Rogue of the High Seas

by Cynthia Breeding

  Nicholas pushed the laudanum-laced bon-bons to the side of his seat and nodded. “Richard has been watching the house. They arrived back late Monday.”

  “It is about time,” Wesley replied, looking out the side window. “Paying that pirate crew to keep them from leaving is expensive too.”

  “From what Richard says, they have been making out quite well harassing outgoing ships.”

  Wesley whipped his head around to stare at Nicholas. “Merde! Mon Dieu. Is Richard a complete fool? I thought you told him to keep the ship hidden in the cove.”

  “I did.” Nicholas shrugged. “Richard is no more a ship’s captain than I am.”

  Wesley ground his teeth. His sons were both idiots. Was he the only person who had some sense in this world? How many perfect—perfect—plans did he have to come up with? How hard could it be to stay out of sight for two weeks? If anything went wrong to foil his plans this time, he’d make both his sons pay. It was their faults the other plans hadn’t worked in the first place.

  He took out his pocket fob and checked the time. “The chit better not be late.”

  “That is one thing you do not have to worry about,” Nicholas said and pointed out the window. “Here she comes.”

  “Finally.” Wesley threw him a sharp look. “You do remember what to do?”

  Nicholas rolled his eyes. “Oui. Je ne suis pas un bouffon.”

  Wesley wasn’t going to argue the point of whether his son was stupid or not. At least not right now. He fixed a pleasant smile on his face, opened the carriage door and stepped down as Shauna approached.

  “It is wonderful to see you again and you look beautiful, my dear,” he said as he handed her up the steps. “I anticipate a lovely ride today.”

  Shauna smiled at him. “So do I.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Robert stopped by the dock office on his way back from the boatyard to talk to Shauna. He’d wanted to ask her this morning if she’d like to go with him on a trial sail once he put the New Orleans back in the water, but Colette had been there and he didn’t want the invitation to include her. He wanted to tell Shauna he intended to court her.

  When he poked his head in the door and saw she wasn’t there, he remembered she went to the charitable home on Thursdays. He decided to go to his flat to clean up and then walk over to Shane’s townhouse.

  Abigail met him at the door. “This is a surprise. Please come in.”

  “I’m sorry to arrive unannounced,” he said as he entered. “I was wondering if I could speak to Shauna.”

  “She has not returned yet, but you are welcome to wait in the parlor or library.”

  “The library sounds good,” Robert replied. “I’d like to study some of Shane’s sea charts.”

  “You know the way. I will have some tea sent in,” Abigail said. “Just make yourself comfortable. Shane should be home soon.”

  “Thank you,” Robert answered and made his way down the hall. The library had always fascinated him, partially because Shane had designed it as a circular structure within the townhouse. Spiral stairs led to an upper floor lined with bookshelves. From the high ceiling, a huge chandelier descended through the center of an open balcony with wrought-iron railings that circled the perimeter of the room. The other reason Robert found the room fascinating was because it contained a vast amount of maps and sea charts of the Atlantic and North Sea as well as the Channel and the Mediterranean. He chose one of the coast of Spain and unrolled it on a nearby table, then reached into his pocket for some coins to hold the edges flat.

  His fingers encountered the stone the young girl had given him at Glenfinnan, and he drew it out. The light from the oil lamp caught the pale streak inside the brownish stone, causing it to flash like gold. He could see why she’d called it a faerie stone—the light almost did seem to have a life of its own. Robert placed it on one corner of the chart and laid coins on the other and then sat down to study it.

  Sometime later, long after his tea had grown cold, he heard the door open and looked up expecting to see Shauna, but it was Abigail who stood there, looking worried.

  “What is it?” he asked as he stood and walked toward her.

  “It is Shauna. She should have arrived home an hour ago. I sent Johnny to find out why she was so late. He just got back.” Abigail looked up at Robert, tears welling in her eyes. “Mrs. Tate told him Shauna never arrived at the residence.”

