The Guise of a Gentleman (29 page)

“Visitor to see you, pirate scum. Get up!”

The guard’s voice jarred Jared out of his nightmare, and brought him right back into another. Only this nightmare continued.

He lifted his head. The swelling had gone down enough for him to be able to see out of one eye. He ached all over and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. He struggled to rise, but movement sent agony knifing through him.

“Careful, ma’am,” came the voice of the guard. “He’s dangerous.”

“He never harmed me while I was his prisoner. I doubt he’ll offer much of a threat now that he’s injured.”

Jared closed his eyes as Elise’s soothing voice washed over him. Just having her near eased his pain. She let out a tiny gasp and her clothing rustled as she bent over him. She raised her voice and said angrily, “Don’t you give prisoners water?”

“Ah….” came the voice of the guard.

“Bring some at once!”

“And leave you here alone with them?” He sounded horrified.

“They’re chained and injured; hardly a threat. Water. Now.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Heavy footsteps moved away.

Her scent filled his nostrils as her silken hair brushed against his cheek. “Jared,” she whispered.

He opened his eyes. She leaned over him so close he could almost kiss her. She did not seem repulsed by the filth in this hole called a brig, only concerned for him.

She guided his head to her lap, despite the dirt and blood crusting his face and body. “It was you they flogged.”

He heard the tears in her voice. A cool hand pressed against his brow and another lay against his cheek.

“Nothing the legendary Black Jack doesn’t deserve,” he croaked. “You shouldn’t be here. They’ll believe you have sympathies for pirates.”

“Let me worry about that.”

He tried to swallow, but his dry throat prevented it. “Are you all right?” he rasped.

“The captain believes I was an innocent prisoner.”

“And so you were.” Even though the view had grown so appealing, the effort of keeping his eyes open proved too difficult.

“He’s given me quarters and extended every courtesy.”

Footsteps approached and she said, “Thank you.”

She pressed a cup against his lips and water dripped into his mouth. He lapped it greedily, never more grateful in all his miserable life for the blessed gift of water, stale as it was. He coughed when he swallowed too much, the cough sending a fresh wave of pain through his battered body.

“We’ll be in London tomorrow. What can I do for you?”

“Send word to Greymore. Then go home and wash your hands of this. And us.”

The guard cleared his throat. “
ma’am. Please. I cannot give you any more time. If the captain found out I’d let you in here ….”

“I understand. Thank you for indulging me. And for mercy’s sake, give these men food and water. You’d treat animals better.”

“They’re worse than animals. They’re pirates,” the guard snarled.

“Be that as it may, they saved me from the horrifying Captain Leandro and his men, who were true savages. They treated me with courtesy and respect while I was aboard their ship. I’d be grateful if you’d do the same for them. They will face justice soon. That should be good enough for you.”

She rested a soothing hand on Jared’s cheek for a moment, and he wished he could immerse himself in her softness. “I’ll do everything I can for you,” she whispered. She lifted his head from her lap and set it back down on the deck. With a rustling of her skirts, she arose and left.

Her scent lingered and sustained him. He faded in and out of sleep, vaguely aware of pain and thirst and cold, yet steeped in the memory of an angel with soft hands.

Someone shook him and held a cup to his lips. He gulped and opened his eyes.

Dubois met his gaze. “Her charms worked. They brought us food and ale.”

Jared tried to push himself to a seated position, but failed before he made it to his elbows.

Dubois grimaced as he straightened his wounded leg. “You are a lucky man.”

“Because we’ve been captured when, for a change, we were not engaging in acts of piracy?” Jared returned dryly. “Or because the captain thought it good sport to beat and then flog me after I’d surrendered?”

“Because a lovely and gentle lady loves you.”

Jared snorted, sending a new bolt of pain knifing through him. He had to wait a moment before he replied, “She knows better than to love a wretch like me.”

“She loves you,” Dubois said with conviction. “I see the way she looks at you. And she wouldn’t risk coming down here to see you if she didn’t.”

Anakoni scoffed. “Lot a good it’ll do you, Jack. You’ll dance the hempen jig, soon enough.”

“I will. But you won’t,” Jared said with conviction. “I’ll bargain for your lives.”

Young O’Brian lifted his head with hope and disbelief in his eyes.

“There’s nothing you can do for us,” Anakoni grumbled.

Jared glanced at the other pirates languishing about in various parts of the cell and lowered his voice. “I’ll give them the coordinates for
Isla del Tiburon
in exchange for pardons for all of you.”

