Teresa J Reasor
CAPTIVE HEARTS
CHAPTER ONE
London, England
“I do not know why you feel you must accompany me.” Edward’s peevish whine sounded as annoying as a rusty gate.
Katherine braced her hand on the leather seat as the coach turned a steep curve. “You are arranging my marriage, Uncle. Do you not think I should take an interest in the man to whom you are going to promise me?” “Lord Willingham has assured me his nephew is an honorable man, Katherine.”
“A man of honor imprisoned for smuggling. Forgive me if I have some reservations.” Edward drew a deep breath, his long beaked nose contracting. “It was a misunderstanding between him and Lord Rudman. His release has been arranged for tomorrow.”
“If he agrees.”
“Living for two months in such conditions is enough to test any man’s mettle. He will agree.” She pushed aside the leather shade covering the coach window and looked out at the rain-washed London streets. She took care to control her expression and her voice so he would see none of the fury seething within her.
How could he be so callous? “Does it not trouble you that in order to get a man to wed me, you must threaten him with prison?”
Edward’s gray brows drew together in a frown, his thin face hardening with displeasure. “A husband who will be regaining his freedom, his ship, and his profits, because of you, will have sufficient reason to pledge his loyalty.”
She straightened her shoulders. A loyalty thrust down his throat by threats would mean little once they were at sea on his ship. She shuddered at the possible
mistreatment she might suffer at the hands of such a man.
“A marriage was to be arranged for you sooner or later, Katherine.” He stretched his thin legs out and appeared to study the careful alignment of knee breeches, stockings, and shoes. He pulled a lace-trimmed handkerchief from his sleeve and bent to rub away a muddy smudge from the toe of his expensive leather footwear. “Had your father lived he would have seen to it himself.”
“Your eagerness to fulfill your duty as my guardian is touching, Uncle.” Her sarcasm earned an exasperated snort.
“I am doing what I think best. I am eager for you to leave all this unpleasantness behind you. If seeing you wed to a Yankee will insure that, so be it.” Unpleasantness! Her entire family lay dead and he resented the inconvenience their demise had caused him.
Lowering his brows into a scowl, he avoided her gaze as he fidgeted with the lacy sleeve draped about his hand.
“I know you had hoped to see the men responsible captured.” He stuffed the handkerchief back into place. “I am certain justice will be done, but it will be left to others to see to it, not you. Once you are wed, you will have other responsibilities.”
He thought to distract her with a husband and all the demands one would entail. Rage clogged her throat and made it difficult for her to breathe. It took several moments for her to beat back the emotion.
Pretending calmness she didn’t feel, she settled back into the corner of the seat and brushed away a small piece of lint from the skirt of her black gown. She would bide her time. Once Edward was lulled into complacency, she would do as she pleased.
The coach rolled to a stop, and within moments, the door opened. A footman lowered the steps.
Edward donned his tricorn and alighted from the coach. Adjusting the hood of her cloak over her hair, Katherine paused in the open door, her attention focused on the large flat-roofed building before her. Wet stone mirrored the gray of the clouds overhead. Barred windows and heavy wooden doors gave the impression of brooding
malevolence. Rust stained the stone facings around the bars as though the walls wept tears of blood.
She shivered at the thoughts, and at her uncle’s impatient gesture, grasped his hand and stepped down from the conveyance. He guided her around the large puddles blocking their path to the side entrance. At his knock, a small square opening appeared in the heavy wooden portal.
“Open, man,” he ordered. ”It is raining.”
“Aye, yer Lordship.”
The door swung inward and the guard’s rotund figure stepped back to allow them to enter. The dreary light touched on a round bloated face surrounded by greasy hair before the man closed the door and secured it. The dull flickering glow of an oil lamp suspended from the wall illuminated the stained corridor walls and crept across the dirt clogged floors.
The guard’s small close-set eyes focused on her. “Ye said nothin’ about bringin’ a woman with ye.”