  “Ye are sure Shauna dinnae arrive?” Shane asked Mrs. Tate for at least the third time since Robert and he had arrived at the charitable home moments before. Although Shane kept his voice level, Robert could sense the desperation behind the words. He felt it himself. He’d been questioning Johnny when Shane had arrived home earlier. They’d both gone to the dock office to see if Shauna had stopped there. Albert hadn’t seen her all day. Then they’d stopped at the local magistrate, but he had no reports of any incidents.

  Mrs. Tate shook her head. “Miss MacLeod sent a note yesterday saying she would be here, so I was expecting her about two o’clock, her usual time. By thirty past, I thought maybe she was tired from the trip and had changed her mind. Even Mr. Adler complained when he returned from his carriage ride that he’d had to leave without her.”

  Shane frowned. “Who is Mr. Adler?”

  “One of the gentlemen she reads to. They’ve gone on a carriage ride to get some fresh air a time or two.”

  “Is he here now?”

  She gave him a confused look. “Why wouldnae he be?”

  “I would like to speak to him,” Shane said.

  “Aye, of course. His room is at the end of the hall.”

  “While you do that,” Robert said, “I’d like to question some of the other residents who might have seen something.”

  “Good idea,” Shane replied.

  “There are probably some residents in the sitting room. ’Tis where they visit if they doona want to stay in their rooms.”

  While Shane went down the hall, Robert followed Mrs. Tate across the open foyer and entered what looked like a big parlor. The room was nearly empty, save for an elderly man dozing in a chair, a couple playing a board game at a small table by the window and a woman who seemed to be talking to a pillow.

  “I doona ken how much help they’ll be,” Mrs. Tate whispered. “Mr. James spends much of his time asleep in that chair and Mrs. Ramsey thinks her deceased husband is here. The couple over there are both deaf, but I do a bit of sign language.” She walked over to them and after some gesturing, both shook their heads.

  Robert went over to Mrs. Ramsey, who stopped her chatter to look up at him. “Well, now. Are ye nae a braw lad? Ye remind me of my son, ye do.”

  “Thank you. I was wondering if you know Shauna MacLeod?”

  “Aye, and a fine lass she is. Comes to visit near every week.”

  “Did you see her today?” His hopes were dashed when she answered no.

  Robert looked at the old man snoring softly. There wasn’t any reason to wake him since the other three residents hadn’t seen Shauna. He went back to the foyer to wait for Shane. He didn’t have to wait long before Shane came striding down the hall, his face grim. “You had no luck?”

  “Nae. The mon said his son rented a carriage today and they waited for Shauna, but she dinnae come.”

  Thanking Mrs. Tate and leaving instructions to notify them if she or any of the residents recalled anything more, Robert and Shane walked out to their horses. “Abigail said Shauna left the house nearly a half hour before two o’clock,” Shane said. “It’s only a twenty minute walk. What could have happened?”

  Robert untied the reins from the hitching post and then paused. “Owen came back with us. Do you think he has anything to do with this?”

  “I spoke to Owen yesterday…” Shane frowned. “God’s blood!”

  “What?”

  “The mon sa
id his work would be finished today. I thought he meant the kelp contracts.”

  Robert stared at him. “You think he abducted Shauna?”

  Shane threw him a quick look as he mounted. “Highlanders used to steal brides all the time. ’Tis possible he reverted to the old ways.”

  Rage began to build in Robert and he vaulted onto his own horse. “Then let’s pay Owen a visit.”

  But even as they clamored down the cobblestone street, he was afraid of what they would find. Or, more precisely, whom they would not find.

  And he was right when they got to the hotel where Owen had a room. He had checked out that morning.

  “You are going to wear a hole in the carpet,” Abigail said mildly, moving her feet out of harm’s way as Robert continued to pace back and forth in front of the hearth in the parlor that evening. “If Owen took Shauna, Shane will catch up to them.”

  Robert stopped and raked a hand through his hair. “I’m the one who should have gone after her.”

  “You do not know the roads like Shane does, especially in the dark,” Abigail answered. “It is only sensible that you stay here in case…in case…someone remembers something.”

