She gasped at his audacity and assured him she was. She went to question his nerve, but he interrupted her with, “I do not like your tone, girl!” which made her cower as she remembered his strict punishments across the years if he did not like her ‘tone.’ He had never been around much, but when he had been she remembered his harsh judgments of her and how she was expected to behave in the utmost discreet manner. He seemed to fail to realize she had grown into a young woman. “You will go with this doctor and his assistant. They will ascertain that you have not been trifled with,” he ordered her and without further ado, the doctor hustled her off to the house where they had been staying.
For Claire it was similar to the attempted rape as the assistant held her down on a bed and the doctor examined between her legs, sticking his finger inside to search for the membrane that would attest to her virginity. The invasion was unwelcome and she protested, but the assistant was dispassionate and the doctor zealous in his examination to make sure she had not lost her valuable virginity. She was humiliated and angry by their actions, and finding they were on orders of her father, even more so. They reported to him in front of her, as though she was not even there, attesting that she had not lost her virginity and that she was still ‘pure’ and ‘untouched’. ‘If they only knew,’ she thought as she stood there while her future husband looked at her lasciviously and her father dispassionately.
She did not know her fiancé was contemplating being the first man to plunder her and had wondered how he could avoid marrying her if she were not. Despite the testimony of the doctor and his assistant over her innocence, he could not have a wife who had been ‘touched’ by pirates. Any hint of scandal to his name could not be allowed. But Lord Von Hagen was the governor, and he could not very well not marry his daughter since he was contracted to do so. He could, however, hide her on his estate and use her as he would. He might kill her after she gave him an heir or two so he could find a pure and untarnished virgin for his second wife. If she proved infertile, he would kill her sooner; she did not deserve his fine self or name.
Claire was miserable as the captain and her father questioned the couple who took care of her and the house while she had stayed on the island. They did not know anything and had been paid to take care of her. They lived here, but had never seen the owner and finally, after several hours of being on the receiving end of the governor’s frustration and anger, they stopped speaking. The captain declared they were telling the truth and hurried the governor and his daughter and her fiancé off the island, leaving the couple to the house they take care of. The governor had wanted to hang the black couple, sure they were part of the pirate’s ring somehow, but without proof he could not, at least not legally. It frustrated him. He was angry for Black Betty having thwarted his capture of her and for the monies she had ‘stolen’ from him.
Claire remained miserable as they returned to Baleniesia to prepare for her nuptials to Sir Edmond. He visited frequently at the governor’s mansion, taking liberties that he had only alluded to on the ship from England. His kisses nauseated her. His obnoxious body odor caused her to vomit on more than one occasion. But it was his physical appearance that truly frightened her as she contemplated a life of being at his beck and call. Remembering the conversation with Tina about slavery, it was not much different becoming a wife. He thought her putting him off before the wedding was just maidenly airs. He thought it touching that she wanted to remain ‘pure’ for him until their wedding night even though by law they were technically married since they had signed the contracts. She had not signed them, but her father had in her stead, and as her legal guardian it was equally binding.
Claire was feeling hopeless and despondent. The frequent dress fittings for her wedding dress and trousseau annoyed her in this tropical heat. In her misery she could not even enjoy the lovely tropical plants and the beauty of the large island. Everywhere she went she was accompanied by guards her father had hired for her. Even in her coach she was surrounded by them at all times. The few times the dress fitter could not come to the mansion-and her father had complained about this, as he was much more important than this mere dressmaker, he had her well-surrounded by his men.
As the month went by and the wedding loomed, she thought about taking her life. To subject herself to a man such as her fiancé depressed her beyond reason. Her autocratic father was not much better, and he just wished for this disruptive episode in his life to be over. He wanted her off his hands and he felt the deal with Sir Edmond was the best he could make for this daughter of his. They had already worked out a deal whereby his own title would go to his first grandson that she bore; her breeding abilities were discussed as though she was not even present. Other than that, she did not interest him in the least.
As she rode through the town to the dressmakers, she looked out at the people with disinterest. She was startled to think she recognized one or two of the people in the crowd, but they were gone just as quickly. With her guards cracking whips to make room for the coach, people scurried to and fro to get out of its way. She craned her neck more than once as she thought she recognized a face from time to time. It could not be. She knew no one in the capital other than a few of her father’s acquaintances that she had met. Their innuendo and comments when her father could not hear told her without outright shunning that she was considered damaged goods. Several had tried to set up meetings for her to become their mistress after she married Sir Edmund. She had been insulted and horrified by turns.
CHAPTER NINE
The day of Lady Claire Von Hagen’s wedding to Sir Edmund Fitzhugh, at the governor’s mansion was lovely. The warm tropical breezes meant everyone was dressed lightly. The women in beautiful frocks would be frowned upon in England, but seemed to fit in here with their light and gay colors and a thinness that would keep them cooler than the heavier fabrics sold in England. The men in their morning suits and their cravats tied just so looked splendid as they all waited in anticipation for the entrance of the bride and her father.
