The Captain's Pearl (11 page)

“That's right, blue eyes. I warned you if I was wrong I would have to make our greetings like our good-byes.”

“I have asked you to leave, Captain. Do I have to call Hyett to have you escorted from the house?”

“No.” He pressed the papers into her hand and strode toward the door.

Her voice broke as she whispered, “Captain?”

He turned, and his eyes narrowed, warning that her grief was displayed on her face. “Yes?”

“Captain, when you were in Canton, did you see my mother?”

“No.”

“Oh.” She bit her lip.

Returning to where she stood, he murmured, “I asked about her, Lianne.”

“You did?”

“You do not need to look so surprised. I have asked about her on every trip to Canton since I left you here.” His voice deepened with sympathy. “It's as if she has vanished. I'm sorry, blue eyes.”

She dropped the pages on the desk and clasped her hands in front of her mouth to withhold her sob of pain. She turned away so he could not see the tears about to splash on her cheeks.

When she heard the door close, she whirled about to find herself alone. As she stared at the packet of papers on the desk, she reached to open it. She wanted to know what had happened.

Picking up the first page written in his handwriting which was as bold as Captain Trevarian's smile, she shivered. Captain Bryce Trevarian had returned. She did not want to think of how his arrival would change her life, but of one thing she was positive. He
would
change it.

Eight

“Captain Trevarian,” Hyett announced from the parlor door.

Lianne stiffened, her hands tightening on the cards. She had been enjoying playing whist with Father, Great-Aunt Tildy, and Weston. So why did her heart lurch when she heard Captain Trevarian's name?

She said nothing as he walked in. She could not deny that Bryce Trevarian was handsome. Unlike Weston's classical looks, the captain's features were as rough and untamed as the sea—and as mysteriously enticing. He had shaved since his visit last night, but his black mustache remained to accent the volatile emotions in his eyes.

Lianne rose to greet him, trying to ignore how his gaze tried to peel away her defenses. As a lazy smile curled one end of his mustache, she wished she could disconcert him, but the wiles she used on others failed with him.

A hand in the center of her back freed her from his gaze. Gratefully she turned to smile at Weston. She was shocked to discover his scowl. He must have seen Captain Trevarian's familiar gaze.

With her hand on Weston's arm, she said, “Weston, do you remember Captain Trevarian?”

“Of course. Everyone is talking about the captain who brought the
China Shadow
back to Stormhaven … finally.”

Lianne tensed at Captain Trevarian's anger. She had read his report and knew it had not been incompetence that had delayed the ship. An attack by Chinese pirates had left the ship barely able to limp to a nearby island, where they had worked to patch her together to get back to Stormhaven. As her father had said, few men would have been able to save the ship and crew, but Bryce Trevarian had.

Captain Catherwood's voice intruded. “Come here, Bryce. Let me see you, my friend.”

Brushing past the doctor, Bryce hoped Newberry took offense at his rudeness. He smiled as he shook Captain Catherwood's trembling hand. Now he understood why Lianne had not invited him see her father yesterday. The captain's sunken eyes glittered with excitement, but he was fragile.

He did not let his reaction show as he sat in the green chair where Lianne had been sitting. He began to tell the captain stories of the voyage, but his gaze went again and again to where Lianne stood beside her doctor. He could not understand her interest in a timid creature like Newberry or why the captain would let her marry the town's doctor.

“So you blasted those devils out of the sea?” asked the captain with a chortle.

Bryce smiled. “The pirates are not accustomed to real fighting. They want to strike fast and hard and disappear with their booty. Unfortunately for them, they attacked the wrong ship. We left nothing of that pirate larger than a piece of tinder.”

“How awful!” gasped Lianne.

“Indeed,” seconded Newberry. “I trust your barbaric methods were necessary, Captain.” Putting his hand on Lianne's elbow, he said, “If you will excuse us, we shall sit on the porch. We have a few details to discuss about the ball on Saturday.”

