It was damp, foggy and cold as Rayne and Javonnie made their way through the dark, quiet streets of London to Lionel's townhouse. They had each brought only a small valise with a couple of changes of clothes. There would be time tomorrow to have the remainder of their belongings transferred from the ship to the residence and anything else they required could be purchased. They were both exhausted and wanted nothing more than to find their beds and get some sleep. Javonnie as well as the crew members from The Eclipse had kept well out of Rayne's way since the interlude with the Scarlet Flame as his temper had shortened with each passing day of the journey. Even now, Javonnie noticed, Rayne had a scowl on his face. He was just wondering if it was the task of sorting through his grandfathers business and the round of social events that would be mandatory for him to attend or more likely he was still smarting from the "you-don't-impress-me" attitude of the femme fatal from the Scarlet Flame. That thought brought a smile to Javonnie's lips as he thought once again that it was high time his friend Rayne got his comeuppance from the opposite sex. He had never seen a woman refuse Raynes attentions and he thought this was absolutely priceless.
The carriage rolled to a stop in front of the townhouse and Rayne climbed out leaving Javonnie to pay the driver. They climbed the steps and rapped the doorknocker loudly. Needless to say as the hour was extremely late and no one was expecting them it was quite some time before the butler arrived to let them in. The sleepy butler, startled into complete wakefulness at seeing Rayne standing on the doorstep, apologized profusely for the long wait. Rayne waved the mans apologies away and disappeared up the stairs to the master suite while Javonnie calmed the man down and assured him that it was quite alright, they had not sent word ahead and that he couldn't be expected to know of their arrival. The poor butler was beside himself with worry, as he had been witness to multiple arguments between Rayne and his grandfather. The little man most assuredly did not want that ferocious temper aimed at him. He hurriedly promised he would have the staff assembled for instructions at the Dukes convenience. Javonnie wryly informed the butler not to expect either the Duke nor himself before lunch. Having finally convinced the man he was not about to be drawn and quartered, he took himself up stairs to the guestroom where he crawled tiredly into bed.
There was a pounding in his head, or was it the door? Javonnie cracked an eyelid and turned his head toward the bedroom door, which was swinging open. "Are you planning to lay abed all day long?" Rayne demanded.
Javonnie glanced sleepily at the clock on top of the chest of drawers, which showed the time to be 9:00, and from the sunlight streaming in from the nearby window, he knew it was morning. He turned a disgruntled gaze on Rayne before gracing him with a response. "Have you any idea what time it is Rayne?"
"Well of course I know what time it is. Time for lazy lie-abeds like yourself to be up and about."
"It would seem you are finally in better spirits. Of course, you weren't the one left standing with that ninny last night while he whimpered and whined because he was afraid you were going to wring his scrawny neck because he hadn't the foresight to know you were going to arrive last night."
"Oh, Rupert always was a whiner. If he weren't so competent at running this house I'd hand him his walking papers. But, he might as well stay around and earn his keep! Come on Javonnie, get up, we've got things to do. The crew's waiting at the docks to dispose of our cargo."
Javonnie lay with his arm over his eyes trying to block out the sound of Raynes voice, but knew it was useless. So, he finally agreed to get out of bed and meet Rayne downstairs for breakfast. An hour later Javonnie, freshly shaved and dressed with his blonde hair still glistening with dampness appeared at the breakfast table where Rayne sat finishing up his own breakfast. "Nice of you to finally join me" he said with mock irritation as Javonnie helped himself from the sideboard.
Javonnie, being still just a little put out at having been awakened so early after such a late night, retorted, "No problem your Dukeship! It was my pleasure to get out of bed to come down here and look at your ugly face."
"Ah, but you are about to be thanking me for dragging you out of bed."
"Hardly likely."
"Guess who's having a ball tonight in honor of their nieces upcoming nuptials?" Rayne asked with obvious smugness.
Javonnie, now just a tad wary, gave Rayne a questioning look as he reached for another slice of smoked ham.
"None other than the esteemed Mulholland sisters" Rayne announced with merriment dancing in his sparkling blue eyes.