Governor Von Hagen knew this day was all about him. He had arranged this a year ago with Sir Edmund. These people were here out of respect for him. He was a Lord of the Realm and a governor in His Majesty’s service; they came to honor him. He stood proudly as his daughter placed her hand on his arm. His daughter was a credit to him. Two guards in white livery stood at the end of the aisle set up in the gardens of the mansion. As Claire was looking determinedly down the aisle, she did not see the faces of the guards. She also did not notice the other servants, but then neither did her father as he escorted her down the aisle and handed her off to her future husband, who winked at her. Claire did not respond, she was numb. Her eye was caught by the well-dressed woman in the front row with the startling red hair. For a moment she thought she was seeing a ghost, or at least one that had the face of Tina the captain of the Black Betty. She wanted to look again, but her husband was commanding her attention as he drew her to stand before the priest.
She knew she was losing her mind as she heard the priest begin the service in Latin, his voice droning on as he repeated the service by rote, having never read it. She could feel her fiancé’s sweaty hand ruining her white glove as he held her hand before the priest where they knelt. When he finally gave them their blessing and began to conduct the actual marriage ceremony, they stood and faced each other. She was repulsed once again by the ugliness of this man. She was grateful for the veil which hid the tears streaming down her cheeks at her helplessness.
When the priest got to the part of ‘Who giveth this woman?’ her father stood up and loudly declared, “I do.” He smiled as he sat down, his duty expelled in his mind. He would not have to bother with this girl child ever again, and he could get on with the business of governing his little island empire.
As the priest continued with the long ceremony and the tropical sun beat down on the couple, Claire thought she was going to faint from its heat and her nervousness. It did not help that her dress was made for cooler cli
mates, its weight and material totally inappropriate for this climate, and she was sweltering in it. She knew it was not maidenly airs that made her dread her wedding night, but the man standing before her managing to look lecherous despite the solemnness of the occasion.
When the priest asked if ‘anyone objected to this joining’ everyone was surprised when there were several ‘ayes’ heard throughout the gathering. As the objections sunk in and people realized there actually were objections, pandemonium erupted. The redhead in the front row was indeed Captain Bettina, also known as Black Betty, and her crew were scattered throughout the garden in various poses as servants. They quickly disarmed the real guards and Tina pushed aside Sir Edmund.
“Tina?” Claire breathed. She was sure that she had finally gone mad and tried to cling to reality before she fainted, instead she began to cry harder.
“I never asked this of anyone, Lady Claire, but will you marry me?” Tina asked quietly, over the uproar that was going on around them. Guests were running for their ‘lives’ from the pirates that were revealed as other guests, servants, and guards. The Governor was shouting orders that had no hope of being obeyed and Sir Edmund was trying to get up from where Tina had pushed him to the ground.
“I do not know, how...” Claire began, confused.
“Do not worry about it, just answer. Would you marry me?” Tina asked, sincerely, and held her breath for the answer.
Claire did not need to think about it as she started to cry in earnest now and nodded. Tina smiled and taking Claire’s hand in hers, she ordered the priest to continue with the ceremony.
“What?” he asked, shocked at the preposterous order.
From within the folds of the elegant gown that Tina was wearing, she produced her sword and quickly unsheathed it to hold its tip to the priest’s throat. “Continue with the ceremony,” she warned him solemnly. “Or I will find a priest who will,” she told him ominously, her intent obvious as the blade slashed across his throat, drawing a bead of blood across the thin cut.
“You cannot!” the governor shouted as he realized his servants and guards had all been replaced. They would be found later, much later, all tied up in the cellars of the mansion and unharmed except for a select few who had put up a fight. No one could tie a knot like a sailor.
“I can, and I will,” Tina told him with a nod to her ‘best’ man, in the form of James, who forcibly sat the good governor back down and quickly lashed him to a chair after a scarf was tied across his mouth to silence him.
“She is mine!” Sir Edmund said, from the ground where he fell. Tina’s elegant attire concealed she was still wearing her boots and was holding down the man by merely stepping on his back and using her weight.
“Finish the ceremony, Padre, or we will have to find another,” Tina repeated to the priest.
“Does anyone object to this joining?” he asked the company that was left-those that had stayed for the spectacle or had not run at the realization that the staff were pirates and not the guards and servants they had supposed them to be. No one ever noticed guards and servants.
Both the governor and her fiancé tried to object, but her father was hampered by the cloth stuffed in his mouth, and Tina stomped down on Sir Edmund’s back, knocking the wind out of him.
“No objections, Padre,” Tina told him, and he could feel the point of her sword near his neck as he broke out in a sweat.
He continued with the ceremony quickly and asked, “Do you…?” he hesitated over the name, not knowing Tina’s. She supplied it.
“Bettina Carmichaels,” she told him.
“Do you, Bettina Carmichaels, take Lady Claire Von Hagen to be your lawfully wedded...wife?” he swallowed at the sin he was committing, but really, what choice did he have?
“I do,” she said, clearly and loudly. Several cheers were heard from the assembled pirates.
“And do you, Lady Claire take...” he hesitated, having already forgotten the redhead’s name in his nervousness.