As Lianne reached for her shawl, Captain Catherwood asked, “Why don't you go with them, Bryce? Lianne tells me you are joining us on Saturday. Maybe you have some ideas to make the ball more entertaining.”

Bryce grinned as Captain Catherwood winked. Maybe the captain was not amenable to this match, after all. Coming to his feet, he said, “If you don't mind, Lianne …” His emphasis on her American name was something only she would comprehend. He chuckled under his breath, knowing that, in her family's presence, she could not retort as she wished.

“Yes, yes, come along,” she mumbled, jamming her bonnet on her head.

Bryce followed, noticing how Newberry's hand tightened on her elbow while they walked to the front door. Newberry steered her to the swing at the far end of the porch where there was room for only two. Newberry hoped that Bryce would take the hint that his company was not welcome.

With another hushed chuckle, Bryce sat on the porch railing and leaned back against the pole supporting the roof. The silence was unbroken, because the fall chill had quieted the crickets.

“Don't let me interrupt your planning for the ball,” Bryce said, as he pulled out his pipe. He tapped it against the railing, put it in his mouth, and drew on the empty bowl. “It is amazing how little the stars change between here and China. Of course, in the south seas, you can see the Southern Cross. Remember the first night you saw it from the deck of the
China Shadow
, Lianne?”

“Yes,” she replied, with obvious reluctance.

“I didn't think you'd forget that night.”

“What happened?” asked Newberry.

While Bryce drew out a bag of tobacco and refilled his pipe, Lianne answered, “The
China Shadow
had run into some foul weather which we were afraid would send us off-course. When the clouds cleared and the stars revealed our location, we found we were far ahead of where we should have been.”

“It's not often a storm blows you in the right direction,” added Bryce with a laugh. “I swear we were running athwartships half the time. Never saw waves like those. You are getting yourself a fine sailor, Newberry. She never panicked, even when she was soaked to the skin.”

Newberry's scowl deepened as he glared at Lianne. “I find your tales amazing, Trevarian. Are you always the hero of your stories?”

“Not always.”

“Some border on the unbelievable. Such as the battle with the so-called pirates. A battle where your enemy was destroyed, but not one man aboard the
China Shadow
was injured.”

“I never said that.” Taking a flint from his pocket, he lit his pipe and puffed. “We had injuries, some quite serious. However, as you yourself know, any man with common sense can tend to a wound.”

“Medicine is an art to be learned through years of practice.”

“Odd, Newberry, because the best medical man on my ship is usually the cook. Creating a palatable meal out of salt pork and biscuits is a far greater skill than sewing a man's wounds closed.”

Standing, Newberry caught the swing before it could rock too roughly. “Lianne, I find the company no longer pleasant. Would you walk with me to my carriage?”

“Of course.” She placed her hand in Newberry's as he helped her to her feet, but did not look at either man.

Newberry whirled her to him and kissed her before saying, in what was undoubtedly a challenge to Bryce, “I'll return tomorrow to discuss these matters when we shall not be interrupted. Captain.”

Bryce did not reply as Lianne walked with the pompous doctor to his carriage. When he could not restrain his chuckle any longer, he watched as Newberry pulled Lianne into his arms for another kiss. Even from the distance, he could see that Lianne stood stiffly. Because she normally treated her fiancé so coolly or because Bryce was here? She had been so sweetly soft when Bryce had held her.

Fiercely he forced that thought away. He could not let his mind became clogged with the fantasies which had fascinated him as the
China Shadow
neared Stormhaven. Instead, he laughed again at the doctor's attempts to infuriate him. He did not care if Newberry heard as he drove away.

When Lianne turned back to the house, Bryce stood on the steps. “Going in already?”

She did not pause as she climbed the steps. “Weston has left, and I don't feel particularly interested in chatting with you, Captain.”

“Then how about some work?”

“At this hour?”

