Fortune's Flames

by Janelle Taylor

  She searched the shelf for another clue, but could find nothing. Perhaps the objects had been moved since her father had died. “And you still have two.” Two more what? she wondered. “Shelves!” she concluded aloud. Quickly she searched the second shelf above the doll. Nothing. She knelt and searched the second one below it. Her fingers encountered a catch on the underside of the shelf. As she worked with it, the bookcase moved slightly and squeaked.

  Maren shoved it open and stared inside. The space revealed was large enough to conceal a person standing up! She noticed more shelves to the rear. Fetching more light, she stepped into the secret enclosure. She could not believe what she had found: letters, papers, and money.

  Maren checked the records and the money first, and realized she had found the missing “special fund.” This was Jared’s money, his share of the profits before Eric took control. The deeds to Lady Luck, the townhouse, and the plantation were inside, as were the ownership papers of the shipping firm. Instantly Maren wondered how Eric had sold everything— anything—without these deeds. Then she knew. That devious lawyer had forged copies. The sales were not legal and she still owned everything! But how could she recover her inheritance? Some of the properties might be out of Eric’s hands?

  She read the letters, all in blue envelopes. They were addressed to her. In them her father spoke of his worries and fears about the changes in Eric, or rather the dropping of Eric’s lengthy pretense, and he revealed his disappointment in his brother’s son. Her father sounded deeply concerned about Eric’s behavior toward their clients and about the way her cousin was running the business. He charged Eric with trading with the British, and said he was going to revoke Eric’s authority and send him home!

  There was another letter on the shelf, addressed to Jared, unsealed. She read it and was dismayed to sense the anguish her father must have endured. He begged Jared to help him get Eric out of his life and firm, and to correct Eric’s wrongs if anything happened to him. Maren’s heart lurched, but she closed her mind to such an idea.

  As she read on, her father told Jared all about her and encouraged him to consider her for a wife! Maren reread that line. The next few surprised her even more: “Maren is a strong and stubborn girl, but she’ll bend to the right man, a man like you, Jared. I can’t believe she’ll go through with her marriage to Daniel Redford. She doesn’t love him.” Maren’s eyes widened as Cameron exposed her reasons for agreeing to the union, the ones she had confided to her mother, but the next lines were heartrending. “If anything happens to me, I beg you to find Maren and help her. Eric isn’t to be trusted at all, Jared. Don’t let him disarm you and fool you as he did me.”

  Maren lay the letters aside, then leaned weakly against the wall. Jared was right; Eric was dangerous and greedy. Maren’s emotions were a maelstrom of fury, sadness, anguish, bitterness, and alarm. She had to outwit and punish her cousin. With Jared’s help, she would do it very soon.

  But they had to be careful. Eric had many men working for him, and perhaps Evelyn Sims. Maren didn’t want to endanger her love, and she knew Eric would retaliate. Since her cousin could return at any time, she dreaded the confrontation that was imminent. She had to show this compartment and its contents to Jared. The letter…

  She straightened. Jared often came in and out of her room. He had been in business with her father for years. The letter she’d found on the floor had been blue, like those in this secret place. Did Jared know about this compartment? Had he already checked it out?

  Maren snatched up the letter to her love and finished reading it. She clenched her teeth as she read the last line: “When you check here for your money and find this letter…”

  “Damn you, Jared Morgan! You asked me to trust you, and I did. But you deceived me. You knew about this place—this evidence. Why did you make a fuss about the missing money? Why did you intend to force me to marry you? Why didn’t you confide in me?”

  Anger and torment gnawed at her, and when Mary came up to bring her refreshments, she asked the woman to send Jared to her. While the housekeeper left, Maren paced the room anxiously. She was not going to marry Jared just so he could take care of Cameron’s daughter. She was going to confront him with everything!

  If this was a misunderstanding, it would be resolved promptly. Her mother had warned her about such tricky matters. “Don’t simmer until you burst, Maren,” she’d said. “If something troubles you, take care of it quickly before it causes problems.” Maybe Jared had a good reason for keeping his secret, and maybe he didn’t.