“This is Captain Hamilton’s betrothed, Mr. Hicks.
Surely you understand her eagerness to see him.”
“This be no place for a woman, yer Lordship.”
“After all the trouble he has caused you, I am sure you wish to be done with the man. Her presence may inspire him to be reasonable.”
Hicks grimaced. “The Yank be more than trouble. ’E
near ‘ad a revolt planned amongst the others.” A sneer curled his lip. “We should ‘ave done away with the whole lot of them colonials a score a years ago.”
“I believe we tried that and failed, Mr. Hicks,” she said. A scowl creased his piggish features as he pointed at her with the end of his small wooden club. “Keep yer distance from the bloke. Should the tricky bastard try anythin’ whilst yer here, I’ll be obliged to knock ‘is head for ‘im.”
He strode down the passageway ahead of them, leaving the smells of stale sweat and garlic in his wake.
Fanning his face with his hand, Edward grasped her arm and hurried her forward. The farther they traversed along the narrow corridor, the more overpowering became the stench of unwashed bodies and human waste. Some
poor wretch’s cries of pain drifted from within the bowels of the jail.
The walls closed in on Katherine, making it difficult for her to inhale the stagnant air into her lungs. She focused on the dim light offered by the torches hung at intervals along the way and fought the stifling feeling of being buried. She refused to give Edward the satisfaction of knowing how frightening she found the place. To show him weakness would encourage him to exploit her frailty.
Hicks halted before one of the doors. “Lord Willing’am be inside with ‘amilton.” The large ring of keys he gripped in his beefy hand jingled as he unlocked the door. “I would ask you to stay here, Katherine, until I have had an opportunity to speak with Captain Hamilton,” Edward urged.
She suppressed a shudder at being left in the dark passageway with Mr. Hicks. “Why can I not join you, Edward?”
“He may be more reasonable about the situation if I smooth the way. You do not wish to appear overly eager, do you?”
She bit back the bubble of hysterical laughter threatening to erupt. “Yes, I am most eager to wed a stranger. As eager, I am sure, as he will be.” He thrust his thin features, tight with anger, close to hers, his gray eyes glassy and cold in the dull light. “You will remain here or I will have Mr. Hicks escort you back to the coach.” He underlined each word with the stabbing movement of his rain spotted tricorn.
“You have only a moment; then I am coming in.” Her uncle jerked himself erect and puffed out his chest. His thin frame remained stiff with displeasure as he stood back to allow Hicks to open the cell door.
****
“You can’t be serious.” Matthew Hamilton shook his head in amazement. “If I’d wanted another wife, I’d be wed already.” “What do you mean another wife?” his visitor demanded, his eyes wide with surprise.
“My nephew’s wife, Caroline, died in childbirth four years ago, Edward,” Talbot Willingham explained.
“Good—ah,” Edward faltered.
The man’s callousness caught Matthew by surprise and he focused
on him through narrowed eyes.
Edward’s cheeks turned a ruddy color. “I mean—it is good there is no obstacle to the union between you and my niece, Captain Hamilton.”
Matthew suppressed a sneer. “There is, Leighton. I don’t wish to remarry. I’d say that was obstacle enough.”
“You do not seem to understand, sir. Either you agree to the marriage, or you remain here in this place—
indefinitely.”
Matthew looked to Talbot. His uncle’s nod gave him pause. The marks on the wall just behind the straw cot where he slept caught his eye. He had no need to count them. He had spent two months and one week in this hellish place.
“On completion of the marriage ceremony, your ship and the proceeds from the sale of the cargo will be released to you. You will be free to return to America, with my niece of course.”
“Free, but not free.” Bitterness rose in him. First they imprisoned him for a crime he didn’t commit and now they wished to foist a wife on him. “What is wrong with this woman that you must go to such lengths to find her a husband?”
Edward straightened his skinny frame, his long nose flaring with indignation. “Why there is nothing wrong with Katherine, unless you count being quick of wit and strong of will as faults.”
