The Pirate and the Puritan (35 page)

She yanked her hand from his
grasp. “My father had nothing to do with my relationship with Mr. Crawford.”
She lifted her chin, refusing to quail under the triumphant glow in his eyes.

Admiral Meldrick stood. “I’m
afraid you’ve lost your credibility. I almost believed you were aiming at
El
Diablo
when you pulled that trigger, but not now. Not only will I see to
the prompt execution of your father on our return to Barbados, but you’ll be
swinging right next to him.”

Bile rose in the back of her
throat. If she had to speak, she would have choked. Instead, she glared at
Admiral Meldrick. He looked exceedingly pleased.

“What do you suppose our
El
Diablo
will do now?” he asked. Not waiting for an answer, he strutted to
the table where McCulla greedily gulped down rum, and the two men began to
converse as if they were childhood chums.

Drew would not come for her this
time. She and her father would die.

Felicity jerked back from the
stench rising from the darkness at the bottom of the stone steps. The guard
escorting her into the Barbados gaol gingerly touched her elbow. She yanked it
away and continued her descent on her own. She didn’t deserve his care. In the
luxury of the British vessel that brought her back to the island, she’d almost
been able to forget her status as a prisoner. Entering the tomb that
incarcerated her father altered her false sense of ease.

Convincing Admiral Meldrick to
allow her to see her father had been too easy. His congeniality had raised
Felicity’s suspicions—especially considering the dire pronouncement he’d made
earlier about obtaining her death. But the royal treatment she’d received on
their voyage back to Barbados on the
HMS Warwick
had brought an
understanding—it was not too late to save her neck or her father’s. During
several nights’ meals with the admiral, not a word was mentioned regarding her
impending trial. She’d come to understand that Meldrick found the idea of
hanging a woman almost as appalling as she did. He fully expected her to
eventually condemn Drew and save them both a lot of unpleasantness.

Through their dinner
conversations, she’d learned of the warships accompanying them. Admiral
Meldrick bragged of
El Diablo’s
inevitable crushing defeat if he
attempted a rescue. On their last night at sea, with no sign of Drew or the
Rapture
,
Meldrick’s jovial mood turned sour. However, he had perked up when she’d
insisted upon seeing her father as soon as they docked. The condition of her
father’s imprisonment explained Admiral Meldrick’s response.

She deserved to be in this
dungeon alongside her father. Then she might rid herself of her loyalty to a
killer. Not that she wanted to hurt Solomon and Hugh, but if she told the
British of their island… The thought fell away unfinished. She wouldn’t reveal
information that could lead—even inadvertently—to the capture of Drew or his
crew. Therefore, she and her father would die.

She fought back tears. While
sacrificing her own life would be just penance, her father didn’t deserve to be
kept like an animal or have his life taken from him. He’d never harmed another
human being in his life. Yet his own daughter didn’t have the strength of
character to save him. Not if it meant sacrificing Drew.

Light pierced the darkness
through small windows located high in the stone walls. Cells lined each side of
the passageway. A dank mist seeped from the floor and the walls, making it hard
to breathe. Prisoners leaned against the stone, silently watching them. An
occasional rattled chain or the steady drip of water were the only sounds penetrating
the hollow stillness of despair.

In one of the cells, thin arms
and legs protruded from a bundle of tattered clothing. What was once a man lay
huddled in the corner, shrinking from a shaft of sunlight touching the dirt
floor.

Felicity hesitated until the
guard propelled her onward.

When she realized the man wasn’t
her father, she let out a sigh of relief. The feeling only lasted for a moment.
The third cell she came to held the man she sought.

Her father staggered to the bars
separating them, his eyes wide with disbelief. He reached out to her, but had
only enough room to push his fingers through the metal. “Felicity?”

She interpreted the smile
lighting his sunken features to mean he’d not heard of her exploits or her
fate.

She hooked her fingers through
his. “Father, I’ve been so worried about you.” Her voice came out low and
husky, but she managed to gulp back her sob.

