Love Wild and Fair (54 page)

“Because, my beautiful bride,” he smiled at her, “ ‘tis nae a social call I am making. The Duke of Avellino wants us to clean out the bandits that have recently been infesting his district.”

“I’ve gone on border raids wi ye,” she protested. “Aye,” he smiled again, his eyes misting at the memory. “Ye were the most fetching borderer I ever knew wi yer sweet bouncing breasts, and yer long legs in their green hose. Damn, Cat! I miss it, and I miss our Hermitage, but this is Italy, my darling. If ye rode wi me I would nae be taken seriously as a mercenary, and despite the fact ye are a rich woman, I feel better earning my living wi our men. We should nae be gone more than two weeks. Why don’t ye write to Jemmie, and see if he can arrange to send the children? I think ‘tis time our bairns met their father.”

She smiled teasingly at him. “Will ye miss me, Bothwell?” And she stood up, stretched, and slunk provocatively across the room.

He gently smacked her pretty bottom. “Dinna wiggle yerself at me, wench! ’Tis hard enough to have to leave ye after less than two months.” He bent his head and found her eager mouth. “Oh, Cat! Sweet Cat!” he murmured between hungry kisses. Then, “Damn! Ye’ve done it again! I never knew a woman who could rouse me so!”

She laughed low and wriggled out of his grasp. “Go play at war, my randy lord!”

He looked at her ruefully. “Put some clothes on, nymph, and bid me and our men a proper goodbye.”

She arrived in the foyer of the villa in time to hear Conall say, “I still think we should leave some men here to guard the villa.”

“Guard us from what?” demanded Cat. “My God, I never knew such a peaceful place!”

“I don’t know,” said Bothwell thoughtfully. “Conall could be right. There are always pirates lurking off the coast.”

“There is nothing of value here to attract pirates. Dinna be foolish. Ye need every man ye’ve got.”

The two men looked at each other and shrugged. Cat was right. They joined their men, who were mounted and waiting. Conall climbed into his saddle and moved to the front of the group, but Bothwell stood for a moment facing his wife, his elegant hands on her shoulders. “I wish ye could come wi me, my darling,” he said, “but it should nae take us long to wipe out the nest of mangy beggars that disturbs Avellino’s peace. Thank ye for gieing me yer Glenkirk men for my own. Christ! To be useful again!” He crushed her to him. “I love ye, Catriona Stewart-Hepburn!” And he kissed her passionately, his mouth bruising hers with a sweetness that sent desire racing through her. Her lips were petal-soft, and warm beneath his. He began to wish the Duke of Avellino’s bandits safe in hell.

“Are ye for Avellino, or are ye for bed, my lord earl?” demanded Conall’s scathing voice.

Bothwell reluctantly moved away from his wife. “If that man were nae the best captain in Christendom I would cheerfully strangle him,” he said through gritted teeth as he mounted his own stallion.

Cat laughed softly. Putting a hand on her husband’s leg, she smiled up at him. “I love ye, Francis. Come home safe to me.” She turned to Conall. “Take care of him. Always be at his back.”

“Aye! Aye!” said the captain impatiently.

Then they were off down the driveway, the dust swirling around and behind them. She stood before the villa until they had all disappeared. Then, running inside, she called to Paolo.

“Sì,
signora la contessa?”

“What engagements do we have planned for the week?”

“Only a dinner party on Saturday evening at the Conte di LiCosa’s villa.”

She sighed with relief. “Cancel it, Paolo. With Lord Bothwell away, I have the perfect excuse to avoid that wretched woman.”

Paolo smiled. He liked the Contessa di LiCosa no more than his mistress did. She was an evil woman. The following day he did as his mistress had ordered, and sent word to the di LiCosa villa that the Countess of Bothwell could not attend the fête, due to her husband’s absence.

Angela di LiCosa laughed happily. The timing was unbelievable, and her own alibi was now unchallengeable. It would be so easy to slip away from her party to signal Khair-ad-Din. Better yet, she could send her servant to make the signal. A roomful of people would attest to her constant presence! And as the Villa del Pesce d’Oro’s gardeners would not be at work on Sunday, the pirates’ raid would go unnoticed for a full day. By that time the Countess of Bothwell would be well on her way to Cicalazade’s harem. Angela’s laughter reverberated wildly through the house. Hearing it, the servants crossed themselves, and murmured among themselves. “When l’Angela del Diavolo laughs, beware!”

