Page 21 of The Duke of Lies
“Excuse me.” Rufus’s deep voice sounded near her ear. He’d shed his coat, and she turned her head to see Kirwin held the garment.
“Are you going to get him?” she asked.
“Of course.” He started up the trunk and climbed to Beau with speed and ease, as if he climbed trees all the time.
She saw him talking to Beau, who clutched the branch with both arms. His little face was drawn and pale, and Verity longed to hold him close and tell him everything would be all right. Then she’d scold him for not listening to her or to Nurse.
It took several minutes of what looked like cajoling, but then Rufus moved. He seemed to dangle from the tree, and Verity’s breath caught. He put his back to Beau, and a moment later, one of her son’s arms wrapped around his neck. It took another moment, during which Verity still didn’t breathe, but Beau’s other arm joined the first, clasping Rufus tightly. Beau’s eyes were tightly closed, and Verity fought to keep hers open. If he dropped her son…
Rufus said something, and Beau’s eyes came open. Then Rufus began to descend, far more slowly than he’d gone up. Verity had the sense he could’ve made it down in half the time it had taken to ascend but didn’t because of his precious cargo.
When he reached the main trunk and was just a few feet from the ground, she finally exhaled. Rufus’s boots hit the dirt, and Verity stepped forward to take Beau from his back. Beau transferred his arms to her and squeezed his legs around her middle.
“I’m sorry, Mama.” He whimpered against her neck for a moment, and she held him close as she pressed her lips to his dark head.
“You’re safe now,” she said. Her gaze drifted to Rufus as Kirwin helped him don his coat. The butler brushed at something on Rufus’s sleeve and looked at him with something akin to admiration.
She understood because she felt that too, and she had no idea what to do about that. She’d loathed and despised him for so long.
Beau lifted his head from her shoulder and turned to look at Rufus. “Did you see what Papa did? He’s the best climber ever!”
“I did see,” Verity murmured.
“Because of all the rigging on the ships. He said the first time he had to climb up, he was terrified, but that he had to do it.”
“Just as you had to come down,” Rufus said with a half smile. “We have to learn to conquer our fears. You did that today, and I’m proud of you.”
Beau seemed to swell in her arms so that she could practically feel the joy his father’s words gave him. Verity wasn’t immune either. “Thank you,” she said, though it was a far too simple expression of her appreciation. It wasn’t just that he’d saved Beau but that he’d taught the boy a valuable lesson.
She would have expected him to punish Beau. In fact, even now, she waited for him to address the fact that Beau had ignored his nurse. When he didn’t, she set her son down and squatted to look him in the eye.
“Beau, I am very glad you’re safe, and it sounds as if you learned a lesson about being brave. However, you also need to learn a lesson about listening to Nurse. What if Papa hadn’t been here to save the day?” She practically choked on those words, never imagining she would say them.
Beau’s gaze dropped to the ground. “I would still be up in that tree,” he muttered. “I’m sorry, Mama. I should have listened to Nurse.” He lifted his green eyes to hers. “Should I have a punishment?”
Verity acknowledged that she was perhaps too lenient with Beau, but he was a good boy overall. She looked up at Rufus, who was watching them. He gave a slight shrug, clearly leaving the matter up to her. He was doing precisely what he’d said and not meddling in things beyond the management of the estate.
“You probably should,” she said, looking back to Beau. “No tree climbing for three days.”
Beau opened his mouth, likely to protest, but he glanced at his father and nodded. “Yes, Mama. But then can Papa teach me how to get up and down by myself? He promised me.”
He had? That must have been one of the things they’d been discussing up in the tree. Along with Rufus’s own fear at having to climb the rigging of a ship. She found herself intrigued by the experiences that had changed this man, and more than a trifle curious. Too bad he’d said he wouldn’t speak of them. Except, it seemed, when he needed to persuade his son to come down from a tree.
Would there be a reason he’d need to confide in her about the past six and a half years? She couldn’t see one, but right now, she accepted that her life had turned completely upside down.
“I’ll talk to him about it,” Verity said, rising. Part of her still feared to entrust Beau to Rufus, but so far, he’d proven himself up to the task. “But now I’d like you to go upstairs and change out of your dirty clothes.”
“Yes, Mama.” Beau gave her a quick hug, then went to Rufus and hugged him too—albeit for just a moment longer. Or so it seemed.
Jealousy needled through Verity as she watched Beau take Nurse’s hand and walk back toward the house. She turned to Rufus. “I suppose we must be grateful for your time aboard ship.”
He shrugged. “I would’ve rescued him anyway, just perhaps a bit more slowly.”
“I guess you did conquer your fear,” she said, thinking how it was common knowledge that he hadn’t liked to climb to the tops of the towers.
“Yes.” Had that been a flash of uncertainty in his gaze? “I think I’ll go inside and change as well,” he said. “And perhaps take a bath before dinner.”
Kirwin turned toward the castle. “I’ll go and arrange that, Your Grace.”
