed until now.
Her order echoed across the water and the dinghy paused. Then it pivoted in a splashing of oars and headed back to the shore.
By the time the bow reached the shallows, all four of the riders had arrived and were dismounting. Jones barked in English, “You cut it pretty damned close, milady!”
“We ran into trouble,” she explained as she swung from her horse in a spray of sand. “Here are my three passengers.”
“Step lively, you lot!” Jones ordered.
Tamsyn scrambled into the dinghy with Cade’s help. Andre turned to hug his grandmother, saying, “Thank you for all you’ve done for me, Grandmère!”
Her voice unsteady, she said, “Take good care, my dear boy. We may not meet again in this lifetime, but you will always be in my prayers.”
“We will meet again.” He kissed her cheek. “I promise it!”
None of the three travelers had much luggage, so it took only moments to transfer their bags to the dinghy. When the three passengers were aboard, Jones and his men pushed the small boat out against the waves. As soon as they were afloat, the sailors started rowing hard, the blades of their oars slashing through the water.
Cade settled by Tamsyn on a middle bench, his warm arm around her. No one spoke and the only sound was the crashing of the sea.
The dinghy plowed through increasingly rough waves to reach the sleek waiting cutter in the mouth of the cove. The ship was built for speed so she could escape the revenue agents who usually sailed in similar cutters. As the dinghy passed the bow, Tam saw the nameSea Swanpainted on the bow, and the bowsprit was carved into the image of a swan lady. An elegant name for an elegant if illegal ship.
They took turns scrambling up a short rope ladder to reach the deck. As soon as they were all on board, half a dozen sailors began to swiftly raise the sails. Tamsyn caught hold of the railing as she watched the coast falling away behind them. Would she ever set foot in France again? For now, she was glad to see the last of it.
Jones approached his passengers, his gaze moving over them. “You’re obviously the lady’s grandson,” he said to Andre, “but who are you two?”
