Chance the Winds of Fortune (51 page)

But ultimately, 'twould be the worsening situation with the girl that buckled his legs and brought Houston Kirby to his knees, he fretted, for the uneasy relationship between his captain and the young lady was growing into something he didn't like the look of at all. And it had him grievously worried, that it did. So he was pleasantly surprised to find the captain smiling as he watched the girl.

“Aye, she is a fine young thing, that she is,” Kirby commented with an almost paternal glint in his eyes. After all, hadn't his cures and constant attention set her back on her feet and put that rosy glow in her cheeks? “Ah, but she is a true beauty, Cap'n. And so gentle, she is, with never a sharp word for any of the crew,” Kirby said, ignoring his captain's snort of derision, for he knew only too well the strained silence that often existed between the captain and the girl. “Raised proper, she was. Reckon her folks, the duke and duchess, be mighty grieved to have her missing. Brokenhearted they must be wondering what has happened to their daughter,” Kirby continued sadly, then sniffed for good measure as he eyed the captain.

“My sentiments exactly, Kirby,” Dante remarked agreeably. But the little steward was not deceived, and the mocking glint in the pale gray eyes was causing him considerable concern.

“I have just been speculating on what her worth might be to the Duke of Camareigh,” Dante said. “For if she is indeed who she claims so vehemently to be, then he would most likely pay quite handsomely to have his daughter returned. If our search for sunken Spanish gold comes to naught,” Dante said, his eyes never leaving the girl, “we just might be able to make up the difference by ransoming our golden-haired prize back to the duke.”

“M'lord!” squeaked Kirby with horrified dismay, his shocked disapproval leaving him almost but not quite speechless. “To even be thinkin' such a thing, well…well, I'm ashamed fer the first time in me life to be associated with the name of Leighton, that I am,” Kirby concluded.

Dante glanced down at the little steward. He recognized that woebegone expression too well to be completely taken in by it, but still he found himself saying, “'Twas just idle speculation. Besides, I intend to return to England, which might be difficult if there were a price on my head. However, I think it unlikely that the temptation to ransom her off will ever arise. After all, who the devil would pay a fortune for this impudent pullet? The only title she has ever come close to is on the binding of a book, and since I doubt whether she can read or write, I'm sure that's as far as she got.” Dante's eyes narrowed into slits as he watched Alastair's sun-streaked curls come close to touching the girl's golden head as he leaned closer, his hands guiding hers as she tied the strands of rope into a secure knot.

“Ah, Cap'n. Saddens me, it does, to hear ye speakin' so of the young lady. Reckon 'twon't be a day too soon when we reach Antigua and turn Lady Rhea Claire over to the authorities in St. John's. Almost regret now us ever bringin' her down to the Indies. Of course, we didn't have much choice. Figure she would've been dead by now if we hadn't taken her with us. Knew at the time, I did, that I didn't care a'tall fer the looks of them two who stopped me on the docks that day. Fitzsimmons knew well the name of that dog Daniel Lewis. Crossing paths with him usually means a brawl, and most likely a knife in the back. Aye, Fitzsimmons says ye best steer clear of that cullion. And that cap'n of his weren't much better. The name of Cap'n Benjamin Haskell seems to be more well known in taverns than anywhere else. He was a mean 'un when he was drinkin' hard, which was about all he'd do once he dropped anchor. Poor wee thing, Lady Rhea Claire, gettin' caught up between the two of them scoundrels. Aye, hate to even think about what might have happened to her if she hadn't been forced into climbing aboard the
Sea Dragon
. 'Twas one of them chance things,” he said, awed by the fateful encounters that seemed to govern people's lives.

“I never knew you were so gullible, Kirby. I'm quite surprised you have managed to keep a step ahead of some enterprising female's ensnarement for so many years,” Dante remarked. “Did it never occur to you that the whole affair might be planned? Perhaps you were singled out for your softhearted nature to escort the girl on board the
Sea Dragon
. And while you were seeing to her needs, preparing some of that famous broth of yours, she would be rifling my cabin. But, unbeknownst to Bertie Mackay, you were busy getting in stores for the
Sea Dragon
's voyage, which was to be the following day, and not at the end of the week, as most of Charles Town assumed. But that having failed, they staged a commotion on the docks, conveniently close to where the
Sea Dragon
's watch was standing duty. And while he was distracted, our little innocent slipped aboard and found the map,” Dante concluded grimly. Whether or not this was idle speculation, or a theory he truly believed, only he knew for certain.