“Bettina Carmichaels,” she supplied again and her sword moved a fraction, reminding him to pay attention.
“Take Bettina Carmichaels to be your lawfully wedded...wife?” he swallowed again, but was reminded that a sword tip was at his throat as he felt its prick on his Adam’s apple.
“I do,” she said clearly, and cheers erupted again.
“With the powers vested in me, I declare you married by the laws of God. God help your souls,” he felt brave enough to add.
Tina left him with a second scratch along the breadth and width of his throat for his temerity, as she pushed him aside and took Claire in her arms to kiss her heartily. “Now, let us get out of here before they summon the soldiers,” she said, taking Claire’s hand in her own.
“But...” Claire hesitated for only a moment.
“Is there something you wanted here, something from your trunks?” she asked, concernedly, as she stopped to wait for her.
Claire glanced at her father, whose face was apoplectic as he choked on the scarf in his mouth. His eyes were bulging in their sockets he was so furious. She thought for an instant of all the times he had treated her as mere chattel, and with that in mind she dismissed him. “No, there is nothing here for me,” she told her wife. She looked up at Tina with gratitude for rescuing her from what would have been a life of misery...if she had survived.
“You cannot go; you are to be my wife!” Sir Edmund called from where he was getting up once Tina’s booted foot had left his back. He was not the most coordinated person and in his formal togs was finding it difficult to regain his feet.
“She is my wife, sir, and I would suggest you leave it at that,” Tina told him just as pompously and, taking Claire’s hand, led her off , not toward the mansion, but toward the cliffs they overlooked. A path led down to the beach far below and they hurried along with many of the pirates following behind, guarding their escape.
Claire was amazed to see the Black Betty moored around a promontory, just out of sight of her father’s private beach. Rowboats awaited the pirates and were soon in the water around them as they rowed hard for the ship. Claire looked about her, amazed at how well the men had cleaned up for the occasion. It was no wonder they had fit in as servants and guards. Their beards were trimmed; a few were clean-shaven, their tans shown off prominently where their beards had been. They looked fine in the liveried clothes they had stolen from the mansion’s servants.
“If I did not know better, I would swear you men look ready for a party,” she teased, as she looked on with wonderment at how fine they all looked. The men started to laugh and shared her sally with the ones in the other boats until they were all laughing. The escapade had thrilled them all, and the few who had the privilege of knocking out guards had their blood lust appeased by the violence.
Claire gazed at Tina in the most wonderment. She had never seen her dressed so fine. Her red hair was perfectly coiffed and the dress as elegant as anything she had seen at a London party. In fact, if she did not know she was a pirate and had not seen her dressed in men’s clothing, she would swear she was a lady. Tina caught her looking at her and blushed as she rowed hard for their ship. The soldiers would be called out, and the navy looking for them on the high seas. Death was the best Tina could hope for if they found her.
“You look wonderful,” Claire told her, admiringly, as she gazed at how striking the woman appeared.
“Yeah, well, I had this laying around,” Tina teased in return, indicating the dress she was wearing.
“It suits you,” Claire laughed with her, delighted to be released from the horror she had been about to enter into with Sir Edmund. That Tina had managed to marry her meant that she loved her, did it not? No words of love, though, had been spoken between them. Tina caught the gaze and looked back just as intently as she rowed hard for the ship.
Using a boatswain’s chair for Claire who could not climb the Jacob’s ladder with her full wedding regalia, they were soon on board and loading the boats. The m
en quickly got to work to set sail so they could be far away from the island of Baleniesia before the governor’s men could get organized and come after them. With the wide open ocean before them, they knew they would only be caught if they delayed.
Claire was amused to see the pirates in their wedding finery going about their duties. Many had already kicked off the shoes they had stolen in favor of bare feet to work on the slippery decks and ropes. She was thrilled to watch Tina, her wife, take command and direct them. It was impressive to see her standing there in her fine clothes and have them soon on their way. Claire kept discreetly out of their way as she stood quietly near Tina and observed.
James proudly took the wheel after they had been underway for a time so the captain could go below with her bride. The pirates cheered when Tina, in an impulsive move, took Claire in her arms and carried her off the deck of the ship down to their cabin. Putting her back on her feet, she smiled and went to a box she had on a shelf. Opening it, she took out a smaller box and presented it to Claire.
“This was my mother’s wedding band and I would be honored if you would wear it,” she told her as she offered it.
Claire’s first impulse was to pick up the ring from its box, but she slowly removed her fine gloves that were now dirty and smudged and, presenting her hand to her wife, she said, “Put it on me.”
Tina smiled in return. “The priest never did ask for an exchange of rings did he?” she asked, as she gently took the delicate hand in her own and equally as gently slid the ring onto the third finger. She was thrilled that it was only a little large, but otherwise fit. “Do you like it?”
“I love it,” Claire told her truthfully. “I will have to find you a ring...” she began, but Tina stopped her.
“I have here,” she interrupted, reaching for another box and flipping it open. “My father’s wedding band. If you do not mind, I would like to wear it to honor him and to remind me that I am married to you.”
Pirated Love Page 11
