by Ava Bradley
In his newly appropriated finery, the morning's golden light transformed him into a dashing vision. The silk shirt rippled across his chest in the breeze and before she could shut it out, the vision of his muscles and that dark mat of chest hair filled her mind's eye.
"Adriana!" Ollie shouted from the crow's nest, alerting Adriana to his presence there. She looked up. Gilded by the sun, he waved an arm. "Bonjour, Christian!"
Christian waved back. "Ollie, hello." The bright smile he beamed at Ollie smile turned mischievous as he aimed it on her. He lowered his voice. "I, too, wish the answers to my questions. For example, where she has hidden Starry Night."
Henri bit out a curse in French. "Adriana–I told you to give it to him this morning."
"I hope she has thrown it overboard." Mrs. Bailey's voice carried through the hatch as she carefully negotiated the ladder behind him.
In her matriarch's presence, Adriana's confidence rose. She returned to her seat at the stern bench.
"But I have given it to him, Henri," she said in an innocent tone tinged with just a hint of wickedness. "It is safely tucked away on his ship."
A muscle in Christian's jaw tightened, but her captor remained silent.
Henri sat beside her and resumed his breakfast, grumbling under his breath between bites. "Bon Dieu. Vous me donnez mal á la tête."
"I'll wager she's hidden it in one of the shore boats, as she and Mrs. Bailey intend to make their escape this afternoon when we pass Charleston."
Henri's gaze snapped up.
Adriana leapt to her feet. "Why you incorrigible parasite! Your personal offenses against me have reached pinnacle. Have you no respect for a lady's privacy?"
Christian smiled, obviously pleased with himself. "Blame Lady Luck and her thin cabin doors. I was merely on my way to bed last night when I heard the two of you conspiring."
"You were eavesdropping. To claim otherwise is cowardly."
Henri stood and hitched his pants. "I cannot take any more of this." He faced her, an angry scowl furrowed in his brow that made her cringe. "Miss Montague, when I realized you were our accidental guest I believed you had the constitution to make good of this voyage. But you are different since returning from London, and not, I believe, in a good way."
Adriana gasped. Her captor chuffed as though triumphant. "That is what finishing school will do for the already spoiled."
"And you!" Henri turned his anger on Christian. "You behave like an unruly child. I understand where your anger stems from but not why you insist on making those around you miserable. Adriana is not to blame for the crimes you accuse of her father. Had I known you would be so grudging where she is concerned I never would have agreed to this journey."
That seemed to stop him in his tracks, but Adriana felt spurned just the same. Henri's disappointment cut deep into her heart.
A long moment passed while she and Christian faced each other like disobedient children before a parent who demanded an apology, but Adriana had no intention of delivering one. None of this was her fault. "Have I no right to object to this imprisonment?"
"Sacre Bleu! You are no prisoner. You want to leave the ship?"
Christian opened his mouth to object but Henri silenced him with a raised hand. "If you ask it, I will put you ashore in Charleston."
"That is hardly restitution." Mrs. Bailey raised her chin. "But it will have to do."
Free. Would she ever truly be free? Adriana only felt free aboard Lady Luck on the wide-open sea.
Merely purchasing passage on the train would put her back in the embrace of her father. John Locke. And, Adriana realized with a shudder, her soon-to-be husband.
The porridge she'd eaten for breakfast turned to a heavy lump in her stomach. She could not disappoint her father by refusing the marriage he'd worked so hard to arrange. Marrying Preston Weiss would make her one of the wealthiest women in America, and the union with the steel baron would make Montague Shipping the most powerful ship builder of all time. Her father was counting on this, and regardless of whatever doubts she now felt, she couldn't let him down.
She glanced at her captor. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the edge of the main cabin roof. One corner of his mouth twitched into a wry smile. "Miss Montague?"
But could she return to her father without forever doubting the man she had believed him to be?
I must prove Father's innocence, she told herself.
Only when this situation was resolved would the entire truth be revealed. And until that time, while aboard Lady Luck on this thief's journey, she wasn't with Preston Weiss.
