The Pirate Bride

by Y'Barbo, Kathleen;

“I cannot imagine that we will not. Our credit is being questioned, and men who were my friends suddenly cross the street to get away from me. What other reason would there be?”

  “After all these years,” Mama said. “How is it that Antonio can still bring us harm?”

  “This time the charges against him are false,” Abuelo said. “I cannot imagine anyone would have such proof as the law requires. And you know why this is happening, don’t you? Your friend’s husband is in trouble and looking for someone to blame.”

  “You cannot lay the fault on Abigail. She and Marcel have been very kind to us. Nor can you blame the French. Abigail and the governor have both suggested I make an appointment with the younger Valmont to plead our cause. He does much of his father’s work for him.”

  “It matters not who does what work, Mary. Of course, when a Frenchman is looking to make trouble, he picks his fight with a Spaniard. Your friends may treat you well now, but at the first sign of trouble, they will disappear and leave you—leave all of the Cordoba family—alone. Isn’t that always how it—”

  Her grandfather began coughing and seemed unable to stop. Maribel ran to fetch something for him to drink and then hurried into the library.

  “Here, Abuelo,” she said as she handed him the glass. “Drink this.”

  She watched her grandfather take small sips until the cough subsided. “Thank you, sweet girl,” he told her. “You have always been a great help to me.”

  “If I am of help to you in this little thing, perhaps I can also help elsewhere.” She paused to look at Mama before returning her attention to Abuelo. “I heard what you and Mama were saying. If someone is making trouble here because you are a Spaniard, then why not just leave? Go back to Spain. Your letter said you moved closer to the search for me. Now that I am found, should we not just all go home?”

  “It is not so simple,” Mama said. “It took a fortune to move here and settle in. There are debts here we cannot pay.” She looked past Maribel to Abuelo. “And your grandfather, he is not as young and healthy as he was all those years ago when we traveled to New Orleans. If we were to attempt a journey back to Spain, I fear it might be too much for him.”

  “Bah,” he said. “If I am to die, better it is on Spanish soil, Mary. And if I die on the way, then at least my bones will reach Spain. I say the girl is right. We should consider this.”

  “But, Don Pablo, there are obligations …”

  He waved away her statement with a sweep of his hand. “I am a man of honor, so I will agree that debts are owed.” He paused to take another sip from the glass. “However, we must consider the possibility that repayment of certain portions of our debts might need to be delayed.”

  Mama looked away. Clearly she did not agree, but there was no disagreeing with Don Pablo Cordoba. Not under his roof anyway.

  “Then it is settled. We make arrangements to return to Spain. I will speak to those men who have been most generous and execute a document promising I will repay our debts at a time in the future.”

  “Are you certain that is wise?” Mama asked.

  “I am certain this is the only chance we have to leave this city.” He set the glass aside and rose. “Mary, I would like you to decide which of our things we will need to bring with us. Perhaps what is left can be sold to settle some of the monies owed.”

  “Yes, of course.” Mama looked troubled. Finally she rose to follow Abuelo out into the hall. “A word with you, please,” she said to him before turning to Maribel. “Just your grandfather and me, please.”

  Maribel complied as the door closed with her still in the library. Of course, she tried to remain close enough to the door to listen to the conversation going on in the hallway.

  “You’ll find the safe empty,” Mama said. “I know I told you that Marcel Valmont did not require any repayment, but do you recall when you awakened from your siesta and I was hosting Mr. Valmont in the parlor?”

  “I do,” he said. “And I found it strange then, just as I find it strange now.”

  “Well,” she said slowly, “he was here in his official position as a representative of the king. He explained there had been an inquiry and there was a need for us to make good on some portion of the repayment.”

  “I do not follow,” he said. “What did you do?”

  “Marcel is a friend, Don Pablo. He wished to help us.”

  “He wished to help himself,” he snapped. “Likely there is something in this for him. A threat to his exclusive trading privileges, perhaps? How much did you give him?”

