Silver Sea (51 page)

Huntsford nearly went down on his knees to beg forgiveness, but something in Raveneau's eyes told him that would do more harm than good. Even Adrienne's eyes were unsympathetic. "I'll prove to you that I've changed," he pledged in quieter tones.

"Let's be on our way to Tempest Hall," Nathan said.

"I have my own horse," Harms called over the roar of the surf. "I've hidden him."

Adrienne walked with her husband back up the hillside, bone tired but loving the feeling of his strong arm around her waist. "Yes," she whispered. "Let's go home."

* * *

It was the middle of the night when Nathan saw Tempest Hall again, and he thought that her three Jacobean gables had never looked grander. Hurricane lamps burned in the windows, welcoming them home, and the servants were waiting in the doorway.

Hortie took one look at the filthy, battle-weary Lord Harms and announced that she would show him his room. Abraham went off with Philip, and Adrienne walked with Nathan to the bottom of the staircase.

" 'Twould seem that our other guests are fast asleep," she murmured. "No more crises tonight."

Before he could reply, the library door swung open and they saw Eloise standing in a beam of lamplight. Still clad in the frilled muslin gown she'd worn throughout the night's adventure, she had washed her face and repinned her hair. "I hope you don't mind," Eloise whispered. "I could never sleep without speaking to you. Both of you. I need to explain—"

Adrienne saw that she was looking only at Nathan. "Eloise, I overheard some of your conversation tonight with Crowe, so I may already know what you are going to tell us." She paused and made a decision. "I think that you really need to speak to Nathan, don't you? You two have old business that needs settling."

Too tired to argue with her, Nathan capitulated. "You win. I'll join you upstairs shortly—" That quickly, Adrienne scampered up the staircase and disappeared from sight. Looking back at Eloise, he said, "I'm going to have a brandy, and I imagine you could use one too."

She sat on the edge of Adrienne's new mahogany chaise, sipping her brandy, and Nathan decided that it was odd to see his old love in this setting. How many times had he dreamed that she would come to live with him at Tempest Hall?

Eloise found her voice. "It's ironic, isn't it, that now that I've gotten away from Xavier, you have a wife?" Another sip of brandy, then, "But I do like Adrienne. Very much."

"Everyone does." He smiled. "She's irresistible, I think. She's also headstrong, and has made mistakes, so she understands whatever it is that you've been struggling with. Eloise, won't you tell me?"

It was bittersweet to be so close to him, to be in his library, surrounded by his things. It could have been her home, once. "I didn't want to stay with Xavier, you know," she said suddenly. "I prayed that day, when you boarded his ship, that you would understand somehow and take me with you."

"You told me in London that you wanted him, and then you told me again at sea," Nathan said. It was odd to realize that all his inner conflicts over Eloise had vanished. Now all he could think was that if Adrienne had been carried off by Xavier Crowe, she would have found a way, somehow, to let him know she needed rescuing... or she would have saved herself by other means. "I am sorry if you've been unhappy—"

Tears filled her great dark eyes. "He fed me laudanum, and he made so many cunning threats... for years..."

"Oh, God, Eloise—if only you'd found a way to let me know!"

"I was afraid he'd kill us both, afraid that you didn't want me any more." She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief, sick with regret. Nathan had never been more dashingly handsome, and now he had grown a strong and tender heart. "But that's past now. You have a wife whom you love, and perhaps we both owe our blessings to her. I wouldn't be here tonight if not for Adrienne. I just wanted to explain—why—so that you would never think that I rejected you."

Nathan started to rise. He was dead tired. "I understand."

"There's something else." The words spilled out. "I'm the one who drugged Lady Thomasina. He made me take her the tea every day! I've been torn apart with guilt, and I don't suppose there is any excuse—except to say that Xavier is an evil man, and he has a way of using threats and twisting words—"

"I understand. Eloise, you helped her to escape, so I think that evens the score." Patting her hand, he added, "We'll see to it that you go home to England for a long rest, with lots of fresh air and good food and love from your family. All right?"

She walked with him to the staircase and blurted, "Xavier killed Martin's parents, you know. And he would have killed Martin as well one day. He had no scruples at all."