“I must say the same, daughter.”
His filthy clothes, probably the ones he’d been wearing when he was arrested,
swallowed him. The cream of his stockings had turned sooty gray. Tufts of white
hair sprang like horns from the sides of his balding head. Despite all this, he
smiled at her. “I suspected you got yourself on Lord Christian’s ship, but—”

“You know that’s not who he is.
He’s an awful man. Truly awful.” This time she choked on her words. She’d not
meant to bring up her relationship with Drew, but her heartache spilled from
her like a child confessing her nightmares in the hope her father could banish
them forever.

He squeezed her fingers. “What’s
this about, Felicity? Drew wouldn’t mistreat you. He wouldn’t mistreat a
woman—”

She pulled her hand away. “I
think Beatrice Marley would disagree. He’s the one they call
El Diablo
.
Surely you know that. That’s why you’re here.”

His smile faded, revealing the
gauntness in his drooping cheeks. All her memories of her father centered
around his rounded, smiling face and his laughter. He’d been just like that on
her arrival in Barbados, but she’d not appreciated him. Instead, she’d noticed
only his failings, as she perceived them. She’d condemned her father, believing
him to be a fool. With the impending demise of her own short, painful life, she
finally realized she too was a fool.

She wrapped her fingers over his,
regretting making him frown. The truth would not change their fate. If
condemning Drew upset him, she’d hold her tongue even if she choked on it.

Her father attempted to smile
again, but the effort merely wobbled his lips. “Don’t be sad for me. I knew the
possible consequences of my actions, and now I’m paying for them. But I don’t
blame Drew, and neither should you. For once in your life, Felicity, try to see
with your heart and not your eyes.”

“I did see with my heart and
believed all of Drew’s lies.” Leaning her forehead against the cool metal bars
hid the tears in her eyes. She had no right to cry for herself when her father
remained in this place. “I actually convinced myself I loved him.” Her
confession burned her throat. She lifted her head to look into her father’s
face. She owed him the truth. “God forgive me, but I still do.”

“I see.” Her father’s direct gaze
warned her that he understood far more about her relationship with Drew than
she intended to tell him. “Perhaps Drew has a few things to answer for in that
respect, but I can assure you his goal wasn’t to intentionally hurt you.”

She squeezed the bars of her
father’s cage, anger filling her now instead of sorrow. The fact that her
father could still defend Drew proved the man’s seduction of him had been more
thorough than her own. “You’ve always softened your heart to fools, and now
you’ve extended your blind kindness to murderers. Drew used me. He used you. He
murdered your dearest friend, his innocent bride, and still you can’t see what
he is. I should have shot him while I had the chance.”

Her father’s eyes narrowed, the
warm brown hardening into an expression she’d never seen before. “Your mother
made me promise to let you have more freedom than other girls because of your
strong spirit. I’ve done that, but this time you’ve gone too far. I assure you,
if you do anything to bring about Drew’s capture, I will go to my grave with a
rift between us that will never be healed.”

“How can you take his—”

“Do you think me such a simpleton
that I didn’t know Drew was not who he claimed to be?”

She tried to convince herself she
misunderstood what he was saying, but his chilling revelation seeped past her
anger. “You knew he was a pirate all along?”

Her father sighed. “Yes. Marley
and I were traveling the same course we’d been on in Boston. Without royal
influence or noble blood, we didn’t have a chance in trade as honest
businessmen—even in England’s remotest colonies. Drew changed our fate or we
would have lost everything, including the house your mother left your brother.”

She blinked, realizing her eyes
had been wide with surprise. “But it was Mother’s wish for the house to be
Jonathan’s when he came of age.”

Her father lowered his gaze.
“Legally, the house was mine. I’m ashamed to say I put up your home as
collateral to obtain the money it took for Marley and me to start over again in
Barbados. I swear I planned to make the money back twofold and give Jonathan
his inheritance. With Drew’s help, I was able to do that.”

Felicity stepped back from the
bars separating them. She questioned whether she’d ever known her father at
all. “And you sought out a reputed killer to ensure your financial success? I
don’t understand. I never would have thought you would profit on other people’s
misery for any reason.”

