Fair Cyprians of London Boxset

by Beverley Oakley

  Now, as the boat was lifted and tossed upon the waves of the English Channel, Faith imagined the worst that Lord Harkom had in store for her. He might even make Crispin watch.

  She shuddered, and a sob lodged in her throat.

  “Faith.”

  Terrified, she half rose, ready to fight with everything she had at her disposal.

  It was Lady Vernon, her gimlet eye trained on Faith.

  “You’re to get yourself ready to receive Lord Harkom this evening. I’ve brought you a change of clothes and a few other necessaries to clean yourself up. You’re hardly looking your best.”

  “He can take me as I am,” Faith muttered, but the prospect of clean water for washing and a change of linen and new gown was too enticing. She felt dirty and unkempt.

  “So, Lord Harkom keeps women’s clothing and ivory brushes on hand for such contingencies?” Faith asked Lady Vernon, as she’d worked on her coiffure and changed into the dark-blue confection with its ruffles and ribbons that was presented. It did not require a corset, and nor were there combinations. It was the perfect item for easy divestment, she thought cynically. Lord Harkom wouldn’t need to do much work to have her where he wanted.

  Lady Vernon didn’t answer as she appeared to be on the point of leaving. Faith detained her. “I need to go outside for some fresh air. I shall be sick, otherwise, and Lord Harkom won’t want that, I’m sure.”

  Fortunately, Lady Vernon didn’t seem too troubled by the suggestion, saying, “I suppose there’s not far you can go.” So, Faith found herself on the forward deck with the wind ruining the smoothness of her newly brushed hair, hurrying towards the railing while Lady Vernon remained just inside the doorway, protected from the cold.

  “Faith!”

  It was Crispin. She turned, her hands shaking as they gripped the railing before Crispin covered them with his own.

  “I am so sorry for putting you through this.” His voice tickled her ear and sent tendrils of warmth through her.

  “You aren’t responsible,” she returned, shocked he should even think it. “I was given the mission of breaking your heart. I accepted.”

  “Did you have a choice?”

  Seaspray weighed down her eyelashes and dripped onto her cheeks as she raised her eyes to look at him.

  “Oh Faith, you were young. A child, when you were taken by Mrs Gedge. You were slotted into a life for which you were completely unprepared, but you used everything you had to survive. Look at you!” There was admiration in his eyes. “Your beauty was an advantage. Of course, it was. But you had a mind that was agile, a clever wit, and a love of knowledge that was fed; however extraordinary those circumstances were.”

  “And now you are a captive at the hands of your father’s arch nemesis; a man who is clearly mad, and who thinks that destroying you will punish your father in the way he wants to.” Faith squeezed Crispin’s hand. “You’re here because of me, and for that I’m truly sorry.”

  Crispin smiled down at her. “I’m just as responsible for being here. I’m culpable for not having been able to better look after the woman I love. Don’t think I haven’t thought about that all these many hours I’ve had to suffer the rocking of this boat, and know that soon a time will come when Harkom exerts his vile power and makes us both suffer.”

  He glanced towards the doorway where Lady Vernon was sheltering. Perhaps she wasn’t planning to intervene because of the discomfort and the cold. Perhaps it was under Lord Harkom’s orders. After all, the greater the bond forged between Faith and Crispin now, the more they would suffer later, when Lord Harkom decided it was time.

  “I’m afraid,” Faith whispered, nestling against him. “I’ve only ever been with a man I love. When I saw Lord Harkom earlier this evening, I was fired up with zealous rage because I thought I had nothing to lose. I drugged him, and I succeeded in my mission. But now he has triumphed.”

  “Because I have failed you.”

  “Not you!” Faith twisted in the circle of his arms and raised her own to cup his face. “Why would you have behaved otherwise? Miss Eaves printed a story that looked very credible. So credible that she believed it because, as we know, she is a young woman who is driven by principle—on the surface, at any rate. The photograph told a compelling story. The villains were people of standing in high society. I was revealed for what I am. And people like me are never believed above people like Lord Harkom and Lady Vernon and Mrs Gedge.”