  The housekeeper returned with the message that Jared would come up later, that it wouldn’t look proper if someone saw him going into her room at this time of night.

  Maren thanked Mary and dismissed her. She then replaced everything in the compartment and closed it. She was tempted to dress, go downstairs, and drag him up to her room to make an explanation. But she dared not do that in her agitated state. She sipped some wine to relax her tension, and she cried about the implications of her discoveries. Soon, physically and emotionally exhausted, she fell asleep.

  Jared entered her room shortly after twelve. He watched her slumber for a time, then decided not to awaken her. Tomorrow they would be married and would be together all night.

  At ten, Jared knocked on her door and called out, “Up, woman, we have a busy day. Don’t keep a nervous groom waiting.”

  Maren knew Mary was always gone on Sunday morning, so she unlocked the door and walked away from it, halting with her back to him.

  Jared’s sunny smile faded when he detected the chill in the room and saw that she-was not dressed to leave. “Don’t tell me you’re miffed with me for not answering your summons last night,” he teased anxiously. “You were asleep by the time I finished and came upstairs. I didn’t want you to be grumpy and tired today from lack of rest.”

  Maren whirled to face him. “You demand that I trust you, Jared; then you refuse to trust me. Don’t you think it’s time to be honest?”

  Jared tensed and stared, trying to figure out the change in her since last night. She was distant and cool, nearly hostile. She could be referring to many things, so he asked, “Be honest about what, Maren? I’m utterly confused.”

  “About everything,” she retorted, her tone curt.

  “You want to hear my life story before we get married? Heavens, woman, you’re marrying the man I am today, not my past.”

  In response she declared gravely, “If you don’t tell me the truth, we won’t be getting married, today or any day.”

  Jared stepped forward and reached for her, but Maren avoided his embrace. “Don’t touch me until you explain everything,” she said.

  “Explain what, Maren? How can I answer you when I don’t know what you want to know?”

  “Me, I’m the question. Tell me everything about your connection to me.” When his brow wrinkled in bewilderment, she added, “You can begin with the secret panel in Papa’s bedroom and what’s in there.”

  “You found it? When? How?”

  “Does it matter? You lied to me, Jared.”

  “No, love, I didn’t. I just kept silent. I didn’t want you to see what was in there just yet. I wanted you to accept the truth about Eric before you saw Cameron’s allegations. That’s all they are, Maren, your father’s fears and charges. And we still have to prove those deeds are the real ones. Eric is a big man now, with powerful friends. If we reveal those papers too soon, we could be accused of fraud. Your cousin is clever, Maren. He knows the real deeds are hidden somewhere. He probably hoped you could lead him to them after your return.”

  “Is that why you asked me to marry you, as a favor to my father?”

  “Never, Maren. I didn’t even go through that stuff until Monday, and you were already under my skin before that.”

  “Under your skin so deeply that while I was out with Beth you were snooping through my room? Why didn’t you tell me later? Certainly after we spent the night together! Did it slip your mind?”

/>   “No, Maren, it didn’t. I wasn’t ready for you to learn such things.”

  “It isn’t your place to decide what I should and shouldn’t know!”

  “Blast it, woman! Don’t you realize what those letters imply?”

  Pain knifed through her. “Yes….”

  “After I read them, I was afraid of how that information would affect you. I didn’t think you were ready to hear those things so soon. Heavens, you’ve only known about your parents’ deaths for a few months. How could I hit you with the possibility they were… killed by Eric? Don’t you see, love? Eric wants more than Lady Luck from you. He needs that evidence.”

  “That’s what you believe, isn’t it?”

  “Don’t you, Maren? Deep inside, don’t you?” he asked softly.

  “Yes,” she admitted through trembling lips. “But your missing money is there, so why did you threaten me with the necessity to repay it?”

  “I needed to be able to make you turn to me. I was going to show you everything this week and explain my secrecy. I just wanted time to get closer to you before I sprang this on you. I wanted you to trust me enough to let me comfort you and help you.”

