“I wish we didn’t have to return at all,” she sighed.
“We must if we are to help your father. Besides, Port Royal is where Chilton is, and therefore the best place to begin searching for Marcus.” He arched a brow. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to confine yourself to the cabin while we are in port?”
“No.” She tilted her chin, anticipating an argument.
“I didn’t think so. But you will obey my every order to the letter, do you understand?”
“I will. I just want to be with you.”
“I cannot object to that.” He pulled her closer, but she held back from his embrace with her hands on his chest.
“Alex, I would ask something of you.”
“Name it.”
“Allow me to visit with my father while we are here. I know he must be worried about me.”
“No.”
“Please, Alex!”
“‘Tis too dangerous. You may send your father a message, but you will not leave the ship.”
“He will not believe a piece of paper. I know my father, Alex. He will want to see for himself that I am unharmed. Let me go to him.”
“No.”
“You can send men with me, armed men—”
“No.”
“Please, Alex.” She stroked the hollow of his throat with her finger. “What if it were your daughter that had been taken? Would you not wish to assure yourself of her safety?”
“I have no daughter.”
“Are you certain?” She gave him a mysterious smile. “Perhaps I carry your child even now.”
Alex stared at her, images exploding in his mind. Diana, round with child. A dark-haired infant suckling at her fair breast. Himself swinging a dark-eyed little girl in his arms, her giggles filling the air with joy.
His mouth suddenly dry, he placed a trembling hand on her abdomen. “Nothing would please me more.”
“Think how you would feel,” she said, covering his hand with hers, “if someone like Marcus snatched your daughter away without a word. You have no idea what happened to her. Horrible possibilities haunt your dreams. Frustration eats at you.”
Her words struck home. He was a man who was dedicated to his family. Hadn’t this whole farce begun because he was determined to avenge his brother’s murder? His conscience nagged at him. He did not want to leave Diana’s father in torment.
“I will think about it,” he sighed. “But that is all.”
“Thank you, Alex!” She kissed him.
“I’m going to regret this,” he muttered.
“No, you won’t.” She kissed him again and made him forget his misgivings.
It was time. Frederick removed the ledger pages from behind the portrait of his late wife. The time limit he had given Chilton was up, and there was still no sign of Diana. A man of his word, he would bring the evidence to Morgan and set events in motion to recover his daughter.
He knew the pages could incriminate him as well as Chilton, but the sacrifice was worth it. His own fate meant nothing. It was Diana who mattered…if she still lived.
Tucking the papers safely in the deep pocket of his coat, Frederick left for Morgan’s office in Port Royal.
“I cannot fathom it.” Diana bit her lip as she contemplated the disturbing news. The sailor who had borne the ill tidings shifted his feet as he awaited her decision.
They had dropped anchor in Port Royal early that morning, and Alex had left but a half hour past on an errand he had declined to discuss. He had refused to depart, however, until she gave him her word that she would remain on the ship until his return. At that time, he said, he would consider allowing her to visit her father. Truly, she had had every intention of obeying him.
But this changed everything.
She closed her hands over the rail and stared unseeingly at the buildings of Port Royal. She needed to determine what she would do next. She longed to keep her word to Alex. But Rico Fernandez, one of Alex’s gunners, had heard in the marketplace that her father had become desperately ill shortly after her disappearance. Now, more than ever, she needed to go to him and assure him of her safety.
But she had promised Alex.
She bit her lip and tried to control the rising panic in her breast. Her mother had died of a fever four years past, as had her betrothed, Edward. She did not think she could stand to lose someone else she loved.
There was no choice. She had to go.
Alex would understand. As things stood, she could appreciate his reluctance to let her visit her father. Not only was there danger in doing so, but there was no guarantee that once returned home, she would be able to come back to him. Knowing Frederick Covington, Diana had every reason to expect her father to keep her under lock and key until she was safely wed to some suitable gentleman. But this was different. Her father was ill, and he needed her. If Alex only knew, Diana was certain he would allow her to go back to Covington Hall. She had to assure her father that she was alive and unharmed.