“For once, daughter, hear me out
before you condemn me. I found Drew half-conscious after he washed up on a
beach on the other side of the island.” He raised his hand to stop her when she
opened her mouth to interrupt. “I’d been contemplating my financial woes and
walking aimlessly. The young man looked in worse shape than I was. I thanked
God for that which I did still possess and took him home to nurse him back to
health.”

“When will you learn not to take
in every stray dog you see loitering in the streets? If this hasn’t taught you
your lesson, I don’t know what will.”

“Let me finish and we’ll see who
will learn the lesson!” Felicity bit her lip to keep it from trembling. In all
her life, her father had never raised his voice to her.

“The skin around the lad’s ankles
and wrists had been rubbed raw. He looked as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks. When
he came to his senses, he told me he’d been captured by the Spanish. He’d
escaped from a prison on a small island on the Spanish Main, but his crew
hadn’t been so fortunate. They were hanged on their capture.”

She noticed the guard lurking at
the end of the corridor and lowered her voice to a whisper. “You let an escaped
prisoner stay in your home?”

“He was a runaway indentured
servant who’d turned to piracy out of necessity. You must understand, I was
close to debtors’ prison at the time. I sympathized with his plight, knowing I
might soon meet a similar fate. You and your brother would have been turned out
on the streets.”

She gripped the bars. “And you
trusted him, knowing he was a thief?”

“Yes. And if you could listen to
the truth you know in your heart, you wouldn’t be swayed by falsehoods spread
by others. I know Drew is a good man, even if he’s confused about himself.”

The guard shuffled toward her.
“Just a few more minutes,” she pleaded. He nodded and disappeared into a dark
corner of the prison.

She turned back to her father. “I
found
El Diablo’s
flag in Drew’s cabin.”

Her father dismissed her damning
statement with a wave of his hand. “That flag was used for intimidation. As was
the character.
El Diablo
was as much a fiction as Lord Christian. Lord
Christian was Drew’s identity on this island,
El Diablo
off. Drew was
ruthless, yes, and he was a pirate. But women and children had nothing to
fear—”

“Then who killed Marley and his
wife? Did you not know that the Duke of Foxmoor claims Marley wrote to him
about Drew’s impersonation of Lord Christian?” Felicity heard the desperate
emotion in her voice, but whether she hoped to convince her father or herself,
she didn’t know.

“Marley shouldn’t have been so
greedy. He was fine selling pirated goods until merchants started hanging
beside the pirates they bought from. Marley thought he could disassociate
himself from Drew and wring some money for his silence from the duke as well. I
thought I’d talked him out of his scheme, but...” Her father lowered his gaze.

Felicity stared hard into her
father’s downcast face. “You truly knew about this?” She wanted to ask if he
was involved in the murders but stopped herself. If that were the case,
everything she ever knew to be true would be turned upside down. “Please tell
me you didn’t know Drew planned to kill Marley and his wife.”

Her father raised his gaze, and
again he was so unlike the amiable man she’d grown up with she pulled away from
the bars. “I’m only going to say this one more time: Drew didn’t kill Marley,
and he’d never, never murder a woman.”

“How can you be so sure?” She
wanted him to give her something solid to sway her in Drew’s favor and never
make her doubt him or herself again.

“Because I know the man.
Apparently you don’t.”

She couldn’t meet her father’s
steady gaze. “No, I suppose I don’t.”

Through the bars, he touched the
tip of her nose. “I’m sorry you ever became involved in this. Drew had no right
to...”

He thankfully let his words drift
off. Felicity had the urge to tell him Drew’s advances hadn’t been uninvited,
if only to erase the worry from his features, but to do that she’d have to
explain more than she dared reveal, especially to her father.

He cleared his throat. “Your
heart will heal, daughter. It’s the rest of you I’m worried about. That’s why
both Drew and I wanted you to leave Barbados as soon as you arrived. I have
some money hidden. Leave now and go back to Boston.”