The tense silence that followed wracked everyone’s nerves. James stiffened. Conrad put a protective arm around Reggie, and together they waited for the explosion. Before it came, the door opened and the young man leaned in. “Henri just told me she’s my cousin? Is it true?”
James glowered. “Not now, Jeremy!” The boy flinched.
“No! Don’t go, Jeremy.” Reggie caught the boy’s hand and pulled him into the room. “Uncle James is angry with me, not with you.”
“I am not angry with you, Regan.” He tightly controlled his voice.
“You were going to yell at me.”
“I was not going to yell at you!” he exploded.
“Well, that’s a relief,” Reggie said.
James opened his mouth, clamped it shut, and sighed with exasperation. His eyes met Conrad’s and the message was clearly,You handle her. I give up.
Conrad made the introductions. “Jeremy Malory, Lady Regina Mal—ah, Eden, Countess of Montieth.”
“Hell’s bells!” Jeremy grinned. “So that’s why his temper’s flown.”
“Yes, I don’t think he likes…well, never mind.” She grinned up at the handsome young man whose coloring was exactly the same as hers. “I didn’t get a good look at you before. Heavens, you look exactly like your Uncle Tony when he was younger.” She turned toward James. “Were you going to keep him a secret forever, uncle?”
“There’s no secret,” James said gruffly.
“The family doesn’t know.”
“Ionly found out five years ago. And I haven’t exactly been on speaking terms with my brothers since then.”
“You could have toldmewhen I last saw you.”
“There wasn’t time to go into it then, Regan. ‘By the way, I have a son.’ You would have plagued me with your endless questions, and Jason would have sent the servants out to hunt you down and find me.”
“I suppose. But how did you find him? It was five years ago?”
“A little less than that actually,” he replied. “And we just bumped into each other in a tavern where he was working.”
“You should have seen your uncle’s face, squirt, when he saw the boy.” Conrad smiled, remembering. “He knew the boy looked familiar, yet he didn’t quite know why. And Jeremy couldn’t take his eyes off him either.”
“I recognized him, you see,” Jeremy put in. “I’d never actually seen him before, but my mum described him to me so often I would have known him anywhere. I finally got up the nerve to ask him right out if he was James Malory.”
“You can imagine the reaction,” Conrad said gleefully. “Everyone on the waterfront knew him only as Captain Hawke, and here was this half-pint lad calling him by his real name. And then, to top it, he says he’s his son! Hawke wasn’t laughing along with me, though. He took in the boy’s coloring, asked him some questions, and damned if he wasn’t the proud papa overnight.”
“So I have a new cousin, one nearly full grown.” Reggie grinned. “Oh, this is famous. Welcome to the family, Jeremy.”
He was nearly as tall as his father, which was much taller than Reggie. She leaned up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek, and was surprised by the exuberant hug that squeezed her breathless. The boy wouldn’t let go.
“That’s enough, Jeremy. Jeremy!”
The lad stepped back. “Can cousins marry?” he asked.
Conrad guffawed. James scowled. Reggie blushed. Now she understood the motive behind that hug.
“Another rake in the family, Uncle James?” she said wryly.
“So it would seem,” James sighed. “And learning all the tricks too early.”
“He only follows your example,” Conrad put in smoothly.
“Well, he’s off to bed now.”
