On the wharf stood two lines of Royal Marines with their guns trained on her ship. A British Navy officer stood at the bottom of the gangplank, demanding permission to board. Peggy knew this could go bad in a hurry if something wasn’t done quickly.
She nudged Luc on the side and whispered to him, “Time for you to be Captain Peri.”
Luc’s mind was whirling through all the possible outcomes of this unexpected complication. A line of highly trained Royal Marines was standing on the dock, demanding to be allowed to board the Coral Sea. His first instinct was to grant them consent, and explain he was on a mission to rescue the Earl of Kiterman from Barbary pirates. But too many inconsistences had arisen since he had been given his orders in Sir Walter’s bedroom. So he hesitated as he looked over the situation. Then his eyes fell on the naval lieutenant standing at the head of his gangplank.
Luc took a step forward and gaped down at the man. “Rodney? Is that you?” Luc yelled down at the indignant officer.
The officer looked up to the quarterdeck and contemplated Luc. Suddenly, his face cleared and he took a step back. “Stoughton, is that you?”
Luc laughed, then bellowed down, “You old stick in the mud, what in the bleedin’ ‘ell are you doin’ threatenin’ my ship like this?”
“Your ship? You are the captain of this bunch of pirates?” the lieutenant yelled back.
“Pirates? These are good English sailors. And this is an English ship you’re threatenin’.”
The officer glanced over the men standing at the ready and then looked back at Luc. “This ship is not an English vessel, Lord Stoughton. She is a known pirate ship.”
He gave as big a belly laughed as he could, then bellowed down. “Was, Lord Longfort. The Coral Sea was a pirate ship. She is now an English ship, the HMS Coral Sea, by order of the High Admiralty. And I am her master, by order of Viscount Melville.”
Viscount Longfort perused the decks of the Coral Sea once again and then turned back to Luc. “And the reason for this reception, Captain Stoughton?”
Luc stuck a relaxed pose. “We met up with pirates a week ago and lost our main. So, we put in here to make repairs, and I fear my men are a bit suspicious of anyone trying to forcibly board without authorization of their captain.”
Longfort turned and scrutinized the mainmast as if trying to discern the truth. Work to replace it was all but finished, but even to someone as inexperienced as Luc, he could tell that major repairs where just being completed.
“Come aboard, if you want to see the repairs, Longfort. It is still Viscount Longfort, isn’t it?” Luc asked. He had a sudden, unpleasant memory of Rodney’s father, the Earl of Hamestone. A more rigid and uncompromising man had never lived. With the exception of the man demanding leave to board Luc’s ship.
“It is still Lord Longfort? Or is it Lord Hamstone now?” Luc asked.
Rodney took a step up the gangplank, then stopped. “Yes, Captain Stoughton, my father still lives.” He stopped and surveyed the rough looking men poised about the ship, fully armed. “And if it is all the same to you, Captain Stoughton, I’d like a chance to see him again. So why don’t you join me on the Garland?”
Luc cocked a smile. At Eton, Rodney had always been a bit suspicious of Luc. Unfortunately, he’d had good reason to not trust Luc and his friends as they had enjoyed torturing the overly serious student.
Peggy stepped up beside him and whispered, “The HMS Garland is a 22-gun, Laurel-class ship of the line. And right now, they have half those guns aimed at the decks of our ship.”
He started to look toward the frigate but was stopped when Peggy hissed in his ear. “Don’t look, you damn fool. If he sees you, he’ll order his men to fire and ask questions later. Old friend of yours or no.”
Luc glanced at his wife and blinked. She was speaking like an aristocratic lady again. Aside from her cursing. It was a little startling as he had gotten used to her more colorful and course language.
“He’s not a necessarily a friend, lass, he is just an old school mate,” he told her.
“Captain,” Longfort called up. “Is there a problem?”
“Tell him I want to come,” she whispered franticly.
“What?” He hissed under his breath.
“Tell. Him. Your. Wife wants to come,” she snapped.