"I'll tell the magistrate tomorrow." Nathan brushed the back of his strong, dark hand over her cheek, and for an instant their eyes met, memories mingling. "For now, you should go upstairs and get some sleep. That's exactly what I intend to do as soon as I've spoken to Hortie."

Eloise nodded and obeyed, drained now that she'd unburdened herself. Nathan went off to confer with Hortie about plans for the next day and then decided to peek in on Orchid, who seemed to be waiting for him. Philip had already told her as much as he could, but it was Nathan's habit to share not only the details of his life with Orchid, but his feelings as well.

"I do feel better," she said to him, smiling as she lay against plump white pillows. "I worries 'bout dat Crowe fellow. Evil. Sometime evil do win jus' because it stoop lower."

"No need to worry anymore, darling Orchid. Crowe and Horner are jailed, and Eloise, Martin, and the Harmses are returning to England as soon as passage can be arranged."

"It's good 'bout dose slaves from Crowe's Nest too. You're a fine man." She paused. "You goin' to free de folks here?"

He nodded. "You have Adrienne to thank for opening my eyes to the truth in that regard. It was easier for me to make excuses, but she wouldn't let me."

She opened one twinkling eye. "Mistress tell you she news yet?"

"News?" His brow furrowed. "You mean her escapade with Philip to rescue the people at Crowe's Nest?"

"No..." Orchid patted his hand. "Go an' ask."

Nathan leaned down to kiss her cheek and saw that she was already asleep, breathing with difficulty. Philip was in the doorway, his tired eyes filled with tears.

"It won' be long now," he murmured. "She need to see how it all do turn out."

Slowly Nathan went in to the back of the house and looked around at the still rooms. The soft bluish-rose light of early dawn filtered through the shutters and the air caught the evanescent perfume of the ylang-ylang trees. Angus was curled in a planter's chair, eyeing Nathan challengingly as he held fast to his new blue glove, and Nathan gave the terrier a wry smile.

His interlude with Eloise had left him numb, but now a mixture of feelings crept over Nathan as he mounted the Chinese Chippendale staircase. His eyes stung at the thought of losing Orchid, yet there was a sense of peace in knowing that he and Adrienne had laid a strong foundation, with Orchid's help, for the future. They were a family now, and the love he felt for his wife was a blessing he'd never expected, and thus treasured all the more.

They'd come a long way from the fanmaker's shop in Oxford Street and the library ladder at Harms Castle. Despite their own efforts to break each new bond that formed, here they were, showered in blessings. Nathan simply could not imagine his life without Adrienne.

Lady Thomasina's snores rumbled from inside her bedchamber, and the door to Martin's room had come open a bit. Pausing there to fix the latch, Nathan peeked at the boy and sighed. It was chilling to know that Xavier Crowe had killed Martin's parents so that he might have his brother's portion of the estate. How long would it have been before Martin met an accidental death?

Entering his own chamber, Nathan expected Adrienne to be in bed, sleeping soundly. Instead, he found that the jalousie shutters were open to admit the dawn light, and she was sitting at his desk, wearing a nightgown and studying a piece of paper.

"What the devil are you doing, my beautiful bride?" he chided. After pulling off his own clothing as he crossed the room, he poured water into a basin and began to wash. "I expected you to be unconscious, snoring louder than Lady Thomasina!"

She glanced up distractedly. "It is fun to have her with us again, isn't it?"

"Perhaps, in a rather warped sense of the word, but that doesn't mean I would like them to stay on Barbados."

"How was your interview with Eloise? You needn't tell me—"

"Are you trying to offer me some privacy?" Nathan laughed. "That's very amusing, my love. As for Eloise, as much as I hate scenes like that, I suppose it was beneficial to put the past to rest. So much had to do with my pride. I realized more clearly than ever that we were never suited, and I was only infatuated with her beauty and the notion of protecting her." He shook his head. "I am appalled by all that she endured at the hands of Xavier Crowe... but I also realized that it wasn't my fault—"

"You are saving her life right this moment, Nathan."

"More you than I. But we'll send her back to her family in England, and she can mend slowly from all that she's endured these past years."

