She gasped his name as her body yielded to his, but it was not his name he wanted to hear. He began to move within her, a slow slide and thrust that turned her gasps to quick pants. Her hips rocked against his, urgent now, wanting completion, but nothing would be complete until he had the one thing she kept from him. “Do you love me, Katie?”
“Ethan, oh, oh, please.” Whimpered, frantic words but not the right ones.
He clenched his teeth, keeping back his climax with all the will he had. He repeated his question with each hard thrust he made into her, relentless. “You love me. Say it, admit it. You love me.”
He couldn’t do it. Once more, and he wouldn’t be able to hold back. He surged into her again.
She arched up to meet him, and the words came tumbling out between soft cries of feminine release. “Yes, Ethan, yes. I love you, I love you. Please. I love you.”
He climaxed inside her, a shuddering, explosive release. Now, now, he had her heart. He had wanted it, taken it, claimed it as his own, He laughed, remembering how she’d called him a thief. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. She might have called him a thief, but damn it all, he felt like a pirate.
Ethan was unaware that he had fallen asleep until he awakened, but even without opening his eyes, he knew that Katie was still lying beside him. He could feel her there, the slender shape of her body pressed against his side, her head pillowed on his outstretched arm. He could smell the warm, enticing female fragrance of her skin and hear the soft, even cadence of her breathing. She loved him.
He opened his eyes. The candle was out, but the soft gray light of early morning filtered in around the shuttered windows. Turning his head, he saw that Katie was still asleep, eyes closed, lips slightly parted, and the sight of her sent lust coursing through his body. Her profile in the dim light was exquisitely beautiful, and yet it was not her beauty that reignited his desire, it was memories of the night that came flooding back at the sight of her beside him.
Those memories overwhelmed his senses: the taste of her mouth, the touch of her hands, the feel of her skin, the sounds of her passion. Most of all, the sweet, erotic admission she had made. She loved him. Lust rocked through him, and he moved toward her, intending to kiss her awake.
The sound of a raised male voice and frantic footsteps on the stairs gave him pause, and the tap on the door told him that his intentions for Katie would have to wait. He lifted his head and saw the maid, Janie, peering timidly into the room. Their eyes met, and she blushed crimson at the sight of him in her mistress’s bed. She lowered her gaze with a bobbing curtsy. “If you please, sir,” she whispered. “A gentleman by the name of David Munro is below and says he has to see you at once.”
Ethan did not ask why. If David had come to Katie’s house in search of him, it had to be important. He rolled out of bed, causing Katie to make a soft sound of protest in her sleep, but she did not awaken, and Ethan decided it would be best to let her sleep. He dressed quickly, but he did pause long enough to lean over the bed and press a kiss to her lips before he left her.
The owner of the Mermaid was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. “Do you want to talk here?” David asked, glancing through the open doorway into the parlor, where Stephens was busily polishing silver.
“Not if it’s important enough to bring you here at dawn to find me.” Ethan pulled his dusty cloak from the coat tree and started toward the back door of the house.
“Glad to see you’re back from the country,” David commented as they left Katie’s house and began walking toward the alley and the Mermaid Tavern beyond.
“How did you know I’d returned?”
“Nothing’s ever a secret for long in Boston. Joseph came to see me this morning. He also saw Joshua. He told us both that the two of you rode back together late last night. With all that’s been happening this morning, I sent Daniel to your house, but your servants told him you had not returned. I guessed you might be with a certain pickpocket we both know, but I didn’t know for certain until her little maid came scurrying down the stairs red as a beet to confirm it.”
They crossed the alley and entered the tavern. “What has you in such a stir, David?” he asked, giving Molly a nod of greeting as they passed through the kitchen. “What has been happening this morning to cause so much urgency?”
“A great deal,” David answered as they crossed the taproom, empty at this hour of the day. “Adam Lawrence is here. He returned from Virginia yesterday. Joseph is also here, as I said. I’ll let them tell you.”
When they entered the tavern’s private meeting room, Adam cast only one glance at him and immediately grinned. “You look like hell,” he said, taking in Ethan’s dusty, rumpled clothes and unshaven face. “What happened to your head?”
He touched the side of his face with a grimace. “It’s a long story.” He glanced at Joseph. “Did you tell them the troops did not march on Sunday as we’d thought?”
Joseph smiled. “How would you know?” he joked. “You slept through the whole day.”
“What do you mean, he slept all day?” Adam glanced from one man to the other.
“It’s a long story. Suffice to say I’ve been in Concord for a week helping move ammunition. Joseph has been doing the same in Lexington. From all the activity we were seeing among the regiments and in the harbor last week, we assumed the Regulars were coming out to confiscate the powder, and the rumor was they would march to Concord on Sunday. They did not.”
“But they will,” David said. “That’s why we fetched you. They are going to march. We just got the date wrong.”
Ethan sat down at the table, and the others followed suit. “How do you know this?” he asked.
“People have been coming in and out of the Mermaid for the past hour with reports about the behavior of Gage’s troops. They are doing just what they did last week, only more of it. They aren’t being very subtle about it.”
