Page 103 of Inconvenient Honor
Richard bit his lip. Had she? She intended to in Constantinople. She said she didn’t think she could be a duchess, which is nonsense. “I’m not sure, but yes. I think so. I will ask her again as soon as I can.”
Dear God! Lily!He rose to go to her but paused. One part of the story teased his brain.
“How did you gather the money so fast?”
“Will convinced the governor in Gibraltar that the foreign secretary would make an exception for his protégé. He knew you, of course, and cobbled together about a third of the cost from his reserves and sent the messages on to London.”
“And the rest?”
“We became convinced there wasn’t enough time to wait. Will took a bank draft to Lisbon. That’s what took so long. His Majesty’s government will owe the earl a pretty penny.”
“I’ll cover it—or rather His Grace will. I’ll see to it.”
“It wasn’t enough. You agreed to a staggering sum.”
“It was a bit over half what he asked. I had to guess how muchwould be more than the Lily’s slave price and mine. Where did you get the rest?”
“That’s the interesting part. A ship arrived from Constantinople. We got the final third from them. Sahin Pasha’s people had been scouring the Mediterranean for you. They were authorized to contribute. I saw the notice. Their ship is close by, just out of sight, by the way. Something about making sure all debts are paid. He seems to think he owes you something.”
“Damn well does, the old reprobate.”
Richard jumped when a loud scream broke into their conversation. He bolted for the bedroom door.
“God go with you, Richard,” Andrew said softly. He wondered where Hamidou kept strong drink. He knew from experience it would be a long wait. He leaned back and began to recite The Aeneid in his head in Latin.
Lily clungto Richard’s hand for dear life. Neither the grandmother’s scowl nor Izza’s outright disapproval moved her to let go.
“He will stay,” she said over and over. The feel of him holding her hand got her through one wave of pain and then another. She had no idea how much time passed since he came to her. An hour? Two?
“Lily, can you trust these women?” he whispered.
“I have to,” she replied. “Oh God. Here it comes again.” She gripped him tightly and breathed as the old woman had shown her.
Richard took a damp towel, wiped her face, and smoothed her hair back. The sight of the mighty marquess, his tattered robe askew, his face marred with worry, tending to her needs tore at Lily’s heart.
I wish I could banish your fear,she thought,but we both know better. Women died in childbirth every day even when not surrounded by Barbary pirates.
A particularly violent pain tore through her. The grandmotherpushed back the sheet that covered her and raised her knees to check her progress.
“Grandmother say you have good fortune, Lady. This birthing going fast,” Izza chirped.
“How much longer?” Richard asked.
The girl shrugged. “Hour. Maybe two. Maybe more.”
“That is not fast,” Richard ground out through clenched teeth.
Lily moved beyond speech. The contractions came, hard and long, much faster now. When she began to thrash about, Richard attempted to put his arms around her, but she struck out at him.
“Best leave alone, English. Grandmother says end part is too—” The girl waved a hand in the air and bit her lip, searching for a word. “Busy,” she concluded.
Lily thought perhaps she had become delirious. She could hear Richard’s voice whispering that he loved her over and over. Once she thought he said, “I’ll never do this to you again.”
Waves came one right after the other.
A commotion at the door caught Lily’s attention, reminding her of her reality.Are the pirates gone? Are they back?
“What of the English ship?” she managed to rasp during a lull.
