Unable to contain the anger he’d harbored for years, he shot to his feet and spat out, “You seduced her into leaving her family!”
“I beg to differ,” James replied blandly. “I’ve seduced hundreds of women, including unhappily married ones in my more rakehell years, but the one thing I’ve never done is try to lure a wife away from her husband. You appear to have mistaken me for someone else.”
“Your memory might be faulty, but mine isn’t. I know exactly who you are, Captain Hawke.”
Malory’s demeanor changed abruptly. Damon braced himself again. It was no wonder men feared this man when he could become so deadly menacing in the blink of an eye.
The neutral tone was gone when James said, “Aside from my family, barely a handful of people know that name. How do you?”
“You were my neighbor in Jamaica.”
Again, Malory’s demeanor changed. “Only the Ross family were close enough for me to call neighbors, from the plantation that butted up against mine. So you’re the window breaker all grown up—and still daring?”
“And you’re the man who stole my mother!”
“Give it up, lad. I did nothing of the sort. She was leaving Cyril of her own accord. Your mother told me of his drinking and gambling—and that she’d never been happy there. But there was a desperation, too, to leave immediately. She didn’t say what the urgency was and I didn’t know her well enough to pry. But in any case, she was aware that I had a ship anchored nearby and she asked me for passage to England.”
“Is that where you took her?”
“No, I had other business to attend—”
“Yet you still took her away!”
“Yes, I did, but not far a’tall, just around to the other side of the island, where she could find a passenger vessel in Port Antonio to take her and you to England. It was far enough away from your home that your father wouldn’t look for her there. And I promised I’d help her retrieve you when I returned, but unfortunately, I never made it back that way.”
Damon found it hard to let go of the anger he had harbored for this man for so long, thinking what he did. In fact, Damon couldn’t. He was supposed to just believe an ex-pirate?
“You don’t look convinced, Captain. I don’t actually care other than to say, no one calls me a liar without seriously regretting it. So before it comes to that, perhaps I can be a little more clear. I have no shame in admitting that I am the black sheep of my family for good reason. I was wild and reckless and had been since I came of age, so I wasn’t particular in those days about the women I bedded, including wives who weren’t happy in their marriages. However, I drew the line at stirring up trouble in my own backyard, as it were. And your mother tugged at something in me that wasn’t prurient, might even have been compassion, though I was quite sure I was no longer capable of that feeling back then. She was gracious, beautiful, but so very melancholy. And yet she was still kind to my son, bringing him hot meals and treats when he was there alone with just the servants. Now you’ve twice asked me where she is and I’ve told you where I last saw her, but I haven’t a clue where she ended up. She was crying that day when you bolted instead of going with her. If she left the island, it would have been to get help to fetch you out of there, which I assume didn’t happen?”
“No, my father and I never saw her again.”
“Did you look for her in England? That was where Sarah wanted to go.”
“Of course I did, with no luck.”
“Then you might want to check the harbor records in Port Antonio where I left her. That’s if they even keep them this long—it was nineteen years ago, wasn’t it?” At Damon’s nod, James added, “Perhaps she never made it to England. For all I know, she might still be in Port Antonio, or perhaps she went to America.”
“That suggests I’ll be alive to check those records.”
“I regret that I wasn’t able to keep my promise to your mother. A boon for you will remove that regret.”
Chapter Forty-Three
IF YOU DON’T STOP laughing, Tony—”
“Yes, yes, you’ll toss me over the side.” Anthony tried to whistle instead, but it wouldn’t get past his curled lips.
Jacqueline was avidly listening to her father and uncle’s conversation as she finished off a breakfast pastry and tapped her foot impatiently under the dining table. She was torn between wanting to check on Damon’s condition after his second “talk” with her father, and not wanting to miss a single word her father said about him. She had arrived at her father’s cabin directly behind Tony, so she didn’t think she’d missed anything pertinent, even though Jeremy had already been there.
At least now they knew why Damon had gotten involved with Lacross and that he wasn’t a criminal. But why the deuce couldn’t he have told her and Jeremy? Perhaps because he didn’t want them to know that he hated their father, believing what he did? If he’d told them any of that, Jeremy wouldn’t have agreed to an alliance. He would have helped to get rid of the pirates for her sake, but he wouldn’t have agreed to a truce with Damon afterward.
Anthony was still smiling when he added, “But you have to admit, old boy, that your helping a damsel in distress just isn’t—you. You bloody well wouldn’t do it.”
“She cried.”
“Yes, so you said. Don’t like that watery display m’self, but I didn’t think you shared my aversion.”
“She wanted to leave her husband. By all accounts Cyril Ross was a good father, but he was still something of a wastrel and far too fond of gambling. I believe Sarah had her own money, which gave him leave to gamble even more. Even if she wasn’t unhappy with him, it was a situation bound for ruination. So she was right to leave Cyril when she still had money to do so, before he got tossed in prison and she and the boy ended up penniless on the streets.”
“It’s hard to imagine that kidnapper as a boy,” Anthony remarked.
