Page 89 of The Pirate Lord
“Did she know from the first that you were working for her brother?” he asked Hargraves, clinging to the tiny sliver of hope that she might not have been aware of why Hargraves was aboard theChastity.
Hargraves looked bewildered by the question. “Aye, captain.”
Betrayal sliced through him, cutting deeper even than his mother’s betrayal. He’d been right from the beginning. English noblewomen didn’t willingly consort with the likes of him. But they certainly did whatever they could to survive until they could be rescued, even if it meant letting a randy pirate captain make love to them.
The events of the last month and a half hit him with startling clarity. “That’s why she agreed to marry you, isn’t it?” He glanced out to sea, struggling to keep his composure in front of his men, although he felt as if a cat o’ nine tails was shredding his heart into tiny pieces. “The two of you planned on keeping her safe from me until she was rescued. But when I gave you your chance to leave, you seized it. And she stayed behind to soften me up, to lull me into complacency while she plotted her escape.”
He threw the bag of gifts into the surf with an oath. “To think I believed that she really liked it here, that she really wanted to make something of Atlantis. What a fool I was! What a stupid, besotted fool!”
“Now, Gideon,” Silas said, worry in his tone, “you know quite well that girl weren’t lyin’ about wantin’ to make somethin’ of Atlantis. Anybody could see she loved the place almost as much as you.”
He whirled on Silas. “Then why did she sail off with her brother the first chance she got?”
“You can’t blame that on her!” Hargraves protested. “She didn’t want to leave. Hemadeher.”
Gideon stared at Hargraves. “What do you mean, hemadeher? By God, if he took her from here by force, I’ll follow him and make sure he never takes anything of mine again!”
Ann stepped between Gideon and Hargraves, her face pale. “Petey didn’t mean that exactly, Captain Horn. Miss Willis left of her own free will, she did.” When Gideon scowled darkly at her,she hastened to add, “But she weren’t leavin’ for good. She said to tell you she’d be back as soon as possible. Oh, and she asked me to give you this.” Ann fumbled in her apron pocket before producing a small silver object. She held it out to him. “She said it was her assurance to you that she’d return.”
He took the object, recognizing Sara’s silver locket. For a moment, hope swelled in him. She’d always worn that locket. He knew how much it meant to her. Surely she wouldn’t have left it behind if she hadn’t intended to return.
Then again, his mother had left a valuable brooch behind when she’d abandoned him and his father.
Closing his fingers around the locket, he looked at Hargraves. “If that blasted earl didn’t force her to leave, then why did she go at all? There was no reason to leave with him. We were to be married. She said she wanted to stay with me.”
Hargraves and Ann exchanged glances. “I dunno, cap’n,” Hargraves answered nervously. “Um . . . maybe she had matters to take care of in England before she could settle here?”
But the hesitant look on Hargraves’s face made it clear that even he didn’t believe that. Suddenly, another interpretation of her leaving the locket behind occurred to him, an interpretation so painful he could hardly stand to think of it. “Or maybe,” he said coldly, “she never intends to return at all. Maybe this locket is just a ruse to keep me from going after her and taking her brother’s ship.”
Alarm flickered in Ann’s face. “Nay, you mustn’t believe that, captain. Her brother brought plenty of men and arms with him. If he’d wanted to destroy you and your men, he could have. But he didn’t. She wouldn’t let him. She begged him not to fight with you, and he agreed.”
“Aye, he agreed because he knew he and his merchant seamen would be no match for me! The coward! To creep onto Atlantis and steal away my intended wife without evenattempting to take up arms against me! If I’d been in his place, I wouldn’t have given in to Sara’s pleas so easily! I would have willingly fought any man who dared to?—”
He broke off, remembering suddenly what he’d said to Sara only two nights ago.I wouldn’t let him take you from me, if that’s what you mean. I’ll fight any man who tries to take you away.Obviously she’d remembered them as well. She’d taken them quite to heart and had made sure that Gideon never got the chance to hurt her brother.
Rage surged up in him, a rage as mighty as any tempest the sea could produce. That’s all she’d cared about—protecting her brother, who was probably some fop with a lame sword hand and a fear of pistols!
No matter how Ann or Hargraves tried to defend her, the truth was, when given the choice between him and her family, Sara had chosen her family. She might talk of reforming the world and making Atlantis into a colony they could be proud of, but it was just talk. Otherwise, she would never have left him for her brother.
Clutching her locket tightly, he scanned the faces of the people standing around the fire. What about them? What about the other inhabitants of Atlantis, the ones she’d claimed to care about? She’d fought for the women and offered to teach the men. They’d all trusted her. But when her chance for freedom had come, she’d seized it without looking back, without even staying long enough to say good-bye.
She’d talked of giving the women a choice, but she hadn’t taken them with her. Instead, she’d sneaked off the island with her coward of a brother, leaving the rest behind. A curse upon the woman! He’d been wrong about her from the beginning!
These noblewomen were all of the same cloth—deceitful, weak, and determined to do whatever they must to return to thearms of their rich and powerful families. How could he have ever believed differently?
“Please, Captain Horn,” Ann’s gentle voice broke in to his thoughts, “you must believe that she intends to return. You know Miss Willis would never promise such a thing if she didn’t mean it.”
He faced Ann with a grim expression. “You may believe that if it gives you comfort, but I know better. She left without a care for any of you, and certainly without a care for me. She won’t be back. And Atlantis is better off without her.”
“But it wasn’t like that—” Hargraves began to protest.
Gideon silenced him with a dark scowl. “As for you, Mr. Hargraves, I don’t want to hear another word out of you. I gave you more gold than you’d ever seen in your life to get you away from here, and you repaid me by bringing the wolves to my door.” An awful possibility occurred to him. Striding up to Hargraves, he took hold of him by the shirt. “And now they all know where this island lies, don’t they? I suppose the earl was just waiting until he got his sister safely off the island before he sent in His Majesty’s Navy to rout all of us. We are as good as dead now, thanks to you.”
Hargraves shook his head furiously. “His lordship kept the Navy out of it to save Miss Willis’s reputation. I swear it. He told his men naught about who lived on this island for fear they’d jump ship in Santiago at the sound of your name. And the little miss refused to leave unless he promised to continue keepin’ his silence about Atlantis.”
Gideon stared hard at the monkey of a man who’d nonetheless always managed to stand up to him. “And why should I believe you?”
“If I thought the island was to be taken by the Navy boys any minute, cap’n, why would I have stayed? I could’ve left on theDefiantand taken my lady with me.”
