Tallie's Knight Part 34

"No Richard--Ricardo," the little boy muttered fiercely, but he did not take his wary brown eyes off Tallie.

"Of course, Ricardo," said Tallie, smiling through her tears. She held out her arms. The boy looked up at Magnus, who nodded. The child shrank back a little. Magnus gave him a gentle push towards Tallie.

The little boy came towards her slowly, suspiciously, glancing frequently back at Magnus, as if fearing he would disappear. Magnus nodded encouragingly. The child allowed himself to be embraced, standing rigid in her arms for a moment or two, like a small, stiff block of wood. It seemed to Tallie she could feel almost every bone in his body, even through the layers of ill-fitting clothing. Poor little lad. As soon as she loosened her hold he wriggled out of it and scurried back towards Magnus, gripping Magnus's sleeve firmly in his grubby little hand. It was plain her little brother trusted only one person. Magnus laid a gentle hand on the child's shoulder.

"He has had a hard time of it, my dear," he said softly.

"You must not take it to heart."

Tallie shook her head, smiling, her heart too full to speak.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, but they were tears of joy, not sorrow.

Magnus, his intense gaze boring into her, stepped forward, took out a large handkerchief and carefully dried her face, cupping her chin in a large warm hand. She stood motionless, drinking in the beloved Magnus smell of him, the tender motion of his hands on her skin, his warm, ragged breath on her face. She had yearned for this so often during the last months she was almost afraid it was yet another dream.

Shakily she lifted a hand to his thin, lined cheek and traced the long groove that bisected it. Whiskers rasped beneath her fingers. He was real. Magnus had come back to her.

"Oh, Magnus," she whispered tremulously, and lifted her face blindly up to his. With a hoa.r.s.e groan he drew her against him and' lowered his mouth to hers.

He kissed her hungrily, as if unable to get enough of her, his tongue moving ravenously, possessively, slaking a desperate need, arousing desperate desires. He pressed burning kisses on her mouth, her nose, her throat, her wet eyelids, her mouth again, holding her hard against him, smoothing her body against his, remembering, reclaiming.

She kissed him back fervently, feverishly, with equal pa.s.sion, burning away the lost months of loneliness, the anger, the distress and the fear. She only knew he was here, with her, and that the part of her that had wanted to die was vibrantly, joyously alive. Her arms clasped him around the neck, pulling him closer, and she pressed herself against him, hard. She ran one hand through his long thick hair, glorying in the cool texture of it and the bony, beloved shape of his skull. She slipped her other hand into the opening of his s.h.i.+rt, longing to feel his skin against hers once more. There was a sharp thud.

"What was that?" Magnus pulled back suddenly and looked at her, shocked.

Tallie smiled mistily. She took his hand and laid it gently on her stomach.

"That was your son."

He stared at her, then jumped as he felt another little kick.

His eyes fixed on the swell under his hand for a long moment, then his eyes met hers in a look of dazed wonder. The baby kicked again, and again Magnus started.

"Does it happen often?" he whispered.

Tallie nodded.

Magnus blinked.

"Does it hurt?"

She shook her head.

"Not at all."

"Oh, Lord," he groaned, and drew her into his arms again and buried his face in her hair. They stood there a long time in silence, feeling the baby kick occasionally.

After a few minutes Tallie felt a movement at her elbow. She glanced down. A small grubby face scowled up at her, then tentatively pushed closer to Magnus. Gently she reached down to draw him in to their embrace. His body was stiff and resistant, like a wild animal, and he gripped hold of Magnus's s.h.i.+rt possessively. Gently she touched his hair. She felt him flinch, but he didn't move away.

She started to stroke the tangled honey-coloured curls, so like her own, and he let her, still poised like a wary creature, to flee or to fight. She continued stroking his hair, lightly at first, then more confidently as she felt him start to relax. It was the last thing she would have expected to do with her brother, tame him like a little wildcat. Her heart bled at the thought of the life he must have led, the life which made him so wary and mistrustful.

After a time she felt him thrust himself between her and Magnus and she dropped her hand away in disappointment. It would take time for her to earn his trust, she told herself. He turned his head to glare at her again, then looked away. Slowly, without looking at her, he reached down and took her hand, then placed it back on his head.

Tallie felt a surge of joy as she began stroking him again, and she felt him lean imperceptibly into her caress. He was hungry for love, she realised.

He was not the only one.

She looked up at her husband and saw with amazement a sheen of tears in his sea-grey eyes as he gazed at her.

"Shall we go inside?" he said huskily. She nodded, her heart once again too full for words. She moved to step away, but he pulled her back, his good arm holding her hard against his side. A small bony body burrowed defiantly between them and Magnus smiled and loosened his hold on her, making room for the little boy.

