Free Diamonds and Dreams by Rebecca Paisley Page B

morning?”
Kenneth reminded his friends. “I must admit I was a bit on the
nervous side when he came at me with that gleam in his eyes and
that razor in his hands.”
    “He nicked my chin,” David said. “And you
know, although he denied it, I believe he did it on purpose.”
    “He refused to butter my toast this
morning,” Winston added, swatting at a branch with his riding crop.
“I was forced to remind him about a certain trip to Paris before I
could induce him to obey my instructions. And then he smashed a
great blob of butter on my bread, but refused to spread it. I asked
him what I was supposed to do with such an ill-prepared piece of
toast. His answer does not bear repeating.”
    Addison grinned. “Yes, I believe it is safe
to say that the Duke of Ravenhurst is being well and truly ruffled.
And his resentment will more than likely rise with each day we are
here. Why, even now, he’s probably sulking in some hiding place
and—”
    “What was that noise?” Kenneth asked
abruptly, sitting straighter in the saddle as he listened. “Do you
hear it?”
    “It sounds like someone talking,” David
said.
    Addison listened intently. “That’s Saber’s
voice.”
    “Who do you suppose he’s speaking to out
here in the middle of the woods?” David asked.
    “I think a bit of spying is in order,”
Kenneth said, smiling.
    Winston nodded. “But let’s go afoot so our
presence won’t be noticed.”
    The men dismounted and secured their horses.
Tiptoeing through the woods, they soon came upon a pond and hid
behind the scraggly hedgerow surrounding it.
    “There he is,” Addison whispered. “My God,
look how dirty and wet he is!”
    “Who’s that girl?” David asked, parting the
branches of the shrubbery so he could see better. “My, but she’s a
dainty bit, isn’t she?”
    “Be quiet,” Addison ordered. “Let’s
listen.”
    “His shirtsleeve is torn,” Kenneth
commented. “It appears as though he’s been fighting.”
    “Shhh!” Addison begged for silence.
    “Good heavens, she’s kissing him!” Winston
exclaimed.
    “What’s that about bashing people over the
heads with canes?” David asked.
    “Quiet!” Addison whispered loudly.
    “She wants him to be Duke Marion,” Kenneth
mused quietly. “ Duke Marion. Good God. Only an American
would use such a term.”
    Impatiently, Addison glared at his friends,
waving his hand to quiet them. Turning back to the pond, he
continued to listen. Soon, rich, deep laughter hit his ears, a
sound so foreign, he almost didn’t recognize it for what it was. He
was astonished. It was a moment before he could speak. “Saber,” he
whispered. “Good heavens, our Saber is laughing !”
    “He is at that,” Kenneth concurred. “And if
I wasn’t hearing it with my own ears, I’d never—”
    “I wonder who that girl is?” Addison asked
softly, more to himself than his friends. Whoever she was, he
mused, Saber was enjoying her company. Addison decided then and
there she couldn’t be allowed to get away.
    Winston wiped tears of merriment from his
eyes. “Can you believe it?” he whispered. “The little chit wants
Saber to impersonate himself !” Kenneth chuckled. “And she
offered to pay him!” David held his belly, silent laughter shaking
him. “Imagine putting the Duke of Ravenhurst—one of England’s
wealthiest men—on salary !”
    Winston peered through the bushes again. “I
wonder what the little American would do if she learned she’d just
offered duke lessons to the one and only...uh, Duke Marion ?
Shall we tell her?”
    “Wait,” Addison whispered when his friends
prepared to emerge from behind the hedgerow. He stared at Saber and
the girl again, his mind spinning with a newborn scheme. “Boys,
when we show ourselves, let me do all the talking. However strange
it is, agree with everything I say.”
    “What are you going to do?” Winston
asked.
    Addison only grinned in answer. The men
shrugged and followed him into the clearing.