Jack passed the scroll to Erwan de Larrion who snapped it open and read it. He met Jack’s eyes then glanced at Blanche.
‘This also stated that Blanche Tanet, the former Captain known as Bleiz Mor or the Sea Wolf, is to be taken into English custody, by order of the King’s Lieutenant.’
‘What!’ Now it was Blanche’s turn to leap to her feet. ‘My ships are one matter. My person is another entirely.’
De Larrion looked up from his reading and glared at her. ‘I see this declaration also notes Madame Tanet’s efforts to aid the House of Monfort and thanks her for her work. It suggests that Madame Tanet should retire from her part and be taken into Captain Sutton’s custody, to spend her days living under his supervision.’
Jack’s custody. A life with the man who had turned her world upside down and made her remember the woman she had been. It was too much to take in. Blanche began to shake. No, not Jack. Captain Sutton. She tried to meet his eyes but he kept them averted. He didn’t want her. Erwan walked round the table and passed the document to Ronec, ignoring Blanche who reached for it. She exhaled angrily, slamming her hands on to the table and causing the manacles to clatter, furious with the men deciding her fate while she was ignored. Erwan fixed her with another hard stare.
‘We have not heard whether Madame Tanet consents to accept this sentence,’ Jack said.
‘Madame Tanet has no say!’
Ronec practically burst from his seat, one hand grasping Blanche by the arm as if he expected her to try fleeing to Jack. ‘She is a woman and has no legal authority. She needs a man to speak for her and make these decisions. If she is to be placed in anyone’s custody, it should be mine,’ Ronec insisted. ‘I am the man she wronged and I deserve compensation.’
‘Blanche is not compensation. She doesn’t want you. She doesn’t need a man to speak for her, but she has me to stand beside her,’ Jack said.
He’d called her Blanche. For a brief moment she heard a hint of the passion they had shared in the sound of her name on his lips. But Jack, or John, or whoever he called himself, was preparing to dispose of her as coldly as Ronec. To treat her as a chattel for whatever purpose served him best.
‘I will speak for myself and as Prévôt de Larrion says, I have not agreed to anything.’ Blanche set her jaw. His face remained as emotionless as an effigy.
‘Captain Sutton rightly said I can speak for myself. In fact, I would like to speak to him now. In private.’ Blanche rose again and faced Jack. ‘Prévôt de Larrion, will you permit this?’
Erwan nodded. ‘Be quick.’
The guards escorted Blanche and Jack to a small chamber that served as a cell. They left at Jack’s command but Blanche had no doubt they were waiting within earshot.
She faced Jack. He was standing arms folded forbiddingly across his chest with the same aloof expression he had worn since his return. A day ago, if she had been offered the chance to speak to him again, she would have planned words of apology or entreaty. Or love. Now her mind was empty.
‘Is your name really John Sutton?’ she asked. She folded her arms across her chest and tried to look stern.
‘Yes. I really am an agent for the crown.’ Jack laughed bitterly and raised an eyebrow. ‘So you were right to suspect me of being a spy after all.’
Blanche put her hands to her face. Ronec had been right. She felt sick to her stomach wondering what would have been the outcome if his identity had been discovered while Jack was under her roof. Would she have killed him before she had grown to know and care for him? The Blanche she used to be would have without question.
‘So I am not the only one guilty of subterfuge,’ she said.
‘You’re the only one guilty of it intentionally,’ Jack countered.
Blanche scowled again. The indignation that had risen at being forced to sit quietly while her fate was decided welled up once more.
‘You said you were leaving for ever, yet here you are to steal my ships!’ she snapped. ‘What motivated you to come here, John Sutton? Spite or revenge?’
Chapter Twenty
Jack blinked. Of all the accusations he expected Blanche to level at him, theft was the most unexpected. Her cheeks were flushed and they stood out in stark contrast to the paleness of her skin and the shadows ringing her eyes. What had her time been like, a prisoner not knowing if she was to live or die? He wanted to hold her tight and offer belated comfort but she stepped close to him, jabbing her finger out angrily.
