The Diamond King (36 page)

Burke shrugged. “Soldier of fortune, adventurer.” He frowned. “But what is
she
doing here?”

Mickey turned away. They had never liked each other. Burke was Scottish, Mickey Irish: and they had been natural competitors. The fact that Burke had the captain’s ear had always been a thorn in Mickey’s side.

“She wanted ye to know a peace treaty has been signed between the British and France. It was signed before we took the
Charlotte
.”

Burke stilled. He knew what a treaty meant, as did all the members of the crew. It did not mean so much to him personally. He was accustomed to being a fugitive. So was the captain. But now every member of the crew would be called pirates by the world. There would be no safe waters anywhere.

“When will he return?” Mickey asked.

Burke hesitated.

“I am on your side, bucko,” Mickey said.

A newcomer entered and started talking rapidly, then a tall, swarthy man with a beard approached Burke. He spoke in broken English.

“English ship in harbor.”

Burke stood so rapidly the chair fell and splintered. Without saying anything more, he left the room, Mickey hurrying behind him. They both arrived in time to see a quarter boat heading for shore.

“I should warn Lady Jeanette,” Mickey said, starting in that direction.

Burke stopped him. “She will learn soon enough. No one must know that any of the Ami’s crew is here.”

“But she—”

“Is a Campbell and safe from the British. She can fend for herself,” Burke said. “We have to warn the captain.”

Mickey hesitated. Perhaps it would be worse if he were found with her. But there was no telling what she might do if she did not know her warning had reached Burke.

“I’m going to tell her.”

Burke shrugged. “ ‘Tis your neck.”

Mickey did not wait. He almost ran down the streets, even as they seemed to roll beneath his feet. For a seaman, land was always more unsteady than the sea itself.

He reached the inn just as the British quarter boat landed. He saw an officer along with a man in civilian clothes step out of the boat, then address an officious-looking man in white who met them. He did not waste any more time. He went to the back of the inn and up the back stairs that were for the servants.

Lady Jeanette opened on his first knock.

“Mickey,” she said.

“I found Burke. He’s waiting for the captain. He’ll warn him.”

She took his hand, and surprisingly, clutched it like a lifeline. “Thank you.”

Embarrassed, he merely nodded and averted his gaze.

She went to the window and looked out. He followed and saw the procession reach the inn’s door. They had to know a white British woman was there.

She turned to him. “You must go. Where can I find you?”

“Come with me.”

“I cannot. They know I am here. I do not want them searching for me.”

He thought hard. “I’ll return to the back of the inn every moonset,” he finally said, and without another word, slipped out the door and started down the back steps, hearing as he left the precision steps of British soldiers.

Jenna captured a ringlet of hair that had escaped from the neat knot at the back of her head. She quickly found the lace cap that she had brought with her and placed it on her head. She smoothed down her skirts.

Who was the man without a uniform?

Maybe they just wanted lodgings. Still, her hands trembled. She could not make a mistake now. And she had no idea what to do. Should she go back with them? What excuse could she give if she did not? Would her hesitation to return send the British on a hunt for her abductor?

How could she leave him? How could she leave everything she had found?

A knock sounded at the door. She moistened her lips, then opened the door. She recognized the uniform of a navy lieutenant, several British marines, and the man in civilian clothes.

The latter turned searching eyes on her, studying her face, then the rest of her. She was suddenly conscious of the livid birthmark.

But his gaze did not remain there. And she weighed him as well. His hair was a very light brown, almost sandy. His complexion was ruddy and his eyes a light blue.

“Lady ... Jeanette,” he said.

“Aye.”

“I am David Murray. Thank God, we have found you.”

Alex was hot, feverish.

His leg barely held him. The pain had become so great that the leg had become numb, or had he willed his mind to ignore the agony? Just a few more hours, according to the priest. He was a Jesuit, a member of an order persecuted by both the Portuguese and the Spanish.

