The Captain's Pearl (14 page)

His grin lasted only a second before he turned to Weston. “I am glad to hear she has been honest with you, Newberry, although I admit it is a surprise that you want to marry her after she told you about her work in a Cantonese brothel.”

Lianne gasped, but the sound was swallowed by eager murmurs from the guests who were listening. Her fingers were crushed beneath Weston's hand. Knowing she must say something … anything … she could not speak.

Weston asked in a choked voice, “He is lying, isn't he?”

As she looked at Weston's colorless face, she considered lying. Her gaze was caught again by Captain Trevarian's. What would he do if she did not speak the truth?

Taking a shallow breath, she said, “No, Weston, he's not lying. My uncle sold me to a brothel.”

“As a servant?”

Forced slavery in what he considered a barbaric land was something he could accept. She could hear him urging her to share her tale with the abolitionists' society. He would be proud of her for overcoming captivity.

Again she looked at Captain Trevarian. He was waiting for her to deny what only the two of them knew was the truth. Then he would denounce her as a liar.

“Lianne?” Weston asked.

She looked steadily at him as she whispered, “Not as a servant.”

“Not as a—you weren't a—?”

“Terrific place it was,” mused Captain Trevarian, chuckling. “Little shacks with rice curtains. The procurer citing the charms of his whores. As I recall, he said your future wife was an exotic treat with the hot blood of two grand nations ready to warm any man who paid for her time.” He rubbed his hand across his clean-shaven chin while his gaze slid along her. “She was expensive, but a man's fantasy in her shimmering robes.”

“Don't, Bryce,” she moaned, as Weston stared at her with horror and disgust. The words brought back the terror of a night when she had feared she would be raped or put to death. How hard she had worked to bury those memories! When she saw her fiancé's eyes widen at her use of Captain Trevarian's first name as she had that night, she knew she had damned herself further.

“Trained to obey, too,” Bryce continued mercilessly. “Are you going to bow to Newberry on your wedding night and press your head to his feet as you did to me the night I bought you in that Cantonese whorehouse?”

Lianne put her hands out, but Weston he did not take them. “It wasn't like he is trying to make you believe!”

Weston's lips were pursed so tightly that white puckers ringed them. “Just tell me the truth about one thing.”

“Anything, Weston!”

“Were you a harlot in China?”

Desperation entered her voice. “I told you. My mother's brother sold me. He hated me for my mixed blood, so he sold me to a brothel, instead of the wealthy merchant who had wanted me for his concubine. I—No, Weston,” she cried, as he started to turn away. She grasped his sleeve. “Please! Listen to the whole story.”

“I have heard enough. You may not have been a harlot, but you seem to see no shame in becoming a private whore.” He glanced at her left hand. “Please return the ring I gave you when I mistakenly asked you to marry me, Miss Catherwood.”

“Weston, please listen to me—”

He pulled off her glove and then the ring. “Do you think a harlot deserves the Newberry name?”

“Certainly we wouldn't want to think of the Newberry name being tarnished,” Bryce said. “Even the Catherwoods' wealth can't buy an unblemished reputation.”

Weston hesitated as he was about to stamp away. A storm of emotions twisted his features.

Lianne stared in horror. “You are more concerned about losing the money and prestige of the Shadow Line than about me!”

“Whore!” he spat. “The devil take you and your lover far from Stormhaven!”

“Lover?”

“Trevarian!” He stormed into the house.

Lianne stared after him in disbelief as the crowd followed him, eager to see his departure. At a laugh, she faced Bryce. Satisfaction glowed in his eyes. When she raised her hand to slap his face, he did not halt her. Her fingers stopped inches from his cheek. The curse she spoke in Cantonese did nothing but widen his smile.

She gathered her skirts and rushed into the dark garden. Bushes clawed at her gown, trying to halt her, but she wanted to escape her public ridicule. She had been the victim, but she wondered if anyone would heed her. She batted at branches which entangled in her hair and loosened it to fall along her back. Blinded by her dishonor, she ran full speed into a hard form.