‘I thought I would never see you again. When you walked into the room my heart missed a beat, but you came here to use and control me. I’d expect that of Ronec, but not you.’
She sounded...tired. Not even angry. It was as if the fight had gone out of her after her initial accusation.
‘I’m not here to steal your ships,’ Jack said. ‘They’ve already been taken. I’m here to reclaim them for a better purpose than Ronec would use them for and to help the cause you’ve been fighting for. The cause we’re both fighting for as I know now.’
She rallied, glowering briefly, but dipped her head in acknowledgement.
‘More to the point, how am I trying to control you?’ Jack asked.
‘Blanche Tanet retires and lives under the supervision of John Sutton?’ she said in a sing-song voice. ‘Why, when you despise me? Did you decide that, or did your master? What do you want in return?’
‘I want nothing from you,’ Jack said stiffly. ‘If you wish, I can decree that my supervision extends no further than putting you back in your tower to live alone.’ She gave a little cry, her face twisting. Jack forced himself to calm down. This was getting nowhere and time was short.
‘Why didn’t you tell me about Fransez?’ he asked.
Blanche’s eyes widened. ‘What do you know of him?’
‘I saw him in England. He’s living in Richard Marten’s residence. He’s so like you he could only be your son.’
Blanche shot forward, grasping Jack’s hands. ‘You saw him? Did you speak to him? Is he well? Has he grown?’
Jack gripped her hands tightly. His body grew warm at the touch, heat racing through his limbs and blood. His heart sped too fast. How could he ever have thought he could live without her?
‘He is well. He’s a tall lad. He has your features. He looked happy.’
Blanche dropped his hands, her shoulders sagging with relief.
‘Did they take him by force?’ Jack asked.
‘No. I told you, I asked them to take him.’ Blanche walked slowly around the cell. She gathered the chain that linked the shackles and bunched them in her fist, raising her head proudly. ‘No one made me do anything I didn’t want to do. I stand by my actions. I’m happy that Fransez has a secure future, even though I miss him. Don’t imagine me now as a victim needing your pity.’
‘I don’t see you as a victim,’ Jack said. ‘I think I understand a little more now than I did when I first realised it was you. I’m not angry, only sad I didn’t know and couldn’t help you.’
‘Don’t be sad. I’m not.’ Blanche smiled and a little of the woman who had captivated Jack shone through. ‘For Fransez it is a good position, better than if he had stayed with me. He might even train to become a chevalier if he proves to be a good learner. I had hoped to see him again but that is just a mother’s weakness.’
She tailed off and rubbed her eyes.
‘You still will. I’m here to save you if I can,’ Jack said firmly.
‘I don’t need saving!’ Blanche said, against all evidence to the contrary. Jack tried to keep his eyes from the chains binding her wrists. He hadn’t expected a warm greeting after the bitterness of their parting, but to hear her swearing she could manage by herself was infuriating. He lifted his chin.
‘Really? Shall I leave now with the ships? Would you prefer the sentence likely to be given if you don’t agree to my suggestion?’
/> Misery coursed through him that death was preferable to a life with him.
‘You don’t have to die,’ he snapped. ‘You wounded Ronec but he lived. There has been no crime to be punished by a sentence as severe as death.’
Blanche’s mouth fell open in astonishment. ‘Did you think I was destined to die? Is that what brought you back here?’
Jack’s heart lurched at the endearment. Blanche stepped towards him and for a moment Jack thought she might embrace him but she lowered her hands and stayed out of reach.
‘It is what I heard in England. Isn’t it true?’
‘As you say, there is no reason to execute me. I’m not a murderess and no one could accuse me of being a traitor to Brittany. My worst crime is setting myself against Ronec and for behaving as a man would.’
Now it was Jack’s turn to flush. It was true he would not have recoiled from her activities so hard if she had been male. She nodded, eyes narrowed.
