“You’ve been watching a master at work, Connie.”
“Seemed more like a comedy of errors to me,” the tall redhead replied. “Opportunity lost is opportunity lost, no matter how you look at it.”
Anthony laughed as the two joined him under the tree. “Spying on me, brother?”
James leaned forward to casually rest his forearms on the back of the bench and flashed Anthony a grin. “Truth to tell, I couldn’t resist. Was afraid it was going to get embarrassing, though.”
“Not bloody likely. I just met her.”
“And lost her.” Conrad Sharp turned the screw.
Anthony shot the first mate a quelling look as he came around and propped a foot on the opposite end of the bench, but it wasn’t effective in the dark.
“Now, Connie, you can’t fault him there,” James said. “She did throw him quite a turn, appealing to the goodness of his heart and in such a quaint Scottish brogue. And here I thought the lad’s halo was perpetually tarnished.”
“A lass like that could polish any halo,” Conrad replied.
“Yes, she was rather stunning, wasn’t she?” Anthony had heard enough. “And unavailable.” James chuckled. “Staked a claim, have you, lad? Careful, or I might take that as a challenge.”
Anthony’s blood ran cold. It had been sport in their younger days to compete for the same woman, those days when they had prowled London together. Andevery outcome had been a simple matter of which brother had managed to get to the lady first. But the years and overindulgence had tempered Anthony’s libido. It was no longer do or die. Or at least it hadn’t been, until tonight.
But James, well, he simply didn’t know James anymore. Most of their lives they had been close, exceedingly close. It had always been them against the other two brothers, who were a good ten years older. But that was before James had thought it would be a lark to try his hand at pirating on the high seas.
For ten years he had seen James only on rare occasions, the last time ending in a rift that caused all three brothers to disown him—after they had soundly thrashed him for taking Reggie pirating that summer. But now James was reinstated. He had given up pirating. Now he was even likely to return to England for good. Andrightnow, Anthony didn’t know if he was serious or not about challenging him over Roslynn Chadwick.
At that moment he saw her again, through the window, and noticed that James did too. “Blister it, James, what are you doing here anyway?”
The older brother by one year straightened to his full height, which was a tad shorter than Anthony’s. To look at them was not to know they were brothers. James was blond and green-eyed, the marks of a Malory, and stockier in build. It was only Anthony, Regina, Edward’s daughter Amy, and now Jeremy who bore the black hair and cobalt-blue eyes of their grandmother, rumored to have had gypsy blood flowing in her veins.
“If you had been a little more informative in that note you left for me, I wouldn’t have had to ruin my evening by coming here,” James replied. “And nowthat you’ve reminded me of it, I’ve a bone to pick with you, brother. What the devil can you be thinking of, to let that scamp of mine escort Regan anywhere?”
Anthony gritted his teeth over the name Regan. “Is that why you showed up?”
“That was all you saw fit to inform me about. You couldn’t scribble a few more words to let me know you would be here as well, could you?”
Anthony spared a glance around the garden. “If you can call my hiding in the shadows being here, well, then, I guess I am.”
“Don’t be obnoxious, puppy.” Conrad joined in. “Until you’ve had one of your own, you don’t know what it’s like worrying about what they’re up to.”
“What could the poor boy possibly get up to with two such diligent fathers hounding him? And besides, much as I would have liked to ignore it, Jeremy was the one who pointed out that he might not be up to scratch in protecting her. That’s why I’ve been dragged along.”
“You misunderstand, Tony. It wasn’t who was going to protect Regan from the masses that had me worried. It was who was going to protect her from her escort.”
Five seconds passed while Anthony wondered how much animosity he would elicit by laughing at this point. “She’s his cousin, for God’s sake!”
“You think he gives a bloody damn?”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Anthony ventured.
“He’s infatuated with her,” was all James returned.
“Be that as it may, you are overlooking the ‘infatuatee.’ She’d have him begging for mercy in less than a minute if he even looked at her wrong. I thought you knew our niece better than that, old boy.”
“Aye, I know she can hold her own. But I know my son too, and he isn’t easily discouraged.”
“Need I remind you this is a seventeen-year-old boy we’re talking about?”
“Need I remind you whatyouwere like when you were seventeen?” James countered.