  “Everything,” she said. “But do not let this upset you. You know what the physician said about getting overwrought.”

  “Everything? The coins and the jewels?”

  “Yes, but I have an appointment to speak with his son regarding the matter in the coming week. The governor believes at his word the issue may be dropped and the coins and jewels will be returned. I am quite hopeful of this.”

  Before any more words could be spoken between them, Mama called out. Maribel came running and then froze when she reached the door to the library.

  Her grandfather lay prone on the floor.

  Jean-Luc left his home that night under cover of darkness, making his way down Dumaine Street without being detected. Though the meeting place was isolated, nevertheless, he took the usual precautions. By the time he reached the bend in the river, the moon was high overhead, but a cloud obscured its glow.

  “Is that you?” a decidedly male voice called out. “It seems like I’ve been waiting for hours.”

  Circling around with the tangle of brush and trees as his cover, Jean-Luc easily came up behind the fellow and wrapped one arm around his throat. Though the man fought, he quickly gave up.

  “I have money in my pocket but not much,” he said. “Please, don’t kill me. I have a rich fiancée who will pay you whatever you ask for my safety.”

  “Do you now?” Jean-Luc turned Louis Gayarre around to face him. “Tell me about this fiancée of yours? Is it my sister and you have not told the family yet, or is it someone else and you have not told my sister yet?”

  Silence.

  “Do not answer yet,” Jean-Luc said. “I have a more important question. Why is it you are not paying proper visits to my sister in her home under the supervision of her parents? Is there a particular reason for that?”

  Once again, the lad said nothing.

  “Well, now,” he continued. “Is it because you don’t like the supervision of her parents? Because if that’s so, then that would also indicate that you do not care about my sister’s reputation and what might be said about her if anyone caught the two of you out here together. Is that possible? I hope not, because no man would dare think so little of my sister and then stand in my presence and not expect to be greatly harmed.”

  The cloud moved away, revealing the terrified face of a man who knew there was nothing he could say to get himself out of the trouble he’d gotten himself into. So he ran.

  “Gayarre,” Jean-Luc called to the fellow’s quickly disappearing back. “I require an answer.”

  The Gayarre fellow kept running. Jean-Luc shook his head.

  “Truly you vex me,” he said. “I do not want to chase you down, nor have I brought any weapon that could touch you from this distance. Stop and face me like a man and tell me whether you plan to stop seeing my sister voluntarily or because I have told you to.”

  Gayarre paused to turn around. “Does it matter? You’ll never see me near her again.”

  Jean-Luc grinned. “If you have met my sister, then you know it matters whether I am guilty in ruining her romance with you or not. So which is it, am I to blame or not?”

  “You are not to blame,” he said.

  “Thank you, now please do continue running. I was so enjoying it.”

  He heard a noise and smiled. “How long have you been watching, Israel?”

  “Long enough to know I don’t want to be caught anywhere near your sister.”

  Jea
n-Luc laughed. “What report do you have?”

  “There is not much notice, but I am told of a vessel making port tonight. Very quietly and without the knowledge of the authorities.” Israel paused. “There is time to intercept this ship, my friend. But there will not be time to make the usual preparations.”

  He thought only a moment. “I will need to make arrangements.”

  “There is no time.” He gestured toward the river. “Your ship is there, as is your crew. What say you?”

  Abigail would be frantic and Father would be furious once they learned he had sailed off again. Then there were the issues with the crown that his father should not have to handle alone. None of those issues, however, were as important as the men and women aboard that vessel.

  Jean-Luc looked up at Israel, his decision made. “Let’s go.”

  Maribel walked into the offices of Marcel Valmont & Sons and demanded to see the man in charge. The three Monsieurs Valmont were unavailable, she was told by the aide who ushered her back outside.

  Of course, she followed the aide right back in and took a seat at his desk. “Then I will wait,” she told him.

