Footsteps sounded on the stairs. “Ashton? Damn it! Ye would think ye could hire someone on this floatin’ monstrosity who speaks English!”
Panicked, Kassie ducked back into the room. She did not have the key to lock the door from the inside. She snatched up Lucca and darted into the bedchamber. After closing the door, she leaned against it, and held her breath. The silence was broken by the parlor door banging against the wall.
“Ashton?”
Footsteps crossed to the door. Please do not let him try the knob. The steps paused and then continued on. After a moment the top of the brandy decanter clinked back into place. A soft squish confirmed her suspicions the man had settled on the settee with a glass and intended to stay for a while. If Cohen did not get back soon the baby would wake to be fed, and the man in the other room would surely hear. Kassie eased from the door and tiptoed to the bed. She cringed when the frame squeaked as she perched on the edge of the mattress. Oh God! What if he heard the noise? When he did not come to investigate she set Lucca’s basket on the bed beside her.
The silence stretched as taunt as her nerves. Her back began to ache from the strain of sitting so still, afraid to move lest she betray her presence. Finally, when she thought she would faint from the sheer terror of the unknown, she became aware of Cohen’s commanding baritone up on deck. Footfalls clattered down the stairs and door to the parlor opened.
“Forton, you old devil! How are you?”
Kassie let out an audible sigh at Cohen’s friendly banter.
“Fine, just fine, Ashton.” The sound of them slapping each other on the back carried through the door.
“What are you doing here?”
“I finished a dig in Scotland and decided to spend a month or two in Bath. I’m heading for Sicily as soon as the ice melts. Anyway, my ship suffered some major damage on the last trip, and I was hoping to commission another here in Bristol or Portsmouth when I saw the Discovery docked in the bay. What brings ye here, Ashton?”
“The usual,” Cohen chuckled. “I, too, am waiting for the ice to break so I might head for home.”
“I see. I would have thought ye would have left before the ice?”
“I would have, but Everton was up to his usual tricks. I stayed around to pilfer a few treasures from his greedy hands. Speaking of treasures, have you met Kassandra?”
Kassie noted the surprise in Forton’s reply. “Kassandra? I’ve met no woman here.”
Footsteps crossed to the door and Kassie stood as it opened. Cohen looked puzzled for a moment before realization dawned on his face. “Kassie, were you hiding in here?”
She stepped away from the bed. “I did not know if he was one of the earl’s men or not.”
“I am sorry Forton frightened you. He tends to frighten most young maidens.” His eyes twinkled with humor as Forton protested good-naturedly from beyond the door.
“Hey, I donna’ frighten all the maidens. After all, I did find one who was not cowed by my size.”
Kassie understood his jest when Cohen led her from the room. A large red haired man stood in the center of the parlor. He was taller than Cohen by almost a full foot. His broad shoulders and large meaty arms were enough make even the sturdiest maiden give him careful consideration. His rotund belly bulged over a brass belt buckle as large as Kassie’s hand, almost level with her eyes. Thick legs braced in larger than average boots completed the picture of a powerfully built man. He smiled, his droopy red mustache twitching as his eyes glowed with merriment.
“Kassie, this is Augustus Forton, my good friend and fellow artifact hunter. Forton, this is Lady Kassandra Everton.” Cohen squeezed her hand.
Forton’s eyes widened. “By the Saints that be! Are ye saying this lovely lass is Everton’s latest wife?”
Cohen nodded with a cheeky grin. “That she is.”
The big man gave her a wide smile. “Well, then, it is pleased I be to meet ye, my lady.” He gave her an elegant bow for someone so large.
“Thank you, Mister Forton.” Cassie dipped her head, shy in his presence.
“See, you do so frighten the ladies.” Cohen chuckled, giving Kassie a wink. “Do not worry, he may be big but like most Scotsmen his appearance is the only thing scary about him.”
Forton tipped his head back, his booming guffaws reverberating off the walls. When he regained his composure he favored her with a sheepish grin. “Ach, ‘tis true, my lady. A fox has more bite than I.”