  He knew she was about to say in case Shauna turned up hurt…or worse. He wouldn’t even put a name to that thought. Damnation. Why did Shane let her walk alone? She should have been escorted. Hell, why hadn’t he escorted her himself? “I won’t forgive myself if Shauna has been assaulted.”

  “Pray then that Owen did take her. At least he will not hurt her.”

  Christ. Robert resumed pacing. The bastard might not physically harm her, but it was nightfall. They would be stopping at an inn soon… Robert clenched his fists. If MacLean defiled Shauna, he’d kill the man with his bare hands.

  “Captain Henderson. Please sit.”

  The last thing Robert wanted to do was sit, but he didn’t need to distress Shane’s wife either, especially in her condition. He sank into an armchair and balled both fists again. “I have got to do something.”

  “I understand, but right now all we can do is wait. If Owen is on his way to Glenfinnan with Shauna, he’d have to be in a carriage. Shane will catch up to them on the Glasgow road. He also sent Jacob and George north through the mountain passes to alert Ian. It will take them only half the time to get there as it took us.” Abigail tilted her head and looked at Robert. “You love her, do you not?”

  He nodded, not even trying to deny it, and then he poured out the whole sordid story of his past.

  “You have no idea where Jane might have disappeared to?” Abigail asked.

  “None.” Robert paused, thinking. “She was to meet friends in the park by St. Louis Cathedral. I dropped her off right in front on Rue Chartres and went on to a gentleman’s club. She seemed to have vanished amongst the crowd.”

  “So how could you be to blame for her disappearance?”

  “I was the last one who saw her.”

  Abigail frowned. “Do you think she was abducted?”

  “No ransom note was received,” Robert replied. “Unfortunately, I had a shipment to deliver and had to leave before an investigation could be completed. The magistrate allowed me to go since no body had been recovered.”

  “From what you said, the area around the cathedral was popular. Surely a body would have been found if there had been foul play.”

  “Perhaps, but the river is but a stone’s throw from where I left Jane.”

  “You think she drowned?”

  “I don’t know. No body was recovered from the water either. However, I have made my decision. Since I refused to accept a dowry, once my brother and Jane’s guardian receive my letters, the betrothal will be officially broken. I cannot go through with a bogus marriage. My reputation may be sullied, but Jane’s will remain intact.” Robert took a deep breath. “I’ll be free to pursue Shauna. If only she will have me.”

  Abigail smiled and reached over to pat his hand. “She will have you, Robert. You do not have to worry on that point.”

  God, he hoped she was right.

  Shane returned three days later with an agitated Owen, but no Shauna. They gathered in the library where Abigail poured all of them generous portions of whisky and added a few drops to her own tea.

  Robert felt like he’d been hit with one of his yardarms when Owen said he hadn’t seen Shauna the day she disappeared. Robert had spent the last three days scouring every dock in the area, making certain no vessel had left port the day Shauna vanished. He’d talked to everyone from captains to dockworkers. No one had seen a woman go aboard any ship. He’d enlisted Albert and David to help visit each public stable in Edinburgh to determine if a carriage had been rented for a journey. The mail coach had taken no female passengers since last Thursday either. Robert had reached dead ends everywhere and he refused to even think of the possibility that Shauna had met a watery grave. Abigail had seen her walking toward Princes Street, away from the water.

  “You’re certain you didn’t see her?”

  “I am not a liar.” Owen lifted his head. “And regardless of what you might think, I do not go around abducting women either.”

  Robert didn’t care what Owen did with other women. He was only concerned about one, although he refrained from saying so. “Why did you leave Thursday morning?”

  He drew his brows together, giving Robert a dark look. “I signed the contracts that needed signing. I did not have any reason to stay.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “What are you implying?”

  Robert ignored the warning look Shane was giving him. He had to hear in Owen’s own words that he’d not harmed Shauna. “You planned no retaliation for Shauna’s turning you down?”

  Owen clenched his fists. “By God, I should call you out for that.”