And that evening at her fête the Contessa di LiCosa was more charming, more delightful than ever before. The party was such a success that it did not end until close to dawn, when the last of the guests stumbled, happily drunk, to their beds.

Across the misty hills at the Villa del Pesce d’Oro a scream tore through the clear dawn. Cat sat straight up in bed, wide awake, listening. Hearing another shriek and the sound of running feet, she leaped from her bed and ran to the window. The sight before her momentarily froze her with terror.

The garden was swarming with men in baggy pantaloons, and it did not take more than a second to realize that they were under attack by Turkish pirates. Maria, the cook, and her two little kitchen maids lay upon the ground being raped, surrounded by men who were waiting their turns. The two housemaids were fleeing from some four or five men across the garden. Paolo lay in the kitchen garden near a basket of freshly cut herbs, his head bashed to a bloody pulp.

“Christ hae mercy,” whispered Susan’s voice next to her, and then Cat heard little May weeping with fright. “Get into the linen chest, you two,” she commanded them. “They’ll nae touch me. I’ll be ransomed. Hurry!”

Susan was already opening the chest. Quickly pulling out an armful of sheets, she helped May to snuggle down. “Stay there until yer absolutely sure they’re gone, lass. Then go quickly to Carlo the gardener’s home, and remain hidden till his lordship returns!”

“But Susan,” protested the girl, “ye must hide wi me!”

“I must stay by my lady Cat, lassie.” Susan gently covered her younger sister with the linens and closed the chest firmly down.

Cat looked at her tiring woman. “They’ll rape ye, Susan. I will nae be able to stop them.”

Susan looked levelly back at her mistress. “I’m nae a virgin, my lady, but May is, and it would surely kill her. Besides, ye’ll need me.”

There was no more time for talk. The bedroom door splintered under a strong shoulder and burst open, revealing close to a dozen men. Unable to control their terror, the two women screamed, clinging to each other in fright. A huge figure of a man came through the door. He examined them briefly, then said to Cat in guttural Italian, “What is your name, little girl?”

“I am the Contessa di Bothwell,” said Cat, amazed to find that she still had a voice.

“And the other?”

“My tiring woman, Susan,” she answered him, beginning to shake.

“Don’t be frightened, little girl,” said the giant. “I am Captain Khair-ad-Din of Sultan Mohammed’s imperial navy. I have orders to transport you to the harem of our grand vizier, Cicalazade Pasha. Neither I nor my men will harm you.”

Cat’s eyes grew wide with a mixture of fury and fear. “No!” she shouted. It was too much. Three years separation from Francis! A wild flight from Scotland, and James Stewart Then, at last—happiness. Now it was to be snatched away from her! “Nooooo!” she screamed. “No! Noooooo!” And as the giant stepped forward to reach for her, she paled and collapsed onto the rugs.

Khair-ad-Din nodded to one of his men, who picked Cat up carefully and started out the doorway with her. Susan needed no encouragement to follow, but her own heart almost stopped when one of the men asked the captain in Italian, “Shall we fire the house?” Khair-ad-Din snorted. “And let the entire district know we’re here?” he snapped. “No, fool!”

As they crossed the garden Susan was glad that Cat had fainted. The women servants lay naked, their throats cut, their limbs twisted grotesquely. Three of the maids had the bloody stain of their lost virginity on their bruised thighs, and Susan silently thanked God that May had not had to suffer this cruelty. That her turn was coming she had no doubt. She was afraid, for she had lied to Cat, and was as virgin as the day she was born.

As they helped her into the little boat that would take them to the great ship anchored off their beach, the men’s hands were all over her. They laughed as she angrily slapped them away. They spoke their ribald comments in Italian so she would understand them. Susan gritted her teeth and reminded herself that she was Susan More-Leslie of Glenkirk, and not to be terrorized by a bunch of ragtag foreigners.

Her fears lessened somewhat when she and Cat were put into a comfortable cabin. The sailor who had carried Cat lay her carefully upon the bunk and left the room. The lock turned in the door. Looking around, Susan found a pitcher of water, a silver ewer, and a soft linen cloth. Susan poured some of the water into the basin, wrung the cloth out in it, and lay the compress upon her mistress’ head. She rubbed the slender wrists, peering worriedly into Cat’s still, white face.

The door behind her opened, and Khair-ad-Din entered the cabin. “How is the little girl?” he asked kindly.

“Still unconscious, and no thanks to you!” snapped Susan. “You frightened her half to death telling her she was being put in a harem. Whatever the ransom for us, Lord Bothwell will pay it.”