  Crispin wrapped her more closely in his arms. “You know I will fight to the death to protect you from Harkom when he comes to you, this evening.”

  “Oh, don’t waste a good life when I am what I am,” Faith said, trying to smile. “It’s what I was trained for. It’s what Charity endures numerous times every day. I’ve been living in a cloud. Don’t be foolish on my account, Crispin. We are very effectively Lord Harkom’s prisoners, and I would be happier if you saved your energies for a surprise attack rather than when he is expecting it. For you know that is his plan.”

  “Lord, but you do know how to read a man.”

  “I’ve been trained in the science for years. I applied it very skilfully to you.” She couldn’t help smiling. “If I made you love me, though, it was at my expense. That was where I failed in my mission.”

  “Oh no, it wasn’t. That was where Lady Vernon and Mrs Gedge must be congratulating themselves. They were able to destroy you at the same time as my reputation. A double win. Mrs Gedge couldn’t bear the thought that her beautiful Constancia should be dead while you, a worthless creature in her eyes, should only grow more beautiful; accomplished. Everything she’d have wished for her daughter.” He stopped, gripping her forearms as he asked, “But Faith, do you still love me? After all this time, and all the hours you must have run over in your mind how I’d failed you. Forsaken you.”

  “I thought about you every day, Crispin. I wondered how I could still love a man I knew thought the very worst of me. Because you did, didn’t you?

  He nodded. “There was no piece of evidence I could find to exonerate you. Not until yesterday and…” he looked up at the tall mast and rigging, the sails flapping loudly in the wind, “a lot has happened since then.”

  They were aware of Lady Vernon coming towards them.

  “I suppose Lord Harkom would want you apart, now.” She sounded distinctly out of sorts. “I wish to go to my cabin and I can’t leave you here.”

  “Where is Lord Harkom? Not retching his guts out, I trust?”

  Lady Harkom’s nose twitched. “I gather that’s exactly what he’s doing, but I’m sure he’ll recover soon enough. He has grand plans for you, Faith.” Her mouth twisted.

  “I never liked you, Lady Vernon, but I had no idea I had such good reason to trust my instincts.” Faith stared her down. “Your evil knows no bounds, does it?”

  “We all do what we must to survive. A title is no guarantee of a comfortable life. I’ve not wished for much, and I’m hardly extravagant. Not like his good lordship.” She indicated the innards of the boat, and presumably, Lord Harkom, with a jerk of her head. “Without supplementing my meagre allowance, I too would have been placed in your situation, Faith. Only…I don’t have quite your assets. So don’t play the moral high ground with me.”

  “You and Lord Harkom make strange bedfellows,” Faith countered. “I hope he makes this line of business worth your while. You do know what awaits you when you return to England.”

  Lady Vernon shrugged. “Don’t threaten me, girl. You’ll be long gone, and I intend to be safely returned to England before too long. I hadn’t factored in this trip across the channel, it’s true, but Lord Harkom and I can come to some agreement over that. So, don’t worry yourself over my future, Faith. Enjoy your nabob in the delightful harem seven hours’ camel ride from Constantinople, or wherever Lord Harkom has arranged for you to go. There were several options. He may be planning to auction you, for all I know. And I don’t care a jot. You were always more trouble than you were worth. I never understood
Mrs Gedge’s need to play so fairly by you.”

  “Indeed, I admire your trust in Lord Harkom,” Crispin remarked. “He’s hardly renowned for dealing honestly with anyone.”

  “Come on, Faith.” Lady Vernon ignored him. “I’m going to lock you in your cabin now where you can expect a visit from Lord Harkom as soon as he’s feeling up to you. As for you, Mr Westaway,” she shot him a look as if unsure what to do, then shrugged. “I daresay I can’t order you to your cabin, and these sailors apparently won’t take orders from any but their captain, so enjoy your view of the high seas. I’ll be glad when land is sighted. Like Lord Harkom, I was not made for boat travel.”