Cohen showed Kassie to the settee, settling in the chair beside it as Forton lowered his bulk into the other chair. The Scotsman studied at her with a curious look. “How is it ye have come to be on Ashton’s ship, Lady Everton?”
“Please, call me Kassie. Cohen stole me from my husband’s house two nights ago.”
The look on Forton’s face said it all. His expression went from incredulous to gleeful within a span of a few brief seconds. “Ye scoundrel, not enough thrills so ye decide to steal the lecher’s wife, too?”
Cohen grinned. “In my defense Forton, I had to rescue my son.”
Forton looked even more surprised. “Ye have a son?”
As if on cue, Lucca began to wail from the bedchamber. Cohen stayed Kassie with a hand on her shoulder as she started to get up. “I will get him.”
She nodded as he rose and crossed to the door.
He disappeared inside for a moment and reappeared with Lucca tucked in the crook of his arm. He stopped in front of the Scotsman. “May I present my son, Lucca.”
Forton took the small bundle in his large hands and rocked the baby with a gentleness any mother would envy. “Ach, look at the wee laddie, the image of his sire, I’d say. There be no doubt he is yers Ashton, for the eyes do not deceive, eh?”
“I thought the same the first time I looked upon him.” He took the baby when he began to fuss and handed him to Kassie. “I will tell you the whole story whilst Kassie feeds him in the other room. I will send one of Rennie’s men to the inn to bring back some afternoon tea.”
The Scotsman stood as she rose to her feet. “Until later, Lady Kassie,” he said with a slight bow.
Kassie hurried to the bedchamber to attend to Lucca’s needs in private.
Chapter Fifteen
Forton pushed back his chair and dropped his napkin on the table. A sailor, serving as a footman for dinner, refilled his wineglass without having been asked. The Scotsman lifted the glass and regarded Kassie and Cohen over the rim. “So, tell me, Ashton, what are yer plans?”
Cohen pushed back his own chair and stood. He crossed to the fire and sat in one of the chairs. “As soon as the ice breaks up I will be sailing to France. I am taking Kassie and Lucca home to meet my family.”
“Surely ye have realized Everton will eventually find ye and come for his wife, what then?”
Forton followed and sat in the chair opposite him.
Kassie sat on the settee. Forton asked the question she wondered about herself, and she was keen to hear Cohen’s solution.
“I was thinking about taking Kassie and Lucca on the proposed dig in Spain.”
“How long do ye think ye can run before Everton corners ye?” Forton shook his head.
“A year is long enough for Everton to give up and have her legally declared dead.”
She blanched at the admission. Declared dead? Then what?
Forton leaned forward. “Come now, ye and I both know Everton isna’ going to give up something of his without a fight. If it takes the rest of his life he will hunt ye down.”
For the first time, Kassie saw Cohen look defeated. He hung his head. “He will have to kill me before I let him have my son, and I will never let him take Kassie from her child.”
It was hopeless. Kassie’s heart sank. The earl would find them and there was no doubt Cohen would give his life to keep Lucca and her from him.
Forton settled back in his chair and pondered his friend with a tight-lipped expression.
“Then we best come up with a plan, eh?”
&nbs
p; Cohen shook his head. “I do not want to get you involved. It was my folly that got us into this mess.”
“Folly is putting it mildly, my friend, but donna’ count me out. I, too, have a score to settle with that whore-son Everton. Makes no matter to me who reckons with him or how it is done as long as he is put in his place, preferably in his grave.”
At Kassie’s gasp, both men looked at her.
“Perhaps you should explain to Kassie just what kind of monster Everton is,” Cohen said with a hard look in his eye.
Forton clenched his jaw. “The bastard blew up a dig, killin’ my father, sister, and a dozen workers. He doesn’t care who he hurts, long as he gets the prize. His last wife was the cousin of a mutual friend. He tormented the woman with her supposed inability to get with child until she finally killed herself, when it is he who is unable to sire a child, ye see.”
