Chapter 10

"D rinks for everyone!" declared one of the young men as he sat down at the table, plunking himself on the bench.

Winfred stared at the lot of them.

What the blazes was happening? Three young men had just descended upon her and Ajax as if they were a whirlwind. The confidence, the arrogance, the good looks? They surrounded her like a veritable entourage of legends.

"Now, Ajax," said the young man sitting beside her, "do introduce us to your young friend."

She swung her gaze back and forth between Ajax and this man who did look quite a bit like Ajax, and she realized the fellow looked like Ajax's mother as well. Brothers! They had to be brothers. She'd seen the Briarwoods at a distance at balls, but from her quiet corner, she was never very close to them. For they were always at the center of everything, and she was as far from the center as one could get.

Ajax appeared as if he was going to grab the man, shake him so hard his teeth would rattle out of his head, and then toss him to the floor. But Ajax did none of those things. Instead, he sat still in the loud room, arched a single blond brow, and replied, "Win, this is my brother Lord Zephyr, my younger brother Lord Achilles, and my cousin Jean-Luc from France."

"How do you do?" she managed to pipe and then cursed herself because her voice had been shockingly high.

She clapped her hand against her chest and coughed. "Forgive me, I had a touch of the lung last month, and my voice does the strangest things," she said in a low, exaggerated rumble before she picked up her tankard and took a large slurp of ale.

Her gaze darted between the men, wondering what new devilry was about to arise. This most certainly was not on her itinerary, and she had no idea what to do... or to say. Knowing her, she would blurt out something impossible.

"Ah," replied Lord Zephyr as he cocked his head to the side. He pursed his lips. "Yes, very difficult things are lung complaints. Those kinds of colds can have one sounding like a girl in a trice. Don't you agree?"

She bit the inside of her cheek.

Did he know?

She gave Ajax a surreptitious look. Ajax gave a slight shrug as if to say he wasn't certain what his brothers and cousin knew.

"How?" she mouthed over her ale. Truly, she wished to know how the men had found them. She had been so very careful.

Ajax winced.

She swung her gaze back to Lord Zephyr. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"What a question! No attempt at pleasantries, is it?" His lips curled into a smile. "Is this not a free country? Can a lord not travel about and enjoy the company of society?"

"Of course," she gritted. "But it does seem rather interesting that you would run into your brother in such a free country."

"Well," Lord Achilles chimed in, leaning forward and propping his arm against the table. "I confess this is not entirely coincidental."

Lord Zephyr folded his arms over his broad chest, cocked his head to the side, and smiled again before he added, "No, we Briarwoods don't believe in coincidences. We believe in synchronicity instead."

Achilles winked, his handsome face full of the devil-may-care attitude of one who had seen a few dark things and hid them with a smile. "And to be fair, we did have a little bit of help."

"Help?" she echoed. She shifted on the wooden bench, rather grateful that the inn was so crowded that everyone else was busy drinking their ales, eating their dinners, and listening to the jolly fiddle being played by the fire.

Ajax groaned.

"Oh, indeed. We discovered the most fascinating itinerary in our library," drawled Lord Zephyr merrily. "It was a whole list of places to be visited and adventures to be had, and we couldn't let our brother have all the fun. Now could we?"

Jean-Luc, who was shockingly handsome too, lifted his hand in salute. "And, of course, I know so little of England. I have only just arrived from France a few months ago, and these fine fellows offered to give me a tour. It seems as if you are exploring the sights of Monsieur Shakespeare."

She narrowed her gaze, turned to Ajax, and wondered if it was possible for her to kill a man with a single look. All the trouble she'd gone to, all the hard work to maintain the anonymity and discretion of their plan, and he'd left the itinerary lying about?

He winced again. "Forgive me," he said before narrowing his gaze at the trio of his family members. "I should have realized that I could not leave evidence of our travel about, but I thought my brothers had better sense than this."

Lord Zephyr laughed. "You know us better than that."

Ajax gave the fellow a ball-crushing stare. "Indeed, I do," Ajax growled as a barmaid came to the table, tray in hand.

"What can I get you gents?" she asked with a saucy smile.

"The gents shall have a round of gin," replied Lord Achilles, who then leaned forward and waggled his brows at Winifred.

She felt her entire body freeze. Was he about to tell the entire company that she was indeed a girl and not a lad?

Achilles lifted his gaze to the barmaid. "The lad will have another ale. Gin's too rough. We wouldn't want hair growing on his chest too soon."

She scowled at him. "A gin will do," she said tightly.

Zephyr applauded. "Gins for everyone!"

The barmaid whirled around, her green skirts swaying as she went.

"Good man, yourself," said Achilles, pounding his hand on the table.

"Now whatever are you doing here?" Lord Zephyr asked.

"We are in pursuit of the immortal bard," Ajax said simply.

"Of course you are. Of course you are," Achilles said. "Very noble, very bold."

"Very edifying," added Lord Zephyr.

"Oui! Very edifying," Jean-Luc supplied in a rich French accent. He rubbed his fingers together as if thinking of the nectar of the gods. "The pursuit of passion is even more important."

Her eyebrows shot upward. Passion? She started to lift her hand in protest. "No, no—"

"The passion of words. The passion of literature," Jean-Luc continued as if he had not alluded that there might be something else.

Her mouth dried.

