Under Her Brass Corset (16 page)

“She doesn’t reciprocate this grand gesture of your heart?”

“I’m not sure. I think she does. If all I had to rely on were the depths of her sensual passion I’d heartily say yes. Except I know physical needs can be strong, but not a true testament of actual love.”

“You think of Isabel Gabradini and how you don’t feel as if you loved her enough.” Juan shook his head. “Her decision was her own, Jasper.”

“Was it?” Jasper drank the rest of his wine and refilled the glass.

He couldn’t help feeling Isabel had known he wasn’t in love with her as much as he was with the idea of being a father to the child they had created. It had been reckless of him to seduce her and irresponsible of him to never consider the consequences.

Now she was dead. Their child was dead. None of it had taught him a lesson.

His weakness for Abigail set him on a similar path. She held nothing back in their lovemaking and he gave in to pleasing her to the fullest. Her conceiving his child was a concern since she had voiced a strong reluctance to becoming immortal, and without her believing he really could live forever, he didn’t see a way to change her mind.

Isabel had left him to grieve alone. He accepted it over time. If he continued his affair with Abigail, he’d never survive her death. His love for her wasn’t like any he had ever experienced before. She was a part of his heart—his soul. If he lost her, he’d lose all reason to go on.

When Abigail’s door opened, she propped herself up on an elbow and looked at Tye.

“I have your clean clothes.” Tye set the basket down on the chair.

“Already?” Abigail pushed the coverlet away and sat up.

“Would you like to put them on now?”

“Yes, and I’ll it do myself, you can go.”

Tye frowned, obviously hurt by her dismissal. Abigail felt bad for letting her anxiety show in her manners.

“Tye.” She smiled at the woman. “Thank you for your kindness.”

The small approval brought a smile to Tye’s face. She departed happier and Abigail got dressed. She took extra time, borrowing a comb she saw on the chest of drawers, and fixing her hair much better than before. Her long locks drawn up and fastened, she let loose tendrils fall around her nape and face. The humidity had made her curls tighter and she liked the image she saw in the oval mirror hanging on the back of the door.

She smoothed the skirting of her dress down and felt less bedraggled than when she’d arrived, even though a bath would have been nice too. The only thing she lacked was shoes. Yet Jasper hadn’t brought his either, and neither Tye nor Quito wore any, so she felt confident no one cared.

She paused, holding the door handle and took a slow, deep breath to compose herself. The rest hadn’t energized her, so she needed to pretend for appearance’s sake.

“Miss Abigail.” Quito rose from the table and smiled. “I hope we weren’t too loud for you.”

“Not at all.” She hadn’t heard them after the first few minutes. Her thoughts had drowned out her surroundings.

“Would you like something to eat or drink?” Jasper asked.

The table had a new spread of clean dishes and foods. Had she been gone from the room long enough for another mealtime to roll around?

She wasn’t exactly hungry, not after the way she had gorged on the food before. Modesty suggested restraint. The scrumptious display bribed her with tempting delicacies. Oysters, lobster and crab were among her favorite foods and the hardest to obtain when at home because of cost.

She scooted out a chair and slipped onto the seat. Tye served, and Abigail took a small sampling of each dish.

“How are you liking your expedition so far?” Quito asked.

“It’s been very enlightening.” She took her time, nibbling daintily at her food. “Captain Blackthorn tells me you’ve lived here for a long time.”

“Yes. After our little problem with the natives, I took the colonists to Cuba. Naturally, I couldn’t stay, so I arranged my own death. I even have a burial palce in the crypt at the San Jose church. Then I came here. Small, private, obscure from the world, this island allows me to live without concern someone will ask all the right questions.”

“Such as?”

“Why don’t I die?”

“The villagers don’t ask?” She had exhausted her run of arguments against immortality.

“They have their religious beliefs, fears of magic. Voodoo is a powerful force here. It keeps people from voicing their speculations.”

Abigail had heard about voodoo. The mention of it just added to her growing list of fairy-tale elements.

“We’d better get to seeing about repairs to the
Illusion
. I’m hoping the major work can be completed between this afternoon and tomorrow morning.” Jasper rose from his chair and put a hand on hers. “We’ll talk—”

When Jasper stopped midsentence, she looked toward the door.

In place of where Tye should have stood was a very attractive man. He had a build similar to Jasper’s, and he filled the doorway. His attire, however, was much less dramatic than Jasper’s. Instead of lots of leather, the stranger wore linen trousers, a formfitting blue silk shirt and a linen vest that matched the fabric of his pants. Somewhere she was sure there was a jacket that completed the ensemble.