He would not go into Vit�ria, but would stay just outside and wait for Alex to return with the gold. The exchange for diamonds would then take place.

If, Alex thought, he made it. The insects were thick, the heat oppressive once they came down from the hills. They had not yet encountered the fresh breeze from the sea.

“Senhor,” said the priest, “you need to rest.”

He shook his head. “Have to ... meet... ship.”

The only thing that kept him going was the memory of Jenna’s face, the way her eyes lit when she saw him. He kept remembering how she smiled, and the way she tipped her head when she was about to do something outrageous.

His fingers clutched the bag of diamonds. Those and the others he expected to collect would mean security for Meg and Robin. It would mean freedom for Jenna. Safety for himself.

What would safety mean without Jenna? Without the children?

He’d thought all he wanted was to rid himself of them. Now he knew how much he would miss them. But he also knew more than ever the limitations of his body. Until now, he’d never really accepted it.

They stopped at dusk, and this time he could not eat at all. All he wanted was water and rest.

“You should eat, senhor,” the priest told him.

He just shook his head.

The priest touched his forehead. “You have the sweating disease,” he said.

“What—”

But the priest was gone. His eyes closed, and the jungle closed in on him.

Jenna sat as David Murray paced the room.

“How ... ?” she asked.

“That doesn’t matter,” he said. “Were you ..
. injured?”

“Nay,” she replied quietly. “Neither my companion nor myself.”

He did not seem to comprehend the former part of her sentence. “Thank God,” he said. “I was told they were the worst kind of villains.” He hesitated. “How did you get here?”

“I was released at a small village north of here,” she said. “A Portuguese trader brought me here. But how are you here?”

“I had heard of the peace treaty,” he said. “Then you did not arrive and there were tales of pirates in the area. A British ship dropped off a planter and his wife who had been held captive along with you, and I learned that you had disappeared. I decided to go with them as they hunted this pirate. I thought you might need help, or someone to care for you.”

She was astounded at the pronouncement. Even more surprised that his gaze did not linger on her arm and hand. She had started to believe it did not matter. Alex had not cared, nor had others in the crew, but then they were not like any other Scotsmen or Englishmen she’d known. Perhaps that was why she’d liked them.

But this man seemed not to care, either.

She suddenly realized neither did she any longer. She no longer tried so desperately to cover it. She’d allowed it to diminish her life far too long. She’d been made so ashamed of it that she’d seldom ventured out.

Now she was seeing the world. Perhaps not in the way she’d imagined but she was fascinated with every moment of her adventure. She had come alive in so many ways.

She looked at him more carefully. His expression was concerned. His face was not handsome but rather pleasant. The skin around his eyes crinkled, though she did not know whether it came from the sun or laughter. His lips were wide, and she imagined his smile would be quite nice.

“Your home, your children?” She started, remembering that his family was the reason he’d consented to accept a bride he had not seen.

“You are my betrothed,” he said. “I could not leave you to an uncertain fate. I didn’t know whether the woman they said was here could be you. My prayers were answered, as were those of your family.”

“They could not know,” she said, startled at the idea that her parents would care at all.

“I told them in a letter that you had not arrived.”

She took a deep breath. She looked down and saw that her hands were twisting together in her lap. She tried to relax.

“Why did they release you?”

“They heard rumors of peace,” she said. “I told them they could expect no ransom, that my family would be relieved to have me gone.” She would not have spoken so plainly weeks ago. She probably would not even have admitted the truth.

His eyes were intent on her. He turned to the lieutenant who had accompanied him. “Will you leave us alone?”

The lieutenant nodded. He backed out, joining the marines who had been hovering in the corridor outside.

David Murray closed the door. He lowered his voice. “Is it the truth? That no one hurt you?”

“Aye,” she said.

“You need not worry,” he added. “It would not be your fault. I would not hold it against you.”

