Free No Longer a Gentleman by Mary Jo Putney Page B

riches.”
    Cassie assembled two plates with sliced bread and cheese and mounds of pâté and relish. She was silently amused by Grey’s cavalier treatment of the pattens. In his pampered youth, he would have had servants quietly straightening up behind him. In his prison cell, he’d had no possessions to keep orderly. The man needed housebreaking.
    She handed him one of the platters, a knife, and a tumbler of hearty red wine. In the low light, he had become the golden youth Kirkland had described. His hair was a bright blond, his beard several shades darker and touched with red. But he was a boy no longer. Now he was a man aged beyond his years.
    “Food and drink whenever I want it. What a remarkable concept.” He spread pâté on a slice of bread and took a bite. He savored the taste before swallowing. “Aahhh, ambrosia.”
    She settled in the chair beside him with her own food and wine. She tasted cheese on bread, pâté on bread, then both plus relish. As he said, ambrosia. “How did you keep your strength up under such dreadful conditions?”
    “I exercised. Ran in place, lifted the two stones that served as furniture, kept moving as much as I could.” He shrugged. “At the beginning, there was barely enough food to keep a rat alive, but the rations improved after Père Laurent was imprisoned.”
    “The castle cook thought it outrageous that a priest was so ill used, so she sent larger servings down for you both,” Cassie explained.
    “I owe the cook thanks. There was never enough food to feel really full, but it was sufficient to keep me from weakening.” He spread pickle relish on a piece of bread and cheese. “There was nothing better to do, so exercise at least filled some time.”
    “Exercise and singing?”
    He smiled a little. “That and remembering poetry and the like. I was not an ideal student. It never occurred to me that an education might help me cling to my sanity.”
    “A well-furnished mind must be a great asset when one is imprisoned.”
    “Père Laurent’s mind is extremely well furnished. I encouraged him to tell me everything he knew.” Grey spread pâté lavishly. “Cassie, what happens next?”
    “We need to stay here a day or two until the roads clear,” she said. “Then north to the English Channel, where smugglers can take us home.”
    “Home,” he repeated. “I don’t know what that means anymore. I was a typical young man about town, drinking and gaming and chasing opera dancers. A useless life. I can’t go back to that. But I don’t know what I can go back to.”
    “Ten years have passed,” she said slowly. “You would have been a different man now even if you’d been safe in England the whole time. You might have married and become a father. You might have entered politics since you’ll be in the House of Lords in time. Many paths are open to you, and you can take your time in choosing.”
    “Even thinking about a night at the opera, or a boxing mill, or a gaming club frightens me,” he said bleakly. “So many people! I don’t know if I can bear that. That was one reason I went out to the pond. Even half a dozen kind people were too many.”
    “After ten years of solitary confinement, it’s not surprising if you find the thought of crowds appalling,” she agreed. “But you can avoid them until and unless you’re ready. You’re a nobleman. You can be a splendidly eccentric hermit if you like. Since you were outgoing and enjoyed people before, it’s likely you will again. In time.”
    “I hope you’re right.” He glanced across at Cassie, his gaze hooded. “Do you have the apple brandy?”
    “Since you’re unused to strong spirits, it might be wiser not to indulge in more,” she observed. “Unless you want to greet your first day of freedom with a pounding head.”
    He let his head rest on the chair back. “I expect you’re right. Even though I didn’t drink that much by the pond, I seem to be babbling away quite frivolously.”
    “It’s