Come the Dawn Read Online Free PDF Page B

“If it’s something secret, of course, then tell me to go to the devil.”
    “Not at all.” Devlyn’s face was expressionless. “I am merely … tired.”
    Ian gripped his arm. “Damn it, I saw you cut down by a saber, Thornwood! Talk to me.”
    “The cut was less than accurate. I was left … quite uncomfortably at the bottom of a pile of dead bodies. It was three days before I was discovered, so I am told.”
    “Told?”
    Thornwood toyed with the edge of one cuff. “You seem determined to draw me into tedious explanations. Do I know you?”
    Ian snorted. “I should bloody well think so. We fought together at Badajoz and again at Vimeiro. You saved my life twice, and I certainly won’t forget that.”
    The Earl of Thornwood’s mouth hardened. “I see. That makes this all rather complicated, I fear.”
    “Damn it, Thornwood, stop speaking in riddles.”
    “I am merely being straightforward. I do not know who you are, nor do I know anyone else here. I came only because this seemed the quickest way to…”
    “To do what?”
    “To make the truth known.”
    “What truth?”
    Thornwood sighed. “Must we discuss this now?”
    “Right now. Right here.” Ian’s arms crossed at his chest. “I want to know where in the devil you’ve been.”
    “Very well. The truth you seek is simple. The man called Thornwood that you see is not the Thornwood you knew. The man you knew — the man all those other people in that ballroom knew — is gone forever. His memories and his mind are buried in a muddy cornfield in Belgium.”
    “You’re joking.”
    Thornwood’s eyes went wintry. “Am I?”
    “Lord, man, you can’t expect me to believe—”
    “Frankly, I don’t care what you believe. That is the truth. You may take it how you will.”
    “So that’s why you never came back.”
    Thornwood shrugged. “It was some months before I was even able to walk unassisted. As time passed, my wounds healed — all except the ones in my head.” He smiled grimly. “I meant you no rudeness. It is simply that for me, there is no past. All I am, all I know began when I emerged to consciousness swathed in dirty bandages in a smelly farmhouse near the border of France. Now I trust you will excuse me. It has been a long evening and I find I am tired.” The earl took his gloves and hat from the impassive footman at the door. “I would appreciate it if you saw to it that your friends understood the situation. I would not choose to give willful offense, but neither would I care to offer false hope. The old Earl of Thornwood is dead,” he finished flatly.
    “I don’t believe it.”
    “You must believe it.” For a moment desperation swirled through Thornwood’s eyes, but it quickly vanished. “My past is gone. The sooner you accept that, the better it will be for all of us. I simply want to be left in peace. Do not try to find me or talk to me, do you understand?”
    After long moments, Ian nodded stiffly.
    “Thank you for that, at least. And now good night.”
    As Ian watched Thornwood stride down the steps to a waiting carriage, he felt every nerve screaming. It was wrong, all of it. Thornwood, the man he had known through long months of war, would never have been so cold and aloof.
    Unless he had told the truth. Unless his wounds had destroyed the old Thornwood forever.
    Ian wasn’t sure he believed it. Then he frowned, thinking of India, pale and trembling as he had carried her into the study.
    If Thornwood had something to do with that, by heaven he’d pay dearly, Ian swore. But he knew he’d have no luck prying anything more out of his stubborn sister, who insisted her lapse had been caused by a case of nerves exacerbated by the heat of the ballroom.
    Nerves?
    India Delamere had never been overcome by nerves in her life, Ian knew.
    Which meant she was keeping secrets from him.
    “Why, damn it?” Ian studied the silent hall and the open door. “Why, Thornwood? Why here and why now, of all times?”
    But the