“Sergeant Young,” Longfort bellowed, “target the quarter deck.”
Luc jerked around and glared at his old friend, and then at the marines as they took aim at him, Peggy, and Joc on the quarterdeck.
“For the love of God, Longfort! My wife is just asking to join us on your ship,” Luc yelled down at the man.
Longfort turned and gazed at Peggy for a long time. He was suddenly very glad she had decided to wear her blue and red formal gowns. She looked every inch the genteel aristocratic wife.
“Lady Lucien Stoughton?” Longfort asked.
“Lieutenant,” Peggy called back in a strong, but very cultured voice. “I would love a chance to see a real English war ship.”
Longfort glanced between the two of them, then settled his gaze on Peggy. “I am sorry, milady, but I cannot accommodate you at the moment. Maybe after your husband and I have had a chance to speak, we can dine this evening?”
“Get him to allow me to come along,” she whispered to Luc, then called down to Longfort. “Lord Longfort, I won’t be any trouble. I just want to have a look at your pretty boat.”
Luc almost choked. He might not know that much about ships and sailing, but he knew that a 22-gun frigate was not called a boat. Much less, a pretty one.
“My apologies, milady,” Langfort called back. “But I fear I cannot accommodate you on this trip. I fear this is official business, so your husband and I will have to endure this visitation without your charming company.”
“Luc. . .” Peggy started but was cut off by Joc, who stepped up and laid a hand on her shoulder. He glared at Luc as he spoke to Peggy.
“Don’t push the English. We’ll have to trust yer husband to do the right thing.” He then turned to Luc and burned him with his soulless dark eyes. “Betray us, and I will hunt ye down and gut ye.”
Luc stared into the eyes of Peggy’s papa, and saw distrust. He then turned to his wife and saw the same thing. They both expected him to betray them. Despite the marriage, they both believed he would turn them and their crew over to the English soldiers.
“I have no intentions of betraying either of you,” Luc said and leaned down to kiss Peggy’s cheek. She flinched away and he stopped her. “Don’t,” he warned, “the lieutenant will think there is something wrong. He’s already suspicious.” With that he bussed a quick kiss on her cheek and then stood back to be scorched by the blue fire in her eyes.
“I’ll be back in an hour, my love,” Luc said loud enough to carry to Longfort. He then lowered his voice and added to Joc, “Stand down the men. Keep them armed if you must. But stand them down or the English will not relax their guard.”
“I know how to run me ship, English,” Joc hissed back.
Startled, Luc stared back at his wife and her papa, and realized for a moment there he had forgotten he was not a part of them. He was an outsider. Just as he had always been. Just as he always would be.
“Just do it,” He ordered. “Our mission may depend on this lieutenant and his captain believing our story. And if they see armed men at the ready, they are not going to allow us to depart without a fight.”
Both of them glared back without a word or an acknowledgement of any kind. They were making it clear how they felt about him. A feeling ripped from his chest. One of once again being forced away from something and someone he had started to care about. And it didn’t matter. He had a mission to accomplish. A job to do. And he had allowed himself to be distracted for a few hours. But now he had to return to reality and his life of service.
He turned smartly and marched away from his wife and her antagonistic papa. Luc quickly joined the impatient Lieutenant Longfort on the dock and was escort
ed to the Garland by his old school mate and two of the marines. But he hardly noticed the walk or the greetings as he was still thinking about the looks on Peggy’s and Joc’s face when he turned away. They both expected him to betray them. But why? And why would it matter? Their mission was the same, rescue Peggy’s father.
Or was it? He had known since that first night that the two of them had a slightly different reason for rescuing the Earl of Kiterman. But what that might be had remained a mystery, and Luc had consigned the nagging question to the back of his mind as something to deal with after they freed the earl. But he now suspected it was of the utmost importance to discover what his wife’s true mission was. And before they reached Tripoli.
Chapter 29
The tension on board the Coral Sea was palpable by the time they set sail the next morning. It had been since her husband had returned to their ship in the middle of the night with not only Lieutenant Longfort, but a small contingent of ten British Royal Marines.
