Silver Sea (41 page)

"Indeed?" A cynical smile made Crowe's mouth twitch. "Come with me, my friend. There is something I want to show you."

They traversed the spacious corridor, stopping along the way to peek into Lady Thomasina's bedchamber. The old woman had the shutters tightly closed and lay snoring in her net-draped bed.

"How dear is her ladyship," Crowe purred kindly. "I am terribly fond of her."

Huntsford could find no reply. His gut told him that Xavier Crowe was even more interested in getting his hands on Lady Thomasina's assets than he, her son, was, but he had yet to discover the reason. So, he smiled and nodded, and they went on to Crowe's own magnificent suite of rooms.

When they came through the door, Eloise Crowe gasped and turned from the shuttered window. "Oh—Xavier—you frightened me! I thought you had gone out—"

"What are you doing in here?" he said curtly. He looked around as if checking to see if she had tampered with his things. "Are there workmen in your own rooms?"

"No, of course not. I... thought I heard a noise, and so I came in here to look outside, where the view is best."

Huntsford was fascinated by this glimpse of their real selves. Downstairs, at meals, they were all polite chatter, but it seemed to be an act that was familiar to any English noble. Their marriage was as empty as most. Eloise, however, reminded Huntsford of an elegant butterfly caught in an invisible net.

They had no children of their own, but had taken in the orphaned son of Xavier's dead brother. The ten-year-old boy, Martin, seemed to have bonded with Eloise. Xavier pretended to be nice to him, but Martin looked at him the same way Eloise did. It wasn't so much fear in their eyes, Huntsford supposed, as trepidation.

"May I have a word with you in private?" Crowe's voice was glazed with frosty charm.

She went into the corridor, willowy, pale, and sable-haired, and her husband followed. Gripping her arm, he murmured, "Have you taken Lady Thomasina's special tea to her?"

"Oh, Xavier, must we? It grieves me to see her so groggy—"

"Haven't you learned yet not to argue with me?" It pleased him to kiss her until she began to recoil. "Do my bidding and you may have a brief ride up the coastline, as long as you don't go too far north again. One hour, do you understand?"

Her huge eyes lit up. "Oh, thank you!" She swallowed, then said slowly, "I'll get the tea."

Crowe returned to his houseguest, closing the door and shaking his head. "I must apologize for my wife. She comes in here to watch the road for her lover."

"Wh-what?" Huntsford gaped.

"Oh, he never actually does come, but she imagines she hears him. Nathan Raveneau. She wishes she'd married him instead of me." He shrugged and took snuff. "I pity her."

Huntsford could scarcely breathe. Was it possible that Crowe had uttered the name of Nathan Raveneau? If he was going to confide one of his real reasons for coming to Barbados, now would be the time, but Huntsford was still wary of his new mentor.

Instead, he asked, "Have you been married long?"

"Nearly four years. I confess that I married her to thwart Raveneau, and it may have been a case of cutting off my nose to spite my face." His laughter was low and sardonic. "It was one of those mad things one does in London. I already knew and disliked Raveneau, and when I saw him there, courting Eloise, the temptation to go to his weakness was too strong to resist."

"How did you do it?"

"I plied her with charm and expensive gifts, then I lured her onto my ship and we set sail before Eloise could protest. By then she was beginning to guess that I wasn't quite what I'd seemed." Crowe showed his white teeth in a grin. "It was grand. Raveneau gave chase and ran us down at sea, demanding that I hand over the poor damsel. However, Eloise already knew better than to speak the truth. She paid enough heed to my threats to assure him that she loved me and wanted none of the dashing Raveneau!"

Huntsford chuckled. "I wish I could have seen his face."

"A priceless moment, I can assure you." Pausing, Crowe savored the memory. "However, I made a bad bargain. My wife is barren."

"How sad for... you both."

"I find what consolation I can elsewhere, and I amuse myself by bending her spirit to suit my purposes. Meanwhile, Eloise dreams of Raveneau and showers love on Martin, who is soft and spineless as a result."

