Windswept (24 page)

Nora had already decided there would be no point in lying to him, partly because no lie would be convincing enough to satisfy the skeptical nature of Jacob Proctor anyway. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t spent the last two hours trying to think of a good one. It’s just that a truly clever fabrication didn’t exist for this situation.

She had no choice but to admit to her traitorous spying the day before. But confession would not be easy since he stood so rigidly in front of her. With his arms crossed tightly over his chest and his feet spread wide, he reminded her of a powerful genie bent on granting only one wish…his own. And that wish would be to have her crumble into dust before his eyes and blow out to sea on the next stiff wind.

And to think that four nights before he had held her in his arms and kissed her with greater passion than she had ever known existed. What kind of flesh and blood man was he to kiss her like that and then days later complain so vehemently when she appeared in his life again? What kind of man wishes to distance himself from the same woman he caressed with such tender longing?

He was the captain of this ship, that’s who he was. Here his word was law. She tried to ignore the ripple of fear that ribboned down her spine. She would face him with courage and accept her fate. In fact, Nora doubted that there was anything more Jacob Proctor could do to hurt or surprise her than he’d already done.

She locked her gaze with his and stuck out her chin. “I came on board the
Dover Cloud
to find incriminating evidence that would tie you to the wreck of the
Marguerite Gray
.”

His reaction was only a slight raising of one eyebrow. “I see. And was your father too busy to get a court order to search the hold himself?”

“He was getting one when I took it upon myself to search first. I was afraid he wouldn’t get back in time and the evidence would sail out to sea.”

“And did you find any of this evidence?”

She squared her shoulders to try and cover the warm flush of guilt that had come to her cheeks. “No.”

“That’s a shame. I might have enjoyed seeing you run to His Honor with your delicate hands waving rotting fish.”

“Obviously my father thought there was something else, something of value hidden on your ship.”

“And it turns out he was right, wasn’t he? It’s a pity the judge didn’t get back before the
Dover Cloud
sailed. What he would have found in her hold would have been the most incriminating evidence of all and definitely something of great value, for he would have discovered his own daughter. Which brings me to my next concern…”

Jacob paced along a short path and back again. “If your father didn’t know you were coming on board the
Dover Cloud
, then he must have absolutely no idea where you are. This not knowing must be causing your family a great deal of distress, but fortunately it leaves me free of the hangman’s noose for the time being at least.”

She drew in a fortifying breath, anticipating Jacob’s expression when she revealed the next disturbing detail of her story. “Actually, Jacob, my father might know something…”

A tensing of his jaw muscles prompted her to continue, while alarming her at the same time.

“I did tell Fanny what I intended to do.”

“You did? So at this very moment, your father, the Federal Court Judge, may be under the impression that I have absconded with his only daughter and am taking her God knows where for who knows what immoral purposes.”

A shudder quaked through her neck and shoulders. It sounded quite horrible when he said it. “I suppose he might be.”

He gave her a thin-lipped smile that was in no way a sign of amusement. “At least I’m glad your papa was so fond of me before all this happened.”

She accepted his sarcasm as far superior to rage. “Well, now you know everything, and I suppose if we’re to discuss walking the plank again, it will be with me as the one taking the unavoidable stroll to eternity.”

“Not just yet,” he said. “In a perverse way I’m enjoying this confessional. And I don’t know everything yet, so while you’re at it, you might tell me why you and Miss Cosette were at the jetty that afternoon a few days ago. Snooping again, Nora?”

“I prefer investigating. Theo saw you that morning coming out of the rocks. When you left, he followed your trail and found the lantern. Naturally he and father assumed you’d put it there with the intention of attracting a ship.”

“Naturally. And what conclusion did you come to after your ‘investigating’?”

“Only that someone had destroyed a perfectly good lantern.”

He smiled, almost genuinely this time, and she continued.

“I decided that either you foiled someone else’s attempt to lure a ship to the reef, or, frantic to complete your mission, you spent the rest of the day scurrying around for a new lantern to hang in the jetty’s cave.”

“And which do you think I did?”

“I wouldn’t presume to guess, Captain,” she lied. “It has been my own personal experience that you do something one minute that is in complete opposition to that which you have just done the minute before. If you treat a woman with such confounding insensitivity, what chance does a lantern have of expecting more rational behavior from you?”

He had stopped pacing and now fixed her with a gaze that was almost teasing. “Actually, Nora, I think all men would agree that it is far easier to deal with a lantern than a woman, though in the dark a lantern is not nearly as rewarding.”

A light at the back of his eyes flared with the satisfaction of seeing her reaction to his blatantly sexual comment. He pulled a chair from under his desk and sat backwards on it. He rested his elbows on the top rung so his hands hung relaxed down the back.

If she hadn’t learned from previous encounters to be wary of anything the captain did, she might even term the slight lines at the corners of his eyes and the hint of a curve to his generous lips as a gesture of affection. Or his easy grace in the chair a sign of his acceptance of her presence. But no, she wouldn’t be taken in by outward appearances. Not again.

“So what is your decision, Jacob?” she asked finally. “Are you going to turn me into fish food?”

“No, I’m not. You will not meet the fate of other, more hapless stowaways, because I am a kind-hearted captain. But as soon as I can, I am going to give you back to your Papa.”

“We’re going back to Key West?” Nora hated the petulant edge to her voice, but like it or not, she resented the promise of adventure slipping through her fingers. In her moments alone in Jacob’s cabin, she had thought of several enticing entries she could add to her journal. Being trapped on a schooner heading for an unknown destination with a handsome, mysterious man would add an element of excitement to the book she hoped to sell one day.

