If Percy was right, Zeddie would be coming home. There was a glimmer of light after all. The morning star of hope continued to shine.
21
A VIRTUOUS WOMAN, WHO CAN FIND?
The trade wind was blowing through the open window. It lifted the lace hem of her skirt, awakening her. Emerald’s eyes fluttered open to see the setting sun. She’d slept for hours! Feeling rested, she got up from the bed and reached for her brush. She gave her hair generous strokes, but her hand became still when she smelled the enticing waft of coffee blowing in through the window from the cook shack.
She looked toward the door leading downstairs. Strange, she thought. Who would be brewing coffee? She walked quietly to the window and glanced below to the causeway built on stilts, and to the pile of wood used for the outdoor oven. But she saw nothing stirring in the ebbing blue twilight.
She heard the mare moving about below, and her soft whinny as if greeting a friend. Cautiously, Emerald turned away to glance once more toward the open door. Then she heard footsteps.
Someone is downstairs.
Unlike the terrifying night when Mr. Pitt had broken in, she felt no alarm—yet. Perhaps Zeddie had returned from Tortuga sooner than Percy had expected. Was it possible that Sir Cecil had been at the town house and Percy had already delivered the letter?
Leaving the crow’s nest, she stepped to the upper railing and peered directly below. But the room was asleep with evening shadows, and she saw no one. As she came silently down the flight of steep steps, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee grew more enticing.
She halted mid-stair to look again over the railing, and her heart caught with alarm and excitement when her eyes fell on a hunter-green hat with a white plume. A jacket lay on the chair, one she had seen him wearing hours ago when he was with Lavender.
He wouldn’t come here, she thought, her tension growing. Nevertheless, the hat and jacket belonged to Baret, and somehow she could imagine his brewing coffee while she slept the afternoon away!
She glanced down at her soiled dress and turned to quietly retrace her steps to change into a more suitable frock. She hated this dress anyway because Jasper had given it to her. Its cost and flair represented everything that had maligned her virtuous reputation and had brought suspicion between her and Baret.
The unmistakable squeak of leather boots halted her, and she stiffened on the steps, her hand closing tightly about the railing.
“I see you’ve added horse thievery to your list of offenses. There’s no telling what Carlotta will say about it. You take her lover, and now her prized mare.”
Her cheeks flamed. It was like him to enjoy making a horrid matter even worse.
But she turned slowly in the direction of his voice. She spotted him now, stretched out leisurely in the chair in a shadowed corner, his high leather boots crossed, one arm behind his dark head as if he didn’t have a care in all Jamaica. Nor did it seem to bother him that his presence contradicted the fact they were not on speaking terms.
At the moment, how he’d managed to make coffee without affecting her sleep escaped her, but here he was, as if the incident at the hacienda had been a dark illusion.
If only it were so, she thought desperately, but when he stood, a rugged and handsome Cavalier out of place in the crookedly built room, she saw that he was no illusion—and neither was the shooting incident. A bandage showed through his laced shirt.
She resisted the absurd pounding of her heart, caused by a motley mixture of anxiety and longing for him. Her feelings were all the more troubling when he retained a poise that was imperturbable. Perhaps his restraint was best. The one time she had witnessed a crack in his composure had been when he believed she had compromised her Christian virtue. She folded her arms, watching him through lowered lashes.
He came to the steps.
“What do you want?” she asked stiffly.
His half smile was cynical. “The wrong question, madam. What do you want?”
“Not your rudeness, I assure you.”
“I’ve come with news. I thought you’d like to know that your darlin’ Jasper, unlike sweet Jamie Boy, has escaped the Grim Reaper. You won’t need to search your trunk for Puritan black after all. Lament no longer, m’lady, Jasper has avoided passing on to his everlasting abode!”
“He’s alive?”
“Unfortunately. Ah—the color of youthful vibrancy returns to your wan cheeks. Please, don’t faint away with heart-stopping relief. I’ve no smelling salts.”
“Leave here at once!” she cried.
He folded his arms. “Not yet. We’ve important matters to discuss. Enough of Jasper. I’m sick of his name. And I didn’t come here to browbeat you. I came to forgive you.”
“Forgive me!”
He placed a hand on his chest and offered a slight bow. “From the heart, of course.”
“So I see, m’lord.”
He walked to the table and grabbed the coffee pot, then poured coffee into her father’s mug.
She held back frustrated tears and gripped the banister tightly.
Jasper was alive. She remembered Carlotta’s hiss: “Murderess!”
“If there is any relief, sir, it’s from a far different cause, since I find Jasper an odious wretch. But I can see that any explanation would meet your immediate rejection. Your mind is made up about me. Just like all Port Royal.”
He said nothing but glanced at her, a slight frown on his face.
“There’s no undoing of prejudice, nor any use in defending one’s character once a mind is made up. I’ve always been Karlton’s ‘little brat.’”
“Maybe, but then again, perhaps not. We’ll settle for horse thief,” he said lightly, his smile cynical. He looked at her throat. “But you are still too fair for Gallows Point. Looks like we’ll need to consider other remedies and what I can do to save you from the stone throwers.”