  * * *

  There was only so long that Crispin could spend in the biting wind. When he went in, he tried Faith’s door, but it was securely bolted. He tried Lord Harkom’s door and found that similarly bolted from the inside. However, instead of the silence that had greeted him when he’d knocked lightly for Faith, he could hear retching and a drawn-out groan from the other side.

  On the quarterdeck, he located the bosun, the only crew member who could speak English it appeared, and asked him if Lord Harkom was in need of assistance.

  “Like the ol’ woman, the seas ain’t the thing fer ’igh-born stomachs. All ‘e needs is ter put ‘is two flat feet on summat that doesn’t move.”

  “Is Lord Harkom so seasick?”

  The bosun sniggered. “Can’t drag ‘imself from ‘is bunk.”

  “And how is the young lady who is locked in her room supposed to eat her dinner?”

  “I’ll take summat to ’er. The gennulman gave me orders ter see she were well attended.”

  “If his lordship is so indisposed, perhaps you’d allow her some fresh air at the same time she takes some refreshment.”

  “I can do that fer ‘er if it’s worth me while.” The bosun offered him a gap-toothed grin, and Crispin obligingly dug into his pocket and withdrew a pound note. The bosun’s eyes grew large. “She can ‘ave all the time an’ all the vittels she wants, sir,” he said, taking the note with a shifty glance to ensure he’d not been observed by any of his fellows.

  Crispin glanced about him. “Then let her go, now,” he ordered but the bosun shook his head. “Not wiv others about wot’d see me disobeying orders.” He sent Crispin a sly look. “Why don’t you go and get yerself some rest. I’ll let you know when the coast is clear.”

  Crispin went to his bunk and lay down.

  He presumed they were not going to dock within the next few hours, perhaps longer. And it had been a very long day already. But how could he sleep after Lady Vernon’s ominous words?

  Lord Harkom was involved in the white slave trade, and Faith was his next victim.

  He’d learned that she’d been ready to consume a vial of poison and kill herself only a few hours before. What might she contemplate doing now? The thought terrified him, but he was powerless to help her. Yet again, he’d failed her.

  Despite his best efforts, sleep claimed him at last, and when he woke at the sound of his door being slowly opened, he was refreshed enough to have a weapon ready. The candlestick was clutched in his right fist, and Lord Harkom was going to receive the full force of a hefty blow until, in the darkness, he heard Faith’s tentative voice.

  “Crispin. Can I slide in next to you? There’s not much room, is there?”

  Her words sounded so ridiculous under the circumstances that he laughed as he drew aside the covers and brought her close against his side.

  She rested her head on his shoulder, and he stroked her face, staring into the darkness.

  “The bosun forgot to bolt the door when he took me my food.” She laughed. “Can you believe that?”

  “I can.”

  “Of course, it was you, wasn’t it? And here I am.” She snuggled in closer and hooked one thigh over his, partly to stop from falling out of bed, he supposed, while a tremor of longing shook him to the bone.

  “And Lord Harkom is terribly indisposed. He hasn’t left his stateroom since he spoke to us.” She sighed. “Maybe he’s afraid of being accosted by you, Crispin.”

  “A terrifying proposition.” Crispin felt his inadequacy. “Harkom is a champion pugilist, and I’m hardly fighting material. No, he knows he holds the upper hand. As soon as his strength returns, he’ll carry on as he pleases.” He began to stroke her cheek. It was soft and smooth, but also hot to the touch. In the darkness, he imagined its flush of colour. He’d have liked to have been able to see her. He was a painter, after all. But simply touching her filled him with a deep peacefulness. “He may also choose to stay in his room because he realises he’s miscalculated. He’s on a boat that wasn’t prearranged for nefarious dealings. The crew will answer only to the captain, and the captain has no interest in breaking the law. Harkom realises this, I think.”

  “Then we could enlist the captain’s help?”

  “I’ve tried. The captain says his orders are to take us to Rotterdam, and that’s all he’ll do. He’s not taking sides.

  “Will you kiss me, Crispin?”

  “It might be dangerous.”

  “I like danger.”