“Would you arrange some sort of transportation, Mister Fernandez?” she asked, her decision made. “I would like to go visit my father.”
Fernandez scratched his head. “The captain no like this,” he said in his thick Spanish accent.
“The captain will understand. Now will you do as I ask, or must I do it myself?”
“No, no… I help you.” He slapped his chest and grinned, displaying rotted teeth. “I come too. Protect the woman of El Moreno.”
“Very well.” An armed escort would certainly placate Alex. “The captain will appreciate that, I am sure.”
Fernandez nodded eagerly. “I go now…get carriage.”
“A carriage would be perfect.” She watched as he nodded again, then scurried away to see to his task. Alex would have no objections, she thought as she turned away from the rail. She knew he would understand that she had to go to her father when he was ill, and one of his own men would be accompanying her. She only wished Mister Fraser had not gone into Port Royal. Though she was acquainted with Fernandez, due to his notoriety as the only man from the skeleton crew aboard the Renegade who had survived Marcus’s escape, she would have felt safer with someone she trusted at her side. Also, Birk was a physician.
Alex would have been her first choice, of course. She would love for her father to meet him, so that he could see for himself what a fine man Alex was. She thought they might like each other, both self-made men, men of the sea.
She would tell her father about him, she decided. She would tell him how El Moreno had saved her life. How he had protected her. And how she loved him. Aye, Frederick Covington would come to know El Moreno for the man he was, not the legend. Just as she had.
With a contented smile, she went below to ready herself for her journey.
Chapter Eighteen
Diana leaned forward and addressed the driver of the open carriage. “What seems to be amiss?”
“We’re stuck, milady,” the driver answered. He turned his scarred face toward her. “The mud is deep here, and the weight of the carriage is making it worse.”
“I told you to go the other way,” she reminded him, still annoyed that he had disregarded her instructions. “This is the long route to Covington Hall.”
“My apologies, milady.”
She sighed. “There is nothing to be done about it now. Mayhap if we all get out, the horses will be able to pull the carriage free.”
The driver smiled, the long scar pulling grotesquely at the side of his mouth. “A fine idea, milady.”
Her armed escort consisted of Rico Fernandez and Jean Latierre, two of Alex’s crewmen. Each hopped from the carriage, and Latierre extended a hand to help Diana down. She wrinkled her nose as her slippers sank into the muck, but having grown up on the island, she was used to such inconveniences. Hitching up the skirts of Lady Rothstone’s newly-laundered, borrowed gown, she accepted Latierre’s help as she made her way across the muddy road to a solid, grassy slope. Fernandez got in position to push the carriage.<
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“I hope this will not take long,” she called to the driver.
“Not long at all, my dear.”
A chill went through her as she recognized the melodious masculine voice. She turned her head in time to see Marcus step out of the copse of trees behind her.
Latierre turned to face the threat, his hand on his sword hilt. Marcus drew a pistol and fired. The sharp crack echoed off the mountains in the distance. Latierre fell forward, blood soaking his shirt in the middle of his chest.
Diana gaped at the fallen man, then remembered her other bodyguard. She whirled around and found him leaning on the carriage, a bored look on his face. “Aren’t you going to do something?” she cried.
“No.” He smiled that stump-toothed grin again.
“Fernandez works for me,” Marcus said. “He was most useful the night we first met, my dear…when your bastard lover clapped me in irons and held me prisoner in my own hold. He obligingly let me out so that I might retake my ship.”
“Traitor,” Diana hissed at the Spaniard.
“But I believe he has outlived his usefulness.” Marcus nodded. A second pistol shot exploded. Fernandez fell into the muck with a splat, a stupid grin still on his face. “Excellent shot,” the pirate commented.
“Thank ye, cap’n.” The driver blew on his smoking pistol.
