His Duchess at Eventide by Wendy LaCapra

Author:Wendy LaCapra [LaCapra, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Historical Romance
Publisher: Wendy LaCapra
Published: 2018-11-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

CHEVERLEY GRITTED HIS teeth as Emmaus laid another stich, slowly closing the shallow gash on his side. Enduring the needle never got easier, no matter how many cuts one survived.

Listening to the howls of Emmaus’s first patient hadn’t helped, either. And Irus, who was unconscious again by the fire, on a heap of pigskins and deep in gin-infused sleep, only suffered a split lip.

“You’re lucky Sir Jerold did not arrest you,” Emmaus said.

Chev scoffed. “For defending myself?”

“For nearly killing an old drunk. And don’t bother attempting to deny your rage. I saw how close you came.”

Chev glanced askance at Irus—whose swollen face would, no doubt, purple long before he woke.

Chev had, once again, seen red.

Although he’d also tried to avoid the fight. He’d done everything he could to discourage Irus from throwing the first punch. But Anthony and his coterie had egged on the old man’s belligerence, and, once Irus had pulled a knife, Chev had little choice.

Emmaus looked up. “Can you control your rage?”

“Can you?”

Disappointment flashed in Emmaus’s gaze. “If I could not, I would not be alive today.”

Chev nodded, chagrined. Even what Chev endured was nothing compared to Emmaus’s tale.

“Forgive me.”

Emmaus snorted. “Just promise you’ll stop landing your foot in your mouth.”

“Best not to speak at all, then.”

Chev leaned back and closed his eyes.

Why was it, when standing on the helm of a ship, he could read a hundred risks and opportunities in the weather, in the waves. With quick calculation, he could discern the balance of enthusiasm and trepidation in his men and know how the result could affect a planned attack. But on land—though risks aplenty abounded—all opportunities were shrouded.

He’d no idea how to deduce something so simple as his reckoning, nor did he have any rudder he could shift that would change his course.

Irus snored deeply, interrupting Chev’s thoughts.

Throwing punches had been far easier than bringing justice to his life and his home. Irus had been but a proxy for Anthony, for the pirate. He understood that, now that the red had passed.

“Irus will recover,” he said aloud.

“Once he sleeps off that gin you bought him, yes,” Emmaus agreed.

“I’m lucky you showed up when you did.”

“I’ll say.” Emmaus tied off, and then cut, the thread.

Chev took another swig of well-earned gin. “You haven’t told me what happened between you and the vice-admiral.”

“Is anything having to do with the Admiralty ever quickly resolved?” Emmaus returned his needle to his leather packet. “I was not given my share of past spoils; however they did provide me with an opportunity.”

Emmaus wiped his hand on a rag. He didn’t touch the gin. He never did. “They’ve been watching a ship not too far off shore—a purported merchant ship flying a Danish flag. They want help bringing the ship in without drawing too much attention or risking their own men.”

“Why?”

“Because the ship is neither Danish, nor does it belong to a merchant.”

“A privateer?”

“Possibly.” Emmaus nodded. “If I take it, they say it will be mine.”

“You get your spoils without them having to give you anything at all.

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