This was a game she was having difficulty following. Did they know? Did they not know? She tried to think back to the itinerary. Was there anything in it which might suggest that she was a lady? She wondered if they were all clever enough to deduce exactly who she was. None of them knew her. No one in society really knew her well or paid attention to her. She faded into the background wherever she went.

So perhaps they had no clue at all, and she was merely fearful for no reason.

Achilles peered at her. "Now what has got you in the company of my brother when he is such a troublesome sort?"

"I think he's a marvelous sort. The best," she retorted before she could think and stop herself. There it was. The thing which made society impossible for her. She just had to speak before considering!

"Do you?" Lord Zephyr asked, something strange lighting eyes. Something akin to approval. "Haven't learned the art of insult yet, have you?"

Winifred laughed. "I suppose not."

Achilles blew out a rueful whistle. "Innocent as the day is long, Ajax. Whatever are you up to?"

Ajax's mouth pressed into a thin line. "None of your bloody business."

"It's family business," Achilles countered, tugging at the elegant cuff of his coat. "Anyone you associate with is family business. We had to come and see what you were up to. This is so out of your usual line."

Ajax frowned. "Is it?"

Zephyr considered this. "Pursuing Shakespeare around the country? You do love the theater, of course, and Shakespeare too, but the likes of Win here?"

Achilles tsked. "This is not usual. So we thought we needed to come and see what you were about. To see whether we needed to start ringing any bells as a reminder."

Ajax scowled. "You do know what's happening here."

And then she knew. Her stomach sank, and she felt a wave of panic course through her.

They absolutely did know that she was a girl.

Bells? Bells? Could they mean…

Hadn't his mother made some strange suggestion about marriage? Was that what he meant by bells? If so… She felt her panic turn to fury.

"What the devil are you on about?" she gritted. "Such an insinuation is insulting. I do not think that one should make fun of anyone so blatantly."

"Ah, the innocent one has teeth," Achilles replied, banging his hand against the table again. "Good. And forgive me. I never wanted to cause you any real insult. It's just the way of us fellows. We like to make life difficult for each other, but if there's a real scrape, of course, we're there to help."

She blinked, stunned. Had she misunderstood? "Truly?"

"Indeed," Zephyr affirmed.

Achilles leaned his arms on the table and said with a shrug, "It is the only way to get by in this merry war of life. But in reality, we are all the greatest of allies."

"So, anything you want, Win?" Zephyr explained. "If it's what our brother wants? We want it too."

She narrowed her gaze. "Did your brother want you to come here?"

"A point to her!" exclaimed Jean-Luc.

"In regards to that," Achilles began, "we couldn't let this sort of thing just be. Because this is too much fun."

"Is it?" she queried archly.

"Oh, yes," Lord Zephyr returned, stealing Ajax's tankard and taking a drink. "Can't you see my dearest brother squirming there?"

She turned and looked at Ajax on the bench. "Yes, I suppose he is. And why is that?" she asked.

Zephyr gaped at her.

"Don't you know?" Achilles asked, astonished.

"No," she said, shaking her head and feeling lost.

"He's getting married soon," Lord Zephyr declared boldly.

The words were loud, but they were swallowed up by the din of the music and the crowd, which was growing merrier as the drinks flowed.

Her insides twisted with a pain she could not have anticipated. "I see," she managed.

"Cease, you three," Ajax growled, his tone a low warning. "Win has no idea what you're saying, and you're causing difficulty."

Achilles tsked. "Oh dear. We wouldn't want that." But then Achilles' face lost its saucy teasing. "Quite seriously, you must forgive us. We are a terrible lot until you get to know us better."

"I'll take you at your word," she drawled.

"This one will fit right in," Zephyr announced.

"Fit in where?" she asked, feeling most confused. And her heart—her dratted heart—ached. He was getting married?

"With us, of course?" Achilles stated. "Don't you think us—?

"Magnifique?" cut in Jean-Luc, his eyes dancing brightly.

She let out a laugh at that. "Oh, certainly," she said. "And certainly intriguing, certainly impossible, but also—"

"Yes?" Lord Zephyr prompted.

"Rather admirable in your zest for life," she allowed. But she wasn't truly certain what to make of all of this. This rowdy joy of life. Especially since it seemed it was going to be taken away.

She'd always known it would. Ajax was only her guide for a short time. But she'd never imaged he was promised to someone. It made her whole body ache with sorrow.

"Ah, good. She knows quality when she sees it," Achilles said.

"He knows quality when he sees it," Zephyr added, pointing to Ajax. "At last, thank heaven! When will the wedding take place?"

"What wedding?" she rasped, barely able to get the words past her tightening throat. This was beginning to be too much. Too painful.

Achilles blinked at her, confused. "The one with the bells."

She stared blankly at them.

Ajax sucked in a breath, ready to cut in, but Lord Zephyr added quickly, "The one we were referring to just a few moments ago."

She drew herself up. She would not cry. She would not act a fool and show her foolish heart to these men. "How should I know if Lord Ajax is getting married? Or when."

And she found herself quite offended that Ajax had not had the decency to tell her he was betrothed. Truly, he should not have been taking her about if he was going to be married. She swallowed back a tide of sorrow.

Ajax gave her an imploring look, then he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "They mean my marriage to you. They want to know when we will wed."

And with that, the gin arrived.