“They don’t have to be. They think they have all the power, and by showing it, they hope to intimidate us. But do we know it’s real this time?” Ethan asked. “We could be jumping the gun again when it’s nothing but a sham.”
Joseph shook his head. “Most of the dockside whores are Yankee girls, God bless them. They are getting word from seamen coming ashore on errands for Admiral Graves and others that something big is coming within a week. It has to be the Concord march.”
Ethan nodded. “I agree. And they’ll march by the Lexington Road. It’s far and away the best route for a regiment on the move. The question, then, is when they plan to do it. I’ll see what I can find out. If—”
A knock came at the door, and Dorothy Macalvey entered the room and closed the door behind her. “I apologize for interrupting, gentlemen, but it’s important.”
She nodded to Adam and David, whom she knew, then turned to Ethan. She smiled uncertainly. “It’s good to know you’re back safe. I’m sorry to come here, but I’m sure I wasn’t followed, and I heard from Joshua that you were back in Boston.”
“Like I said,” David murmured, “nothing stays a secret for long.”
Dorothy stood there, twisting her hands together in agitation. “Ethan, I need to speak with you right away. It’s important.”
“Is it about what’s going on with the regiments?” he asked. “Have you heard something?”
She shook her head. “No. I mean, I have been hearing rumors for days that the Regulars are coming out, but that isn’t what I need to talk with you about.” She glanced at the other men in the room and hesitated. “It’s something else.”
“Can it wait until tonight? I’ve got so much to do here.”
She bit her lip, clearly not liking the delay. But after a moment, she agreed. “Very well.”
“Good. I’ll come to the White Swan.”
Dorothy nodded and left them, closing the door behind her.
“Is it wise of you to go to the White Swan?” Adam asked. “After all, the last time you were there, Lieutenant Weston—�
�
Joseph started to laugh. “I don’t believe Lieutenant Weston will be able to do much of anything for at least a few more days. He should be making his way through the muck of the Sudbury Marshes right about now.”
Ethan grinned. “He’s probably lost.”
Adam and David looked at the other two in complete bewilderment. It was Ethan who told them the story.
“I was in Lincoln hiding cannon with the farmers, and Weston walked in, along with another fellow. They were both dressed in the clothes of country farmers, but, of course, I knew they were officers, probably sent by Gage on another of these reconnaissance missions. After our little encounter at the White Swan, I didn’t know if he would recognize me, but I decided not to give him the opportunity. I slipped out the back door of Brook’s Tavern, but he had already spied me and came after me, brandishing his pistol. He took a potshot at me before anyone could stop him, and the bullet grazed the side of my head. I was knocked unconscious, but I was not seriously hurt. Some of the locals overpowered him, tarred and feathered him, and dropped him off in the Sudbury Marshes late last night. He probably won’t be back in Boston for at least three more days.”
All of them laughed, enjoying the story, but after a few minutes, Ethan brought their attention back to the subject at hand. “If the Regulars are still going to march on Concord, we have to learn when that will be, if we can. Perhaps Dorothy will know something by tonight. David, do you know if Andrew talked with Paul Revere about a system of couriers?”
“Yes, and I believe they have worked out a plan.”
“I am meeting with Paul this morning,” Joseph said. “I will find out what system has been planned, and I will let you know as soon as possible.”
“Excellent.”
The meeting was adjourned. David returned to the taproom to begin getting ready for the day ahead. Joseph departed for his meeting with Paul Revere. Adam started to leave the room as well, but Ethan detained him. “Did you make the arrangements with Willoughby in Virginia?”
“Aye. The papers are signed, and I put them on your desk at home. He didn’t want to sell her indenture, but I raised the price until he agreed. It was a great deal of money.”
Ethan didn’t care about that. “Good work, Adam. Thank you.”
Adam looked at him curiously. “For a man who is alive when by all rights he should be dead, who had to be dragged out of the arms of a beautiful woman this morning, and who is seeing ten years of hard work coming to fruition, you don’t look very happy.”
“I’m not happy. If our information is accurate and the troops do march, it will mean war.”
“Of course. It’s happening, Ethan. Everything we’ve waited ten years for is coming at last.” He began to laugh, but he caught Ethan’s expression, and his laughter faded immediately. “Why do you look so grim?”
Ethan looked back at Adam with sadness. “War is grim, my friend,” he said. “Very grim indeed.”
20
By the time Ethan reached the White Swan, he had heard confirming reports from at least two dozen people—troops all over Boston were preparing for something serious. Though he had been unable to find an excuse to call on Lord Percy or William Holbrook, Ethan had heard from two other informants at Province House that afternoon that preparations on land and in the harbor meant Gage’s troops were going to march on Concord.
But when? Ethan wondered as he entered the taproom of the White Swan. He had to find out.
Though he was fully occupied with thoughts of war throughout the day, vivid memories of the night before flashed across his mind at unexpected moments. Every time Katie stole into his thoughts, he pushed those thoughts away, for they were distracting him from what he needed to be thinking about.
Dorothy saw him come into the tavern, but she was busy serving ale to the soldiers crowded into the place. Forced to wait, Ethan took a seat at a table in the corner and allowed his mind the luxury he had denied himself throughout the day, memories of Katie warm and passionate in his arms, of her whispered confession. She loved him. He still couldn’t quite believe it.
