Ravished by the Rake by Louise Allen

Author:Louise Allen
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781408923528
Publisher: Harlequin (UK) Limited
Published: 2011-10-09T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Alistair took one of the foils from Daniel Chatterton and tested the button on the point. It seemed secure and he brought the blade down through the air with a swish, pleased the weapon was light and well balanced in his hand. They were an expensive pair: Callum must take his fencing seriously.

Word of the bout had spread and most of the passengers were on deck to watch. One young lady had even brought her sketchbook and Dita was perched on a stool, notebook and pencil in hand, her face in shadow under a broad-brimmed hat.

Doctor Melchett had taken command of the wagers, which were growing prodigiously. As no one, except Daniel Chatterton, had any idea of the proficiency of either of them, it was hard to know on what basis people were staking their money.

‘You are the favourite,’ George Latham, one of the more senior Company clerks, remarked as he passed Alistair on his way to a place at the rail. ‘Everyone’s heard about the tiger, no doubt.’ He glanced at Callum, who had discarded his coat and was rolling up his shirt sleeves. ‘Chatterton looks competent though.’

‘I am sure he’ll give me a good bout,’ Alistair said. He did not care if the man was the East India Company’s foils champion, he was not teaching Dita to fence and getting his hands all over her in the process.

‘How is the winner to be decided?’ someone called.

‘It is in the nature of a masquerade,’ Daniel said. ‘Lord Lyndon plays the villain, my brother the hero. They fight over the heroine, played by Mrs Bastable, who sits here.’ He indicated a chair at the foot of the main mast where the lady dimpled and waved to her friends. ‘She is the villain’s captive. To win, one man must either disarm the other, or land a hit that in the opinion of our learned medical advisor—’ Dr Melchett bowed ‘—is fatal or incapacitating, or must obtain the other’s surrender.’

Callum picked up his foil, walked forwards and took his position. Alistair faced him and raised the foil for the salute. As Chatterton’s blade came up Alistair saw the focus in the other man’s eyes and blanked everything beyond his opponent from his mind; however this had started, it was not a game now.

‘En garde!’ Daniel called and the blades touched. Alistair stepped back sharply and Callum cut to his right. So it begins, he thought, watching the other man for balance and strengths, knowing he was being assessed in the same way as they cut and parried, shifting around their circle of deck.

He let his guard waver deliberately, took a touch to the arm that would have been a slash with an unguarded weapon and confirmed his suspicion that Chatterton was weaker on the left foot. But it was a damnably close match. Alistair pinked his opponent on the left shoulder, took another hit on the forearm and then, as Callum was extended from that lunge, shifted his weight and drove him back hard towards the hatch cover.

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