Bound by the Heart (17 page)

"Oh, yes, sir. Mr. Roarke says you have to
...
to grab your fear by the throat and
choke the life out of it, otherwise it could rule your life forever. He says he
learned that lesson long ago from Captain Bull Treloggan, and if anyone should
know about—"

"Bull Treloggan!" Sir Lionel gasped.
"The man is associated with Bull Treloggan!"

Michael reddened. He saw the stricken look on Summer's
face and knew he had made a mistake. "Well, I. . . y-yes, sir. He
is."

"In what capacity?" Sir Lionel demanded.

"S. Roarke," Bennett murmured. His pale eyes
flicked from Michael's face to Summer's and widened as if two disjointed
thoughts had suddenly become connected within his mind. He stood up so abruptly
that Michael flinched instinctively, pressing closer to Summer on the divan.
"S.
Roarke!
 
The
S
wouldn't happen to stand for
Stuart,
would it?"

"Good God, man," Sir Lionel frowned.
"What is it? You look as if you've seen a ghost."

The color in Bennett's face had all but drained away
beneath his tan.

"Not a ghost, Sir Lionel. Believe me, he is very
real."

"Who? Who the blazes are you talking about? Who
is this Stuart Roarke?
Will someone kindly tell me what is going on?"

"I hardly think kindness and Morgan Wade belong
together in the same sentence."

Sir Lionel's eyes bulged out of their creases.
"Morgan Wade! What has any of this to do with Morgan Wade?"

Summer set her cup and saucer on the table and folded
her hands on her lap. "It is really quite simple, Father. It was not Mr.
Roarke who picked us up after the
Sea Vixen
floundered. He brought us home, true enough, but it
was Captain Wade who found us."

"I don't know how I failed to make the connection
as soon as I read the note," Bennett said harshly. "How many S.
Roarkes can there be in the islands?"

The governor huffed. "Why in heaven's name was I
not told of this immediately?"

"We thought we could spare you some of the
anxiety you are experiencing this very moment," said Summer. "For a
few days, at any rate, until the shock of our homecoming passed. We had every
intention of telling you
...
of
telling you everything. . . . we just thought we should wait for a better
time."

"There is no better time," her father
declared. "No worse time either, for that matter. My God . . .
Morgan Wade!
Of all the pirates in all the
seas, you had to be rescued by him!"

Michael regained some of his courage and straightened
from Summer's side. "His ship had been damaged against a reef in the same
storm, and we both sort of bumped into each other. He wasn't exactly thrilled
to see us, but Captain Wade saved us from certain death. There were sharks and
all sorts of—"

"His ship!" Sir Lionel gasped. "You
were taken on board the
Chimera?
On board an armed gunrunner? Bennett—" He held
out his cup. "Rum. To the brim, if you please . . . and forgo the nicety
of diluting it with tea."

"We did not choose our rescuer," Summer
said. "At the time we would have been grateful to see Blackbeard himself
if it meant being warm and dry again."

"Yes, yes, daughter, but. . . Morgan Wade!"

"Was he anywhere near the
Sea Vixen?"
Bennett asked in a low voice.
"Either before or after the storm?"

"No, sir," Michael said firmly. "We
drifted a day and a night before he found us, and afterward he went
straightaway to a port on Saint Martin to try to repair his ship."

Sir Lionel clutched the side of a table. "He took
you to a leper colony?"

"Oh, no, sir! No, we didn't actually go right in
to the port. He simply anchored there long enough to make a temporary repair.
No one was allowed to leave the ship, and no one from Saint Martin was allowed
on board the
Chimera."

Sir Lionel swabbed the beading moisture from his brow.
"Yes, and then what. Go on, boy. Saint Martin . . . and then what?"

"Sir?"

"Where did he take you
from there?" Bennett asked levelly.

Michael lifted his gaze to the
commodore. "N-north, sir."

"North?"

"Yes, sir. He never did tell us where we were
going. Or where we were when we got there."

"I'll wager he didn't," Bennett agreed
dryly. He continued to gaze speculatively at Michael for a moment, then turned
away.

"And how did the bounder treat you?" Sir
Lionel demanded.

Summer was amazed at how calm she sounded. "Quite
well, actually. He recognized Michael at once. We assumed he meant to hold us
to ransom, but as it turned out, that was not the case. He was preoccupied with
his ship most of the time and . . . and in a hurry to reach his home port to
see to his damages. We were almost there when—"

Bennett had turned to face her again.
"He
took you to Bounty
Key?"

It was asked with such ferocity, Summer stared up at
him. "If that is the name of his island, yes. You already know where it
is?"

"We have a name only." Summer saw a sudden
hard light come into the pale blue eyes as he paced back toward the divan.
"It does not appear on any maps we have. . . . We do not even know which
chain of islands it is a part of."

Summer shook her head slowly. "All I can tell you
is that it was a five-day sail from Saint Martin."

"Direction?" Bennett snapped. "You must
have had some idea of direction."

"North," Michael said when the pale eyes
drilled into him. "N-north, sir."