  “Monsieur Marcel is not expected in today, and Monsieur Quinton has sailed to Paris on business that will keep him occupied until the end of the month.” He regarded her with lifted brows. “And thus, that leaves only Monsieur Jean-Luc, who is obviously not here.”

  She shrugged. “Then I will await Monsieur Jean-Luc’s return.”

  “I’m sorry, Miss Cordoba, but I cannot say when that might be. His hours are often irregular.” He gave her one last long look and then returned to his work, obviously dismissing her.

  Maribel remained seated as long as she could stand it and then rose and began to pace. Eventually someone from the Valmont family would have to come through the doors and speak to her.

  She hadn’t counted on that someone being Gabrielle Valmont.

  “I know he is here, Mr. Landry. Do not cover for him.” Gabrielle stormed past Maribel without taking notice of her and threw open the doors to what Maribel soon realized was an office. “Where are you, Jean-Luc Valmont? I know you’re here. You do not just leave for nearly a week without telling anyone, so you cannot fool me into believing you aren’t here.” Doors opened and closed and then opened again. Maribel watched Gabrielle pace back and forth, her anger evident.

  “Miss Valmont,” the aide called. “I must object. You’ll need to leave now.”

  “I am ignoring you, Mr. Landry, because I know my brother is paying you to keep me from bothering him. I know you’re here, Jean-Luc. Don’t you dare try to hide from me.”

  Mr. Landry looked over at Maribel and shrugged. Though he returned his attention to Gabrielle, he did nothing to make her cease her search.

  “I know what you did to my Louis,” Gabrielle continued. “How dare you try and frighten the love of my life away? Why, he will not even give me the time of day now. I was walking down the street with William Spencer on our way to his shift at the charity hospital, and Louis actually crossed over to the other side of the road. Do you know why? I am certain I do.”

  She continued to search, even looking beneath the massive desk that decorated the center of the room. Finally she gave up and sat on the corner of the desk, her face crestfallen.

  Maribel stepped into the room and waited for Gabrielle to notice her. Such was the younger woman’s upset, that she had managed to make a fine mess of an office that once appeared to be quite nice.

  “Oh,” the Valmont girl finally said as she kicked a pillow out of her way. “It’s you. I didn’t know we had a lesson today.”

  “We don’t,” Maribel said as she looked around at the destruction. “I’m looking for your brother. I assume you haven’t seen him.”

  “Obviously no. If I had, I would have punched him by now.” She reached over and another stack of papers went flying off the corner of the desk. “I wouldn’t have, actually, but I do want to. He’s such a pest and a bother. He’s run off another fellow who might have been the one.”

  “Why would he do that?” she asked as Gabrielle pushed away a stack of papers to make room for her on the desk.

  “Jean-Luc will tell you it is because he loves me, but secretly I think he just doesn’t want me to be happy.” She shrugged. “Oh, who am I kidding? He wants me happy but thinks he knows exactly what that takes.” She slid Maribel a sideways look. “Why are you trying to find him?”

  “I am keeping an appointment my mother made.” She avoided Gabrielle’s intent gaze. “Mama was unable to attend the meeting, so I am here on her behalf. Something in regard to a business matter between the Valmonts and the Cordobas.”

  “That sounds quite official. You are young to be handling family business, aren’t you?”

  “Not so young as you,” Maribel said. “But it isn’t what I wish I was doing.”

  “What do you wish you were doing?”

  She offered a half smile. “The truth? I would like very much to find a place to read a book undisturbed and without worrying what a proper lady would do or about whether a dressmaker needs to be paid or whether a reputation is about to be lost. That is what I most wish for today. What about you, Gabrielle? What do you wish you were doing?”

  “Please call me Gaby. And what I wish I was doing is …” She seemed to be considering a response. Finally she shook her head. “Truly I do not know. I have been told what to do for so long that I have forgotten what it is like to do whatever I wish.”