"I see Fm going to have to learn to share you," he murmured.

Tallie smiled tremulously back. The, too," she said, and then, with not a sliver of the dying evening light showing between their bodies, the little family moved slowly towards the house.

"Gino and I took a shorter version of the route we left by," said Magnus, sipping a gla.s.s of burgundy with pleasure.

"Into Holland, then Westphalia and so on, travelling overland, mainly by night."

Tallie listened in silence, her eyes wide. Travelling across miles and miles of enemy territory in the middle of a war, and by night. It sounded terribly dangerous, yet he spoke of his journey as if it were nothing.

"Have some more roast beef," she urged him.

His eyes travelled to Tallie's brother, who was ploughing happily through a second plate heaped with food. He smiled.

"I think young Richard is proving himself the better trencherman here."

The boy looked up frowning, his mouth full.

"No Richard-- Ricardo!"

Magnus shook his head.

"He will soon accustom himself to his English name."

"Ricardo," came a mutter from the other side of the table.

Tallie intervened.

"And then where did you go?"

"Back through Venice and thence to Piedmonte. Carlotta sends her love, by the way."

Tallie smiled and nodded, but she was not going to be sidetracked.

"Wasn't it terribly dangerous to travel all that way?"

Magnus shrugged.

"Oh, we ran into a French patrol here and there, but honestly, my dear,

if you'd seen them--more than half of Napoleon's recruits are beardless boys, dragged off their farms. And the officers are not gentlemen, as ours are. I was in no great danger."

He was lying, thought Tallie. She had heard Freddie discussing the war. There might be a lot of young lads in Napoleon's army, but there were also a lot of strong men. And if his officers were not gently born, it seemed to her they would be even rougher with an Englishman caught in the wrong place.

"It took some time, but in the end I found him--and half a dozen other young orphans." He darted an odd look at her."You'll never believe who was keeping an eye on them, making sure thechildren didn't starve. That bandit fellow."

"Maguire?" Tallie was astounded. And intrigued.Magnus nodded."Hard to believe, but it's true. In fact he brought me to the little chap... after he'd bound my wound up."

"Maguire bound your wound?" Tallie squeaked. Then she frowned in dire

suspicion.

"He didn't cause it, did he?"

Magnus shook his head, smiling.

"No, it was a French bullet. The bandit dragged me to safety."

"Oh, I knew he was a n.o.ble fellow!" Tallie clasped her hands in

thankfulness.

"Odd you should say that," Magnus drawled.

"He claims to be Irish n.o.bility--well, they all say that, of course.

But still, he's got a look about him. I sent him back to Ireland."Tallie sat up, alarmed."But won't they hang him? He said--' Magnus snorted."I'd like to see them try! No, I've appointed him manager of my Irish properties--for his lifetime."

Tallie's jaw dropped.

"Fellow might be a d.a.m.ned blackguard, but he's got a good heart," said

Magnus gruffly.

"Those children would have perished without him. And he did save my life." "Yes, of course, and I think it's a wonderful idea," exclaimed Tallie warmly.

"And what did you do with the other children?"

Magnus regarded her oddly a moment. Naturally his wife would expect him to take care of any other orphans he came across.

"They are in the very best of care."

"With whom? Maguire?"

Magnus grinned. It had been a tempting thought, to saddle the green-eyed rogue with a pack of children, but he hadn't done It.

"No, I thought they were better off in the care of a good woman."

"What good woman?"

"Guess."

Tallie thought for a moment.

"Carlotta! Of course! What a splendid idea, Magnus."

He nodded.

"I left her with five hungry little urchins, cooking up an enormous batch of pasta and mothering them to her heart's content. I settled money on her, of course, to help with the cost, although she was d.a.m.ned stiff-necked about it."

Tallie regarded her husband in amazement. She could still hardly believe it; not only had her husband not abandoned her, he had risked his life a hundred times over, so that she could be united with her brother. Her b.a.s.t.a.r.d, half-foreign brother. And he'd given a childless widow five needy children to care for. He'd even removed Maguire from his life of crime and given him a position of respect in his homeland.

The very contemplation of his n.o.ble deeds threatened to overwhelm her.

She watched the small boy as he mopped up gravy with a piece of bread, then lifted the plate to lick it clean. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Magnus frown and open his mouth. She laid her hand on his arm.

"There is plenty of time to teach him his manners." Magnus relaxed.

The door flew open and Harris entered, carrying a trifle--a staggering confection of cake and cream and jelly that had young Richard-Ricardo's eyes popping. The very thing to appeal to a young boy, thought Tallie delightedly, making a mental note to thank Cook for her thoughtfulness later.