"In daylight hours and for how long? Was he under
full sail or half? Eight knots? Ten? Did he trim his speed at night, or did he
take advantage of the darkness to confuse you? I need to know more than just
north,
boy."

Michael was stung by the rebuke, and it was Summer who
came to his defense.

"He doesn't know any more than that, Commodore
Winfield. He had just survived a very frightening ordeal. Neither of us was too
concerned about speed or direction; we were more concerned with being warm and
dry and safe."

Bennett drew himself up. "You had cause to be
concerned for your safety, madam?"

Summer heard another choking sound come from her
father but ignored it as she gazed unwaveringly at Bennett. "Are you
asking me a question, sir?"

"Five days and nights on board the
Chimera
bear questioning, yes. Wade's
reputation as an officer and a gentleman is somewhat clouded."

"As is yours at this moment," she replied
evenly, the green in her eyes flaring dangerously bright. "And it was
seven
days and nights on board his
ship, plus a further night ashore . . . where we were treated with . . . with
the utmost respect and courtesy."

The pale eyes narrowed. He took in the flush to her cheeks
and the tightly clasped hands folded on her lap. "Forgive me," he
said quietly, "but I am only voicing a concern as to what the mere mention
of the man's name in conjunction with yours will bring down upon your fine
reputation. I'm sure you can imagine how the gossips will delight in
exaggerating this incident beyond all proportion."

"Good Lord, he's right," said Sir Lionel.
"People will assume the worst, especially if the scoundrel brags about
having my son and daughter at his mercy for two weeks. He had no need to hold
either of you to ransom—he can make a laughingstock out of us without ever
demanding a copper."

Summer could not keep her seat any longer. She stood
up and faced the two men squarely. "Not two days ago you believed Michael
and I to be dead and rotting somewhere at the bottom of the sea. We stand
before you today—alive and remarkably healthy—and your foremost concern does
not appear to be how we managed to survive, rather if our survival has now cast
a shadow on the good Cambridge name."

The governor was instantly contrite. "Now,
daughter, we are only concerned for your welfare."

"Mine,
Father?"

Sir Lionel reddened. "Well, naturally you can see
how being obligated to the man places me in a deuced awkward position."

"I can see why you might have preferred a ransom
demand," she agreed angrily. "At least then you could have refused to
pay if the goods were damaged in any way."

"Now, daughter—"

"Don't 'now, daughter' me. I had truly forgotten
what small minds these island people have. But if my reputation is your main
source of concern, you may calm yourself. The world will not hear a thing from
the lips of Captain Wade. He had no idea I was your daughter."

"What? What's that you say?"

"For that you may thank Michael. He reasoned that
if blackmail was indeed among the captain's motives, it would be far less
ruinous to admit to only one of us being a Cambridge."

"Well, who the blazes did he think you
were?"

"I told Captain Wade Summer was my
governess," Michael said hesitantly. "He hardly paid her a second
thought."

"Is this true?" Bennett asked.

Sir Lionel guffawed. "He had no idea who you
were?"

"He never even asked my name," Summer said
tautly.

"Good grief. And this man Roarke, daughter, he
knew nothing either?"

Summer swallowed the resentment building in her
throat. "No, Father, he knew nothing. He brought his ship into port at
Speightstown and for all I know is halfway home again by now. I hardly saw him
during the time we were on the
Vigilant."

"Why didn't Wade bring you back himself? Or drop
you at a friendly port along the way?"

Summer had known the question would arise, and she had
rehearsed her answer a dozen times, a dozen different ways. Well, you see,
Father, he had guns on board, and . . . He was in a hurry, Father, because he
was smuggling guns, and . . .

"Michael already told you," she said
quietly. "The
Chimera
was damaged in the storm. He could not afford to stop.
But he did send us on our way the day after we arrived at Bounty Key. I gather
he wanted to personally supervise the repair of his ship, and so he sent us
with Mr. Roarke."

"And his connection to Wade?" Bennett asked.

"I don't know exactly. He seemed more interested
in the ship and the cargo than he did in us."

"Cargo?" Sir Lionel looked up from his
glass. The room again became ominously silent.

"Tea, sir," Michael said promptly, "and
rum. Or so he said. We . . . we weren't allowed to wander about very much. We
had to stay in our cabins most of the time." His voice trailed away, and
he absolutely refused to look in Summer's direction.

"What about the other fellow, Roarke?"
Bennett inquired. "Was he carrying anything on the schooner, or were his
bags empty?"

Summer realized at once the basis for his question.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you again, Bennett, but Mr. Roarke showed far
more caution than you give him credit for. The course we traveled was not a
direct one. He took the same number of days to bring us home as the captain did
to carry us away, even though the
Vigilant
was definitely lighter and faster."

The commodore acknowledged Roarke's astuteness with a
slight nod of his head. "He seems to have been very thorough. However, it
can be equally to our benefit if his presence raised no comment in
Speightstown. It means his association with Morgan Wade is not generally
known."