Kirby, however, was not so easily swayed toward believing the worst of Rhea Claire Dominick. “Don't figure, Cap'n. Seems to me Mackay was takin' a mighty big chance that the girl could find the map and get off the ship without bein' caught. Reckon to me she would've stumbled across the captain of the
Sea Dragon
himself, seein' how he'd been aboard most of the day. The girl might as well have been on board an East Indiaman laden with silk and ivory off Madagascar fer all the good it would've done Mackay.”

“There was little chance involved, Kirby,” Dante responded, unimpressed by his steward's thoughts on the matter. “Have you forgotten that Mackay has had me followed for months? He knew exactly when I left the
Sea Dragon
, and where I ate my dinner, and when I retired for the evening. He even may have seen Helene entering my home earlier in the evening and mistakenly thought I would be kept occupied until late the following morning. He had not calculated on my lack of interest in the lady's charms, nor that I would knock out his man who'd been following me. As far as Mackay was concerned, there was little risk in the venture.”

Kirby sighed with exasperation at his captain's hardheadedness. “Then why not send this Daniel Lewis and his friend on board then?”

“Because I cannot quite see this Lewis engaging the sympathies of the crew, should he have been caught by someone. The girl, on the other hand, would have succeeded quite admirably, I am sure. After all, my crew is certainly proof of that,” Dante said with a contemptuous glance at the grinning men gathered around the girl. “Who knows what information she could have wheedled out of them with those tearful violet eyes?”

The little steward looked heavenward and thoughtfully rubbed his bristly chin. “Could swear I remember ye sayin' ye just might believe the girl's story about not knowin' about the map. Reckon nobody in his right mind would be thinkin' the girl anything but a gentle-born lady,” Kirby said with irritating logic.

Dante shrugged, seemingly unconvinced. “We may very well have on board one of this century's finest actresses.”

“Ah, Cap'n,” Kirby repeated, sighing in disappointment this time. “If only ye would believe the girl, 'twould make life so much easier fer all of us, and not while just on this voyage. If I hadn't become acquainted with the young lady, then just maybe I might have been inclined to believe your story about her workin' fer Bertie Mackay,” Kirby allowed. But in his next breath he quickly disabused his captain of the possibility that they were in agreement about her motives for being on board the
Sea Dragon
. “However, seein' how I have come to know the Lady Rhea Claire, I happen to believe every word she's spoken. How could ye not believe such a sweet young thing? Of course,” the little steward added with a considering look at his captain, “if a man was tryin' hard enough he could be gettin' himself to believe anything, no matter how crazy 'twas!”

“Ah, Kirby,” Dante mocked. “You are becoming soft in your old age. I never thought to see the day when a frilly petticoat would blind you to the truth. But whatever it might be,
Lady
Rhea Claire Dominick does not disembark in Antigua. She will continue to sail with us,” the captain of the
Sea Dragon
said, his tone brooking no argument.

Apparently, Kirby was deaf to the implied warning. “Truth, is it, we be speakin' of now?” he questioned with an exaggerated look of incredulity on his face. “'Tis yourself who's bein' hoodwinked, and by your own unsatisfied lusts. Aye, and ye can be knockin' me to the deck fer sayin' it, but I'm goin' to anyway,” said the bowlegged little steward, standing his ground despite the blackening expression on his captain's face.

“Don't think I haven't seen the way ye look at the girl. I'm not blind to that, I'm not. Ye can't take your eyes from her. Ye're like some rutting stag sniffing at her skirts. And don't think I haven't seen the way ye glare at young Mr. Marlowe when ye think he's been trespassin' on what ye consider to be your property.

“Well, she ain't yours, Cap'n,” Kirby continued, “to be doin' with as ye please. She be an innocent young girl, m'lord. She isn't like young madam in Charles Town, nor like any of t'other women ye've known and taken to mistress over the years. 'Twouldn't be right to be seducin' young Lady Rhea Claire, m'lord. No, sir, 'twouldn't be right a'tall, and ye'd be seein' that yourself if ye was thinkin' with your brain instead of that hardening bulge in your breeches,” Kirby said bluntly.

