Velvet Chains (Historical Romance) (21 page)

"Well, you are seeing it now, Briggs," The Raven said sourly. "Don't you have someone else's business to tend to besides mine?"

"I was just thinking, Captain. De Fores seemed to show a lot of interest in Lady Season today. Suppose he finds out she is staying with Maude?"

The Raven's hands gripped the rail. "My God, I didn't even think about that, Briggs. Maude would be no match for De Fores and his crew. Take a handful of men and go make sure everything is all right. As a matter of fact, I would feel better if you brought Season back to the
Andromeda
. I would go myself, but I dare not leave Robert since he is so ill."

The first mate nodded his head and rushed off to gather some men together. The Raven continued to stare toward Tripoli. He was just being foolish; Season probably wasn't in any danger from De Fores. The man wouldn't dare lay a hand on her. Still, a nagging fear seemed to eat at the pit of his stomach. Season had become as necessary to him as the air he breathed. He couldn't bear the thought of De Fores—or any other man—touching her either, for that matter.

He watched as Briggs and four other crewmembers went over the side of the ship and dropped into the longboat. He knew he would breathe a lot easier when Briggs returned with Season.

Season awoke when she felt a hand clamped over her mouth. She could see the shape of the man who bent over her, and she knew he was De Fores!

"Do not make a sound, my lady. It is me, De Fores, and I have come to rescue you."

Season nodded her head in understanding, and he removed his hand from her mouth. Her heart was pounding with excitement as he took her hand and led her across the room. She could hardly believe she was about to be free! Season couldn't help but think how angry The Raven would be when he found his captive had been spirited away in the dead of night.

"Dress quickly; we do not have much time," De Fores ordered. "I want to catch the morning tide."

Season hastily slipped her gown over her head, so anxious to be gone that her hands trembled excitedly. When she had completed dressing, she followed De Fores out of the room and then cautiously descended the stairs. When they reached the front door, Season tripped over something and lost her footing, falling to the floor. She almost screamed out when she saw that it was Maude's Nubian slave, a knife sticking out of his back.

As De Fores jerked her to her feet, Season stifled a sob. She hadn't meant him to kill anyone while trying to rescue her. She was horrified that a man was dead because of her.

"Come along, my lady. It will not be long before the dead bodies are discovered and I want to be far from here when that happens."

Season jerked her hand free. "You cannot mean that you have killed others!"

"What did you expect? Did you think I could just walk in and say excuse me but would you hand Lady Season Chatsworth over to me?" He took her arm and led her forward. Season was confused. She hesitated. Hadn't she asked this man to help her? Why did she feel so heavy-hearted now?

De Fores led her out into the street where several men awaited them. It was a bright moonlit night, and the streets of Tripoli were deserted as they made their way down to the sea. Keeping well into the shadows, they finally reached the pier. Season was afraid that any moment they would be discovered and she would be recaptured by The Raven, the man she detested.

When De Fores lifted her into the longboat, Season became more confident. De Fores' men began to row out to sea, and she relaxed. Before too many minutes passed, Season saw De Fores' ship looming up out of the darkness. She couldn't help but look to the far right where the Andromeda rode at anchor. She could easily make out the figurehead, the raven in flight. How good it felt to be free of her dark master's dominance.

De Fores helped Season aboard the ship, and she was shown below by a silent and brooding crewmember who seemed to view her with angry eyes.

"Will you send your captain to me as soon as possible?" she asked, turning to the man. "I want to discuss some important matters with him."

"The captain ain't got no time for you now. He's got to get the ship under way. You'll have to wait until it's convenient for him to come to you," the man answered suggestively.

"I do not think my request is unreasonable. Tell him I want to see him at once!" she demanded.

"I ain't working for you. It's because of you that we will soon have The Raven down on us. If the captain had listened to me, he would never have got mixed up with The Raven's lady. That man ain't nobody to fool around with. I fear we'll all live to rue this night."

Season wanted to protest, but the man turned away and stalked out of the cabin. She soon heard the old familiar sound of a key grating in the lock. She might be locked in a ship's cabin again, but she was free, she told herself. No longer would she be the prisoner of the dark lord of the sea. Her only wish was that she could see The Raven's face when he finally discovered she was missing.

The Raven stood beside the bed where his friend, Robert Wolf, lay. He noticed that Robert's face showed the agony he was suffering. Wolf had a festered wound on his leg, and his wrists were rubbed raw from being chained. Touching Robert's forehead, Raven discovered he was running a high fever and appeared to be unconscious.

Maxwell, the ship's doctor, had treated Wolfs wounds, and then had shaken his head as he'd looked at his captain. "He's been terribly mistreated, Captain. He needs liquids and rest. I'll have to keep a close eye on his wounds to make sure gangrene doesn't set in."

"Do what you can for him, Maxwell," The Raven said grimly. "I must go topside and watch for Briggs. He should have returned by now."

It was almost dawn, and The Raven hadn't slept in the last two nights. He leaned against the railing as he watched a ship weigh anchor and put out to sea. She was the
Blue Dolphin
, De Fores' ship. The morning breeze caught at her canvas as she moved silently out to sea.

James joined his captain and they both watched the
Blue Dolphin
leave port. "He'll be off to practice his mischief on some poor, unsuspecting ship, Captain," the cabin boy observed.

"Yes, and it's just as well. If he stayed around, I would probably run him through for the way he treated Robert," The Raven answered, feeling almost relieved that De Fores was leaving. That must mean that De Fores hadn't gone to Maude's house, as he had feared.

"The doctor says Captain Wolf has a good chance of making it, sir." James watched his captain's face. "When do we sail, sir?"