Peggy desperately wanted to talk to Luc about what he had done by bringing the English soldiers on board her ship. But with so many watching, she hadn’t been able to approach Luc as he made ready to get the ship underway. In reality, he was pretending to get the ship ready, as Joc was giving all the orders while her husband stood around trying to look official and knowing.
And unfortunately, with so many English soldiers on board, Peggy was reduced to playing the helpless English genteel lady, forcing her to stay in her cabin while the ‘men’ got her ship underway. A directive she was not about to follow. Too much rested on her talking to him. But she couldn’t approach Luc without drawing attention to herself. Not until they were out to sea. And as soon as they were, she joined him on the quarterdeck.
“Hus-band,” she cooed as nicely as she could. Though even to her ears it sounded more like a hiss than the coy greeting she had been trying for. And judging by the slight flinch she saw in the muscles of his neck, Peggy knew she had failed to fool him. Fortunately, the only ones near Luc were the helmsman and one of the British marines.
“Might I see you in our cabin?” she pressed on.
“Yes, my love,” he replied cheerfully. Peggy gritted her teeth and smiled back. He continued as if she wasn’t glaring daggers at him. “I just want to verify our heading with the helm, then I’ll be right down.” He smiled at her and she forced a smile in return.
Turning, she headed back down to their cabin, muttering as she went.
“What’s that, Lady Margaret?” Joc said politely through clenched teeth as she past him.
She stopped and glared at him, then quickly made sure no one was near enough to hear them. “I said,” she hissed, “if he knows a headin’ from a barnacle, then I’ll eat my . . . corset.”
Joc snorted. “Ye probably eat zee damn thing to be rid of it, even if yer husband knows how to steer a course or no.”
She considered him for a second, then nodded. She hated the restrictive garments enough to do anything to get rid of them. Peggy would have said as much if Joc hadn’t continued.
“But don’t worry yer little head over him runnin’ us aground. I’ve been tellin’ zee boy what to do, and ‘e been parroting me so as no one’s zee wiser. So, so far yer ruse is still workin’. But ye know what he done by bringin’ these English dogs on board? The crew does no’ like it. Nor do I.”
She turned and glared at him. “And you think I do?”
“No,” he conceded. “But don’t be turnin’ ye back on that snake. He’s placed all of us in peril by doin’ so. And I fear he may have reasoned out our plans once we free votre père.”
She turned and glanced up at her husband. “And you think I haven’t thought the same thing?” She turned back to Joc. “I’ll not allow him or anyone to stand in the way of our revenge.” She narrowed her eyes. “No one. If I have to kill my husband and every soldier he brought on my ship, then so be it.”
She turned toward the companionway and passed Joc, but he got a final broadside in. “If ye would have let me gut him like I wanted, then we’d not have all these English soldiers on our ship.”
Peggy didn’t bother to answer him. The thought of never knowing Luc was painful. But the suspicion that he had betrayed her was worse. Despite the fact he had never been a part of their plan in the first place. But he did know that they didn’t want English soldiers on the ship.
When she got to their cabin, she began pacing and counting and reciting lines from one of the plays Lady Peri had taught her as a child. Peggy had just started on Helena’s dialogue in A Midsummer Night’s Dream when Luc finally came through the door.
“What in the bloody hell were you thinkin’?” she demanded without preamble.
“That it was better to have a few English marines on board than getting our ship blown out of the water while in port,” he replied.
At least he wasn’t pretending he didn’t know why she was so upset. “And having a naval lieutenant and ten English soldiers on board is better?”
“We’re alive,” he snapped back. “And not in a Portuguese prison. Which, for your information, is what the captain of the Garland had wanted to do with your whole bleedin’ crew.”
She froze and stared at him. “Why? Couldn’t you convince your old friend that we were good English sailors.”