“I forgot to tell you that Adam was here.” Quito jumped up from the table.

Abigail stared at the man Quito called Adam as the newcomer ran his fingers through his short blond curls and smiled at her. His enigmatic expression captivated her.

“It’s been a while, Jasp.” Adam stepped into the room. “From the look in your eye, I’d say she’s yours.”

“Remember there’s a lady present, Jasper.” Quito’s reminder suggested a high level of animosity, one that might have been caused by a woman who had come between them.

She had no desire to be the catalyst of a fight. As a matter of fact, she took offense that the stranger regarded her as his inferior.

“I beg your pardon,” she interjected, rising out of her chair. “I am no one’s property, sir.”

“I apologize, miss. I didn’t mean to infer you were chattel. I wasn’t expecting to see an Englishwoman here, or Jasp for that matter. I simply meant you must have come with him.” He bowed slightly. “Adam Sutterby at your service.”

“Abigail Thatch.” She politely gave him an accepting nod for his apology, and silently reprimanded herself for forgetting about Jasper’s deceptive behavior. Adam could very well be in on the whole game with the others.

“Take a seat, Adam.” Quito motioned for him to sit at the empty place at the table. “Have something to eat?”

Adam moved to a chair.

“Let’s go, Abigail.” Jasper put a hand on her arm.

She looked up at him. “I’m not going.”

Anger took over his usual cheerful expression. She refrained from asking what happened between him and Mr. Sutterby. It wasn’t any of her business. However, getting up and walking anywhere was too exhausting to even think about.

“I think I’ll stay here,” she said, expecting him to agree without argument. Jasper had accommodated her throughout the whole trip.

“I need to see about the ship repairs.”

“Something I’m sure I’m not needed for.”

“Aren’t you ever going to talk to me, Jasp?” Adam interrupted.

“I have nothing to say to you.” Jasper’s jaw twitched.

“Jasp, there wasn’t anything I could do. She didn’t want to be saved.” Adam’s cryptic comment about a woman Jasper knew put Abigail on the edge of her seat.

A pained expression crossed over Jasper’s face and he turned away. He stormed out of the hut as if it was on fire.

“You have to accept Isabel’s decision someday, Jasp,” Mr. Sutterby yelled out the door to him.

Abigail jumped up from her seat and rushed to the doorway. She watched Jasper take an angry swing at a small table. The not-so-sturdy piece of bamboo furniture flipped over. A coconut bowl and wooden spoon fell to the sand.

“Leave him,” Mr. Sutterby said, placing his hand her shoulder. “I wouldn’t want him to take his anger out on you.”

The implication that Jasper was capable of harming her stopped her cold. She didn’t want to believe he’d hurt anyone. In her heart, she felt he wouldn’t.

“Who was Isabel?” She turned back to Mr. Sutterby, choosing to give Jasper time alone only because she felt he’d want that.

“My dead wife.”

“And why is Jasper so upset? Why does he blame you? Was she his sister or something?”

“His lover.”

The answer stunned her. “I don’t understand. I thought you said she was your wife. Is that why he doesn’t talk to you? Although, if he and your wife had an illicit affair, shouldn’t you be the resentful one?”

“Long story.”

“Tell her, Adam.” Quito ushered Tye toward the door. “She needs to know the unvarnished truth and you don’t have to worry about our little secret. She’s privy to our immortality.”

Abigail watched Quito and Tye walk toward the beach.

“It all started over a hundred and fifty years ago,” Mr. Sutterby started.

A growl of her annoyance made Mr. Sutterby raise a brow. She felt trapped by the conspiracy of these men attempting to brainwash her into believing immortality existed.

“Go on, Mr. Sutterby,” she said, knowing there was always some truth to every tall tale.

“Only if you call me Adam.”

“That wouldn’t be proper. We’ve just met.” She stepped outside and walked to the upended table. When she bent to right it, Adam moved quickly to do it for her.

“Isabel was the young and proper daughter of missionaries,” he continued. “Jasp was a young immortal—two hundred, I think. We were sailors in port looking for fun. Jasp met Isabel and he fell head over heels in love with her. His charm turned her head and soon they were lovers. For six months, we took short-term excursions, fishing boats mostly, just so he’d not be too long from her. Then he came to me one day saying he was going to marry her, but first he had to make some serious money. I was to stay behind and take care of Isabel while he signed on to a merchant ship.”

“And while he was away, you stole her heart?”

“No. It turned out Isabel was pregnant when Jasp left, something they didn’t tell me. We figured he’d be back before she was showing any noticeable size. But then a month later, we got word that the ship Jasp was on was taken by pirates and all the crew killed.”

