Tender Rebel #4

 

“Well, youngun? What boring bit of nonsense have you to impart? Will it do?” Anthony leaned casually against the doorjamb, watching Jeremy survey his new room with obvious delight.

“Hell’s bells, Uncle Tony, I—”

“Stop right there.” Anthony put on his most unnerving scowl for the lad’s benefit. “You can uncle my brothers to death if you like, but a simple Tony will do here, thank you.”

Jeremy smiled widely, not at all intimidated. “It’s great, 

Tony, it really is. The room, the house, you. I can’t thank you en—”

“Then don’t, please,” Anthony cut in quickly. “And before you go on with this bloody hero worship, be apprised I’m going to thoroughly debauch you, dear boy. Serve your father right for entrusting you in my care.”

“You promise?”Anthony had to constrain the short bark of laughter. The lad had taken him seriously. “No, I do not. Good God, d’you think I want Jason down my throat? He’s going to go through the roof as it is when he learns James turned you over to me instead of him. No, I’ll introduce you to the type of female your father has forgotten exists.”

“Like Regan?”

Anthony’s scowl was quite real this time. “We’ll get on, you and I, as long as I never hear that name. Blister it, you’re as bad as your father—”

“Now, I can’t let you speak poorly of my father, Uncle Tony,” Jeremy interrupted quite seriously.Anthony stepped forward and tossed the lad’s coal-black hair, so like his own. “Understand me, puppy. I love your father. Always have. But I’ll run him through the coals anytime I feel the urge to. He was my brother before he was your father, after all, and he doesn’t need defending by the likes of you. So keep your hackles down. I never meant anything by it.”

Jeremy chuckled, mollified. “Rega—Reggie said you weren’t happy unless you were arguing with your brothers.”

“Did she? Well, that puss always has been a know-it-all,” Anthony replied fondly. “And speaking of the lady, she sent round a note today. Seems she’s in town without her viscount for a change and in need of an escort for some ball tonight. How would you like the chore?”

“Me? D’you mean it?” Jeremy asked excitedly.

“I don’t see why not. She knows I can’t abide such affairs and wouldn’t have asked me if someone else were available. But Edward’s taken his brood up to Haverston for the week to visit Jason, and Derek’s up there too, so that unfortunately leaves you and me the only Malorys in town she can prevail upon—unless, of course, we foist the chore on your father. That’s if we could find him in time. He might be laying his pallet here for the week, but he mentioned something about looking up an old friend—”

“Sarah,” Jeremy supplied, blue eyes twinkling. “She works in a tavern down—”

“Spare me the details.”

“You wouldn’t catch him going to a ball anyway, even for his favorite niece. But I’d love to. I even have the clothes for it. And I know how to dance, I really do. Connie taught me.”

Anthony nearly choked on that one. “Did he? Who led, you or he?”

Jeremy grinned. “A little of both, but I’ve had practice with the wenches since, and they haven’t complained.”

Anthony wasn’t about to ask what other forms of practice the lad had been at, for he could well imagine. Too much association with his father’s unsavory friends, obviously. Whatever was he going to do with such a charming scamp? But he would have to do something, for Jeremy was sadly lacking in the social graces, thanks to his father. A gentleman pirate—well, retired pirate—and a disreputable rake, yours truly—fine examples to choose from. Perhaps he ought to turn the lad over to his cousins when they returned to London and see if they could teach him the rudiments.

“I’m sure Reggie’ll be delighted to dance with you, youngun, but call her a wench and she’s libel to box your ears. And she knows you well enough now, so she’ll be glad to have you for the evening. I understand she’s rather fond of you.”

“Aye, she took right to me the day we abducted her.”

“Must you remind me of that? And it was only after she knew who you were that she took to you, dear boy. Good God, for James to go to so much trouble to even the score with the viscount, then to find Reggie had married him.”

“Well, that changed everything.”

“Of course it did. But he shouldn’t have dragged you along in this quest for vengeance anyway.”

“It was a matter of honor.”

“Ah, so you know about honor, do you?” Anthony said dryly. “Then there’s hope for you, I suppose if we can manage to remove ‘wenches’ from your vocabulary, that is.”

Jeremy blushed slightly. It wasn’t his fault he had spent the first years of his life in a tavern until his father discovered his existence and took him in hand. Connie, James’ first mate and best friend, was always on him about his speech; now here was another one determined to correct him.“Perhaps I’m not good enough to escort—”

“There you go taking what I say to heart again.” Anthony shook his head at the boy. “Would I have suggested you escort my favorite niece if I didn’t think you were capable?”

Jeremy was frowning now, but for a different reason. “I can’t do it. Hell’s bells, what was I even thinking of? Of course I can’t. If it was anyone else—no, I just can’t.”

“What the devil are you mumbling about?”

Jeremy stared at him intently. “I can’t take her to no ball if I’m to be her only protection. What if someone like you bothers her?”

“Like me?” Anthony wasn’t sure whether he wanted to laugh or strangle the whelp.

“You know what I mean, Tony, someone who doesn’t take well to a ‘no’ when he hears it. Not that I wouldn’t gullet anyone who dared—”

“But who’s to take a seventeen-year-old seriously?” Anthony finished with a scowl. “Damnation, I can’t tolerate those bloody affairs! Never could, never will. But you’re quite right. I suppose we’ll have to compromise. You escort her, and I’ll keep an eye on her, too. The Crandal ballroom fronts a garden, I believe, so I ought to manage it without actually making an appearance. That should satisfy even her overprotective husband. Does that suit you, young Galahad?”

“Aye, as long as I know you’re there and can step in if she has any real trouble. But hell’s bells, Tony, won’t you be bored stuck out in the garden all night?”

“Assuredly, but I suppose I can suffer it for one evening. You don’t know what the alternative is should I actually show up at one of these affairs, and don’t ask. It’s the bane of my life, but it’s the life I choose, so I’ve no complaints.”

And with that cryptic remark, Anthony left Jeremy to settle into his new quarters.