“You wouldn’t,” Dubois said, aghast. “Half our stored booty is there.”

“Won’t do you any good if you hang, will it?” Jared retorted.

Dubois closed his mouth with a snap.

Jared rose up onto his elbows, rested his head on his arm, and breathed through the pain. “The rest of the crew is dead. After you’re free, you can access the hoard on Marquette Island. If you split it evenly, you’ll live like kings. The authorities will agree to pardon you in exchange for my information, provided you swear to forsake piracy.”

“You are not sacrificing yourself for us,” Dubois growled.

“I’m a dead man no matter what. Nothing I could offer them would be worth trading the glory of executing Black Jack. At least this way, I can bargain for your lives. Go retrieve the plunder on Marquette Island and sell the
Venture
. Change your names. Settle down with a lusty woman and grow old.”

Dubois slammed his fist into the wall and swore as only an old sea dog could. In a rare moment of exposed emotion, Anakoni squeezed his eyes closed and rested his head against the bulkhead. Young O’Brian looked as though he were about to burst into tears.

Chained in the brig and awaiting almost certain death, Jared realized he’d never known truer friends.

For the first time in years, he prayed. Truly prayed. He prayed he could ransom his friends. He prayed that Elise would be well. And he prayed that Greymore and the British Secret Service would break their vow and free him.

Yet he suspected his prayers would only be heard by the devil.

The Admiralty sent for Elise the moment she arrived in London. Uniformed sailors escorted her from the ship directly to the Admiralty.

Three men awaited her inside a plush office. One of the men was decorated as an admiral. A second, a captain. The third appeared to be a clerk. They greeted her coolly and made the introductions. Then the inquiry began.

“State your name for the record, ma’am.”

“Mrs. Edward Berkley.”

“Your place of residence.”

“Berkley Manor, outside of Brenniswick, which lies southwest of Port Johns.”

The admiral eyed Elise with detachment. She kept her gaze fixed unswervingly upon him, knowing he would decide her fate. And probably Jared’s.

“And how did you come to be in the company of pirates?”

Elise repeated the same story she’d told to the navy captain, emphasizing how the pirates on board the
Sea Mistress
had left her unharmed. “The captain, Black Jack, assured me their articles protected women from assault. I believe it was his intention to return me to England uninjured.”

“Is it possible he planned to ransom you, Mrs. Berkley?” asked the captain.

“If that were his intent, he never revealed it to me.”

“Did these men who held you captive ever engage in any acts of piracy while you were aboard?”

“No, sir. They attacked the pirates who captured me, and took me on board after the battle, but it may have been an act of pirate hunting, for all I know. We sailed to an island to obtain provisions, and had just left the island when the naval ships intercepted and engaged them.”

They looked disappointed. “Then you cannot truly testify they were pirates.”

“No, Admiral.”

“Very well. You may go, Mrs. Berkley. We have no reason to suspect you were willfully involved with them. And as you cannot be used as a witness against them, your presence is not required at the trial.”

“Thank you, Admiral. May I inquire as to when the trial will take place?”

“We’ll need time to gather the evidence and the witnesses. Probably a few weeks.”

Elise nodded, hoping she had enough time to bargain for Jared’s life. She secured a room in a hotel, bathed, ate, and hired a post chaise to take her home the following morning. She’d been captured without any money, but the hotel manager arranged a line of credit for everything she needed once she gave him the name of her man of business.

After a fitful night haunted by visions of Jared being beaten, flogged, and hanged, Elise took a chaise home. They stopped only to change horses and drivers at posting inns along the way. Elise ate with little appetite as she waited for her transportation to be arranged and then resumed her exhausting journey over bumpy, rutted roads. Elise paid a fortune to travel day and night without stopping longer than necessary to change horses and drivers.

Just after dawn, Elise arrived at the Greymore estate. Exhausted, cold, and hungry, she stepped from the carriage and stumbled up the stairs to the manor door. A weary footman admitted her, took one look at her disreputable appearance, and hurried away. Only a moment later, he returned and showed her upstairs.

Charlotte and Charles Greymore had donned dressing robes, looking sleepy and alarmed.

“Elise! Good heavens! Where have you been? Are you all right?” Charlotte put an arm around her and drew her further in the sitting room just off their bedroom.

A maid hurriedly built up the fire while another brought in a tea service. Elise let Charlotte seat her at a small settee near the fireplace and leaned against her, grateful for her friendship.

Elise laced her fingers in an attempt to appear calm. “Jared is in trouble.”