  He found her lips easily in the dark. She’d been waiting for him, and she drew him into the kiss with a light hand upon his cheek.

  He’d not been exaggerating when he’d voiced concern about the danger. The simple touch of his lips against hers ignited him from within. The feel of her breasts pressing against him, harder with each rising breath, became a conflagration that threatened to consume him.

  “I love you, Crispin,” she whispered, shifting over him so that her body covered his and his hand came in contact with her naked thigh when he sought to hold her as the ship pitched.

  “And you, Faith. I love you, too.”

  She wriggled a little, and suddenly she was positioned directly above him, and he was straining to keep his basest impulses in check. But her hand was on him, her little fingers working the buttons of his trousers, and he was in no doubt what she wanted.

  There were no words to be said. No doubts or fears to be allayed. Their time was limited and their need for one another all consuming.

  He skimmed her smooth, moist thighs until his hand was on her heated mound. With a sigh, she cupped his cheek and kissed him more deeply.

  The need to protect her was uppermost in his mind, but so was his need to communicate his real feelings for this brave and beautiful young woman.

  She wanted him. She was ready for him. She made that clear enough as she felt for him.

  Another pitch of the boat, and he was as one with the woman for whom he’d sacrifice everything.

  * * *

  Their sleep was short, but deep and reviving.

  When Crispin awoke, it was to find Faith gazing down at him, her eyes luminous in the gloom.

  “Lord Harkom will come for me soon, and you won’t be able to stop him. I don’t want you to die in some fruitless attempt to save me.” Her voice was determined; her mouth clenched.

  “And fail you a second time? Lord, Faith, we were so nearly man and wife. How different things would have been if the timing had been in our favour. We might not be bound before the law, but I feel as if we are.”

  “You didn’t fail me before. Circumstances conspired to put us both in an impossible position.” She hesitated. “I don’t blame you for believing what everyone else did. And nor do I blame you for not following through on a marriage that would have bound you to a woman who would surely have ruined your career.”

  “Oh Faith, my career is not as a diplomat, I see that now.” He stroked her cheek. “You made me see that. This last year has been anathema to me. I thought following the path that would make my father happy would earn me his approval. But, here with you…” It was difficult to put his feelings into words. “You’re what’s important, Faith.”

  “Because of that letter? Because you think that you’re no better than me after all?” She twisted within the circle of his arm and looked down at him
. “How can it be proved?”

  Already, Crispin’s mind was turning on what the immediate future held for both of them. The question of his origins seemed almost unimportant when he very much feared he’d not ever make it home to England. If Harkom really planned to spirit Faith away using a distribution ring that had yielded success and financial rewards in the past, he’d not scruple at disposing of a man he not only hated for personal reasons, but who had the power to see him face the noose.

  Faith seemed to grasp this at the same time for she gripped his arm tighter. “Crispin, what are you thinking? That it doesn’t matter? But it does. It matters because you will escape. You will return to England, where you’ll prove that you’re every bit the son your father would be proud of. I’m sure he is very proud of you, even if he doesn’t show it. I couldn’t bear it if I were the reason you’d have to make a choice between your father’s wishes and your own.”

  He held her tighter and felt a stab of pain for what she must have experienced to have been so belittled by a man Crispin felt less and less affiliation with, regardless of his true parentage.

  What he had, now, was what he had to fight for. Faith was his responsibility; his true love. If they survived their ordeal, he’d sacrifice everything for her.

  “As long as I have breath in my body, I will fight for you, Faith,” he vowed.

  “I will not be a burden.” She pressed her lips together. “Love does not survive when it means sacrifice and duty at the cost of what’s truly in your heart. I pushed for you to marry me—quickly—because I was afraid for my future. Yes, my future. I didn’t think about yours, Crispin; only that I believed I could make everything up to you by making you happy…pleasing you during the years we had together as man and wife. I’ve been taught how to please men. Yes, listen to me and don’t shy away from the awful truth. When I met you, it was by design. I’d spent three years groomed in how to entice you. You owe me nothing. You certainly don’t owe me your life!”