"You mean then to continue your secret work for Mr. Pitt?"
He smiled. "Yes. The first time I tried settling down, after I married Amanda, fond as I was of her, before two years were up I found such a life too dull. The second time, when we all sailed to the Indies, I found it far too strenuous. Paris has become a sink of iniquity, but at least people there now wash themselves again; and if I were caught out, I hardly think Barras would have me dangled over a pool full of hungry crocodiles. The risk I run is a fair one, and it adds a spice to life; so I've no mind to play again at becoming a respectable householder."
Georgina sighed. "Poor Clarissa! Despite her lack of fortune, I thought there might be some hope for her."
Suppressing a start, Roger asked in as casual a voice as he could manage: "Whatever put that idea into your head?"
"You dear fool!" Georgina laughed. "Have you no eyes in yours? Why, the girl dotes on you. Anyone could see that. What a pity it is that she has no fortune; for she is the most lovely creature and would make a most excellent wife for you."
"Yes. She is lovely enough, and has spirit too. As for money, I am, thank God, now worth near thirty thousand pounds; so I have no need to worry on that score. But, as I've told you, I have no intention of marrying again."
"You must, Roger. You have your little girl to think of. In fairness to her you must find her a mother."
"Oh come! What of yourself, then? According to that argument, it is equally your duty to find that jolly fat lump of a godson of mine a father."
"I suppose I must, some day. But not yet. In his case there is ample time. It is while young that children need a woman's love and care. Your little Susan shall have mine, you know, and may share Charles's nursery for as long as you wish. But it would be better for her to be brought up in a home of her own, in which her father would be more than an always welcome visitor. Please, Roger, if lack of money is no objection, think about Clarissa."
For a moment he was silent, then he laughed. "Do you remember what happened last time we discussed match-making?"
Georgina laughed too. "Yes. We made a pact that you should marry Amanda and I should marry my Earl. Then we slept together."
He made a comical grimace. "I fear that if that were generally known most people would consider us very bad lots."
"Yet we are not, Roger; for we are bound to one another by something stronger than any marriage tie. Together, too, we have the blessed power to enjoy a thing that is very rare. With our love there has always been laughter, because we are not tied by any thought of what must come after. We are like two butterflies meeting on a summer day, rejoicing in the fine form and colouring that the kind gods have given us, and playing together without a care."
"You are right, my sweet," he said softly. "And our meetings so have been all too seldom since the winter of '88.1 think that the months' I spent with you then were the happiest in all my life. It was tragic that our happiness should have been cut short by that terrible business following Humphrey's unexpected arrival here."
"That was not the cause of our parting. We had already had our only quarrel; though I had begged you to stay on at Stillwaters and love me through the spring."
"True, but we made our quarrel up; and I should have stayed on had not fate intervened."
For a little they were silent, then she asked: "Have you to return to Paris soon?"
He shook his head. "No; until the political situation shows some sign of change, there is nought of use that I can do there."
Georgina turned her face up to his. Her red lips were moist and her eyes shining. "We are together once more at Stillwaters, Roger," she whispered. 'And it is only April."
His blue eyes smiled down into her black ones, and he whispered back: "How blessed we are that the gods should give us again the chance of which they once robbed us. I can think of nothing nearer heaven than to stay on here and love you through the spring."
The End
The four volumes in the Roger Brook Saga are:
THE LAUNCHING OF ROGER BROOK
which records Mr. Brook's adventures in France from July 1783 to November 1787.
THE SHADOW OF TYBURN TREE
which records his missions to the courts of Denmark, Sweden and Catherine the Great of Russia, between November 1787 and April 1789.
THE RISING STORM
which records his missions to France, Italy and Spain between April 1789 and June 1792.
THE MAN WHO KILLED THE KING
which records his missions to France during the Great Terror of 1793 and '94, and brings his adventures up to the opening of THE DARK SECRET OF JOSEPHINE (August 1794).