"He seems a nice lad to me."

"Enough. I didn't bring you here to talk about them."

Looking around the grand, airy room, Huntsford wondered how the gigantic wardrobe had fit through the doorway. Hanging on the wall nearby was a massive gilt mirror. Xavier Crowe motioned for his guest to follow him to the mahogany four-poster bed, which was so high that in order to reach the mattress, its occupant must climb a set of three steps. When Crowe lifted the top step, he revealed that it was actually a box, its lid formed by the step.

"Have you ever heard of Stede Bonnet?" Crowe asked softly.

"The Gentleman Pirate? Yes, I've read about him. He was from Barbados, wasn't he? If memory serves, he was in partnership with Blackbeard a century ago, off the coast of Carolina."

"Excellent, dear boy. You're brighter than I dared hope." He reached inside the stairstep-box and took out two pistols. Sensing Harms's shocked stare, he explained, "A fellow never knows when he might be attacked in his bed." Then he opened what appeared to be a narrow secret compartment located under the pistols and drew out a tattered piece of parchment, "I have reason to believe that this belonged to Stede Bonnet."

Huntsford's brown eyes were wide with amazement. "Why, it looks like a treasure map!"

"Do moderate your tone." Crowe turned the paper away from the younger man's view. "Now then, to continue, Stede Bonnet was indeed born on this island, the son of a planter. He inherited the family plantation, married and became a father, and then rather abruptly decided to pursue a career as a pirate. For a long time, I gather than Bonnet's wife thought he was simply away on business!" He laughed with gusto.

Watching him, Huntsford commented, "Quite a man, hmm?"

"Indeed! Men like Stede Bonnet are the stuff of legends!"

"But didn't they hang him?"

"Yes. In Charles Town, I believe. Perhaps he let his guard down."

"Are you implying that one might learn from his story?"

"I learn from everything I encounter. It's the key to my success." His shrewd gaze fastened on the map.

"Might I inquire how you came into possession of such an... artifact?"

"I—uh, discovered it in the captain's cabin of a wrecked ship." Crowe fussed with a loose button on his coat. "Cobbler's Reef is notoriously treacherous, you know. But that's a story for another day." He opened the map on the silk counterpane and gestured to Huntsford to step closer for a good look. "Do you see? It says 'Bonnet, 1718' in the bottom corner, and the location is clearly spelled out."

Huntsford stared. It was a crude map, smudged in places, but he could see that it showed the southeastern quadrant of Barbados, and St. Philip's Parish was labeled in ink. "Where is your estate on this map?" he asked.

"Here," Crowe replied, pointing to a spot near Long Bay. "And here..." His finger traveled a few miles north, to a spot labeled Cave Bay. "Here on this beach is the buried treasure! Do you see how he's marked the spot? I surmise that when Stede Bonnet was in danger of being caught, either by the authorities or perhaps his erstwhile partner, Blackbeard, he sailed back to Barbados—to the far side of the island from his home—and buried his valuables. He made a map so that he could find it when he returned... but unfortunately for
him,
that day did not come!"

"Doesn't someone else own the land you're pointing out?"

"Oh, yes, but he's almost never here. The fellow lives in France. I ride all over that property at will."

"But..." Huntsford was about to point out that any treasure recovered on that land would belong to the Frenchman, not to Xavier Crowe, but it dawned on him that his host had no intention of conducting himself honorably. Little hairs rose on the back of Huntsford's neck, and he smiled. "If I help you, will I receive part of the... booty?"

Crowe laughed loudly. "You are talking like a pirate already! Yes, of course I'll share the treasure with you, my boy! Shall we say one-quarter?"

"Splendid!" Huntsford Harms's eyes lit up. "I can't tell you how pleased I am that I took Walter's sage advice and came to Barbados!"

"No less pleased than I am. Now then, let's ride up the coast and try to find the location marked on our map, shall we?"