  “There will be no dueling,” Shane said, “or any kind of fighting. We have a more serious problem here. Shauna is missing.”

  “And I returned with you to help search,” Owen replied and then looked back at Robert. “Not that it concerns you, but I will not have any trouble finding a suitable bride. I said as much to Neal Austin.”

  “Austin?” Shane asked. “He was with Mr. Adler last Thursday when Robert and I went to the charitable home.”

  Robert frowned. “Why would you be talking to him about Shauna?”

  “She visits his father.” Owen shrugged. “I ran into Neal at the Commercial Company last Tuesday. He asked if we had all returned and when I said yes, he wanted to know if I had already married Shauna.”

  “I wonder why he would ask that when she hadn’t agreed to marry you at all,” Robert said. “Unless you said she had.”

  Owen glowered at him. “I told you I am not a liar.”

  “It seems odd then.”

  “Yes, it does,” Shane said thoughtfully. “Shauna mentioned the mon taking them for carriage rides. Do ye think maybe Austin was interested in her?”

  “I do not…” Owen paused.

  “What?” Robert asked.

  “I….he might have been interested, now that I think about it,” Owen answered. “He seemed rather relieved to hear there was no betrothal.”

  Robert looked at Shane. “Perhaps we should pay another visit to the charitable home.”

  Shane nodded. “Perhaps we should.”

  It didn’t take them but a few minutes to get there since Shane and Owen’s horses were still saddled and Johnny made short work of preparing one for Robert. As they dismounted at the home and walked up the steps, Robert suddenly felt a cold wind sweep over him although the evening breeze had gone still. He’d experienced such a feeling only once before—the day his maman had received the letter saying that his father would not be returning. The outcome of tonight would not be good.

  “Mr. Adler?” Mrs. Tate said when they asked to see him. “I am afraid he is no longer with us.”
r />   Robert frowned. “He died?”

  “Oh, no. He asked to see his doctor last Friday and the physician said he was much better.” She gave them a big smile. “In fact, the physician said he’d never seen such a miraculous recovery.”

  Robert exchanged a glance with Shane and turned back to Mrs. Tate. “That quick, eh? Where did he go?”

  “I doona ken. His son said something about a holiday. They left Saturday.”

  The hair at Robert’s nape rose.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Shauna opened her eyes slowly and then closed them quickly as the world whirled around her. Her bed seemed to roll, giving her a nauseous feeling. Then it slipped back only to slide forward again. She opened her eyes once more to dim light in a darkly wooded room. Her muddled mind needed a moment to realize the pitching, swaying motion wasn’t her bed, but a ship, and she was lying on a bunk in a cabin.

  Taking care not to aggravate the queasy feeling, she slowly sat up and looked around. A chair was bolted to the floor opposite the bunk along with a wall shelf that had a fiddled edge and might serve as a small table. A gimbaled oil lamp swung over the shelf and a brass chamber pot sat in a corner. The rest of the cabin was bare.

  Not one of Shane’s ships then. Could she be on the New Orleans? Even as she thought it, she remembered Robert’s ship hadn’t been launched yet. So whose boat was she on and, more importantly, why? Reaching over to use the shelf for support, Shauna stood. The room threatened to start spinning again. Her head felt thick and her mind groggy, like the one time when she was younger and helped herself to too much honeyed mead at a banquet. But she didn’t think she’d been drinking.

  Shauna edged toward the cabin door and tried the handle. It didn’t budge. She tried again. Nothing. Her befuddled brain registered that it was locked. She frowned and took three steps back to sink onto the bunk. Holding her throbbing head in her hands, she tried to think.

  What had happened? Bits and pieces were beginning to come together. She recalled getting in the carriage with Mr. Adler. His son, Neal, had driven the landau to a grassy area near an inlet cove where a small brig bobbed at anchor. Mr. Adler thought it was a pretty spot and suggested a stroll. Neal had given her a box of chocolate bon-bons…and then she’d started to feel dizzy. The last thing she remembered was starting to fall.