I must do what I can to prevent this rogue from running rampant, committing whatever crime suits his whim. To flee like a frightened child would be irresponsible.
"Miss Adriana?" Henri asked softly.
Mrs. Bailey moved closer. "Adriana!"
She took a deep breath and straightened her spine. "I will not be put off my own ship. I am sorry, Mrs. Bailey. I am staying aboard."
Chapter Five
"I want to get a few things straight before I rest my bones." Henri glanced between them. Adriana did her best to ignore Christian's victorious glower. "And I won't tolerate any arguments from either of you." He tossed his discriminating glance over Mrs. Bailey and added "Any of you."
"Hmph." She crossed her arms over her full bosom and turned away to stare at the thin band of earth on the horizon.
"I am the captain of this ship, and I alone give the orders." He accentuated his command by pointing his finger at each of them.
"He doesn't even know how to sail," Adriana declared.
"He'll learn. We'll rotate shifts until we reach the cays–"
"Impossible. He cannot learn while underway."
"I certainly can, and will," Christian argued.
"Stop!" Henri sliced a hand through the air. "What better place than at sea. Adriana, you'll teach him. And I trust you'll do a good job of it, rather than lose the ship and our lives to a simple mistake."
She should be angry, furious even. But the suggestion she crew beside him, teaching him, ignited a strange, quivery excitement inside Adriana.
Christian watched her with triumphant delight shining in his eyes. He was as roguish and arrogant as the worst of rakes, but deliciously handsome enough to make up for it. Adriana had nothing but chubby Preston with his thinning hair to look forward to; she might as well enjoy the experience while she had it. And she certainly felt up to the challenge he presented with his conceited mischief.
"I will be right by your side as you do, Adriana. Have no fear," Mrs. Bailey stated.
She seized Christian's unwavering gaze. "He does not frighten me."
"We'll take shifts," Henri continued, his suspicious gaze passing from each and back as if he expected a brawl to erupt at any moment. "But we'll not sail at night again until we reach Hutchison's Island."
"Why not?" Christian demanded.
"Because the distance between some of the islands shall consist of several days," Adriana interrupted. "We need to be well rested. I feel safe to wager it will be the hardest undertaking you have ever attempted."
He sauntered closer. "It will take almost five days to reach southern Florida. What's the difference?"
"We cannot anchor on the open sea," Henri answered for her. His condemning scowl told Adriana he hadn't liked her tone. "There'll be no stopping, day or night. Someone will always have to be at the helm."
"If we are on the open sea, can the ship not sail itself?"
"No, it certainly can't," Henri stated firmly. "Mrs. Bailey, you would do well to pay attention too. We are short of hands as it is."
"I am a lady's chaperone. That is my share of work." Mrs. Bailey puffed up like a bird ruffling its feathers.
Henri ran a hand through his thinning silver hair. He turned to Adriana. "Go get changed. All I'm asking is a few hours of peace."
Mrs. Bailey started to follow her to the hatch, but Adriana stopped her. "I need a moment alo
ne. Please stay here and keep an eye on them. You will feel better topside, anyhow."
Once alone in her cabin, Adriana worked the buttons of her dress with shaking fingers. A twinge of guilt needled its way into her conscience, but she convinced herself she wasn't really fleeing her marriage to Preston Weiss.
I simply cannot return now without getting to the bottom of this macabre mystery, for Father's sake.
Still, her blood rushed through her veins with an invigorating sense of escape. She was the captive of a stranger, yet strangely, felt freer than she had in months.
"I cannot go back now, I must do this. Father will understand," she whispered to her reflection in the mirror.
She donned a simple linen skirt and shirtwaist, and a woolen bodice to ward off the chilly spring wind. She pinned a wide-brimmed meadow hat to her head for protection from the sun and slipped her feet into her softest kidskin deck boots. Her appearance was untraditional and sure to make Mrs. Bailey cluck in disapproval, but there was hard work to be done and Adriana needed flexibility and sure-footedness on deck.