‘The Prévôt suggested I retire to a convent and take holy orders, but I suspect Ronec has other plans for me. There is a more conventional way to dispose of a difficult woman.’
‘Marriage.’ Jack spoke the word for her.
‘Erwan told me that Ronec proposed that solution almost immediately after he had recovered. Naturally, he put himself forward, suggesting he was best likely to succeed in “taming” me. He even suggested I be kept at his house until the matter could be decided.’ Her mouth twisted in revulsion and she wrapped her arms around herself.
‘I think I would rather have died swiftly than submit to him for years.’
‘Yet you have to think before agreeing to spend your life in my charge?’ Jack muttered, allowing resentment and hurt to seep into his voice. ‘Is the thought of life with me even more abhorrent?’
‘I didn’t say that,’ Blanche snapped. She looked at her hands, twisting them in the folds of her skirts. ‘It must be abhorrent to you, though. Why are you trying to help me after the way I deceived you? You have the ships. You don’t want anything else from me, as you made clear.’
She looked utterly dejected. A shiver went down Jack’s back.
‘You’re wrong, Blanche,’ he whispered. ‘That’s not all I want from you.’
He watched her closely, spotting the slight twitch of her lips and tightening of the fine lines around her eyes. His words mattered to her and it occurred to him it would have saved a lot of time to say this first.
Jack lowered his head.
‘There was once a ship’s captain who fought in France. His wife died before he could return to say goodbye and for a long time all he wanted was to join her. He thought he was a brave man, but he discovered his bravery was only in battle, not in life. When he lost everything including his name, it took a woman much braver than him to show him how to be strong again. A woman who rose instead of falling when she had lost everything. It took her strength to give him a reason for wanting to live. It took her compassion to give him a reason to love again.’
His hand shook as he lifted Blanche’s chin and looked deep into her eyes. The black orbs surrounded him, swallowing him and claiming him. He could hold his feelings back no longer.
‘I want everything from you, Blanche. I want your laughter and your sighs, your kisses and your touch. I want to fall asleep in your arms and wake at your side. I want your love,’ he breathed.
Blanche’s eyes were glistening. Jack’s throat tightened as a lump of emotion filled it.
‘I thought you didn’t care,’ Blanche whispered. ‘In the Prévôt’s chamber you were so cold and distant. You looked as if you hated me.’
‘I had to be. I don’t want Ronec or the Prévôt to think I have anything personal to gain from the result otherwise they will never agree to it.’
‘Do you forgive me for not telling you who I was?’
‘Yes and no. I’m still angry and hurt, but when I thought you were in danger that stopped mattering. I’d lost one woman I had loved. I couldn’t do it again if it was within my power to prevent it. My journey here was a living nightmare in case I came too late.’
He reached for her hand. ‘I thought of you all the time I was in England. I couldn’t help it. Even when I was hating you for what you had kept from me, you were always in my mind. Life is too short to bear resentments and harbour regrets.’
He stroked her cheek. She closed her eyes and he saw the same yearning on her face that had tugged at his heart for so long.
‘I’d vowed never to love again after Margaret died,’ he said. ‘I fell in love with you when I didn’t know I shouldn’t. I tried to resist you. I tried to deny my feelings but I can’t and won’t any longer. I love you, Blanche, as deeply and truly as I’ve ever loved anyone. I want to be with you for whatever time either of us has left on Earth. We’ve both been damaged but together we could build a life worth living. If that is what you want? Be with me. On whatever terms you wish. Be my lover or my wife, just say you’ll be in my life.’
‘I will.’ Blanche put her hand to Jack’s cheek. Jack cursed the chains that prevented her from putting her arms around him.
‘I’ll never forgive that cur for demanding you are chained,’ he growled. ‘Blanche, I wouldn’t do you the disrespect of suggesting you need rescuing but I would consider it an honour if you would allow me to assist in thwarting that bastard Ronec to the satisfaction of both of us. You once asked me if I would be prepared to sail under the flag of the Sea Wolf and I refused.’ He held his hand out. ‘Will you ask me again now?’