"I have received a message from John Paul Jones; he is in France and has asked me to join him there. I have decided to leave at once. We will sail immediately upon Briggs's return. Have the men make the ship ready."

"France ain't too far from England. Will you set the lady free when we reach there?"

"Just do as you are told," The Raven snapped, turning his back and watching the sun rise on the fading sails of the
Blue Dolphin
.

The Raven was sitting beside Robert Wolf’s bedside when Briggs came bursting into the cabin. "Captain, sir, Lady Season has disappeared. I didn't see hide nor hair of her at Maude's house!"

The Raven stood up slowly. "What are you saying, Briggs?"

"I found Maude unconscious, and that Nubian of hers was dead, stabbed. There was no sign of Lady Season and when Maude regained consciousness, she didn't know what had happened to her either."

The Raven ran his hand through his hair. "Did you search the house thoroughly?"

"Yes, sir," Briggs replied in a distressed voice. "There was no sign of a struggle; she's just gone. I found her necklace lying on the floor."

The Raven took the necklace and watched the diamonds and emeralds shimmer in the light. "My God! De Fores has Season!" he cried, as he ran from the cabin.

"All hands on deck!" he yelled. "De Fores has taken Lady Season! We get under way immediately." He took the helm and his hands gripped the wheel tightly. His eyes stared at the distant horizon where the Blue Dolphin had disappeared. "I'll see you dead for this, De Fores," he said aloud. "If you harm one hair on her head, your death will be horrible to behold!"

Season walked about the cabin impatiently. She vowed that when she was safely back with her father, she would never again be behind a locked door. This certainly wasn't what she had had in mind when she'd asked De Fores for his help. She noticed the cabin was in disarray and wrinkled her nose. It wasn't very clean. The covers on the bed were filthy and rumpled. Indeed, these quarters smelled of perspiration and unwashed bodies. Never mind, she told herself. Soon I will be back in England and this will be a nightmare I have left behind. In no time at all The Raven will be nothing more than a bitter memory.

The door opened suddenly and De Fores entered the cabin. He smiled at Season and unbuckled his sword, letting it clatter to the floor.

"We have made it, my lady. I always knew the captain of the
Andromeda
was no match for me. Once again I have plucked The Raven's tail feathers, no?"

"Is there no fear he will pursue us?"

"Oh, he will try, but there is no way he can catch us now. By the time he realizes I have stolen his lady, he will not be able to find us. There is no one to tell him that you are with me; after all, Maude and her servant are both dead."

Season felt her stomach churn. "You cannot mean that you killed Maude!" she cried, horrified. "I didn't expect you would harm anyone."

De Fores shrugged his shoulders. "I did what I thought was necessary."

Season felt sick. She remembered that Maude had not been unkind on the preceding evening. Maude's death lay heavily on her shoulders; but she set her grief aside and faced De Fores.

"Have you set a course for England?"

He laughed, and his white teeth gleamed brightly. "I am De Fores, the pirate. I cannot sail leisurely up to the English shores. The
Blue Dolphin
would be sunk before we ever sighted Dover."

"What do you plan to do then?"

"We will talk about that later," he said, stripping off his jacket. "Right now I am hungry—how about you?"

"No, not very," she answered, beginning to pace the floor again. "One other thing I want to talk to you about," she said, stopping in front of him. "I insist that I not be locked in this cabin. I have an aversion to being locked up."

De Fores' eyebrow quirked. "Excuse me, my lady, but you must trust me to do what is best for your safety. If I left the cabin door unlocked, you would be ravished by one or several members of my crew."

Season's cheeks stained crimson. "Surely not. I was never in that kind of danger aboard the
Andromeda
."

"Ah, yes, The Raven's crew. They may have had thoughts in that direction, but they would never exercise them. I believe they are referred to in Tripoli as the gentlemen of the sea," he said in a contemptuous voice.

"Are you quite sure The Raven cannot catch up with us, Captain De Fores?"

He smiled as his eyes ran the length of her body. "Have I not said you have nothing to fear from him?" He sat down on the edge of the desk, looking deeply into Season's green eyes. "Tell me about yourself and how you came to be on board the
Andromeda
?"

Something about De Fores' attitude bothered Season. She didn't think it was any of his business how she came to be on the
Andromeda
. "I was taken from my bedroom one night and held for a prisoner exchange."

"I see," the man said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Did the good captain leave you untouched? I have been told that he once rescued a Spanish ship in distress. There were five females on board and The Raven set them down on Spanish soil unmolested."

Again Season felt her face flush. She lowered her head. "We are not here to discuss me or The Raven. All I want to know from you is how soon you can get me back to my father. You said you couldn't sail into an English port, but you could set me down in France and I could find my own way home from there."

Season turned away because she didn't like the way the man was watching her. She didn't realize he had come up behind her until she felt his hand on her hair.

"Alas, my lady. My countrymen would be more inclined to hang me than your British countrymen."

"What do you intend to do then? Have you no plan in mind?"

He merely laughed and ran his hand down her hair. "I have never seen hair the color of yours, my lady. It is the color of gold with the color of red flames mixed in. I knew it would feel like silk in my fingers."

She turned to him quickly, her green eyes blazing like fire. "Do not dare ever lay your hand on my person again. You will be well paid when you see that I get back to my father. Until that time, I will ask you to keep a respectable distance from me."

De Fores' white teeth flashed and he grinned widely. "Did my friend, The Raven, also keep his distance? Would your father pay any less for your return should you be . . . let us say not quite pure?"

"How dare you, sir! You are insulting and disgusting," she said, beginning to feel more uneasy by the moment.