Page 76 of His Duchess in Disguise
No one was paying any mind at all to the little group at the back of the ship. Everyone’s attention was on the strange thing that was being erected in front of them.
“Father!” Emma said softly to Mr. Jones and Mary. “He’ll be drowned if we leave him in the hold. I forget what to call it, but that thing is going to fall down on the deck, and it is likely to put a hole all the way through the ship.”
Mr. Jones and Mary nodded to each other. They were the tallest and strongest of the little band. “Stay out of sight,” Mary whispered to Emma and slipped back into the hold just as a dripping wet figure climbed up over the rail and froze when he saw them. Then it was over the deck and rushing toward them. “Emma!” the figure exclaimed.
“Leo?”
“Yes! Oh, Emma! I thought I had lost you. We need to get you and all your people off this ship, posthaste.” Leo rushed to her, taking her in his arms.
“My father is in a carriage in the hold. The Earl gave him something; I’m not sure what. He is senseless. Your Grace, the hold is full of gunpowder, rum, and other supplies.”
“That’s two unexpected complications,” Leo said. “But Captain Douglas won’t drop the corvus until I give him the all-clear.”
There was a small commotion below them, and the Baron’s limp arm was thrust up through the hole, but not of his volition.
Deducing the situation, Leo grabbed the Baron’s arm and hauled him up – or tried to. The Baron was not a small man, and he soon wedged tight in the space they had sawed in the flooring. With Mary and Mr. Jones pushing from below, and the Duke, Emma, and Mrs. Able pulling from above, the Baron at last shot out of the hole like a cork out of a bottle, and he plopped on the decking. Just as he did so, Percy Harlow, Earl of Cleweme, rounded the corner of the cabin.
“So that’s where you all got to!” he snarled.
“Putrid Percy!” Leo roared. “It seems we shall have that duel, after all, you pusillanimous scum. How dare you kidnap my future wife!”
“Loudmouth Leo, all roar and no bite,” Harlow sneered, drawing his sword. “That is my future wife; her father arranged it. Do you have his permission?”
“No, and I don’t need it. She is of age. Unlike you, I don’t need to augment my domain with a wife’s dowry.” Leo crouched low, keeping his eye on Percy’s face, holding the large knife with which he had boarded in his right hand, while his left was held out wide.
The two men circled each other, like tigers battling for dominion of their territory. Emma and her companions backed against the cabin. “A knife against a sword!” Emma breathed.
“I know,” Mary replied grimly, her eyes on the two men.
Just then the ship lurched, and the Baron rolled into the back of Percy Harlow’s legs, knocking him to the deck. The baron mumbled and slavered like a madman. “Emma! Where is my Emma? You swore to take care of her. What are you doing? Why do you have a sword?” He tried to get up, but fell. He rolled his bulk over the Earl, flattening the smaller man.
Not at all adverse to taking advantage of unexpected assistance, Leo snatched the sword out of the Earl’s hands. Then the ship gave another lurch.
“We really might want to get off if we can,” Mr. Jones said coming up from below. “I found the bilge, and I’ve holed her just above the waterline. I think that’s a life raft over there.” He nodded toward a rowboat that was snugged against the edge of the deck.
“Boarding dinghy,” Leo corrected. “But excellent for our purposes. Quick and quiet now.”
As coordinated as if they were a trained crew, Mary and Mr. Jones trussed up Harlow, dumped him and the Baron in the bottom of the dinghy, and they all climbed in after. Leo grabbed a rope and pulley contraption to lower them down the side and then he and Mr. Jones pulled mightily on the oars, getting them away from the steadily sinking ship.
Meanwhile, the giant contraption on the Menhiransten, for it was indeed she, slowly lowered back down and did not deploy. Instead, small boats similar to the one they were in put out and began picking up the people who were jumping off the ship.
“Well,” said Leo, “I do thank you, Mr. Jones. You have neatly preserved all the evidence the crown needs to convict Lord Harlow of treason, to say nothing of abduction, slavery, and a few other charges. Since you neatly sunk it in the harbor, we will be able to raise the ship later and inspect the contents of the hold at leisure.
“Slavery!” sputtered Percy Harlow, “I have never, ever been a slaver.”
“What else do you call it when you plan to force a young woman to wed you?” Leo asked politely.
“Her father arranged it!” Harlow shouted.
“But I didn’t consent,” Emma said firmly. “And I still don’t. I’d rather enter a convent or go climb back on that sinking boat.”
“No need, no need,” the Baron feebly waved one hand. “You don’ have to marry him, Emma. In fact, I prefer you didn’t.”
“Good. Because I would much rather marry Leo, that is, if you still want to, Your Grace?” Emma looked a little scared.
“Oh, I very much want to!” Leo replied, rocking the dinghy dangerously, in an effort to give Emma a kiss.
“Patience, Your Grace,” Mrs. Able said. “Please, get us all on dry land before you express your affection.”
