Page 55 of The Highwayman's Bite

Rhys grinned, happy to confess one of his more honorable moments. “I relieved my captain of some of his cargo.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You stole from your own captain?”

He shook his head. “I do not see it that way. You see, he was attempting to add slave trading to our illicit side ventures. While I did not object to pillaging vessels from enemy nations, this was too immoral and far out of the bounds of our royal duties. So, I released the slaves when we made port in Plymouth.” His chest tightened as he recalled the pitiful conditions of the captives and the wretched smell of their tight quarters. “I was sacked immediately. However, I also reported the captain’s unlawful activities to the Crown and he was arrested for piracy and unchartered trading.”

“And the slaves you released?” Vivian’s disapproving countenance had softened, replaced with an aching sympathy.

“I only encountered two afterwards. One set up a thriving business as a costume maker for the theater. The other joined the Royal Army. I know that others only wanted to return home, and I pray they found their way safely.” Rhys still wondered about their fates from time to time. His own was more dismal after his deed. “As for me, no captains would take me on after what I’d done, so I was forced to return home to Blackpool. Unfortunately, my father was outraged at both my annulment and my loss of my position. We’d never got on well in the first place, so it was easy for him to order me to leave the farm and never return. My brother inherited the farm after that. We exchanged letters after I settled in Manchester and labored on a small farm. I’m afraid I became a bit of a wastrel at the time, drinking my wages.” He favored her with a self-deprecating smirk. “One good thing came from it, I suppose. I made a friend. I cannot tell you his name, for his secrets are not mine to reveal. He was an odd fellow, nursed the same pint for hours at a time, but we conversed about topics of every nature. He was also one of the only people who saw honor in freeing the slaves and turning my captain over to the crown.” Haunting sadness crept into Rhys’s memories at the mention of this friend.

“We met at the same pub for years. Then one night, I’d won a large purse on a hand of cards and was knifed in the back by a thief. Just when I thought I’d bleed to death in the alley behind the pub, my friend bit his wrist and healed my wound with his blood. That is how I discovered that he was a vampire. He then took me before the Lord of Manchester and I was given a choice for having my life saved. Either die, or become a vampire.” Rhys frowned, now knowing he was denied the third option. “I only learned later that my friend should have been able to erase my memory instead. I never got up the nerve to ask him if I was one of the rare mortals who are immune to mesmerism, or if he simply wanted me to join him so badly that he misled me.”

“What happened to him?” Vivian leaned forward, rapt with fascination.

“He was the one who told the Lord of Manchester that I was leaving the territory without permission.” The betrayal still stung. “He was the one who recommended that I be exiled.”

“But he was your friend!” Outrage rang in her voice.

Rhys nodded. “Yes, and he was a great mentor as well. However, he seemed to feel that since he Changed me, that meant that he had the right to control every aspect of my life. At first, I did not notice how controlling he was, because I was so grateful to him for not only teaching me everything about my powers and how to live as a vampire, but also for granting me a life of more wealth, comfort, and education than I ever would have been able to achieve without him. He even took me to see the world, once we had leave from our lord. But as the decades passed, living with him became more constricting.”

“Did he have an... ah...” Her cheeks flushed crimson. “...an interest in you that was more than mere friendship?”

Rhys’s jaw dropped in astonishment that she knew of such things. Madame Renarde must have told her. He coughed. “I’d sometimes wondered, but he never gave any indication that he thought of me in that manner, and as far as I was aware, he took female lovers.” Rhys hadn’t thought of John in years, of how their friendship had bloomed, then soured. “He lost interest in me after the first century, and began his quest to find a new companion more to his liking. Or maybe only more malleable. Yet he must have kept some attention on me, as my visits to my family were carried out with the utmost discretion. But one night, six years ago, I was arrested by the Lord of Manchester’s second and third in command, and forced to confess everything with my former friend standing by and supplying any information I left out. At his recommendation, I was exiled. I’ve been robbing carriages to help Emily regain the farm ever since.” Rhys set down his tea cup. “And that’s my tale as of now. Rather dull, I imagine.”