“Well, even as a boy he had quite an aversion to me,” James said in disgust. “Used to bloody well throw rocks at my house as if that might chase me away.”
Anthony started laughing again. Jacqueline couldn’t help grinning, picturing the child throwing stones at a pirate’s house. How brave he’d been!
Jeremy said, “I remember him as a boy, but I remember his mother more. I was utterly infatuated with her, she was such a beauty, but a very sad woman.”
“You were infatuated with anything in skirts back then,” James said with a grin.
“True,” Jeremy allowed, then told Anthony, “But Damon was no more’n six or seven at the time. Of course, Father and I were rarely in residence. Father bought that place to give me some stability after he found me, but we were still more often at sea. And the Rosses were already living there when we moved in. I found Damon on the beach one day and tried to talk to him, but he backed away from me and asked, ‘Are you a pirate, too?’—then ran off before I could answer. Obviously he thought Father was a pirate and objected to one living so close to his family.”
James snorted. “Sarah Ross tried to take the boy with her the day they were supposed to leave with me, but the boy ran off and she started crying, refusing to leave without him. But she was afraid that he was running straight to his father. Apparently, she was desperate enough to try to escape while Cyril was somewhere on their property.”
Jacqueline felt a pang of sadness for the child getting left behind. She remembered Damon’s anger when he’d told her about his mother. She’d assumed he hated her for leaving him, but it had been James he’d hated for taking his mother away.
“Why didn’t you just hide her in your house and deny him entrance?” Anthony asked.
“Did you miss the part about my sailing that day? Jeremy was already on the ship. And I solved her dilemma by insisting she come with me to Port Antonio on the other side of the island, and promising that when I returned, I’d help her fetch the boy. But that was the year I returned to England to even the score with Nicholas Eden by capturing his wife.”
; Anthony grinned. “I would have given anything to see your face when you found out the wife you kidnapped was our dearest niece Regina.”
“Not one of my finer moments,” James said sourly.
“But ultimately, it got you back in the fold . . . well, after you let our brothers beat on you some, just retribution, et cetera.”
“You were in that fight, as I recall, and didn’t pull any punches.”
“Of course I didn’t, at least until I realized you weren’t even trying to defend yourself. Good job on that, old man, to appease the elders that way.”
“They were too angry to notice.”
“Well, all under the bridge, as they say. But Jeremy was the clincher. The elders’ finding out you had a son nearly full grown—if they could have gotten him into the family without you, you might not have been forgiven so easily.”
“I don’t need that reminder,” James replied. “But speaking of that eventful year, I had intended to fulfill my promise to Sarah Ross when I went back to Jamaica to sell my plantation.”
“Did you?”
“I never actually got there. As you know, I had a delightfully beautiful cabin boy on that return to the Caribbean.”
Jacqueline smiled at the mention of her parents’ unusual courtship. They still teased each other about it to this day.
Anthony rolled his eyes. “I suppose that’s one way to describe George.”
“But as you know, she spotted one of her brother’s ships when we docked and snuck off on me. So I merely found an agent to sell the plantation for me so I could chase after my future bride instead.”
“Did you actually know you wanted to marry her at that point?”
“Not quite. I was too bloody annoyed by her defection to wonder why it bothered me quite as much as it did. And then George and I returned to England after her brothers dragged me to the altar.”
“So you left your amazing attempt at heroics vis-à-vis Mrs. Ross half undone?”
James gave his brother a dark look. “It’s one of my few regrets. But I’ve assumed all these years that when she gave up waiting for me, she paid someone else to fetch the boy for her so they could sail to England together, or she went home to get her family to help. Neither of which apparently happened.”
“If she left to protect the boy’s future, it seems odd that she never went back for him,” Anthony remarked.
“I agree, and unfortunately, it likely means she died before she could. I know she loved her son. I can think of no other reason she wouldn’t have returned for him. So for his mother’s sake, I’m going to help him get his father back.”
Thrilled to hear those words, Jacqueline got up and headed to the door until her father queried, “And where do you think you’re going, Jack?”
She turned about. “I want to see how much damage Damon sustained during your talk.”
“A few paltry bruises.”
“I still want to see—”
“Jeremy, go with your sister.”
She stiffened. “You won’t let me talk to him alone?”
“That, poppet, isn’t going to happen—ever.”
Jacqueline flounced out of the room. Unfortunately, Jeremy stayed right on her heels. But after what her father had just said, she accused her brother, “You told him about Damon and me, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t.”
“Did Percy?”
“Percy was on deck a lot after the pirates were captured. He might have seen you and Damon with your arms around each other at the wheel. But he’s not good at guessing, Jack. If he let anything slip to Father, I’m sure it was just that you and Damon got quite chummy. Course, Father is good at guessing.”
She groaned. “Is Damon still locked up?”
“Why wouldn’t he be? Father’s help doesn’t mean make the man comfy.”
“I merely thought—damnit, Jeremy, we’re his allies! And he had good reasons for doing what he did. He shouldn’t have to remain in that tiny little cell any longer!”
Jeremy shrugged. “I’ll mention it to Father later. You shouldn’t, or Damon won’t get released until we reach St. Kitts.”
