Page 46 of The Pirate Lord
“Silas? You seem to be on awfully familiar terms with Mr. Drummond all of a sudden.”
With a snort, Louisa ducked her head. “Not at all. Silas—I mean, Mr. Drummond—and I have just learned to tolerate each other’s company. He finally realized he needed my help, that’s all.”
Her help? Louisa’s “help” had consisted of taking over the poor man’s kitchen and ignoring every attempt he made to regain power. If he’d learned to tolerate that, he was a better man than she’d thought. “Well, I must admit the meals have been quite edible since you offered your ‘help.’ And I’m sure that with a little work, we can make the huts presentable as well.”
“That’s the only reason they brought us here, you know. To clean and cook and sew for them.”
“Oh, no, they want much more than that,” Sara said acidly, remembering Gideon’s knowing seductive look.
Louisa stiffened. “You’re right, of course. They want our bodies, too. And I’ll be damned if I let any of them have mine. They’ll have to tie me down first.”
“Don’t say that too loudly. You might give them ideas.” Sara glanced around at the women who’d already chosen mates. “Unfortunately, you and I may be outnumbered in our desire to remain unmarried.”
Louisa shot her a long glance. “You’ve chosen a husband, too, remember?”
With a groan, Sara cursed her slip of the tongue.
“Or have you already changed your mind and decided to leave Petey to Ann, after all?”
A surge of guilt hit Sara all at once. Poor Ann. “Where is she, anyway?” Sara asked, ignoring Louisa’s question as shescanned the clusters of men and women around them. She’d meant to look for the young woman earlier, to see if she couldn’t patch things up between them, but in exploring the island she’d forgotten her good intentions.
Louisa jerked her head toward the nearby stream. “I saw her wander up there a while ago. I think she wanted to be alone.”
“Oh, of course.” Sara cast a concerned glance up the stream, and felt a little shiver of worry when she didn’t see the Welshwoman. “Perhaps I’ll just go look for her. She shouldn’t wander so far away from everyone when the island is still unfamiliar. She might get hurt.”
“Do as you wish. But if you don’t mind, I’m returning to the dirty hovel they call a kitchen. We’ll be eating dinner soon. The pirates have killed the fatted calf in our honor—actually, a fatted wild pig—and if I leave the final cooking of it to Silas, he’ll torture it into the toughest, most inedible dish imaginable.”
With that, the young woman strolled back in the direction they’d just come, leaving Sara to climb the slippery banks of the stream alone. The moment she began her ascent, she realized that her half-boots, adequate for treading the well-polished decks of theSatyr, weren’t at all useful for scrambling over slick rocks. It took some work to keep her balance while holding her skirts above her ankles, and she was so intent upon not falling that she didn’t hear the soft voices of a young couple talking in the woods until she was nearly upon them.
Then she halted, straining to hear more. In moments, she picked out Ann’s dulcet voice, answered by a deeper male one. Good heavens, was one of the men even now taking advantage of Ann’s wounded heart? Sara wouldn’t stand for that. Ann had been through enough already.
Pushing determinedly through the thick growth along the edge of the stream, she stumbled suddenly into a clearing. Thecouple before her, locked in a passionate embrace, sprang apart at once. And to her surprise, Petey was the one holding Ann.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I thought … I was worried—” Sara turned, her face heating. “Never mind. I’ll just go back to the beach?—”
“Wait!” Peter called out as she started off. She heard his boots crunching through the brush. “Please, Miss Willis. I can explain.”
Sara shook her head as she pushed doggedly on. “You don’t need to explain anything.” But by that time he’d reached her side and caught her by the arm, forcing her to halt.
“Listen, please.” When Sara gazed at him, he added, “I told Ann everythin’—about why I’m marryin’ you and who you are. I told her I work for your brother. I had to.”
“Please don’t blame him,” Ann burst out.
When Sara looked at the young woman, she was pained to see how red Ann’s eyes and nose were.
Ann went on haltingly. “I-I came up here to be alone … because … well …”
“She was cryin’,” Petey interjected. “I seen her come up here alone, and I was worried she might hurt herself, so I followed her and found her sittin’ all by herself on that tree there and sobbin’.” He cast Ann a tender look. “She thought you and me was in love. I couldn’t let her go on thinkin’ it, not when it hurts her so.” His voice lowered. “Especially since it ain’t true.”
The look that passed between Ann and Petey then was so sweet that a lump swelled in Sara’s throat. Suddenly she wished it was she and Gideon sharing that look.
As soon as she thought it, she groaned. Gideon indeed! The man knew nothing of affection or sweetness. All he wanted was to own her body, and he wanted that only because she wouldn’t give it to him. He was like a little boy coveting his playmate’s toys.
Ann’s gaze was on Sara now. “Since Petey’s explained it all to me, I understand what he has to do. Truly I do.” It sounded as if she were trying to convince herself. Dropping her gaze, Ann smoothed her skirts with her plump hands. “There’s no way out of it. Petey must marry you to keep you safe from the pirates. I see that now.”
To keep you safe from the pirates.Ann said not a word about being kept safe from the pirates herself. She just accepted the notion that Sara was somehow more important, that Sara deserved more protection than she did.
Never had Sara been so aware of the unfairness of England’s class system. Here was a woman whose every chance for happiness had been snatched from her, a woman whose only crime had been in stealing to buy medicine for her mother. She’d lost her freedom and her mother before she’d even been old enough to find a husband or have children. At last she’d found a man she cared for, one who obviously cared for her, and he too was to be snatched from her for the most frivolous of reasons—so Sara wouldn’t face a scandal if by some slim chance she were rescued from Gideon and his men.