  “You don’t have to marry me to lend me support. I’m not a little girl, Jared.”

  “I admit I dropped that letter so you would find it while I was gone. I was hoping it would make you doubt Eric. I was trying to move slowly and carefully on this, Maren. I knew how much it would hurt you. I read what your father said about me, and I hoped it would entice you to trust me. You were closer to your father, so I thought you might obey his last wishes. I’m marrying you because I love you, Maren, because I need you. I was hoping you would learn to feel the same way about me.”

  The admission was all she needed. “How could I learn to feel something I already felt?” she responded. “Haven’t you guessed the truth by now, Jared? I yielded to you because I love you. I’ve loved you since I was fifteen. You read father’s letter so you know my foolish reasons for agreeing to wed Daniel. Even if he hadn’t been killed, I wouldn’t have gone through with it. Don’t you see, Jared, you’re my destiny? I’ve been waiting years for you to come after me.”

  Jared lifted her in his arms and spun her around, laughing joyfully. “Say it again, Maren, so I’ll know I heard you right.”

  “I love you, Jared Morgan,” she declared as he set her down. Their eyes met and she repeated, “I love you.”

  “Maren, Maren, my dream come true. I love you, woman.”

  They kissed and hugged and laughed.

  “Does this mean you’ll marry me today?”

  “Yes, but we need to talk over breakfast.”

  Hurriedly, they prepared the meal and then sat down to eat. As they breakfasted, Maren told Jared everything Eric had told her during the voyage from England and after her arrival in New Orleans. She also told him of the letters she’d found in her father’s office safe, and she related the facts she had gathered from Marc. Finally, she explained how she had found the compartment.

  “You and your father are clever; I didn’t realize those were clues which would help you find that hidden cabinet. I merely thought he was rambling because of his emotional state.”

  “The truth is still hard to accept, Jared. Eric’s always been difficult, but that he would do such evil things…”

  He captured her hand and squeezed it. “I know, love. The only thing worse than death is to be deceived by someone in your own family.”

  Maren perceived the anguish in his voice and she knew that statement also referred to his own experiences. Soon, she decided, he would explain them.

  “You can bet that gold Eric transported isn’t to be used to aid America. It’s my bet he left it at his plantation in Jamaica.” Jared then revealed what he had learned on the island.

  “That’s where my money went!” Maren declared angrily. “To buy that plantation. We have to get everything back, Jared. Help me.”

  “I will, love. He won’t get away with such crimes. You found the deeds, so you know those sales were illegal. It’s my guess deeds were forged, with that lawyer’s help. Now you understand why I was baiting him, don’t you? To catch a greedy shark. Before our meeting with Lewis, I didn’t tell you what I’d planned to say because I wanted you to appear genuinely surprised and annoyed.”

  Maren complimented him. “Your clever strategy worked.”

  “Good, because I don’t want them to be suspicious of you. Eric could be in Jamaica right now, collecting that gold.”

  “Jared, what if there never was any gold aboard that ship? What if Eric just told me that story to win my trust?”

  “When I leave here, I’m sailing to Jamaica to see for myself. Our country can use that gold for its defense. And wouldn’t it be amusing to have the British supply the gold that helps to defeat them.”

  They laughed as they cleared the table and went upstairs to get ready for their wedding. Jared changed quickly and went to hire a carriage for “a Sunday ride in the country.”

  Maren wished she could wear her mother’s wedding dress, but that was impossible. Though white was becoming the accepted color for a wedding gown, and her Spanish mother had worn a beautiful gown of cloudlike lace years ago, its style was outdated. She donned a gown with a snugly fitted waist and a gathered bodice. The sleeves were short, and had lace flounces, and the hem was decorated with lace. This fine muslin was soft blue with a darker blue sprigging splashed over it, and Maren’s slippers were also dark blue, as was the trim on her light blue hat.

