Boyd winced. “Must you put it like that?”

“Yes, I must, since it’s true.”

He sighed. “I know we were rather emphatic when we insisted she have her come-out in America—”

“Very.”

“—and, yes, I know we’re all more often in England these days than in Connecticut as we were back then. But there’s another more important reason for her to go to America for her come-out.” He paused to glance at the door before he added in a near whisper, “Your husband is absent from the house, I hope? I wouldn’t want him walking in on this conversation.”

“Yes, James has gone to the dock to make sure all the provisions have been delivered for the trip. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he drags Tony to Knighton’s first.”

“Damn, I wish they’d let me know when they do that. I do so enjoy watching fights of that caliber.”

“You wouldn’t today. James is rather annoyed, so it’s bound to be brutal.”

“All the better! No, wait. Why is he annoyed? Because you’re upset—with someone?”

“I’m not upset with anyone, just worried. It’s Jack who’s having the bloody fit.”

“About the trip?”

“In a roundabout manner.”

“But I thought she wanted to go.”

“Oh, she did, but she thought that Judy would get to go with her. But that’s not happening. And now Jack refuses to go without her.”

Boyd laughed. “Now, why doesn’t that surprise me? They’ve always been inseparable, those two. Everyone knows it. So why can’t Judy go?”

“Her mother won’t allow it. Roslynn has been preparing for the Season here for months, has been looking forward to it even more than our daughters are. She already knows who will be hosting what parties and balls, has promises of invitations for them all. She already knows who the most eligibles are, including a Scotsman she favors for Judy because he is the son of a close friend of hers. She’s leaving nothing to chance and thinks that Judy might miss a significant event if she sails with us.”

Boyd cast his eyes toward the ceiling. “But they will be back in time for the Season here, might only miss a week or two of it. They’ll still have the rest of the summer here. That is why we’re leaving now, in the spring.”

“But missing the beginning is what’s turned Judith’s mother stubborn, and she can be very stubborn. And I even understand her reasoning, since the very beginning of a Season is when attractions first spark, pairings get made, courting starts. To arrive even a week late can make a world of difference, with all the best catches already taken. Of course she’s most concerned about that Scotsman. She doesn’t want another girl to snare Lord Cullen. So she’s making sure Judy will be here when he is, right at the start of the Season.”

“Do you really think that will matter for the two prettiest debutantes this year?”

“It won’t matter for Jack. She’ll go after who she wants as soon as she claps eyes on him, consequences be damned, this side of the ocean or the other.”

“For God’s sake, Georgie, you’re talking about your daughter, not one of the Malory rakes.”

She raised a brow at him, a habit she’d gotten into soon after marrying James Malory. “You’re surprised she’d take after her father?”

“Too much after him, obviously,” Boyd mumbled, adding the complaint “And that should’ve been nipped in the bud.”

She chuckled at him. “There’s no nipping an influence that strong. But that’s beside the point. Unlike Jack, who occasionally acts before she thinks, Judith is too kindhearted and considerate of others to even come close to stepping on toes. And Roslynn knows that about her daughter. Which is why she won’t budge on Judy’s not missing the first ball of the Season here. I’m afraid if we can’t change Roslynn’s mind, we won’t be sailing. Jack has simply and furiously declined to have a Season without her best friend beside her.”

“Damnit, Georgie, we’re three days away from sailing. It’s too late to cancel. Katey has been looking forward to the trip.”

“D’you think I like this situation? We’re already packed. The Maiden George has been brought up from her dock in the south and a full crew hired. She’s anchored in the Thames as we speak. We’ve been browbeating and cajoling Roslynn for months, and now we’re down to the last few days and she’s still saying no.”

“But our brothers are all on their way to Bridgeport. And Amy will be there soon to oversee the preparations. She sailed with Warren last week. They will all think something horrible has happened if we don’t show up as expected!”

“James would sail anyway to let them know what’s happened, if it comes to that. They won’t be left to worry. I’m sorry, Boyd. I know you and our brothers have been looking forward to this. I just don’t want all of you to be angry if James doesn’t keep his promise. It’s not his fault.”

Boyd gave Georgina a pointed look. “Since when does Jack rule the roost? I’ll get her on the ship myself if you and James are reluctant to insist.”

“You’re missing the point, Boyd. There is no point to this trip if my daughter spends the entire time miserable. None of us expected Roslynn’s opposition. We’ve all tried to change her mind. But she won’t budge. She’s a Scot, you know, and she’s lost her temper more’n once, with all of us trying to change her mind.”

“Then don’t count on Jack’s ever marrying,” Boyd said flatly.

Georgina shot to her feet. “Excuse me? You take that back, Boyd Anderson!”

He rose as well, his brow as furrowed as hers. “I will not. I told you there is another even more important reason for Jack to have her come-out in America. You know she’s going to have a much better chance of finding love with a man who isn’t familiar with your husband’s reputation. The young men here are going to be scared to death to approach her because of him.”

Georgina dropped back into her chair but was still bristling on her husband’s behalf. “Jack isn’t worried about that happening and neither are we.”

“Then you’re deluding yourselves, because it’s human nature. There isn’t a man who knows him, or who has even merely heard the rumors about him, that would risk having James Malory for a father-in-law—that’s if James doesn’t kill him before they get to the altar.”

Georgina gasped, even sputtered before she said furiously, “I now agree with Jack. In fact, I’m not going either. I wouldn’t be able to bear weeks at sea with someone as pigheaded as you!”

Boyd lost his own temper, snarling on the way out of the room, “I won’t let my niece throw away a golden opportunity just because you don’t know when to put your foot down!”

“How dare you!” Georgina yelled, and threw a plate at him.