“If this is where you start telling me about him being immortal again, let me tell you right now, I’m not a believer.”

“Isabel wasn’t either. Not entirely the way you mean. She didn’t believe anyone should live forever.”

Interested in the complex story Adam told, Abigail asked, “So she didn’t believe Jasper could still be alive, did she?”

“No, and that’s where everything went downhill. Months passed. Jasp never showed up. And Isabel finally told her parents about her condition. Those pious hypocrites were not sympathetic. She was full of guilt and shame. Her health deteriorated. So I married her.”

“That was very heroic of you.”

“Lots of good it did. A fever epidemic swept the island and many people died. In Isabel’s depressed state, she was one of the first victims. I tried to convince her to let me make her immortal, but she declined. She said that even if Jasper were standing there asking, she’d refuse.”

“How horrible. She’d leave him, just like that? Immortal or not, Jasper deserves a woman with at least the wish to do anything to stay with him.”

“Yes, well, I’d say Jasp must feel the same way. He’s been alone ever since.”

“Alone?”

Jasper had once asked her if she’d choose an immortal life for her mother so she’d never be alone. Even though facing a future alone had worried Abigail, she had told him no because she’d not want her mother to suffer loneliness when Abigail died. She now understood and realized she hadn’t given Jasper the answer he needed. He’d wanted to hear that if someone loved him, she’d give up everything for him.

“He must have been devastated to lose the woman he loved and a child he never got to see.” The haunting sadness Jasper suffered brought tears to her eyes.

“Enraged is a better word. He blamed me. Hasn’t spoken to me since, even though we’ve crossed paths a few times in the last hundred and fifty years.”

“That must have been hard on you, after you stayed with Isabel and took care of her on his behalf.”

“I’m two hundred years older than Jasp. I know better than to get emotionally involved with anyone, especially a mortal.”

Abigail took a deep breath and let it out in a surrendering huff. She wasn’t up to arguing the impossibilities of the eternal life he spoke of. Jasper had worn her out on that all by himself. The mere mention of the whole ridiculous idea reinforced her thought that Jasper and his cohorts were in on an elaborate scheme to steal her treasure. It led her to think maybe the booty was more than she could ever imagine.

Then it dawned on her. With Jasper out of her sight, she’d not know if he went for the treasure on his own.

“Where did Jasper go?” She looked in the direction Jasper had fled. “I know to fix his ship, but how do I find him?”

When they had left the
Illusion
they were naked. He’d had a canvas bag with their clothes that he put in the longboat. She had taken some of their belongings out. Not all. And he
had
been very protective of the bag, telling her to be careful with it and then taking it from her.

“He tricked me,” she grumbled angrily, feeling it made perfect sense that he had the Crystal Compass hidden in the bag.

“Who? Jasper?” Adam asked. “How?”

Don’t explain. Don’t trust any of them.

“What was that?” She glanced back at him with her best imitation of confusion.

“You said someone tricked you.”

“I was talking about Jasper going off without me, when he said he’d show me paradise.” She sashayed over to Adam and took his arm. “Maybe you can show me the island. Of course, I should let Jasper know I’m with you. Do you know where we’d find him?”

“In the village, I reckon. It’s this way.” He waved a hand at the path leading back toward the beach.

“Do you visit here often?” she asked, hoping to gain more insight into his relationship with Jasper.

“Every few months I stop by here. The weather is nice, the food good and the ladies are…Hmm, let’s say they are very generous and entertaining.”

“Then it’s an unusual happenstance for you and Jasper to have come here at the same time. He led me to believe he’s a frequent visitor here.” She tried getting him to slip up and reveal more about his present association with Jasper.

“It’s quite an interesting coincidence. A very pleasant one too, since I’ve had the good fortune to meet you.”

Charmer.
Jasper, Quito and Adam. They all pampered her with their extraordinarily charismatic personalities. Did they think she was blindly susceptible to every word they said?

She walked with Adam quite a ways along the beach before coming to a small cluster of huts. Some people busied themselves with a variety of chores, while others did nothing but sit in the shade of the palm trees.

“Abigail?” Jasper’s voice called to her.

She turned her head, letting go of Adam’s arm at the same time. Jasper stood with two men by a hut draped in nets and fishing gear.

“What are you doing here?” He sounded concerned as he took her hands.

She had prepared to be wrong about his intentions to leave her at Quito’s hut. “I thought maybe there was something I could do to help. You left so suddenly.”

“I’m sorry.” His angry glare at Adam made it hard for her to think they worked together.