Kassie put the back of her hand to her mouth to smother her gasp of horror. The man whose love she sought to gain all those months was, in truth, a monster. Did her father have any idea who he pledged her hand to? No, she refused to believe her father would have sentenced her to a life of misery if he knew of the earl’s baser qualities.
Cohen leaned back in his chair, his gaze locked on the coals flickering in the brazier. “So, what do you think we should do?”
The baby awoke in the bedchamber and whimpered. Kassie got up and hurried to him.
“We find a way to stop the bastard,” Forton said as she closed the door.
A shiver ran down her spine. Blood is going to be shed because of my sinful action. God will surely condemn me to an eternity in hell now.
She was just finished changing Lucca when Cohen poked his head around the door. “Kassie, Forton and I have a few errands to run. Is there anything you need me to get for you?”
“I am almost out of swaddling for Lucca.”
Cohen nodded.
“Shall I make dinner for us tonight?”
He smiled. “Would it be too terribly inconvenient if Forton were to stay the night?”
She shrugged. “If he does not mind simple fare it would not be a problem. Did you get all the supplies on the list?”
“They were delivered a few minutes ago. I had Alexander, one of Rennie’s men, put them in the galley.”
Kassie nodded and set Lucca back in his basket.
“If you are worried about being left here alone, I will stay.”
“I will be fine. It was silly of me to be afraid before.” Kassie smiled her thanks.
He crossed the room and took her hand in his. “No, it was not. I promise you Rennie and his men will do everything in their power to protect you. You are safe here, Everton has no power over this ship or my crew as they belong to France.”
Kassie smiled at him hard-pressed to conceal her doubt. “I thought the Emperor gave you this ship?”
“He did, but in the end I serve the Emperor. The artifacts I steal from Everton, and those like him, I turn over to the Emperor at his command.”
She stared at him wide eyed. “Do you mean to say you steal for the Emperor?”
He shrugged. “I guess you could say that. It is my job to keep an eye on Everton. Anything he takes from another country through ill means I steal back. The Emperor returns the artifacts to their country of origin, for a price of course. In the end they get their artifacts back, and France gets an ally.”
She furrowed her brow, wondering why France needed an ally. Before she could voice her thoughts, Cohen placed a kiss on the palm of her hand. A familiar tingle started where his lips touched and then traveled up her arm, making her head spin. He straightened and was out the door before she came to her senses. She picked up Lucca’s basket and headed for the galley. When she arrived at the kitchen she found Alexander there, unpacking crates of provisions.
“Mademoiselle, les sacs d’epicerie sont ici. Magnifique, oui?” He smiled at her.
Kassie smiled back and set Lucca’s basket down on the large dining table. “Wonderful. I do not suppose you understand English?”
He laughed, displaying a dazzling set of straight white teeth. “Oui, Mademoiselle. I speak, ah, some English, oui.”
“Good. Perhaps you can teach me some French, and I will help you with your English.” With a giggle, she picked up a loaf of fresh bread and held it up. “Bread.”
He nodded. “Oui, pain.” He smiled. “Bread.”
She grinned. “Pain.” She held up the next items. “Eggs, cheese, and potatoes.”
He nodded again, his eyes twinkling. “Oeufs, fromage, pomme de terre. Ah, eggz, cheez, potatoz,” he repeated with a triumphant grin.
“Yes. Oui!” She smiled.
They spent the afternoon teaching each other and cooking. For the first time since her marriage to the earl, Kassie began to relax and enjoy herself. Before long the galley was put to rights and the evening meal made.
Kassie looked up at Cohen’s laugh. He leaned on the door frame, his eyes dancing with mirth. She lifted an enquiring eyebrow. “What?”
He pointed. “You have a little flour there.”
She brushed her cheek.
The corners of his mouth curled. “You missed it.” He straightened and crossed to where she stood. When she looked up he wiped the offending smear away.
Swallowing, she steeled herself as his fingers stroked the skin along her jaw. Her hands began to tremble so bad she wrapped them together in her apron to keep him from seeing.
His eyes darkened and then his gaze shifted to her lips. “I think you missed some here, too,” he murmured, just before he dipped his head and touched his lips to hers.