Fear for him, combined with her state of fatigue, finally defeated her. She broke down crying and could not speak further. Charlotte held her while shoulder-shaking sobs battered Elise until she finally controlled her tears.

Greymore handed her a handkerchief. “Tell us.”

Charlotte thrust a teacup in her hand. Elise gulped down the hot tea. It burned her mouth, but she hardly felt it.

Elise began with, “Mr. Greymore, how long have you known Jared?”

“Since the Peninsular War.”

She paused. “So long ago? Did you know he’s the pirate Black Jack?”

Greymore’s eyes narrowed. “I suspected it. He always did everything grandly.”

“He’s in Newgate Prison.”

Greymore pressed his mouth together. Only then did Elise notice he seemed to favor his arm. “Tell me everything.”

She did, and got as far as telling him that they’d flogged Jared after they captured him. Tears made speaking impossible again.

Mr. Greymore took her hand. “Mrs. Berkley. Elise.” He waited until she calmed enough to understand him and look him in the eye. “Whatever else he may be, know this; he is a loyal Englishman, instrumental in Bonaparte’s defeat.”

Elise blinked. “Loyal Englishman? He’s a pirate.”

“He is a covert operative working for the British government. I was working with him on the assignment to expose a pirate ring.”

Everything came too fast. Jared was not a pirate? Or rather, he was, but his actions were sanctioned by the government? She put a hand to her head. “But I heard him telling a member of his crew he’d killed the real Jared Amesbury and was using his identity, and that he was here to do something that would make them all rich men.”

A ghost of a smile flitted over his mouth. “You don’t think he’d reveal his real name to a pirate, do you? He used an alias to infiltrate the pirates. They’d have killed him if they knew he wasn’t truly one of them.”

She stared stupidly at him. Deep in her heart, she’d believed Jared when he’d professed his identity. Yet she’d feared it was a lie. “He’s not a real pirate,” she said numbly.

“No. He was tracking down the head informant selling information to a pirate coalition. Believe me, he’s no pirate. No amount of evidence against him would ever convince me otherwise.”

Elise pressed her hand to her forehead. Jared was not a pirate. Relief warred with shame. “I should have known better. I can’t believe I truly thought it of him.” She paused, frowning. “He should have told me.”

“Someone might have overheard him. He couldn’t risk the mission. Lives were at stake.”

Daring to hope, Elise said, “Then he won’t be executed. The government will clear his name and free him.”

“It’s not so simple. Covert operatives are not uniformed officers. And a field agent who’s captured is on his own.”

“But that’s terrible! If he’s done all this for king and country, why won’t they save him?”

“It was the understanding from the beginning.”

“Why would he agree to that?”

“He had no choice. It gets worse. His assignment was officially over before he boarded his ship and came after you. What he did is viewed as a renegade act.”

Elise closed her eyes. He’d risked more for her than she ever would have imagined. Gathering herself, she fixed her gaze upon him. “What do we do?”

Charles rubbed his temples, looking weary. “This was to be his last assignment.” He drew a breath. “I’ll leave for London but I’m not sure what kind of influence I’ll have. They’re quite firm about doing nothing to reveal their presence.”

“I’m coming with you,” Charlotte said.

“And I,” said Elise.

“Elise. Go home to your son. He’s worried about you.”

“I will, and then I’m coming with you to London. I cannot remain here and leave Jared to his fate. There must be something we can do.”

Greymore arose and began pacing. “I’ll notify his family. His brother as the new Earl of Tarrington may have some influence. Their father was widely respected. His brother Grant is closely involved with the Bow Street Runners. He may be a better source of aid. In fact, he may already know Jared is imprisoned.”

“I can be ready to leave in a matter of hours,” Elise said.

“We’ll leave in two days.”

“Two days! No, we must leave at once.”

Greymore put a calming hand on her arm. “There will be an inquiry and then a formal trial. We have a few weeks.”

“But we can’t just leave him locked up in that terrible place. I’ve heard such dreadful things about Newgate.”

“If Grant’s aware of Jared’s imprisonment, he’ll see to it that his accommodations are improved. I’ll send messengers immediately and arrange for appointments with those who may be sympathetic for our cause. Two days here or in London will make no difference with those in authority to help him. We can’t exactly stage a prison-break.”

“I’d be willing to do it.”

Greymore smiled. “Of that, I have no doubt.”

In the end, she conceded the battle and went home. After a tearful reunion with Colin, she let Morrison put her to bed. Despite her exhaustion, sleep was long in coming.

If they didn’t act quickly, Jared would die.