The plate missed and shattered in the hall. The front door opened before Boyd reached it, and Jacqueline remarked wide-eyed, “Is she breaking dishes on you again?”

Boyd snorted and took Jack’s arm to lead her back out of the house. “She never did have good aim.” And then sternly: “Do you know how much trouble you’re causing?”

Jack grinned cheekily, not the least bit repentant. “It’s all part of my plan.”

“To drive us crazy?”

“To get Judy on the ship with us.”

“I’ve a better idea. Come on, we’re going to find a certain Scotsman and arrange a little accident for him.”

“Really?!”

“I’m definitely in the mood to, but I suppose we can try to reason with him first.”

“Reason with a Scotsman?” Jack started laughing.

Boyd tsked. “Just tell me he’s in town. I don’t want to kill a horse riding to Scotland and back in three days.”

“He is here on business, actually. Arrived a few days ago and has been calling on Judy each day. I’ve had a devil of a time making sure she’s not home to receive him, hoping he’ll get the hint and just go away. But Aunt Ros guessed what I’ve been up to after Judy found the nerve to tell her that she’ll have no Season a’tall if she can’t have one on each side of the ocean.”

“Did that work?”

“No, not yet, but it has to eventually. For now, Aunt Ros is sure Judy will come around once our ship sails without her. She is calling me a bad influence, though,” Jack ended with a grin, rather proud to be called that.

“So Judy hasn’t even met Lord Cullen to know whether she would like him or not?”

“Not since he was a boy. He, on the other hand, has seen her in recent years and is quite besotted. But she’s in no hurry to find out what the man is like. She’s supposed to be meeting him right now in the park. Roslynn was taking her. But Judy’s going to pretend to be sick.”

“Then let’s meet him instead. We can use his infatuation to good purpose, tell him he’ll be doing Judy a favor if he cooperates and claims he’s had an accident that will prevent him from joining the Season for a few weeks. As long as he agrees to assure Roslynn of it, so she’ll no longer have a reason to object to Judy’s coming with us, I won’t actually have to break any bones.”

Jacqueline grinned. “You realize you sound like my father?”

“Bite your tongue, Jack.”

Chapter Four

“Have you thought of something yet? We’re down to two days before we sail, and now neither Jack nor George intends to join us thanks to your wife’s intransigence,” James said as he landed a hard jab to Anthony’s chin that moved his brother back a step.

Word had spread fast in the neighborhood when the Malory brothers were seen going into Knighton’s Hall together. The seats around the ring were already filled as if this fight had been scheduled. A crowd was at the door fighting to get in. Knighton had thrown up his hands and stopped trying to prevent access. Anthony, the youngest Malory brother, had been coming to Knighton’s for most of his life for exercise in the ring, but his fights weren’t very exciting since he never lost—unless his brother James stepped into the ring with him. No one ever knew which brother would win, and thus bets were flying about the hall today.

Anthony’s black brows narrowed on his brother. “No, and you can stop taking your frustration out on me.”

“But who better?” James said drily, and another hard right landed. “What about now?”

“Blister it, James, it ain’t my bloody fault.”

“Of course it is, dear boy. You are the only one capable of talking your wife around. Lost your touch? Good God, you have, haven’t you?”

Anthony got in a solid punch to James’s midsection for that slur, followed by an uppercut. Neither one moved James Malory, who had been likened to a brick wall more’n once by men who had tried to defeat him, his brothers included. But Anthony was knocked off his feet with James’s next blow, deciding the matter of his giving up this round. Bloody hell. James won too easily when he was annoyed. But Anthony was saved from having to concede when his driver climbed up on the side of the ring and waved for his attention. Seeing the man as well, James stepped back.

Anthony got up to fetch the note his man was waving at him, reading it as he returned to James in the middle of the ring. He snorted before he told James, “Judy suggests I save my face a bruising today and come home to pack. Apparently, Ros has given in.”

James started to laugh at the good news, which was how Anthony caught him off guard with a punch that landed his older brother on his arse. But James’s own annoyance was completely gone now with the unexpected news, so he merely raised a golden brow from his position on the floor to inquire, “Then what was that for?”

“Because now I’m no doubt in the doghouse,” Anthony grumbled, though he offered James a hand up. “I don’t know who changed her mind or how they did it, but I know I’ll end up catching her anger for it.”

“Then it’s just as well you’ll be sailing with us and your wife will be staying home. She will have more’n enough time to calm down before we return.”

Both men knew that Roslynn wouldn’t sail with them because of her seasickness. She and Anthony’s younger daughter, Jaime, suffered from the same malady, so even if Roslynn was willing to endure the discomfort for Judy’s sake, she wouldn’t subject Jaime to it again. Nor would she leave Jaime at home alone for the two months they expected to be gone.

But James noted that his remark didn’t seem to ease his brother’s concern. “Come on, old man, don’t tell me London’s most notorious rake can’t redirect a lady’s anger into passion of another sort,” James said as he leaned forward to take his brother’s proffered hand.

Anthony abruptly withdrew it. “It’s against my code of honor to hit a man when he’s down, but I could make an exception just for you.”

James chuckled as he rose to his feet. “I’ll pass on that favor. Don’t want Judy to think her message didn’t get to you in good time.”

• • •

In the middle of the Atlantic, The Nereus was making good headway toward Bridgeport, Connecticut. While the Andersons’ family business, Skylark Shipping, had many ships in its fleet, each sibling also had one of his or her own, and The Nereus was owned and captained by Warren, the second-oldest Anderson brother and Amy Malory’s adoring husband. The couple spent half of the year at sea, along with their children, Eric, and the twins, Glorianna and Stuart, and of course the children’s tutors. The other half of the year they spent in their house in London so their children could get to know their large family.