I Loved a Rogue The Prince Catchers Read Online Free PDF Page B

her go with a twirl of unkempt skirts and dogs in her wake. Even now in their elevation to the aristocracy, she and Arabella were the same girls they’d been long ago.
    In his life he’d held few people dear. His cousins with whom he had traversed the West Country for fifteen years of his life. Evan Saint, his traveling companion after he departed St. Petroc. And Martin Caulfield and his daughters. Years ago, if he’d held one of those daughters considerably less dear, he would still be traipsing across Devon and northern Cornwall in his family’s caravan. He would have passed the last decade of his life like any Rom.
    A man entered the room, a strip of cloth tied across his brow concealing one eye and part of a scar. Yet even half blinded he walked with authority. “Gentlemen,” he said.
    “Lycombe,” Courtenay drawled, “This is Wolfe, who has just agreed to the most ill-fated mission I’ve had the pleasure to hear.”
    “As you’ve considerable experience with missions, Vitor, I trust you in this.” He assessed Taliesin, and Taliesin returned the assessment. Powerfully built, like a Percheron, the duke stood no more than an inch taller than him but could boast at least a stone more of sheer, imposing brawn. Arabella had chosen a man of wealth, status, and presence. He suited her, just as Courtenay’s air of contemplative assurance suited Ravenna.
    A servant shut the door and Taliesin was alone with two lords in a ducal mansion. A first, though not by much. He bowed. “Your grace.”
    “Should I trust you, Wolfe?” Directly to the heart of it. Taliesin liked him already.
    “You should.”
    “My wife mistrusts most men. Yet you are exempted from this.”
    Taliesin could say nothing to that. He’d never doubted that Martin Caulfield, a quiet, retiring intellectual, had invited a Gypsy boy into his home in part as protection for his daughters. In return for shelter and lessons, that boy had provided it. Until he had become the threat.
    The duke still studied him. “Arabella tells me you were like a brother to them.”
    To two of them . Taliesin nodded.
    “I understand that when you left years ago, you did not return to St. Petroc again.”
    “Not to the vicarage.” Nor anywhere near it. “Is this an interrogation, your grace?”
    “Lycombe will do,” the duke said. “What took you away so precipitously from these people who called you family? Was there a woman involved?”
    Taliesin nearly laughed. But he didn’t. “There was.”
    “You don’t deny it?”
    “Why should I? I charge you to show me a man who hasn’t made a mistake because of a woman. If you yourself haven’t, then they should crown you king. Rather, saint.”
    Lycombe grunted. “Hnh. Right.” Then his eye narrowed. “I accept your loyalty to my wife and her sisters when you were young. But why should I trust you now?”
    “Because if they asked, I would do anything for them.” Once upon a time he had vowed that if one of the sisters should call upon him, he would come to their aid. From across England, Arabella had called.
    Lycombe stared fixedly at him. “Arabella believes in the prophecy of the prince. Do you know of it?”
    “I do.” Ravenna had once told him their secret. Clearly Lussha the Seer had performed at her finest on that occasion.
    “Do you believe in it?” Lycombe asked.
    “I am a horse trader, not a soothsayer. I believe in good pasturage, fine bloodlines, and an honest price.”
    Finally the severity eased from the duke’s face. “An honest price?”
    “When prudence dictates it.”
    “I daresay.” Lycombe ran his palm across his scarred brow. “The trail has gone cold on this shipwreck, as it does on most lost boats. I’ve little confidence in this quest. But my wife will not admit defeat, no matter how I attempt to reason with her.” His gaze hardened anew. “If Eleanor comes to harm on this wild-goose chase, be assured, Wolfe, I will see you hanged.”
    “She will be safe.” He would