"Lead on, sir! Do you know any pirate songs?"

Crowe closed the stairstep-box and glanced back over one shoulder. With an effort, he maintained his composure and replied softly, "No. Why would I?"

Chapter 21

Squaring her shoulders, Adrienne faced her husband across the library with arms akimbo. "If you are going to inspect our new land, then I want to come with you."

"I'd rather that you stay here until I've seen it once—"

"Why?" She narrowed her eyes. "Do you expect me to believe that you haven't ridden down there since we came to the island? I know you too well, Nathan! You have seen it, and now I want to see it as well." Trying another tack, she stepped closer and took his hand. "Is it very beautiful there?"

"Magnificent. And you are sly as a fox. All right, I'll take you, but it may be dangerous."

Adrienne's eyes sparkled as she started upstairs to dress. "Don't move. I'll be right back!"

* * *

Of course, Adrienne was right. Almost as soon as they'd first arrived at Tempest Hall, Nathan had slipped away on his own to have a look at the property he'd own after the wedding. He was giving up his freedom in exchange for that spot overlooking Crowe's Nest, and the urge to see it and gauge its usefulness was overwhelming.

Now that Nathan and Adrienne were married and the land was rightfully his, he knew a heady sense of confidence that good would prevail. Huntsford Harms's presence on the island only reinforced that feeling. Everything was coming together.

The Raveneaus rode on Compass and Ben, south along the tugged east coast, following the road that came and went along the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Occasionally they galloped through a small village or skirted a struggling plantation, but their fifteen-mile journey was speedy.

It seemed to Adrienne that the water grew even more impossibly bright as they went farther south. Such blazing blue and turquoise tints could not truly exist in nature, but there they were. The splendor of the scenery was staggering. She slowed her horse to stare at a ruined plantation house that perched all alone on the edge of the cliff. The faded coral stones of the hollowed-out house made a striking contrast with the dazzling blue ocean below.

Ahead of her, Nathan reined in Compass and looked back toward Adrienne. Then he pointed to the solitary house and the scrubby land around it and nodded, smiling.

Adrienne could not have been more thrilled. As they dismounted and tied the horses inside a hidden grove of cannonball trees, she looked up at her husband with wide eyes. "It's wonderful! But I wonder what happened to the house. Does it have a name?"

"I think it's called Victoria Villa." They went in through the classical arched gallery that ringed the house and saw that the structure was beyond saving. The floors were rotten and the ceilings gaped so that they could see right through to the sky. "Someone probably left years ago, and it simply fell into disrepair. The sea air destroys quickly."

Adrienne stared under a coral archway to the ocean and shivered. "Victoria Villa... How romantic! Do you suppose it's haunted?"

"I'm more interested in the rest of the property." Nathan reached back for Adrienne's hand and drew her out into the sunlight. "Look to the south. Around that bend in the cliffs lies Crowe's Nest. I brought my telescope today to see just how much is visible from our southern border. And there," he continued, leading her to the edge of the cliff, "is Cave Bay. Can you see why I wanted it?"

"Indeed," she whispered. The cove that lay beneath the ruined house was nothing short of breathtaking. "It belongs in a romantic novel, I think!"

Cave Bay consisted of a great semicircular beach. The dark, sheltering cliff walls rose vertically above the white coral sand, which was covered with coconut palms and masses of sea grapes. The cliffs extended out into the pounding surf on both sides, so that the little bay was tucked away like a bowl.

"Let's go down there and see if there really is a cave!" Adrienne urged. Something in the sea air and the rhythm of the great Atlantic rollers filled her with wild energy. It had to do with Nathan as well, for there had always been a glint of daring in his eyes and his spirit, calling to her.

Drawing her into his arms, he felt the curves of her body beneath her thin gown, and he caught a whiff of musky lilac from her skin. Desire welled up in him without warning. White sand and the turquoise water beckoned. Steps were carved into the cliffs. Nathan imagined making love to Adrienne with the water lapping over them and the sun on his back....