Diana stared wide-eyed from Latierre to Fernandez and finally to Marcus. “How could you? Fernandez was one of your own men.”
“My dear.” Marcus took her arm and smiled. “Never trust a traitor.”
“Do not touch me,” she hissed, yanking her arm away.
“Really, my dear. Your manners are atrocious.” He grabbed her arm again and held it firmly. “Scroggins!”
The ugly seaman appeared from amongst the trees in response to Marcus’s call. “Aye, cap’n?”
“Help Jack get the carriage out. It will be more comfortable riding to Chilton’s estate in that rig rather than on horseback.” He gave an evil laugh. “Besides, I’ve another use for our mounts.”
“Aye, cap’n.”
Marcus turned his attention back to her as Scroggins scurried to obey. “My apologies, my dear. Did I not introduce you to your driver? Meet Jack Scabb, first mate aboard the Renegade. And, of course, you know Scroggins.”
She tried once more to pull her arm from his grasp. Unsuccessful, she glared up into his glittering green eyes. “You will regret this. He will come for me, you know.”
To her dismay, he laughed. “My dear, I am counting on it.”
“As always, I am pleased to see you, Rothstone.” Morgan toyed with a jeweled snuffbox that had been a gift from the king several years before. He traced his finger over the miniature portrait of His Majesty that graced the lid, then pinned Alex with a shrewd stare. “But why are you here if you have not captured Marcus?”
“There was a complication.” Sitting on the other side of the desk in Morgan’s Port Royal office, Alex smiled as he imagined Diana’s reaction were she to hear herself called that. “Marcus abducted Diana Covington.”
“So I have heard.” Morgan pushed away the snuffbox. “The gossips have been chattering about the incident for the past week. The girl’s reputation is ruined.”
“Bloody hell.” Alex clenched his jaw. “It had to be Chilton. No doubt the blackguard still means to have her as his wife.”
“At this moment, he is the only man in Port Royal who would wed the girl, heiress or no,” Morgan agreed. “Though I do find it strange that Frederick did not come to me about it.”
“Mayhap he feared for his daughter’s life.”
Morgan sat back in his chair and tapped his fingers on the arm, raising his brows at Alex. “Am I mistaken in believing that you know more of this situation than I do, Rothstone?”
“No, you are not mistaken. Let me explain what happened.” He summarized events, explaining about Chilton’s partnership with Marcus and how Frederick had discovered it. He told of the plan to blackmail Frederick into producing the ledger pages by threatening Diana’s life. He gave the details of the conversation Diana had overheard between her father and Chilton, but avoided all mention of his personal relationship with the lady. Still, Morgan gave him a knowing smile when he finished the story.
“So, you are taken with the girl, are you, Rothstone?”
Alex nodded. He should have known Morgan would put the pieces together. “I intend to wed her as soon as my life is my own again.”
“You have my best wishes, of course.” Morgan sat back and toyed with his mustache. “But what of Covington? Is he involved in this or not? Is he an honest man trying to stop a crime, or is he one of the jackals himself, seeking to gain from his associate’s error?”
“I lean toward honesty,” Alex said. “But that is only my opinion.”
“Humph.” Morgan pursed his lips. “I value your opinion, Rothstone. But I would prefer proof.”
“As would I. Hopefully, the ledger pages will exonerate him.”
“Perhaps. To my knowledge, Covington has always been an honest man. I shall reserve judgment for now.”
Alex nodded, knowing this was the only concession he would get from Morgan. He had spoken for Diana’s father and in so doing, had fulfilled his promise. He had always known he had no say in whether Frederick Covington lived or died. The decision rested in Morgan’s hands, as it always had.
A disturbance erupted outside the office. Morgan waved his hand. Alex slipped from his chair and ducked through the open first floor window, pulling the shutters nearly closed. He peered through the slats just as the door flew open. Frederick Covington burst into the room.
“Sir Henry, I must speak with you!”