The cold gleam in Dante's eyes would have caused consternation among even the bravest of men, but Kirby squared his shoulders and expanded his chest as he drew breath for further argument.

“My, my,” Dante murmured softly, “I had no idea that you were my conscience as well as my steward. I see I shall have to start paying you double wages.”

Kirby snorted. “Aye, mock me, Cap'n, but I've been doin' a powerful lot of thinkin' about this, and I reckon havin' me standin' here speakin' the truth, and aye, actin' yer conscience, makes ye a mite uncomfortable. Well, 'tis about time someone stood up t'ye, and I reckon 'tis gotta be me. Ye might have fooled t'others, but not me, m'lord, not me. I'm well aware of the blackness that has been creepin' into your heart. Ye've lived by your own rules fer far too long. Ye don't answer to no man alive, only yourself. But if ye go through with what ye been plannin' and broodin' on, then ye'll have to be facin' that man ye've become, and I don't think ye'll be likin' what ye see,” Kirby predicted, his lower jaw stuck out pugnaciously as he met his captain's eyes. Still, he was reminded too much for comfort of the old marquis, who'd been famous in his day for his towering rages.

“Now, I'm not completely blamin' ye, m'lord, fer most of what's happened. Ye had little choice in what your future held all them years ago. Things could be worse than they are, I admit that, and ye've never brought shame to the name of Leighton. The old marquis would've been proud of ye. But the sad truth of the matter is that ye're not the same Dante Leighton who was the young master of Merdraco. Ye've been changed, m'lord, by the course your destiny's taken over the years. Ye be an entirely different sort of man than that boy was and would have been, if he'd been left in peace to grow into manhood at Merdraco, surrounded by his loved ones and all that was rightfully his.

“That is why I'm sayin', m'lord, that ye can't be havin' Lady Rhea Claire Dominick. She is a part of the world ye left, Cap'n. If circumstances had been different, then perhaps ye would have met in London, courted, married, and raised fine young sons to inherit Merdraco,” Kirby told him, his eyes full of sadness for all that had been lost because of one man's infamy. “But 'twasn't meant to be.”

“Damn you, Kirby,” Dante Leighton swore softly at his steward. For Kirby's words, in their revealing truthfulness, had the power to wound him. He stared past the figurehead of the grinning dragon, its lolling tongue feeding greedily on the frothy waves as the ship's bow dipped into the verdigris sea. There was a rawness to the sky above the
Sea Dragon
's stand of sail. It was bloodred, savage, like a gaping wound slashing through the indigo belly of the heavens. In the western skies the sun was sullen and copper-colored as it was drawn irresistibly from its lofty perch.

The pagan beauty of the West Indian sunset was reflected in Dante's pale gray eyes, and he knew with a sinking of his own heart that Kirby was right. As he stood there on deck, the warm trades embracing him, he realized that he was more master of the
Sea Dragon
than master of Merdraco, and the Marquis of Jacqobi seemed but a pale shadow in his memory.

“Damn you,” he whispered, his eyes meeting the steady gaze of the little man who, if he were asked, would have gladly given his life for the man he served.

“Aye, damn me then, fer I ken yer feelings, m'lord. But what of young Lady Rhea Claire, m'lord? Does she understand what manner of man ye be? If ye succeed in seducin' her, makin' her love ye, then ye'll be destroyin' the girl. If ye make her a woman against her will, then she'll be damnin' the name of Dante Leighton,” Kirby warned, his weathered face wreathed in a frown of concern.

“I have never raped a woman,” Dante said quietly.

“There be other ways, less forceful but nonetheless brutal, of gettin' a woman in your bed. Ye've a way about ye, m'lord, and ye always have. Ye could be charmin' the devil himself out of a bit of fire, if ye put your mind to it. Aye, I've seen the way the ladies quiver when ye get that rakish look in your eye, and then they can't be denyin' ye nothin'. And ye haven't the right, just because ye be lustin' after the girl, to be denyin' her the life she was meant to have.”