Blanche clasped his hand and shook firmly. ‘Nothing would give me greater pleasure.’
‘Nothing?’ he purred. He lifted her hand to his lips, turning it palm upwards and kissing the delicate skin of her wrist. She shuddered in pleasure.
‘Lots of things, now I think of it,’ she said, ‘but I’d rather not do them in chains and in this place. Free me and I’ll gladly pay any price.’
‘No.’ Jack dropped her hand and put his hands on her shoulders. ‘No price, Blanche, my love. No trade or bargains.’ He touched her cheek then dropped a kiss in place of his fingers.
‘What we do, we will do for love and nothing else.’
She gazed into his eyes.
‘There is one more lie you should know about. I said I don’t need rescuing, but I do. I need rescuing from myself. I’ve been friendless for so long that I’m too stubborn to admit I need help. Even today I thought the worst of you rather than trusting you. I want you to teach me how to love again and how to live again.’
Jack slipped his arms around her, holding her to his chest. ‘I can do that. So, are we agreed? You will accept your sentence?’
‘I will.’
Jack kissed her. Not as thoroughly as he wanted to, but there would be time for that later. He hammered on the door. ‘We’ve made a decision. Open up.’
They followed the guard back to the chamber where de Larrion and Ronec waited. Blanche sat back at her table.
‘I agree to the terms of the proposal.’
De Larrion nodded his head. ‘Then the matter is settled. All parties agree.’
‘I don’t,’ Ronec snarled.
Jack spun on his heel and faced Ronec. He almost welcomed the protest.
‘I’ve seen you before,’ Ronec said, finally looking Jack in the eye.
Jack walked to where Ronec sat and lowered his voice.
‘Yes, you have. On the beach and in the entrance hall to Blanche’s home. Shall we tell Prévôt de Larrion where, and how I came to be here originally? What would he think of the circumstances in which I was washed ashore? I believe he takes a stern view of such activities as lighting unlawful beacons and luring ships on to rocks. Shall we test my theory?’
Ronec glared at Jack, then at Blanche. He would not risk being put on trial and with his fortune and liberty in jeopardy.
‘No,’
Ronec muttered.
Jack smiled grimly. ‘In return for our silence you withdraw your accusation against Blanche, discontinue all claims for damages and do not challenge this decree. You relinquish your captaincy of the ships.’
Ronec scowled. ‘This is blackmail.’
‘Yes, it is,’ Jack said agreeably.
‘She still owes me three nights in my bed,’ Ronec said, glancing at Blanche.
Jack slammed his hand on to the table, palm down. ‘She owes you nothing. You’ll be paid in coin and you’ll accept it. But if you prefer, I can meet you outside and beat an agreement from you. I’d welcome the chance and I’m no longer as weak as I was.’
Fear flickered in Ronec’s eyes. He was too cowardly to confront Jack at full strength, and Jack was clearly strong now.
‘Silence now and for ever,’ he said through clenched teeth.
‘Very well.’ Ronec pushed his chair back and stood, facing de Larrion. ‘If Madame Tanet chooses to place herself in this man’s custody I do not object.’
‘Then everyone is in agreement,’ Erwan said. ‘Madame Tanet, I release you into the custody of Captain Sutton.’
Blanche stood and walked around the table to Jack. They stood opposite each other.
‘Will you consent to live under my roof and in my keeping?’ Jack asked.
It was not the usual way to offer marriage and he could not throw his arms around Blanche and smother her with kisses as he wanted. The promises they would make to each other would be done in private and intimacy. Blanche bowed her head and tried to look meek and submissive. It did not come naturally but Jack would not demand that of her anyway. She gave up the pretence and gave him her widest smile. Jack stopped caring what the onlookers thought and beamed back.
‘I consent,’ she said.
‘And what of the ships?’ de Larrion asked as the manacles were struck from Blanche’s wrists. ‘You will have to begin a hunt for captains, I presume?’
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