"To think that Crowe was feeding laudanum to his own wife!" Adrienne was examining the paper again.

Toweling his damp hair and face, Nathan went to look over her shoulder. "Adrienne! How did you get hold of that ridiculous treasure map?"

"You so effectively convinced Huntsford that it's a fraud that he wanted to pitch it in the trash. I rescued it and find it fascinating!" She gave him a winning smile. "What if—"

"My dear, I can assure you that if there were
ever
a treasure buried there, it was recovered long ago. I rather suspect that Crowe drew the damned thing himself, but even if it is authentic, it's a century old and other people have had their hands on it before Crowe." He shook his head. "Forget about that and come to bed with your husband. I'll give you a treasure that's
real."
He flashed a roguish grin that made her giggle.

Adrienne rolled up the map again, sighing. When she stood up, her hair fell over her back. "Well, I shan't destroy it. I'll hide it, and perhaps our descendants will find it and have a more adventuresome spirit than you."

He lifted her into his arms. "Madame, I take issue with that statement. Living with you requires an exceedingly adventuresome spirit. I haven't any left over for nonsense like treasure hunts."

Both of them collapsed on the big bed and made contented noises. "It's shocking how tired I really am," Adrienne admitted.

"We're past tired."

"Delirious?"

Their laughter mingled with the songs of the waking birds and the first faint voices from the slave huts. Nathan rose up on one elbow and looked down at her, captivated by her sparkling green eyes. "Promise me that you'll never secretly embark on another dangerous escapade like tonight's, all right? If anything were to happen to you..."

She put a finger over his mouth and drank in the sight of his beloved face. "I promise to be very careful from now on. I have to look out for the welfare of our child."

"Our—what?" His eyes were shocked, then stormy, then tender. "You are an incorrigible chit! So this is the news Orchid mentioned. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I had to see to Lady Thomasina, Eloise, and Martin first, and I feared that you would truly lock me up if you knew—"

"As well I should have done!"

"But I
was
very careful, Nathan. It only seemed like a dangerous undertaking to you because you didn't know about it! I wouldn't have taken chances with our baby's well-being."

"A... baby." He fell back on the feather bed and stared up at the mosquito netting. "Our baby. It's incredible. Like a..."

"Miracle," Adrienne supplied happily, and snuggled against his brown chest. "The baby will come in the spring, and I thought we might invite our families to visit for the christening. Wouldn't that be lovely?"

Suddenly he said, "Let's get married again when they are here. Properly. I was a scoundrel at our first wedding ceremony."

"If you want to, we will, but you know it's not the wedding that matters but the marriage itself."

Nathan rolled her onto her back, pressed himself between her thighs, and captured her mouth in a long, ardent kiss. "I am doing my best, you know. It is very
rewarding work." His tone was laced with laughter.

Wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders, Adrienne felt herself lifted on a tide of bliss that was every bit as real as the ocean waves. Nathan was kissing her throat, her collarbone, then opening her gown to find a swollen breast. "I love you so desperately." Her fingers traced the curve of his cheekbone.

He had drawn back to look at her breast. "I've been dense not to notice the changes, haven't I?"

"Not dense." She smiled. "Merely male."

His eyes burned with fatigue and emotion and, closing them, he imagined the child who was growing out of their love. "When do you think it happened?"

"Looking back... I suppose it must have been that first time, in your cabin on the
Golden Eagle.
Love knew better than we ourselves what was best for us."

Holding her near, Nathan gently lay his stubbled cheek against her pale breasts while a tear slipped from his eye. "We're going to have a wonderful life together, aren't we?"

"Mmm-hmm. And when we free our slaves, the mood of the plantation will change."

"Something to do with a clear conscience?" He kissed her throat, aching with the love only she could inspire. "Tempest Hall will be a place we can all be proud of—a place where we can raise our children amid—"

"Riches of the heart." Adrienne stroked his crisp hair as the tide came again, lifting them together. She savored the miracle, then murmured, "Are you asleep?"

"Not quite."

"Take me to the beach."

"You're mad. I can barely talk, let alone ride a horse."

"Of course you can! I want to go back to the beach where I first swam in the waves, and we can make love there, seal our future—"