“Do they include you?”
“I’ve come with terms of conditional peace, if you’ll cooperate.”
She was curious and scanned him, wondering. “And if I don’t submit to your terms to save me from my ‘branding’?”
“You’ve no choice after all. I did buy you, remember?” A flicker of irony came to his smile—and something else. Disappointment? Regret?
Whatever it was brought pain to her heart. Oh, Baret, if only you trusted me.
“I bought you twice, actually—from Jamie with rubies, from Levasseur with a duel. “‘Who can find a virtuous woman?’” he quoted softly from Proverbs. “‘Her price is above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her.’”
Emerald turned her head so that he wouldn’t see the welling tears. The silence lingered. It was on her tongue to cry again, “I’m innocent.” Something dreadful had happened to convince him of her guilt, but what? Who or what had so turned him into believing a lie? Her eyes narrowed. She plucked at the torn lace on her sleeve. “I won’t need to burden you, m’lord. I intend to start a turtle business.”
“A turtle business?”
“It’s respectable.”
“Yes, a little wet and sandy, however.” He looked down at her bare feet. “You’re prepared to haul out your calico drawers again from your trunk and wade knee-deep in water and sand? Hob will appreciate your company.”
“You make it sound foolish!”
“Not foolish at all. Just not what I have in mind.”
“What you have in mind! I no longer thought you had anything in mind except misunderstanding the facts. As for the horse, I intend to send her back. There was no carriage from Spanish Town as Captain Farrow thought, so we rode back together most of the way. He left me outside Port Royal.”
“No matter. I’ve decided to be generous with you. Keep the mare.”
He owned the horse? But how, unless that painting of himself and Royce on the hacienda wall was more meaningful than she knew. She thought of the document she’d signed and looked at him nervously. Did he know? He couldn’t. He was being too ple
asant, despite the cynicism in his manner.
“You’ll hang for your generosity if you stay in Port Royal much longer,” she warned uneasily. “Your uncle is a powerful man.”
“So you’ve discovered. He drives a hard bargain, doesn’t he?”
She glanced at him, but he showed nothing but a half smile. “He was working with Jasper in smuggling.”
“Smuggling is the least of his sins. But why warn me? Don’t tell me your conscience bothers you? You’re worried about that document you signed?”
Her face flushed meekly. “Like other things, I can explain the document.”
“I’ve no doubt. And you will. To Governor Modyford in a few days. There’ll be a meeting of the Jamaican Council at Kings House.”
“The governor—” She clutched the rail tightly, thinking the worst.
He walked back to the table, caught up what looked to her to be a leg of something that on a better occasion might have been able to fly, and ate while he watched her, not bothering to sit.
“Why would Governor Modyford wish to see me about it? Would they arrest you?”
“Do you intend to come to the hanging?”
“Signing that was a dreadful mistake,” she pleaded. “But it was a mistake. I’ll tell him so. I thought you had been…Lord Felix told me…and about the smuggling, Zeddie saw Jasper and Felix on the beach dealing with a Dutch slave ship. The slaves were bound for the Spanish colonies.”
He sobered. “That doesn’t surprise me. I knew about the smuggling. I wouldn’t mention it to the governor yet. I’m still working on your father’s death and wish to keep Felix unaware of what I’m up to.”
That brought her a measure of peace. If anyone could find out who was involved in his death and why, it would be Baret.
“The meeting will be safe enough for me,” he was saying. “Modyford’s calling the buccaneers back from Tortuga. There’s a gathering with the planters and merchants, but it’s rather a sham since he’s already agreed with Henry Morgan on an expedition. But first, Modyford will want to ask you a few questions. The High Admiralty official will be there as well—Earl Cunningham. He’d like to arrest me. Cheer up—it’s my neck dear Uncle Felix wants stretched, not yours.” His eyes hardened. “For whatever reason, you’ve already given Felix the ammunition he wanted. Fortunately, circumstances do not permit him to use it.”
“He lied to me. You must believe me. I can explain.”
“You don’t need to.”
“At least give me the chance!”
He pulled a familiar envelope from his shirt. “This is all the explanation I need. Your freedom from Brideswell—in exchange for my arrest.”
“That isn’t true.”
“But I don’t blame you for signing, dear. Pitt and Felix both had you chained to the rack. I’m only disappointed that you cooperated with Jasper so easily.”
“I didn’t cooperate. I refused him,” she choked.
He waved a hand. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve spent one sleepless night too many over this. I’ve decided to pardon you.” He tossed the bone onto the platter and wiped his hand on a cloth. He frowned at her, his dark eyes intense. “I’ve had time to think over my rather crude behavior in saying what I did at the hacienda. I had no right to hurt you with my cutting remarks.” He watched her, expressionless. “I’ve decided you’re very young. And a girl in your predicament, under the emotional stress of having just lost your father deserves understanding. At least—that’s what I told myself when I came here. But I haven’t handled it well, have I? You will understand however,” he said flatly, “that any notion of marriage between us is over. The betrothal will be temporary.”