Henri watched her suspiciously as she approached the helm. "The topgallants are half-reefed," he said, indicating he'd loosened the highest sails so the wind was gentle with the ship. "You'll be all right?"
"I will ring the bell if I need you." She couldn't meet Henri's eyes as she spoke to him. He no longer seemed like the man she'd known since she was a small child; that man seemed to have faded away like a wisp of smoke, taking her trust with him.
"Show Christian how to work the rigging, but don't try to give him too much. Remember, he's a land-lubber."
She stepped behind the wheel and stared forward at the glittering sea. "Aye-aye, Captain."
"Our course is south by south-east." He pointed to the compass. "You know how to swing the bearing."
She merely nodded. Henri hesitated over a sigh, then went below, leaving Adriana alone with Mrs. Bailey.
At the top of the crow's nest she saw a tuft of blond hair fluttering in the wind. Ollie was still in his favorite place, oblivious to the conflict below. She glanced around. Their captor was nowhere in sight. "Has Mr. De la Croix fallen overboard?" she asked nastily.
"He went below at the front when you came up here."
No doubt he was below searching for Starry Night. "That is the bow hatch. This one is the main hatch, Mrs. Bailey. You might as well become familiar with Lady Luck as she's going to be your home for several weeks."
"Good heavens. I shan't survive. Will it really take that long to get there?"
"Quite possibly, yes," Adriana answered solemnly. "Perhaps even longer, depending where they choose to put us ashore."
Still, not long enough to delay her wedding, or even to cause Preston to notice she'd been gone. One month, a brief excursion, and she'd be back to dreading her hopeless future.
The morning sun rose high into the sky and held there, reflecting like diamonds off a steel-blue ocean. Adriana kept the ship heeled into the waves for Mrs. Bailey's comfort. If her father were here, he would be proud. Together they'd sailed nearly around the world and back, but Adriana had never owned the helm without him or Henri watching from nearby.
She bit her lip. Was her father really the man she'd thought him to be? Despite her efforts to force it away, doubt had begun to slip in. As if overnight, her father had become a mystery.
Mrs. Bailey's heavy sigh brought her thoughts back to the present. The matronly woman leaned back against the padded backrest on the quarterdeck's bench. Thank goodness she no longer appeared as gray as a corpse.
Adriana fixed the wheel and went to her. She knelt and placed her hands over one of Mrs. Bailey's where it rested on her knee. "I am sorry, Mrs. Bailey."
"Don't you be sorry for anything, child. I think I know why you made the choice you did."
Adriana went back to the wheel and Mrs. Bailey followed. She sat on the low cabin roof and angled her body so she could watch Adriana and the sea in front of them.
"It is the old Adriana who would not be put off her own ship. The old Adriana who would rise to meet any challenge." Mrs. Bailey sighed deeply. "But Mr. Dupree was right. London changed you."
Adriana knew this day would come. Mrs. Bailey had hinted, dropping gentle questions here and there, but Adriana had so far been able to avoid the real discussion.
"Do you agree with him?" she asked. "That I have changed for the worse?"
"I did not say that, dear. But it pains me that you will not allow me to help. Was it your falling out with Cecelia? She is your best friend. Surely no argument between you is so terrible it cannot be mended."
Adriana sighed. "We did not have a falling out." Perhaps it was that she was on the water that she could talk about it now, or that it had been almost a year in passing. The embarrassment she'd experienced had faded, now she felt only regret. "Cecelia simply realized..." Adriana swallowed. "That I am beneath her."
Mrs. Bailey sniffed. "Whatever made her think such a thing?"
Adriana grimaced as she stared at the line where a pale blue sky met the azure sea. "A simply horrible girl named Mary Elizabeth Monohan, whose lineage is mixed with Belgian royalty."
"Fiddlesticks. You are one of the most well-to-do young women in America."
"You yourself are English. You know the people behave differently in London than they do in America. Father may be wealthier than Cecelia's family, but her money is old money. President Randolph was her Great Uncle."