He stood up and came around the chair toward her. “
You’re
going back to Key West,” he said. “My crew and I are continuing to our scheduled port.”

“But how?…”

“The
Dover Cloud
isn’t the only ship in the Caribbean, Nora. As soon as I spot one going north with a skipper I know, I’ll hail him to drop anchor. Once I determine the ship’s destination, it will be a simple matter to deliver you into the care of that captain who will see you safely home.”

“I see.” No wonder his mood had improved. All during this conversation he’d had a plan to banish her from his life again.

He bent slightly at the waist to better see into her eyes. His own seemed to mock her with a dare. “That is what you want, isn’t it? After all, you just told me you remained on the
Dover Cloud
by accident. An accident by definition is something we don’t intend or particularly wish to happen.”

“Of course it’s what I want,” she said, getting up from the bed and standing as tall as her bare-footed posture would allow. “While most of this ship’s crew has been accommodating, even kind, I find one of them to be rude and insufferable. I look forward to returning to the enlightened environment of Key West as soon as possible.”

He grinned, apparently amused that she had described their island of thirty-two taverns and only three churches as enlightened. “Good. Then we’re agreed. Allow me to show you to your quarters for the hours you will remain on board.”

She sashayed by him, his shirt tails fluttering at her legs and his wide sleeves slapping against her elbows. “That’s fine with me. I only hope it’s as far away from this cabin as possible.”

He followed her out and guided her around a corner to Willy Turpin’s cabin. “Unfortunately only a wall separates us.”

She put her hand on the latch but before opening the door she said, “That’s what you think, Captain. Much more than a wall keeps us apart!”

She went in and slammed the portal with a resounding crack. Jacob headed in search of Willy, but the last minutes of his conversation with Nora stayed in his mind. “Damnable woman,” he muttered. “She’s more fun to lock horns with than most lovers are to kiss.”

Seeing Willy at the ship’s wheel, he crossed the fifty feet of deck in long strides, all the while shaking his head. You did the right thing, Jacob, he told himself. It’s for the best that she hates you. It’s for her own good. Despite what that stuffing-for-brains Willy says. No girl could understand the sinister climate that shrouds the very air at Proctor House. No decent girl would want to try.

Chapter Fifteen

Through the rest of that afternoon and evening the
Dover Cloud
did not encounter a single ship heading north, due, Will Turpin said, to the storms in the Florida Straits. Feeling less than sociable, Jacob took his dinner in his quarters, and Nora stayed in hers. Several times Jacob heard crew members talking to her, and he caught snatches of their conversations through the wall.

“More wine, miss?” he heard one sailor ask.

“May I take your dishes, Miss Seabrook?” another offered.

“Will you be needing anything else this evening, ma’am?”

Can I turn down your bed, duchess? Will you accept this bouquet of fresh posies?
It was all too much!

Certain that sleep would elude him, Jacob volunteered to take the first night watch and relieved Will at ten o’clock. Too anxious to sit, he stood at the wheel of the
Dover Cloud
, his hands loosely on the spindles.

It was a calm night with little wind. The schooner barely needed his guidance as she maintained a steady course south toward the Windward Passage. Jacob was acutely aware that every slow mile took them further away from Key West and the opportunity to return Nora to her family. And one mile closer to Belle Isle.

He stared at the horizon where the blue black water of the Caribbean Sea met an indigo sky. A three quarter moon dazzled spears of light upon the gently rippling surface of the water, giving it a jeweled look that matched the stars twinkling against a backdrop of clear, dark heaven.

Jacob wondered if Nora were watching the sky and sea out her window. His gaze kept returning to the amber glow spilling onto the passageway from her cabin. She was still awake, and he pondered what matters kept her from turning out her light. Probably not the same yearnings that kept him from sleeping!

Finally around midnight, the lantern in her quarters was extinguished. At the same time a gray cloud covered the moon, and only the single sidelight hanging from the mainsail mast interrupted the endless darkness. It was lonely on the deck of the
Dover Cloud
in the middle of the night. He’d never noticed that before. Or, if he had noticed, he’d never minded until now.

He pushed vain longings from his mind. “Tomorrow,” he muttered. “Surely we’ll pass a ship tomorrow that will take her away.” He shook off a bout of melancholy and gripped the wheel fiercely. “I was right,” he said to the night shadows. “Nora has changed everything on the
Dover Cloud.
”

The next morning after breakfast, Skeet manned the ship’s wheel while Will and Jacob stood at the deck rail scanning the horizon for other vessels. Nora slipped out of her cabin, and without uttering so much as a good morning, proceeded down the narrow passageway by her quarters until she came to the bow of the ship. She stopped at a crate next to her cabin wall. Spreading the skirt of her yellow dress, which Jacob noticed was now free of all traces of flour, she sat on the carton and leaned back. Looking from left to right, she gazed at the panorama of sea and sky, but stopped just short of the two men at the deck rail.

“Women!” Jacob grumbled. “Especially that one. You know she sees us, but she’s determined not to grant us the courtesy of a simple ‘good day.’”

Will remained silent a moment and then said, “Everyone has a different telescope on the world my friend.”

Jacob leveled a condemning glare on his mate. “What the bloody hell does that mean?”

“It means that we each see what we want to see, and the missy there is no different.”

“So you’re saying she doesn’t want to see me?”

Will professed impartiality by merely hunching a shoulder. “Couldn’t say for sure, but when I delivered her biscuits and coffee this morning she greeted me cheerfully as could be.”