Temporary! Her mind flashed back to her meeting with Earl Nigel at the town house. Could Baret know about his grandfather’s plans? Did he expect to carry them out even though he believed she “cooperated” with Sir Jasper?
“There will be no betrothal,” she choked. “How can you even suggest it? I never believed I could take it seriously, even when my father was alive. And it was your grandfather who insisted we go through with it for purposes of his own.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Then you know about my meeting with him at the town house?”
“It’s all part of a bargain I have with him that concerns Henry Morgan, but you needn’t understand it all now. I saw him this morning, and we settled matters. I didn’t go to him when I first arrived. I went to the hacienda, thinking you might need me.”
She winced. I did need you, she wanted to cry. Desperately I needed you. But something in his face stopped her from admitting this. Despite his casual kindness, there remained a subdued burning anger in his eyes that now and then sparked as he looked at her.
“If I’ve compromised, as you believe, I should rather be dead than stand here and endure your tolerance! My conscience is clear.”
“That’s what I’ve come about. To ease your conscience.” He folded his arms. “You’re forgiven for signing the document. Perhaps because it poses no real threat to me at the present. By the time it does, I will have had audience with the king. Felix, however, doesn’t know that yet. He’ll learn tomorrow night. The moment will be sweet.”
“Why not a threat? I don’t understand.”
“You will. I’ve also decided to forget your other mistake. But I have to admit it’s a pity you wasted yourself on that daw cock Jasper.”
She flushed. “I wouldn’t have Jasper on a silver platter to save my neck—or yours.”
“You spent six weeks in Brideswell. That’s enough trial for any young girl to handle. Your father was killed, and you had no one to turn to. I can see why you might succumb. But while I wish to protect you, I won’t take you to London.”
He picked up the pot and refilled his cup.
She came down the remaining steps, clutching the rags of her dignity.
He lifted the cup, drinking as he watched her.
“I did not succumb to Jasper.” She came toward him. “You told me he was alive—ask him. Ask Carlotta. She’ll tell you.”
“I did ask her.”
She tensed. “What did she tell you?”
His jaw flexed, but he made no response to her question. “I brought you the letter you went to such extremes to get.” He dropped it casually on the table.
Her gaze came to his and, despite his indifferent tone, she saw anger smoldering in the depths of his eyes.
“You should have known I’d come for you. That I’d defend you from Pitt. You might have held out a little longer until I arrived. But I didn’t come here to accuse you. I wanted you to have the letter and let you know the document you signed won’t matter all that much where my arrest is concerned. I have plans that may thwart Felix when it’s all over.”
She tried to piece together the jumble of confusing facts.
His gaze softened. “You looked so miserable today when I saw you that my conscience began to trouble me again.” He cupped her chin as though she were a small child. He smiled wryly. “For old times’ sake, I wanted to call on you. We’ll forget the past. Sit down and eat. You look half-starved.”
He pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her. “And dry your eyes. Too many tears have been shed already. Lavender and I have agreed on how to help you.”
At the mention of Lavender a dreadful suspicion arose, and she stepped back. She imagined the things her cousin would have said to him, pitying words, pretending concern for her future after the scandal of Brideswell and the hacienda.
He frowned when she simply lowered herself slowly onto a dining chair.
“Emerald,” he said gently. “I’m sorry about this.”
White and shaking, she breathed, “I don’t want your pity.”
I want your love, she wanted to say. I want your highest regard. I want you to look at me the way you used to—the way you looked when you spoke of the virtuous woman of Proverbs.
“I shouldn’t have dealt with you so harshly,” he gritted. “I don�
�t know why I did.”
“Don’t you?” she whispered. “Oh, Baret—it’s not because you cared that you were hurt, because you wouldn’t ever allow yourself to fall in love with me. That would be unthinkable. You love Lavender, because she’s such a wonderful saint, a lady, and you’ve always thought badly of me even when you pretended you didn’t—”
“Emerald, don’t.” He set down his cup.
“Well, I don’t want your help,” she choked. “Least of all Lavender’s hypocritical acts of mercy. I don’t need her—or you.”
“On the contrary, you do. And you’re behaving as a spoiled child, instead of admitting your weakness and accepting help.”
“You dare accuse me of being spoiled? Put your precious Lavender in Brideswell for a day and see her whimper and scream to get out! If anyone would compromise her honor to sleep in a bed of satin, it would be her!”
He pulled her from the chair, his eyes like dark burning coals. “Emerald—”
She struggled, beating against his chest with her fists, sobbing. “I didn’t give Jasper what he wanted!” she screamed. “Why won’t you believe me! Why!”
“Darling—” He grasped both of her hands, stilling them hard against his chest and drawing her head against him. He soothed her, stroking her hair as she wept.
“I’ve decided to take you away from here. I wasn’t going to say anything yet. I was going to wait until after the expedition with Morgan. But I think we’d better discuss it now.”
She looked up at him, astonished. “And where am I to go? The war makes leaving impossible, and I’ve Minette to think of. And anyway, I can’t leave with you. I’m staying, and I’ll make it on my own.”
“You can’t stay unless we’re publicly betrothed. I’ll be gone on the expedition for months. What will you do?”
Buccaneers Series Page 78