She reached out to steady herself and touched a satin waistcoat. When she looked up at Bryce, she moaned, “Leave me alone! Haven't you done enough to ruin my life?”

“I did nothing tonight which wouldn't have happened eventually,” he said, with a gentleness she had never heard in his voice. “What would Newberry have done if he discovered the truth of your night in that brothel years from now, when you were bound to him and his bawling brats?”

“The only way he could have learned the truth was if you told him.”

“Or you.”

“I wouldn't—”

Seating her on an ornamental stone in a bed of chrysanthemums, he shook his head. “Lie to yourself if you want, but you can't lie to me. I know you too well, blue eyes. Some night when you felt safe and secure in his arms, you would have blurted out the truth. Then he would have banished you to another wing of his house where you would have lived your life out in shame.”

“At least I would have had a few years of happiness. You have denied me that.”

“And how many would you have lived in misery?”

Lianne leapt to her feet. “Don't try to twist the facts! You have ravaged my reputation. Now no man will want me.”

“I wouldn't say that.”

A wry smile twisted her lips. “No, you wouldn't. How much do you think I could make working in the taverns edging the docks?”

“A fair amount. You're a beautiful woman, Lianne. You could find many men willing to tumble you, if that's what you want.”

“When have you ever cared about what I want? All you care about is ruining my life.” She raised her chin. “Now it is your turn. You are discharged, Captain Trevarian.”

“Excuse me?” All hints of amusement left his voice as he closed the distance between them.

She stepped back so his shadow did not drape her in velvet blackness. “You heard me. The Shadow Line is no longer in need of your services.”

“You can't relieve me of my command of the
China Shadow
.”

“I can, and I have.” Lifting her skirts, she stepped up the first stone riser of the stairs leading to the driveway. “Good night, Captain—or I should say,
Mr
. Trevarian.”

He caught her arm and whirled her to him. “You don't run the Shadow Line … yet, Lianne!”

“My father demands loyalty from his employees.”

“And
he
has it! Not his daughter who's trying to usurp him.”

Lianne laughed. She could not help it, for his statement was ridiculous. Her father ruled his company completely. She might serve as his eyes or his feet, but all decisions came from him. If Captain Trevarian did not realize that, it was time he learned.

Her laughter faded as she saw rage in his eyes. “Very well, Miss Catherwood. I will present myself at your office after midday to receive my final compensation for my long years of working for your father. I trust you will inform him of your decision.”

“Yes.” She faltered. How would she tell Father about this? She sighed. She was the fool Bryce had accused her of being so often. “Captain—”

“
Mr
. Trevarian.”

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. “You know you are right. I have no say over who is hired or dismissed. Father insisted on speaking to Chester Simmons about retiring from
China Shadow
, although he was feeling poorly that day. Father would reinstate you immediately.”

“I know.”

His smug answer revived her ire, but she said, “Good evening, sir.”

“I'll see you tomorrow, Lianne. I have some work for the
China Shadow
which needs your authorization. Shall we say two o'clock?”

Her breath caught in her throat, as she wanted to shout that he had emptied all her days of any plans. When his finger brushed her cheek, she stared at the crystal droplet on it. She hated him more than she ever had. And she hated herself when she closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss he placed on her cheek.

“Blue eyes,” he whispered, as his fingers grazed her lips, “I didn't want to hurt you.”

“Then you failed.”

“No, I succeeded in keeping Newberry from getting his greedy hands on the Shadow Line, but I am sorry you had to get in the way.”

“Are you?” Bryce was not apologizing for wrecking her life, for he would not change any of what had happened.

“Yes. You have to trust me about this.”

She laughed. “I shall never trust you. Why should I? You have been part of the most horrid moments of my life.”

His arm swept around her and pulled her to him. She gasped, as her breath burst out at the sensation flooding her as his hard body pressed to her.

