Trapped by Scandal by Jane Feather

inherited from his mother, and he kept lodgings in Half Moon Street in London for his occasional visits to the city, but his heart lay in France. He had grown up on his father’s country estate in Bordeaux and spent most of his young adulthood in Paris in the grand mansion of theSt. Aubery family on Rue Varennes, from where he had entered the closed circles of the French court. When the first rumblings of trouble among the people of France had been heard and they had demanded that the King call the Estates General for the first time in generations, William’s sympathy had been with the people and their grievances. He had joined with two other aristocrats, members of the First Estate, the Comte de Mirabeau and the Duc d’Orleans, in voting with the people’s Third Estate when it declared itself the National Assembly.
    But how quickly that early promise of rational, legal redressing of ancient inequalities had degenerated into the terror that now ruled the country. Disgusted by the violence, the indiscriminate brutality that followed the orderly beginnings of the revolution, William had devoted himself to getting his threatened compatriots to safety. And now he found himself questioning his French self. This country could never feel like his home again, and he had learned over the last months to appreciate the selfless bravery of these English gentlemen who fought by his side.
    And not just gentlemen, he thought with an inner smile, listening to Hero tell her story. She was a lively narrator, her hands moving rapidly in illustration of her experiences. She didn’t dwell on the fear she must have felt so often, the threat of danger that must have accompanied her every step, but her audience had no difficulty imagining it. Occasionally, she brushed strands of falling hair from her cheeks and once or twice muttered a curse as she tried to refasten the pins in what was rapidly becoming anunruly tumble of rich color. It aroused in William an urge to run his fingers through it, tangling them deep amidst the thick, loosely curling locks.
    â€œAnd so here I am,” Hero finished, spreading her hands wide. “And thank God I’ve found you safe, brother.”
    â€œAye,” Alec said, frowning grimly. “How could you have risked your life on such a quest, Hero? We have to get you out of here with the next group.” He glanced interrogatively at William.
    â€œWhy?” Hero demanded before William could say anything. “No one knows I’m here.”
    â€œWell, where does Aunt Emily think you are?” Alec demanded. Their father’s distant elderly dowager cousin had lived with them as nominal chaperone for the unmarried Hero since the death of their parents.
    â€œAs far as Aunt Emily is concerned, I’m in the wilds of Inverness staying with relatives of the Camerons. No one knows I’m here,” Hero repeated with emphasis.
    â€œI wouldn’t be so sure about that,” William said thoughtfully. “You came over on a clandestine fishing boat, most likely in the company of the Lizard. He’s going to be wondering who you are and what brought you to France. Even if you exchanged no words with him, he’s still going to be curious. That’s his business, and,” he added, “it’s one he’s very good at.”
    Hero frowned. “But he couldn’t possibly know where I am now. It took me over a week to get from Calais to Paris, but I saw him get into a hired coach at the quay. He didn’t give me a second glance, I’m sure of it.”
    â€œI doubt you would have known what to look for,”William stated. “However, you’re here now, and we might have a use for you.”
    â€œI don’t want Hero involved in anything,” Alec declared. “It’s too dangerous.”
    â€œNonsense,” Hero stated. “It’s no more dangerous for me than it is for you, and if William thinks I can be useful, then