The words surprised her. Even dismayed her. She had been so sure that he would not want her once he saw her arm, let alone if she had been compromised. Even if she had not been in the company of what he considered pirates for nearly two months.

He must have seen the doubt in her eyes. “I made an offer,” he said. “I intend to keep my word.”

“You did not know about my arm when you made that offer,” she said.

“I did.” He shrugged. “Your father wrote me about it.”

She must have looked surprised.

“He also said you were kind and gentle,” he said, further startling her because her father had never expressed that to her. “Those are qualities I want in the person caring for my children,” he continued.

No words of love. But they would be a lie. Instead the words were a declaration from a man who seemed to like simplicity.

And he was offering what she thought she wanted most, something that she thought would be impossible.

He was offering her a family.

What if he discovered she had posed as the privateer captain’s wife?

What if he knew she had spent a shameless night with him?

Why did David Murray chase over hundreds of sea miles to rescue her?

All those thoughts tumbled through her head.

“You can come with me now,” he said. “I’m sure arrangements can be made to comfortably accommodate the daughter of Robert Campbell.” He looked expectant.

The daughter of Robert Campbell
. The sound of her father’s name was like icy water thrown in her face. She wondered then how much the dowry was.

Or was she using that sudden question as an excuse? In the past few weeks, she had fallen in love. She had fallen in love with a man, two children, and the sea.

But that man had not fallen in love with her. He had made it clear that he saw no future with her.

You can still have a family.

At what price?

David Murray appeared pleasant enough but she knew surface appearances meant little. Hadn’t she at first considered the
Ami
‘s captain a villain of the first order?

Still, David Murray was offering her a life, a family, a future. Safety. Security.

Accept
, her head said.

Do not
, argued her heart.

Could she really sail away without ever seeing Meg again? Or her captain? Without knowing whether he escaped or not?

“Is the ship sailing to Barbados?”

“No,” he replied. “The captain is looking for the ship that captured yours. The authorities in Martinique heard one of the crew say they were going to Brazil. This is the third city we’ve visited. The captain will be making some queries before we leave.”

She considered that. They would discover that a frigate had stopped here three weeks earlier, probably that someone had left the ship and gone into the interior. They might also discover that a man came ashore with her yesterday. Shivers ran up and down her back. When lies begin, they were like seeds that grew and grew. “Then I... would like to stay here,” she said. “The sea ... the rocking ... I get ill. I was so relieved to finally reach solid ground.”

Concern immediately crossed his face. She wondered whether she had misjudged him seconds earlier when she thought about the dowry.

“Then I will stay here, too, while the ship is here,” he said. “We must get to know each other better, and I can protect you.”

The shivers grew stronger. She did not want him here. She wanted to know what was happening to Alex. How could Mickey get back to her? And what would they learn?

If she agreed to go with him, if they left immediately for Barbados, perhaps they would forget about the
Ami
?

She doubted the British authorities would abandon their search for a pirate just because she wanted to go home.

“That is not necessary,” she said. “I have been looked after very well here.”

He gave her a searching look. “Be assured, my lady, I do not think less of you because of your misadventures.” He paused. “I have been looking forward to our marriage. I have been lonely, and my children need a mother.”

“How old are your children?”

“A girl just a year old. Her mother died giving birth. Then there’s Simon, who is four, and David, who is five.”

“Who is caring for them now?”

“A housekeeper. She is a widow.”

She absorbed all that information, then put a hand to her face. “I am grateful for your concern,” she said. “I never thought you would want me after what has happened.”

He took her right hand and brought it up to his lips. “I am grateful you survived and are unhurt. But still I will see those pirates hanged. Every last one of them.” His voice hardened. Then he seemed to remember something. “Your maid. She was with you?”

Dear God. What explanation now? She bit her lip. “They did not release her.”

His lips tightened. “The blackguards. Well, Lady Jeanette, we will find her for you. And I think the lieutenant will want to talk to you. You may have heard something about this pirate’s plans.”