He glared back. “The Garland set sail two days after we left Rochester. They know you put the English crew off before you set sail. She has orders from the Admiralty to seek out and detain us. Haversaul has sealed papers from Sir Walter and Viscount Melville. If found, they were to first discover if I was on board. And if so, then they were to deliver those papers to me personally.” He took a step toward her. “And away from the crew of the Coral Sea. It seems that I disappeared from Rochester without a word. And at about the same time that the Coral Sea set sail without her English crew or the Royal Marines assigned to her.”
“And those papers?” Peggy asked and wasn’t sure he would answer.
“If I am still in control of the Coral Sea, then I am to proceed with my mission. If not, then I am to enlist the aid of any English ship to man the Coral Sea and then continue on with my assignment.”
“And what did you tell them?” she asked.
His eyebrows snapped together. “What the bleedin’ ‘ell do you think I told them?” he replied.
Peggy snorted then asked, “Is that why those,” she waved her hand toward the main deck, “English sailors are on my ship?”
He gave her an incensed look. “Those men,” he flicked his hand toward the deck, “are Royal Marines. They are not sailors.”
She narrowed her eyes on him. “Then why are they on my ship?” She demanded.
“Because, it was the only way Captain Haversaul was going to allow us to set sail without imprisoning your crew and installing a whole new one from his and the other English frigate that was waiting on us to leave port.”
“What?” she blurted.
He smirked. “You didn’t know about the other frigate, did you? The HMS Jason is anchored just over the horizon, waiting for the Coral Sea to set sail.”
A cold chill walked over her soul. “And you believe them?”
He nodded. “Haversaul had no reason to lie. Especially, after I convinced him that I am in command of the Coral Sea.”
She turned away. “The Jason is a 32-gun ship of the line. And you’re right, Lord Stoughton, it would have been difficult slipping past them. Especially, with the Garland in our wake.” She turned back to him. “But not impossible. We’ve done it before.”
He stepped up beside her. “Peggy, I may not know a great deal about naval tactics, but even I could figure out that the odds were not in our favor. And there was no reason to try. I told Haversaul that there had been a misunderstanding about the crew of my ship. I doubt he believed me, but between my orders and those he had from the High Admiralty, there was nothing he could do. But he insisted that I not sail without a contingent of Royal Marines and Lieutenant Langfort.”
/> She glanced at him and he elaborated, “The lieutenant that was on the gangplank yesterday.”
It all sounded believable. So maybe he wasn’t purposely trying to betray them. She turned to face him. He looked sincere. But Peggy had read his file and knew he was as good an actor as she was. He had to be. Lucien Stoughton had been a successful spy for the English government.
“Lord Stoughton. . .” He gave her a searching look, and she knew he wanted a return to their more intimate time. But she couldn’t. Not until she understood if he was trying to stop her from killing her father or not.
She exhaled and in an exasperated tone began again. “Lord. Stoughton. Even if I believed everything you just told me.”
“If?” He snapped.
“If,” she repeated. “It doesn’t change the damage you’ve done by bringing those soldiers on board my ship.”
“What damage?” he asked, his brow furrowed in consternation.
She faced him head on. “What you’ve done might be reasonable for a landlubber.” She threw up her hands. “Hell, it might make sense for a merchant ship. Or even if you were captaining a ship for another country and tryin’ to convince an enemy you were on their side.” His face was losing the look of confidence he had been wearing when he walked into the cabin. But it was obvious he still didn’t understand the damage he had done.
“Lord Stoughton, this is not a merchant ship or one of his majesty’s ships, despite the English War Department hanging an HMS on her bow. This. Is. A. Pirate ship. Manned by pirates. And pirates will not take kindly to someone bringing government troops on board. Especially, soldiers of the government that just threatened to hang the lot of them.”
He swallowed, then said in an unsure voice, “I had no choice.”
Peggy threw up her hands and spun around. “There is always a choice, Lord Stoughton.” She took several quick steps away and then abruptly turned to face him from across the room. A much safer distance, if she wasn’t going to strangle him.
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