She was probably a harridan. “How old would this—
maid be?”
“She will be ten and nine the first of December, Captain Hamilton. Young enough to provide you many children, yet old enough to allay the boredom of having wed a child right out of the school room.” Leighton had missed his calling. He would have made a gifted auctioneer or perhaps a slave trader.
“Perhaps you would care to meet her?” The foppish Lord moved to the door and opened it.
Matthew had only a moment to wonder what kind of man would bring a lady to such a place when he spied Hicks just outside the portal. His resentment flared. He
would not be humbled before the man who had tormented him these last two months.
He folded his arms before him in a relaxed pose, knowing his lack of fear in the guard’s presence infuriated the man. “I thought I smelled your stench close by, Hicks.”
“Ye don’t smell like no flower garden yerself, Yankee,” Hicks returned.
“After two months of your stinginess with water and soap, I at least have an excuse. There’s no jailer intent on depriving you of such comforts.” The guard grimaced and shook the club at him. “I’ll deprive ye of a few teeth if ye don’t keep a civil tongue in yer head.”
“You may try, my friend.”
Hicks’s cheeks flushed and he started forward, his club raised. He stumbled and fell like a stone, his head thumping the dirt floor.
“Oh, Mr. Hicks, do forgive me!” A breathless feminine voice exclaimed. “I did not mean to trip you. Here, you must allow me to help you up.” The deep blue hood of her cloak partially covered the woman’s face as she bent to assist the man on the ground. Once on his knees, Hicks extended an arm to retrieve the club. She stepped to the side, her heel grinding down on his outstretched hand.
The guard yelped and jerked the abused digit back.
“Oh how clumsy of me, Mr. Hicks.” She grasped the man’s arm just above the elbow and at the same time scooped up the club in the other hand. “Here is your stick,” she offered. As he regained his feet, she raised the weapon butt first hitting him just beneath the chin. His jaws snapped shut with a click, and with a muffled cry of pain, he clapped a hand over his mouth.
“Whatever is wrong now, Mr. Hicks?” she asked, her tone laced with concern.
“I bit me bloody tongue!” he groaned and dodged the wooden cudgel as she raised it once again.
“Give me that,” Edward demanded, jerking the weapon out of her hand. “Before you kill the man.” He turned his attention to the guard. “Hicks, wait outside for us.” He thrust the club at the injured man, missing his nose by an inch.
The guard jerked back in reaction, still holding his mouth. He grasped the staff and held it away as though he thought it might set itself on him. As the door slammed shut behind him, Katherine bent to retrieve something from the cell floor.
“He dropped his keys,” she announced.
Matthew laughed aloud. She brushed back the hood of the cloak from her hair to reveal glossy burnished curls, deep chestnut in color. The heavy locks cascaded over her shoulder as she turned toward him.
He controlled his expression with an effort, for the beauty standing before him was not what he had expected.
Edward hastened to make the introductions. “Lord Willingham, allow me to introduce my niece, Katherine Leighton.”
“It is a pleasure, Lady Katherine.” A hint of suppressed laughter played about his uncle’s lips as he bent with courtly grace over the hand she offered him.
“Perhaps you should have these.” She offered Talbot the ring of keys.
With a chuckle, he accepted them. “Allow me to introduce you to my nephew.” Talbot urged her toward him. Dark, almond shaped eyes the color of wild violets rose to fasten on him. The mass of auburn curls framed one side of her small oval face emphasizing her clear, creamy complexion. Color rose in her cheeks.
A polite smile curved her lips, showing small, even pearl-white teeth. “’Twould seem Mr. Hicks has derived great pleasure in denying you as many comforts as possible, Captain Hamilton.” As she surveyed the sparse appointments of the cell, anger flitted across her face.
“From what I observed while in the corridor, he seems to enjoy overstepping his duties in regard to disciplining the prisoners as well.”