“It's not that late, and I thought you would be curious about the
China Shadow
.”

“True, especially since Father put me in charge of her repairs.”

“He what?” Biting back his outrage, Bryce forced a smile. “That is ridiculous. You didn't know port from starboard when you came aboard.”

“English is not the only thing I have learned more about in the past four years. Let's take a quick tour of the ship. Let me get—”

“Afraid to come with me?”

“We should not be alone. It is not seemly.”

“Several members of the crew are still aboard. Are you going to drag along a chaperon during all of the repairs?”

She flinched, then said, “Very well. Let's go.”

He followed her down the steps and reached past her to open the gate in the picket fence. When she glowered, he grinned. He enjoyed Lianne's many moods which flashed across her face.

When Captain Trevarian began to ask questions about her life in Stormhaven, Lianne answered cautiously. “Weston asked me to accompany him to a meeting of the Stormhaven Abolitionists' Society,” she replied, in answer to the question of how Weston had started courting her. His queries worried her. Captain Trevarian had never been interested in gossip.

“Do you enjoy those meetings?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

She glanced at him from beneath her bonnet. “I understand what it is to be forced to do as someone else wishes, with no thoughts of my own happiness.”

“Like marrying Newberry?”

Stopping, she gazed at him in surprise. “I'm marrying Weston because
I
want to. I meant my life in Canton.”

He took her hand and placed it on his arm. When she started to pull away, he used his other hand to imprison it against his sleeve. He continued walking toward the harbor, and she had no choice but to follow. “That's odd. I never guessed you would choose that pale imitation of a man.”

“Captain, there's no need to insult Weston!”

“No?” He smiled, but his expression was as cold as the moonlight dripping around them. “Then maybe I should say I thought
you
had more sense than to select a man who doesn't have any idea how to run your father's company.”

“The future of the Shadow Line is the concern of the Catherwoods, not their employees.”

He whirled her to face him. “Employee? Do you think that is all I am to your father?”

“What relationship you and my father share means little to me, Captain.” She hated how her voice quivered. “At this moment, I am interested only in ending ours.”

“Impossible.”

“What do you mean?”

He released her, but his hands lingered against her elbows. A flare of longing flashed through her, gone as soon as he no longer touched her, but the tingling remained. “Your father told you to oversee the refitting of the
China Shadow
. We shall see each other often during that process.”

“Whenever necessary.”

“Which is too often?”

“Far too often!”

When he laughed, Lianne bit back her exasperation. She started back up the street, then turned to see his smile. He wanted to chase her away from the
China Shadow
. She would not let him keep her from showing her father that she could handle any task for the Shadow Line.

“As an
employee
of the Shadow Line,” Captain Trevarian said, as she walked again toward the harbor, “I have an interest in what is going to become of the company.”

“It shall continue as it has as long as Father lives.”

He took her hand and placed it on his arm again. “Lianne, maybe you haven't seen the difference because you are with Captain Catherwood every day, but—”

“I have seen the difference.”

“Yet you're going to marry Newberry?”

“I love him!”

“Do you?” he retorted. “Then why do your fingers quiver against my arm?”

She tried to avoid his eyes, but his finger steered her face toward his. When the green glow of his gaze washed over her, she heard herself whispering the truth. “Because you frighten me.”

“Me or the passion you know we could share?”

“Captain Trevarian!”

“So you
are
afraid of me. Are you afraid of Newberry also?”

“I don't think that's any of your business.”

“Why not?”

“Because I am no longer your responsibility.”

“But I am yours,” he said as they walked along the wharf.

“Excuse me?”

“I have invested my profits from my voyages into the Shadow Line.” His smile broadened. “So you see,
Miss
Lianne, in a way, I am your employer.”

“That still gives you no right to ask about my private matters.”

One finger explored the inside of her wrist. She gasped and tried to pull away. His hand became a clamp. “Be honest. I represent temptation to you, Lianne.”

“Hardly!”