A harried clerk followed Frederick. “I tried to stop him, sir, but he just pushed me aside!”
Morgan stood, his brows raised with interest. “‘Tis quite all right, Milton. Go about your duties.”
With a resentful glance at Frederick, the clerk left the room, slamming the door behind him.
“Brandy, Frederick?” Morgan stepped toward the crystal decanter. “It will calm your nerves.”
“I fear nothing will calm my nerves,” Frederick responded, clenching his hands around the packet of papers he held. “I have much to tell you, Sir Henry, and when I am through it would not surprise me if you clapped me in irons and hanged me at dawn. But you must be informed.”
Morgan poured two measures of brandy and turned back to Diana’s father. “You intrigue me, Covington. Sit down, and tell me your tale.” He held out one of the snifters.
Covington looked from the offering to the papers in his hands. Indecision swept his blunt features, then his mouth tightened. He thrust the pages at Morgan.
“Take these, Sir Henry. Then if you still want to offer me refreshment, I will accept it. These are—”
“Pages from Chilton’s ledger. Aye, I know.” Morgan took the documents with one hand and offered the brandy with the other. “I said sit down, Covington. We have much to discuss.”
Obviously confused, Frederick took the drink and sank into the chair.
“I understand that Marcus abducted Diana because of these.” Morgan sat and started leafing through the pages, scanning every one rapidly but thoroughly. “I can see why.” He looked up, his shrewd gaze pinning Frederick where he sat. “I even suspected that you might have something to do with this.”
Covington swallowed hard. “I understand how incriminating it must look…”
“Indeed it does.” Morgan sat back, scrutinizing Frederick as he tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. “Still, I am inclined to believe you, Frederick. First of all, you have a reputation as an honest fellow. Secondly, your daughter’s life is in danger now that you have brought these pages to me. Only a man of integrity would make such a choice. And thirdly…” He gestured, and Alex pushed open the window and re-entered the room. “Someone else told me the very same tale moments before you arrived.”
Frederick jumped to his feet as he spotted Alex
. “Who the devil is this?”
“Frederick, may I present El Moreno?” With a nod of his head, the lieutenant-governor indicated that Alex take a seat.
Alex grinned and bowed at Frederick, then settled into the other chair in front of the massive desk.
Frederick remained standing, his mouth agape. “El Moreno? What madness is this, Sir Henry?”
“No madness, Frederick. El Moreno has been looking into Chilton’s illegal activities with an eye toward capturing Marcus.” Morgan grinned. “In short, he works for me.”
Frederick’s puzzled expression changed to one of comprehension. “Who better to catch a pirate than another pirate?”
“Indeed.” Impressed with the man’s quick deduction, Alex wondered how much to tell him. He looked to Morgan.
“As I said,” the lieutenant-governor continued, correctly interpreting Alex’s glance, “this man has been working for the Crown. Several days ago, he engaged Marcus in battle. The blackguard escaped, but El Moreno was able to rescue your daughter.”
“Diana?” Frederick straightened in his chair and turned beseeching eyes to Alex. “Was she…is she…?”
“She is very much alive,” Alex reassured him. “Diana is a very resourceful woman. She escaped Marcus on her own before he could hurt her.”
“Thank God.” Frederick sagged back in his chair. “Where is she now?”
“Aboard my ship. I wanted to be certain it was safe before I brought her home.” Alex looked Frederick straight in the eye. “Rest assured that your daughter is well.”
Some of the worry lines in Frederick’s forehead eased. “My thanks, good sir. I feared the worst.”
“You had cause.” Alex turned to Morgan. “What now?”
Morgan heaved himself from his chair and took a moment to lock the papers in a box on his desk. “It is obvious to me by his own actions that Frederick is an innocent pawn in this dastardly scheme.” He tucked the key to the box in his pocket. “Therefore, I propose that we reunite father and daughter and then go after that buffoon Chilton.”
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