“The horrid moments?” he whispered. “I remember a few very, very fine ones, blue eyes.”

“Yes, but …”

As her voice faded into silence, he urged, “But what?”

“But you never were honest those times,” she answered, her breath as uneven as if she had run from the harbor.

“Not honest?” His lips tightened, and she wondered how he could look as if she had hurt
him
. “Lianne, don't compare me to your doctor who lied to you with every word.”

“You don't know what you are talking about.”

“I don't? I know that he probably told you that he loved you with all his heart, when he hurried your wedding date forward to pressure Captain Catherwood into giving him the Shadow Line. When are you going to stop believing in happy endings like the stories in your thousand stories box? You need to see things as they really are.”

“Me? What of you? You believe that a ruined ship can be repaired to sail again.”

“Yes.”

“Are you so lost in the pursuit of your dreams that you cannot be happy here and now?” Lianne tried to pull away, but he refused to release her. “You think you know everything. Do you know that I want to claw out your black heart?”

“No, you don't.” His voice gentled as he swept her hair back from her face. “You want something far different.”

She watched his gaze slip along her face. She had so many reasons to despise this man, but she could not think of a single one as he found her lips with a tender kiss. As her fingers curled around his nape, she shared every breath he took. The rhythm became ragged as the kiss deepened, stripping away the layers of lies she had built. She wanted his kisses more than she had ever wanted Weston's.

With a moan, Lianne pulled away. She was insane to believe this was anything but another attempt to bend her to Bryce's will. Clenching her hands at her sides, she said, “Tomorrow at two will be fine for our meeting.” She took a steadying breath, then added more firmly, “Bring your manifests from the last three voyages, as well as costs the
China Shadow
has incurred since you became her master.”

“That will take hours to gather.”

“Then I suggest you start now.” Turning toward the house, she glanced back at him. “After all, you must agree that your work is done for the evening. Have those numbers for me at two tomorrow, or be prepared to sail the ship to New Bedford to be salvaged.”

He exploded up the steps. “Threatening me—”

“I am not threatening you. If you can't prove that the
China Shadow
is worth keeping afloat, I have no choice but to rid the line of her and her crew.”

She left him standing, open-mouthed, behind her as she hurried up the stairs. No feeling of triumph washed over her. He had ruined her life. She did not like wanting to destroy his, but that yearning frightened her less than how, even in the midst of the end of her betrothal, she had longed for him to kiss more than her cheek.

Ten

Lianne left the buggy by one of the warehouses near the wharves. Out of sight now was best, because she did not want Bryce to find out where she was going. For the past week, he had stymied every attempt she made to see the real damage to the
China Shadow
. He had shown her the same ruined walls and cracked mast over and over, using every excuse he could devise for her not to go down into the holds.

Today, she was going to visit the ship unannounced. Maybe now she would find out the truth.

She walked along the pier. The
China Shadow
crouched like a wounded beast in the shallows, listing to one side. How much longer could the once mighty ship stay afloat?

She jumped into a jolly boat tied to the dock and plied the heavy oars. Despite the help from the tide, her arms soon ached as she pushed through the water. She smiled with relief when she reached the ship. Tying the boat to a rope ladder on the side, she climbed to the deck, fighting her skirts on every rung. She expected someone to come and investigate who was boarding, but saw no one.

Good! Maybe she would be able to find out what she needed to know.

“Anyone here?” she called, hoping Bryce would not answer.

No one did, so Lianne walked down the companionway. The crew must be below trying to fix one of the leaks that made the deck tilt. Where they were, Bryce would be, working to prove that the
China Shadow
should not be demolished.

A single lantern shone in the narrow corridor. Taking it from the wall, she tried to walk on the uneven floor that slanted sharply to the right. When she banged her shoulder against a sharp doorframe, she snarled a Cantonese curse. The words offered some satisfaction as they echoed oddly through the silent ship.