“Not at all,” Vivian said fervently. “To have lived such a long life, to have adapted to a new society and different challenges of survival is very fascinating. You must have seen and experienced so many things. Did you ever fall in love?”

“I thought I had, a time or two.” Rhys tried to ignore the twinge of heat at her saying that word. “But with mortals, you quickly realize that not only can you live without a person, you must. With other vampires...” He shrugged. “Most are already attached, and those who are not are generally disinclined towards devoting themselves to one being. Not when they’ve tasted freedom that mortal women cannot fathom.”

“Freedom.” She breathed the word like a prayer. “I would very much like to know how that feels.”

“From me?” That should he his first assumption, but something in her tone made him think she was talking about so much more. He remembered the conversation he’d overheard between Vivian and Madame Renarde. “Or from your marriage prospects?”

Although her reluctance to talk about her fears of marriage had nothing to do with their situation and were likely rendered invalid for her future, Rhys remained perversely curious about her unconventional views on the matter. Especially when she hadn’t so much as blinked when he’d told her that he’d likely cheated her out of having a husband. Emily’s distaste for the prospect of remarrying, he could understand, given how her first husband had destroyed her life. But Vivian had no such compass to steer her in the direction of spinsterhood.

When she avoided his gaze, her grasped her chin and tilted her face towards his. “You promised you would answer any question I am inclined to ask.”

For a moment, she looked as if she’d protest, then she sighed with resignation and drew back from him. “Very well. You’ll think me silly and spoilt, I warn you.”

“I’ve learned long ago not to discount a person’s feelings as silly, I assure you.”

She regarded him with a cautious smile as she refilled her tea cup. “I’m my father’s only daughter, and by the time I was born, my brother was already nearly full grown, so we never had a chance to become close. Mother died when I was only four, and I was given over to the care of my nanny and tutors.”

“That sounds rather lonely,” Rhys said. At least when he was younger, his father had been attentive. His mother had doted on him and his older brother had been his favorite playmate.

“It was.” The statement was matter-of-fact as she sipped her tea. “I hardly ever encountered other children, so I imagined playmates from the stories I read. That is likely why I was always so fanciful. Father took little interest in me until my seventeenth birthday. At first, I was overjoyed that he at last took notice of me and turned myself inside out to please him. But when he made it clear that his wish was for me to find a husband, I realized he only sought to rid himself of me.” The hurt in her eyes made Rhys long to take her in his arms. “Aside from Madame Renarde becoming my companion, three years ago, my introduction to Society was a resounding disappointment. With my plain looks and meager dowry, I was passed over in the Marriage Mart, year after year.”

“You are not plain!” Rhys interjected, outraged at the thought of this beauty speaking so dismally about herself.

Vivian laughed drily. “That is kind of you to say, but my father mourned the fact all my life. His worries proved correct as I languished as a wallflower. The man who wished for me to be his mistress flat out told me.”

“Well that proves the lie,” Rhys said, arching his brow in challenge. “Why would he want a plain mistress?”

Her hand froze with her teacup halfway to her mouth and she gave him a stunned look as if the thought had not occurred to her. “Perhaps it was my dowry that was plain.”

“Tell me more of this cad and his insulting proposal.” Rhys would love to wring his neck. “Was he the source of the scandal you and Madame Renarde alluded to?”

“Yes. Lord Summerly cornered me in the conservatory and attempted to...” Her features contorted in a grimace of disgust. “His hands were everywhere. Then Lord Falton and his wife opened the door and I was so humiliated and angry that I challenged Lord Summerly to a duel.” Her lips quirked up. A smile at last, but it vanished quickly. “Everyone was outraged at my challenge, while Summerly’s behavior was ignored. My father sent me off to Blackpool to stay with my uncle until the talk died down. Unfortunately, Uncle Aldric seemed to be just as eager to have me married off to be rid of me.”

“Likely to ensure you did not remain long enough to learn his secret.” Rhys could not believe that he was defending the vampire who was his enemy. The cold-hearted villain who would see Emily and the children forced from their home. Yet he had to admit that the Lord of Blackpool’s reasons for wanting to see Vivian wed was for the sake of her safety and his, rather than any dislike of his niece.

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