Her heart flip-flopped as his lips caressed hers in a sweet symphony of sensation. She melted into him with a sigh. Then his lips were no longer there. She opened her eyes and blinked up at him in dazed confusion as he stepped back.
His eyes smoldered with passion and humor. He looked over her head. “Bonjour, Alex.”
Kassie wiped her hands on her apron and busied herself setting the table. What would the sailor think of her wanton behavior? She listened to the two men converse in French, the elegant words rolling off their tongues like a wren’s lilting song.
“Ah, there ye are.”
Kassie looked up as the Scotsman strolled in.
“I hope ye donna’ mind me staying for dinner, lass.”
“It is no problem, Mr. Forton. I would be glad of the company.” She smiled, genuinely pleased he was staying.
He gave her a humble grin, pulled out a chair, and lowered his considerable bulk into it.
“Please lass, call me Auggie. I was Auggie long before I was a mister.”
Kassie could not help but like the man. “Then you must call me, Kassie.” She turned away from the table and stopped short as Cohen stepped in front of her. He smiled and twirled his finger around in a circle. She lifted a brow, puzzled, until he spun her around to untie the apron at her waist.
“Sit.” He tossed the apron on top of the counter. “Alex can serve the meal.”
She slid into the chair he pulled out for her. He was always a gentleman. Alex served the hearty chicken stew and fresh baked biscuits. Both men dug in with relish. “I am sorry it is not the fanciest of fares, I am used to preparing aught but simple meals.” Kassie picked up her spoon.
Cohen looked up from his second spoonful. “It is a fine meal, Kassie. If you are not careful I may have to fire my own cook.”
The Scotsman nodded in agreement, polishing off his first biscuit, and reaching for a second. “Aye lass, a fine meal ye have prepared for sure.”
Kassie smiled, assured their compliments were sincere and turned her attention to her own food.
“Auggie and I have been talking.”
She paused, the spoon part way to her lips and regarded Cohen.
He smiled. “We thought it would be best if we passed you off as my wife for the time being. You would be safer aboard the ship if the men believe you are married to me. It would preserve your reputa
tion as well. We have to decide what to do. We spotted a couple of suspicious characters in town today. This means Everton may have already figured out we are here. We have to move, either by carriage or we can chance the sea. The weather has been warming, and I think, if we hug the shore, most of the ice flow should be melted by the time we reach the channel. It will be dangerous this early in the year, but I believe it is our best chance.”
Her mind froze, and she dropped the spoon to the table with a clatter. My husband has found us. Will he kill us as Cohen fears?
“Kassie?”
She blinked, pushing her thoughts back into the tumultuous recesses of her mind. Her eyes focused on Cohen. “I am sorry. You were saying?”
He leaned forward and gripped her hand in his. “I want to know what you want to do. I think we should sail. It would be more comfortable for you and Lucca, but it is your choice.”
She stared at his hand for a moment, warm, solid, and secure. Is he really asking me? No one ever asked me what I wanted before. Perhaps if my parents asked me if I wanted to marry the earl, none of this would have ever happened. For the first time in her life she reveled in the thrill of making her own decision. She looked up. “I think we should sail.”
Cohen nodded with grim satisfaction. “All right. I will have Rennie round up the men tonight, and we will weigh anchor at first tide.” Lucca began to fuss in his basket by the door. “Go and look after our son. I will have Alex clean up here. You must be tired from putting the galley to rights. Take my bed, and do not wait up, Forton and I have things to do to ready for the journey.”
Kassie nodded, scooping up the baby, and heading for the cabin.
Chapter Sixteen
Kassie stood on the deck, clutching her cloak as the wind slapped the edges against her skirts. The English coastline slid by in muted tones of brown and grey. Shading her eyes she could just make out a group of bulls huddled under a large oak.
“Kassie?
She turned around.
Cohen strolled toward her with a weary smile. His breath puffed from his mouth in small white clouds. “What are you doing up here in the cold?” His eyes raked her from head to toe. “You must be freezing.”
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