On the lower deck, she stopped at her cabin first without telling Jeremy why. She grabbed a jar of ointment to use on Damon’s new bruises, which her father no doubt gave him. Jeremy just rolled his eyes at her when he saw it.
When they reached the cell, Damon immediately came to the bars. Jeremy at least turned his back on them, but he still didn’t leave her side. Jack barely noticed, her eyes looking worriedly for injuries on Damon, but he had moved normally, quickly, and she saw only a slight bruise forming on his chin. Still, she opened the jar and reached through the bars to apply the ointment to his wound.
“You can’t seem to stop taking care of me, Jack.” Damon grinned.
“You can’t seem to stop getting in the way of a Malory.”
He caressed her cheek through the bars and said softly, “I’m sorry for abducting you—twice. I intend to make it up to you one day.”
“Better not try it, mate,” Jeremy warned without turning around.
“I was sorry to hear about your father—and what you thought about mine.”
Damon sighed. “I don’t know why my mother left, and I may never know. But I could have prevented what happened to my father if he’d just let me know he was in trouble. His letters never gave a clue, even came from Jamaica, as if he still lived there. I can only assume he asked one of his old friends to send his letters and intercept mine, so I wouldn’t know what had befallen him. I’d even told him about receiving an inheritance while in England, but he still didn’t ask for my help.”
“Pride?” she guessed.
“Enough to keep him rotting in prison until I got home,” Damon replied in disgust. “I don’t understand that sort of pride.”
She couldn’t begin to imagine the shock he’d had, coming home to that. “Why would he even send you to England if he couldn’t really afford it?”
“But he could. The crops were very lucrative, weather permitting, and he’d even purchased a ship to double his profits. I liked that ship. I learned to sail on it. But England was what my mother wanted for me. She often said to Father and me when I was a child that it was expected of a Reeves to have an extensive education. Despite her leaving us, he still loved her and wanted to honor that wish. What I didn’t know was that he liked to gamble.”
“Ah, that fondness causes more ruination than it does riches.”
Jeremy turned about. “Time’s up, Jack. You got your assurance that he doesn’t need a sickbed.”
As Jeremy pulled her away, she sighed, and glanced back for another look at Damon. It had better not be the last time she saw him, and she was encouraged when Damon called out, “This isn’t the end, Jack.” She just wasn’t sure what he meant by that.
Chapter Forty-Four
JAMES WAS TRUE TO his word. For the few remaining days that Damon was on The Maiden George with them, Jacqueline wasn’t left alone for a moment. Damon had been let out of his cell and given a cabin, but she might as well have been in the cell herself since even a guard stood night duty outside her door. During the day, one of her relatives or another guard was constantly at her side. If she tried to whisper something to Damon, she got dragged away.
It was intolerable! And what was the bloody point? But she was afraid she knew. She’d showed a little too much concern for Damon aboard his ship, and her father had decided their “friendship” was over. He might be willing to help Damon because of that ancient history they shared, but that didn’t mean he had forgiven Damon for his part in all this. She should just be happy for the resolution that had occurred and let it go at that since he had survived meeting her father, but—she wasn’t done with him, hadn’t enjoyed him nearly enough thanks to her brother’s interference.
When they neared St. Kitts, James directed the fleet up the coast to anchor at the home of Nathan Brooks, Drew’s father-in-law, which was on the beach but far from the main harb
or. This precaution was in case any of Lacross’s men were in town, watching for them. Brooks wasn’t at home, but his servants welcomed his son-in-law and friends.
Only the family and Damon had rowed ashore to the beach house. Jacqueline wasn’t invited to join the war council that night, but of course Jeremy was! Well, at least he wouldn’t be eavesdropping with her outside a window this time, though here she was on a terrace with the French doors wide-open, a warm breeze blowing up from the beach—which ended up being a hindrance. Warren, Drew, Boyd, and Anthony were discussing strategy, but she wasn’t catching every word from where she stood leaning back against the wall next to the open doors because the strong breeze was blowing them right back into the large open room.
Damon said something so quietly that she caught only the word “tavern,” but in response, she definitely heard her father growl, “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner? Jack!”
She wasn’t going to try to hide that she’d been eavesdropping. She immediately walked through the doors and saw how furious her father was.
Damon was telling him, “It can’t be helped. His instructions were explicit. I have to give the tavern keeper the password and have Jack by my side when I do it to prove I captured her. The man won’t give me Pierre’s new location without both.”
“I refuse to put my daughter in danger,” James said adamantly.
“We could threaten the tavern keeper until he gives up the location,” Warren suggested.
“Unless he doesn’t know it,” Drew put in. “Pierre is a wily old bastard. One of his men might be waiting there for Damon, the tavern keeper only serving as a go-between to receive the password before nodding to the pirate. If there are a lot of people there, we’ll be flat out of luck figuring out who the second man is.”
“Then we hire a local woman to pretend to be Jack,” Jeremy said.
Drew snorted. “Good luck finding a blonde her age on this island.”
Beautiful Tempest Page 24