He regretted that he had been forced to leave her this morning without even a good-bye. But she was probably waiting for him right now, and that realization made him impatient to finish whatever business Dorothy had for him and be gone from there. The thought of returning to Katie not only aroused his desire but also filled him with a warmth and pleasure he had never felt before in his life. He wanted her, he wanted to hold her, please her, make love to her, and keep her safe. He meant what he had told her last night. Gage’s Regulars and King George and talk of war be damned. He was going to marry that woman as soon as he possibly could.
“Ethan?”
The soft calling of his name interrupted his thoughts, and he looked up to find Dorothy standing beside his table. She took the chair opposite him at the table and opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it again and looked at him helplessly.
“What is it? You look the picture of misery this evening.”
“Ethan, I need to tell you something, and I don’t know quite how to do it. It’s about Katie.” She took a deep breath, and her eyes met his in a hard, level stare across the table. “Ethan, she’s a spy for Lowden.”
“What?” He stared at her and started to laugh. “You’re joking.”
Slowly, Dorothy shook her head. “No, I am not speaking in jest. Katie is a spy for the Tories. She works for Lowden.”
Ethan felt a wave of pity for the girl opposite him. She was in love with him. She had been for a long time. “Dorothy,” he began, “you—”
“I’m not doing this out of jealousy,” she said, correctly interpreting his thoughts. “I have knowledge of her treachery.”
“Knowledge?” Ethan felt a hint of impatience with this. “Do you have proof?”
“No,” she admitted. “But once you listen to what I have to say, I think you will at least wish to investigate further.”
He leaned back in his chair. “I’m listening.”
“They hired her.” Dorothy answered simply. “Lowden hired her to find out all she could about John Smith. He promised to buy her indenture and free her. He also promised her a great deal of money.”
When he did not reply, she leaned forward in her chair and said, “Ethan, I told you before, you cannot trust anyone. I am not asking you to take my word for this. Investigate, and see for yourself. I know the truth, but you must prove it to yourself before you believe me.”
“How do you know she is a spy?”
“I know because Captain Worth told me.”
“Worth?”
“Yes, you know who he is. The man who supposedly had his watch stolen by Katie. It wasn’t stolen. They staged the whole thing between them so that she could gain some sympathy in the Mermaid and infiltrate your network of spies.”
He shook his head. “I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true, my dear.” Dorothy looked at him, and her soft brown eyes were not without compassion. “I learned it all from Worth.”
“How? Did Worth simply volunteer all of this information to you?”
She did not reply, but her eyes grew a little rounder, and Ethan felt a heavy knot forming in his chest. “Dorothy,” he murmured. “My God. What have you done?”
“We all do what we have to do, Ethan.” She raised her plump chin with a hint of pride. “I had to find out the truth about her. It was the only way I could think of. Worth is a very talkative lover.”
He looked at this woman who loved him, who had lain with a man to find out information that could possibly save his life.
Only if it were true.
Ethan studied the grave expression on Dorothy’s face, and doubt suddenly rippled through him like a shiver. He also leaned forward in his chair. “Start at the beginning,” he ordered in a harsh whisper. “Tell me everything you know.”
* * *
The clock chimed the midnight hour, and Ethan did not come. One o’clock, and he did not come. K
atie curled up on the settee in the parlor, her worry finally giving way to exhaustion. She knew he had much to do, she knew from Janie that David Munro had come for him early this morning, she knew there would probably be many more nights like this in future, but he would come home to her. He’ll come home, she thought again as she drifted off to sleep.
The clock chimed two, and she woke with a start. The candle on the table beside her had sputtered out, the coals of the hearth were banked in ash, and though a hint of moonlight filtered in around the drawn curtains of the parlor, the room was dark. Something had woken her, but she could not discern what it was. Not the clock but something else. She fumbled for the flint on the table to light the candle.
A spark flickered, illuminating the dark for an instant.
“Don’t.”
The voice out of the darkness startled her. She jumped and dropped the flint.
She realized it was Ethan who had spoken, his voice floating to her through the open doorway from the foyer into the parlor. She stood up. “Ethan, thank heavens you’re home. Did you just arrive?”
He did not reply, and Katie frowned. Her eyes were becoming accustomed to the darkness, and with the tiny bit of moonlight coming into the parlor, she could now see his tall, powerful form in the doorway. For no reason, a sudden sense of foreboding spread through her. “What’s happened?” she asked, and started toward him, then stopped when he did not answer. She should run to him, fling her arms around him, kiss him, but she did not do any of those things. She could not say why she remained where she was, a few feet away from him, out of his reach. “Why are you so quiet? Why are you standing there in the dark?”
He did not reply for a long moment. “The dark?” he repeated in the cool, ironical voice she remembered from their first meeting at the Mermaid. “It seems I have been in the dark for a long time now.”
“What do you mean?” Even as she asked the question, she knew the answer, and the foreboding inside her escalated into fear. Hairs rose on the back of her neck, and all the survival instincts she had gained on the streets of London warned her of danger.
The Charade Page 27