Mrs. Bailey's murmured sigh was enough to tell Adriana she understood perfectly.
"They called Father a mushroom. Someone who didn't belong where he'd fixed himself."
Mrs. Bailey rose and stood beside Adriana. She placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know what it means. I am sorry you had to hear that."
Adriana forced a smile. "Do not be sorry for their offense. What they think doesn't matter to me. Not now, anyway. Truly, I was miserable in London, but I'm home now."
"Why did you not tell me?"
In the question, Adriana heard the woman's hurt. "Only because I knew it was so important to you that I succeed there. I did not want to fail you."
"My dear, you have never failed me. I could not have asked for a more proper ward." Mrs. Bailey dabbed a tear at her eye.
"It is part of the reason I do not want to marry Mr. Weiss."
Mrs. Bailey took her hand and followed Adriana's gaze across the shimmering sea.
"I know that I have to," Adriana continued. "Father has gone to great lengths to provide me with a prosperous future. But I was never one for the silly politics of the upper classes, and in London I truly learned to despise everything about them. I want no part of it. If I could, I would spend the rest of my life at sea."
"Do not speak ill of society. Only people who can't get in do that." Mrs. Bailey softened her tone. "When you have children, your outlook will change. They will become the most important part of your life, and bring you much joy."
Adriana shuddered. Children with Preston Weiss. She'd tried to avoid thinking about it, but the wretched thought had followed her through sleepless nights. She'd considered offering him an heir in exchange for her freedom, knowing the greedy rascal was only after her father's money. But even the thought of bearing a single offspring, of the act necessary to create a single offspring, nauseated her.
Before she could redirect her thoughts, they strayed to the handsome image of Mr. De la Croix. He was an arrogant rascal, but oh, how nice it would be to rest her eyes upon a countenance as pleasing as his for the rest of her life. With his smooth complexion and perfectly shaped lips, those muscular arms and strong hands, she wagered making children with him would not be altogether unpleasant at all.
Preston's greasy smile shattered her thoughts. Even being close enough to him to smell the horrible tonic he used in his thinning hair made her recoil.
She could not discuss such things with Mrs. Bailey. The matronly woman was single-minded in her focus to see Adriana married off to a respectable young ma
n. In her eyes, nothing else mattered.
"Perhaps," she answered simply.
* * *
Christian quickly decided searching for the necklace was futile. The fore hold possessed a million nooks and crannies. Adriana could have hidden it anywhere on the ship.
He returned to his cabin and poked through Edmund's things. The man had exquisite taste, and had furnished the cabin with all the items necessary to live comfortably aboard the ship almost indefinitely. Christian smoothed his nails with a steel file, then brushed his hair while standing before the large mirror in the toilet. With its copper tub long enough for him to stretch out his legs and a plumbed latrine, the privy was more extravagant than many people possessed in their homes.
He moved idly about the lower deck, examining the sections of Lady Luck he hadn't been able to investigate last night. Beside the galley was a small captain's office filled with charts, maps, and a handsome bookcase filled with leather-bound volumes. An elegantly carved wooden barrier latched across the front of each shelf, keeping the books tidily in place in rough seas. A gigantic book the size of a pastor's bible sat on a pull-out drawer shelf, flipped open to a blank page. The ship's log.
Voices from above called his attention through the hatch leading to the rear section of the deck. He went to the foot of the ladder and peered up into the dazzling blue sky. It was Adriana and her chaperone. He stood quietly and listened. Perhaps he was an eavesdropper, but those were the tools of the trade of a successful thief.
The story Adriana recounted surprised him. Christian never would have suspected the great Edmund Montague was considered a mushroom by the pretentious company he kept.
A peculiar sensation slid over him. Could it be that the man he'd imagined a giant for his wealth and influence was really just an ordinary nobody? Did Edmund find difficulty achieving the acceptance he so desperately sought? He never imagined Edmund Montague was a man at whom the upper classes stared down their noses, as they had always done to him.