  Because of the July heat and humidity, she pulled her hair up and arranged it atop her head. The only piece of jewelry she wore was the locket Jared had given her. She lifted her lacy parasol and joined Jared at the back door. “Ready,” she said.

  His eyes roamed over her and he smiled. “You look ravishing.”

  Maren eyed his buff-colored breeches, matching waistcoat, and white shirt. “So do you, my love.”

  “Let’s go before I whisk you upstairs and forget our plans.”

  “I wouldn’t protest,” she teased.

  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly. “Soon, you’ll be mine forever, Maren. My luck has never been better.”

  “Nor mine,” she replied, caressing his handsome face.

  Halfway to the preacher’s home, Jared halted and turned to her. “Do you know how to handle a carriage?”

  “Only since I was eight,” she told him with a grin. “I can probably beat you at riding anything. Papa taught me well.” Sadness suddenly came to her eyes. “I wish my parents could be here today.”

  “So do I, love. They were special people.”

  Jared climbed down after telling her to drive a ways up the road while he checked to make certain that no one was following them. She did as he asked, and was relieved when he joined her, dusting himself off with his hands.

  He met her gaze and grinned. “I don’t like shadows,” he teased.

  “Did you take good care of him?” she asked.

  “Let’s say he’s tied up for a while.”

  “Did you recognize him?”

  “Just a common wharf rat. He claimed he wasn’t following us and refused to tell me anything. If I wasn’t in such a big hurry to have you all to myself, I would have convinced him to confess.”

  “He’ll probably give up his job when he gets loose.”

  “If he gets loose. I tie a wicked knot, woman.”

  “Should we untie him on our return trip—hand him over to the law?”

  “No. We can’t prove anything. The longer he stays bound, the more time he has to think over the hazards of his job.”

  When they arrived at the preacher’s house, Jared said, “I know you would prefer a priest, Maren, but I don’t know any around here.”

  “A religious man is all we need, Jared,” Maren declared, and before she could say anything else, Kerry Osgood rode up and joined them. He was grinning.

  “I see you caught him,” Jared’s dark-haired
friend remarked. “I didn’t notice anyone else sailing in your wake,” he added.

  “You are a most cautious man, Jared Morgan.” Maren turned to Osgood. “Good morning, Kip.”

  “Good morning, Maren. I’m seeing this, but I don’t believe it. You must be some woman to capture the likes of Captain Hawk.”

  “It’s the reverse, Kip; he’s some man to entrap me. But I’m in shock; that’s why I couldn’t refuse him.”

  “All right, you two, stop taunting me about my weakness. It’s all your fault, Kip. You were the one who sighted that ship and advised me to attack. And as you can see, I kept the best treasure for myself.” Jared embraced Maren, proudly and possessively.

  Then they went inside, and found the preacher and his wife awaiting them. From the greetings exchanged, Maren knew the couple was well acquainted with Jared. The preacher then said he hated to rush them, but that he had visitors on Sunday afternoons. Showing them where to stand, he opened the Bible. He accomplished the marriage ceremony as quickly and reverently as possible, and after the marriage certificate was signed, witnessed, and bound with a ribbon, the newlyweds and Kip left.

  When they were outside, Kip congratulated them. Then he mounted his horse and said, “I’ll meet you Wednesday at the dock.”

  On the way back to Lady Luck, Maren sat on her side of the carriage, in case they encountered anyone on the road. She wanted to be in her new husband’s arms, and she kept envisioning the night before them. Their “shadow” was still tightly bound to a tree when they trotted past him. The man struggled against his bonds and gag, but Jared ignored him.

  As they walked into the kitchen of Lady Luck, Mary was just leaving a note for them. The housekeeper smiled and blushed as she said, “Your food is in the oven. I’m having dinner with Dan at the hotel. Do you mind?”

  “Of course not, Mary. Sunday is your day off. Have fun.”

  The housekeeper left when Dan arrived in a carriage, and Maren recalled that the manager was three years younger than Mary. But she decided that didn’t matter. After she and Jared watched the pair drive off, he locked the door.