  “Oh, Gaby,” Maribel said. “I can tell you what that is like. It is the most glorious feeling. I have climbed trees, read books under the stars with just an oil lamp for light, and even managed a swim once or twice in this little inlet where no one else goes.”

  “It sounds heavenly.” She linked arms with Maribel and then leaned back on the desk so that they both were staring at the cherubs painted on the ceiling above. “Tell me more.”

  “What in the world has happened to my office?”

  Gaby looked over at Maribel, a smile on her face. “Jean-Luc,” she said with no small measure of glee. “Your appointment is here.”

  This time Gaby had gone too far.

  My appointment, indeed. Jean-Luc stood in the doorway of his office and surveyed the damage. She and her friend were currently lying on their backs on his desk, apparently enjoying themselves by giggling rather than feeling remorse at the mess they made.

  Important documents, many of which carried the seal of the crown on them, were scattered like confetti across the floor. He picked up several and then his temper got the better of him.

  “Even for you, Gabrielle, this is juvenile. The man was beneath you and not worth the trouble you’ve gotten yourself into.”

  She raised up on her elbows and regarded him imperiously. “Truly you are no fun at all.”

  “Truly you have no concept of the trouble you have caused. Someone will be here for days making order out of this mess, and it will not be me.” His attention went to his sister’s friend. “Who is she?” The girl sat bolt upright and regarded him with wide green eyes as a lock of red hair escaped her braid.

  “She is your appointment, Jean-Luc.” Gaby lowered herself off the desk and then straightened her sleeves. “Truly develop a sense of humor. It will aid you in your old age.”

  “Go home, Gaby,” he said through clenched jaw as he turned to his sister’s friend. “I advise you to go too.”

  “No,” she said. “I have business with you.”

  Something in her haughty demeanor caught his attention. That upturned nose, the way she looked at him as if she and not he was in charge. She shifted positions and another stack of papers fell.

  “Truly, just go,” he said. “If you do have an appointment, it will have to be rescheduled.”

  “No,” she said as her feet landed on the floor and she straightened. “It cannot be rescheduled. I do see your point about the office, and I am sorry your sister decided to take her anger out on your papers.” She loo
ked up at him, her expression somewhere between fearless and fierce. “But my issue cannot be put off.”

  “I see,” he said as something deep inside him began to sound a warning.

  He knew her.

  Knew of her.

  Had been bested, perhaps, in an argument with her.

  Something was familiar. Something was …

  Jean-Luc shook his head. The memory was there just beyond his reach. But what was it?

  “Mr. Valmont?” She indicated that he should take a seat behind his desk, and he did.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Now, it has come to my attention that a sum of money has been put on account for the benefit of my family. I do believe it was in the form of coins and jewels, although my mother is quite distraught and cannot be counted upon for any sort of reliable facts in her current state.”

  She gave him an expectant look. Somewhere in all the words she just said were facts he should have understood. Or perhaps not. Either way, all he could manage as she began talking again was to look at her and try to think of where he might have seen her before.

  Indeed, she resembled his late wife, although only slightly. Kitty had never been this animated or this passionate about a topic. If only he knew what in the world she was talking about.

  “Miss,” he finally said, holding his hand up to slow her incessant conversation to a halt. “I am having trouble following you. Thus far I have determined that your mother claims something that requires my assistance in regard to a sum of money, that you may or may not have participated in the destruction of my office, and that I have no idea who you are.”

  She regarded him with a patient look. She even appeared to roll her eyes, although he could not reconcile that sort of behavior with the perfectly proper woman seated on the opposite side of the desk.

  “All right, then,” she said. “I will clarify.”

  “Thank you.” He sat back and reached for a pen and paper. Thankfully, they had been hidden in his desk drawer and were still within reach. “All right, please do clarify,” he said as he prepared to listen to another lengthy diatribe, and this time he would take notes.