Javonnie felt like the floor had just tipped out from under his feet, leaving him dangling from the dining table. "Veronica is getting married?" he asked totally stunned. He was trying to adjust to this unexpected turn of events without much immediate success.
"So it would seem. If I've told you once, I've told you a million times that girl wasn't going wait forever" Rayne said shaking his head in mock sadness.
"Who's she engaged to marry?" Javonnie asked with amazing calm, especially since he was seething inside. He had actually thought she would wait until he got through roaming the seas and decided to settle down. Damn women, couldn't they ever be just a little patient?
"It says here she's engaged to Lord Steven Finch."
"Good Lord, not little Stevie? He walks with a mincing step and he dresses like an absolute fop. What can Veronica be thinking of? He couldn't begin to satisfy a woman with Veronica's appetite uh, that is to say, that he's not very manly" Javonnie finished somewhat weakly as he saw Rayne slowly raise one black brow in both question and surprise.
"Do tell Javonnie, and just how would you know exactly what it would take to satisfy Miss Veronica Mulholland?" The last half of the sentence was spoken with deadly quiet.
"Now Rayne, don't you go giving me any lectures about Veronica's virtue. How many women have you seduced? How many times have I had to save your hide from an irate husband?"
"Exactly, husband. I never compromised an unmarried lady of Veronica's caliber. Veronica doesn't have a husband, and she was still virginal, at least I believed her to be until now. Are you telling me you took her innocence thereby compromising her?" Rayne demanded.
"Well, you don't have to make it sound like I raped her or anything. It was not planned, it just sort of happened and it was by mutual consent" Javonnie hated the way Rayne had him on the defensive. Although the memories of that date brought a smile to his lips and a warmth to his heart, as well as to other places he would prefer not to think of just at that moment.
"And when exactly did this take place?"
"The last time I came to take care of your business with your attorney for you. But she saw me off with a smile on her face and assurances that she would be waiting for me when I returned. I had no idea she would up and marry anyone before I got around to asking her myself, much less that popinjay!" Javonnie was now realizing just how much he did not want Veronica to marry Stevie, or anyone else for that matter. He just couldn't figure out what that peculiar ache was in the vicinity of his heart. Must have been the darned kippers he had just eaten.
Rayne sat watching his friend and wondered how long it would take him to figure out that he was in love with Veronica and put a stop to this nonsense about her marrying that little twit Stevie Finch. "I'm going to send a response to this invitation and accept for the both of us. As soon as you're done with breakfast I suggest we leave for the docks and on the way we can discuss a few of the other invitations I've received."
Javonnie just nodded dumbly as he was still thinking about this new turn of events. It looked like they had returned home just in time.
Once on the way to the docks Javonnie at least made a pretense of being jovial, with pronounced lapses of silence that had Rayne chuckling to himself. Boy, he was glad he wasn't suffering from that affliction called love!
Several hours later the cargo was being unloaded and a bolt of brilliant sapphire silk caught his eye and he had Red pull it out and put it in the carriage. Whenever he had first caught site of the fabric he had had a mental picture of his mysterious piratress in a low cut gown that hugged her curvaceous body made of the sapphire fabric. He almost called Red back, it wasn't likely he would see her anytime soon, but as he was already opening the door to the carriage to put the bolt of fabric in, he refrained from calling him out to him.
After having concluded the business of the dispensing of the cargo Rayne and Javonnie stopped at a local hotel for lunch and then continued on to the well-know establishment of Xavier & Xavier. Rayne had used the tailors at Xavier & Xavier since he been old enough to purchase his own wardrobe. He like the simplistic lines of elegance that was a long tradition of this establishment as well as mirroring his own taste in clothes. He shuddered to think of the outlandish clothes some of the men of London sported. It was all the rage to dress the part of a dandy in chartreuse, pink, canary yellow, stripes and plaids. If he wanted to look like a peacock, he would just purchase some feathers. As the two gentlemen entered the establishment Freidman the head tailor approached them with a smile of greeting on his face.
"Ah Mr. Rayne and Mr. Javonnie. It has been ages since you have gifted us here at Xavier & Xavier's with your presence. What can I help you two gentlemen with today?"