“You could say that,” he agreed. The soft clean scent of soap and woman wafted up to Matthew, stirring to life a hunger he tried hard to ignore. Two months aboard ship and two long months of confinement had honed his desire for a woman to a razor sharp edge. “The other prisoners would’ve relished seeing him get some of his own.”
“What was it you did to cause Lord Rudman to send you to this place?” she asked without preamble.
“Katherine,” Edward objected.
Matthew ignored the man, sensing his freedom rested in the hands of the young woman before him and not her uncle. “It wasn’t so much what I did, but what his wife had in mind for me to do. When I refused, she told her husband I had taken liberties. The next morning my ship was put under guard, and I was brought here.” Edward broke in, “It matters little what you did or did not do, Hamilton. You can be released as early as tomorrow morning. All you need do is agree to the terms.” Irritation flickered across Lady Katherine’s face as she turned her attention to her uncle.
So she wasn’t as resigned to being wed to a colonial criminal as she pretended.
“Edward, I would ask for a few moments alone with Captain Hamilton,” she said.
The man’s gaze traveled from his niece, to Matthew, then back again. “That would not be proper, Katherine.” One wing-like auburn brow rose and a brief beat of time passed before she spoke in a slow measured tone.
One fist clenched at her side. ”You left me in the hall unchaperoned with Mr. Hicks, Uncle. Are you saying you trust the guard more than the man to whom you hope to wed me?”
Edward compressed his lips, his displeasure at the censor in her tone evident.
“You and Lord Willingham will be just outside the door should I need you. I am sure Captain Hamilton will conduct himself like a gentleman. After all, I do not believe he would wish to do anything that would lengthen his stay here.” Her gaze swung to Matthew, “Is that not right, Captain?”
“For certain, Lady Katherine.” He inclined his head.
His uncle grasped Edward by the elbow and guided him from the cell. “Your niece will be perfectly safe with Matthew, Edward. She will be alone with him soon enough if they wed, will she not?” The metal door slammed shut behind them.
Her chin rose and her violet eyes took on a flinty hue as she surveyed him from head to toe. She stepped close.
”Do you wish to leave this place?”
“Good.” She shed her cloak and folded it over her arm. The square neckline of the black dress she wore was modest enough, but the high empire waistline cupped the generous swell of her bosom like a lover’s hands.
Matthew tensed. He wondered if she knew what her beauty did to a man who had been immured for so long.
With an effort, he dragged his gaze back up to her face, watching the lush curve of her lips as she spoke.
“I no more wish to wed than you, but I must, and so must you if you wish to be free again.” He braced his feet and clasped his hands behind him, suppressing the quick smile tempting his lips. No sweet natured, tractable miss here, but no harridan either.
“Why must you wed?”
For a moment, she remained silent, her long auburn lashes obscuring her gaze. She turned a graceful profile to him as her attention moved to the window set high in the wall. “My uncle is my guardian, and I am at the mercy of his generosity. With my marriage, I will receive a small allowance from the estate. It will not be much, but will be enough on which to live.”
He’d warrant there was more to the situation than that. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be avoiding his gaze so diligently. “You’ll not need it if you’re wed.” Her violet eyes returned to him. “I do not intend to remain married long. You will only be allowing me the use of your name for as long as it takes to settle my father’s estate and secure my legacy. We can have the marriage annulled as soon as that transpires.” He raised his brows. “And on what grounds do you hope to have the marriage annulled?”
“With my testimony and your uncles, we can prove you were unlawfully coerced into the union. Surely, the courts will grant you—us—an annulment on those grounds.”
Resentful of the temptations she presented, he couldn’t resist toying with her a little, just to test her resolve.
“As long as the marriage isn’t consummated.” Her jaw grew taut and her dark gaze focused on him
intently. “That indeed would be a requirement of both the marriage and the annulment, sir. I would require your word of honor you will respect my wishes.” He was amazed at the trust she extended so easily.
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