“There is no ransom. I have orders to convey this woman to the harem of our grand vizier, Cicalazade Pasha. She is a gift to him from his sister.”

Susan looked puzzled. “His sister? Who is this sister, and what right has she to give my mistress to her brother? My mistress is a freeborn noblewoman, and a cousin to the King of Scotland!”

“The vizier’s sister is the Contessa di LiCosa,” said Khair-ad-Din.

Susan was astounded. “That bitch? By God, I’ll kill her myself when I get my hands on her, the jealous whore!”

A great rumble of laughter burst from Khair-ad-Din. “My very thoughts on the woman, little girl. But tell me, why does she hate your lady so?”

“Because,” said Susan angrily, “the Contessa di LiCosa covets my lady’s husband, and he will have nothing to do with the witch.”

The captain nodded. Sensing sympathy, Susan said quickly, “Oh, please sir! My lord and lady are rich beyond measure. Return us, and they will reward ye a hundred times more than ye ask!”

“I wish I could, little girl, for I do not like being part of a woman’s war. But alas, I cannot. The man to whom I take your mistress stands high in the sultan’s favor. If he learned that I had disobeyed his sister—and he would—I should be flayed alive! I am truly sorry, little girl. You and your beautiful mistress must accept your fates. It will not be so bad. Cicalazade Pasha is good to his women.”

Susan was desperate. She could hear the creak of the ship as it prepared to get under way. “Oh sir, you do not understand. My lady and her husband are but newly married after many years of separation. She will surely die without him. And when he finds her gone he will tear the earth apart to get her back.”

“That is not my problem, little girl. I must get you safely to Istanbul. Your mistress will not die, for I can see she is of stronger stuff than that. Look at her now. She is no longer unconscious, but merely sleeps.”

Susan knelt at Cat’s side and saw that the captain spoke the truth. Cat’s breathing was regular and even, and the color was back in her cheeks. “Thank God,” breathed Susan. Khair-ad-Din left the cabin, locking it behind him.

Susan sat by the sleeping woman all day. Cat did not awaken, and Susan knew it was because she was still in shock. That evening Khair-ad-Din returned to the cabin, and his large hand fell on Susan’s shoulder. “Now, little girl, the time has come for you to entertain my officers.”

Susan stood up, her face white with fright “Please,” she pleaded with Khair-ad-Din.

“I might have let you be taken by my crew in the same way as those girls at the villa were taken,” he said quietly. “But because you are her servant I saved you for my officers. They will not hurt you, little girl. There are only three of them.” Opening the cabin door leading to the officer’s common room, he gently but firmly, pushed her through and closed the door behind her.

Susan stood frozen, praying that if she didn’t move the men would not notice her. The three sat across the room around a low table, drinking coffee and talking. Then one looked up and called, “Why here’s the wench! Come here, girl!” She shrank back against the door, her heart hammering wildly as the man stood up and came towards her. He was tall and swarthy, with dark hair and eyes, even white teeth, and a well-barbered black beard. He pulled her away from the door and into the light. Susan cried out, and the man’s eyes softened. “Don’t be shy, girl. We want to be friends—don’t we, lads?” The two other men grinned at Susan, and she shivered.

“My name is Hussein, and I am Khair-ad-Din’s first officer. The fellow with the bushy beard is Abdul, the second officer, and the beardless youth is Ibrahim, our navigator. Here, you two savages,” he berated his companions, “give the wench some coffee. She looks cold and frightened.”

Sitting back on the cushions, he pulled Susan down onto his lap. Ripping the front of her nightgown to the hem, he began fondling her breasts. Hussein laughed indulgently when she screamed. “Come on, little girl, don’t be foolish. You know why you’re here. Whether you cooperate or not the results will be the same. You’re going to be fucked. It won’t be so bad. You could be one of those poor creatures back at the villa who serviced the crew.
We
won’t hurt you. We just want a bit of loving.”

The tears spilled down her cheeks. “Please,” she sobbed, “oh, please don’t I am so afraid. I—I—I’ve never—”

“By Allah,” said Hussein, “I think we’ve got us a virgin!” He tipped her face up to his. “Are you a virgin, little girl?” Wordlessly she nodded. “Get the dice, Ibrahim,” commanded the first officer. “We always dice to see who has the first taste when we have a virgin,” he explained matter-of-factly to Susan. “Stand still, girl.”