Читать книгу The Captain And His Innocent - Lucy Ashford, Lucy Ashford - Страница 13

Chapter Seven

Luke Danbury was in a smoky tavern down by the harbour of Bircham Staithe, drinking rough ale and playing dice with a group of local fishermen. But his mind was miles away.

It was several days since Jacques had sailed back to France—heading south towards La Rochelle on the coast—and by now Jacques and his men would be searching. Questioning. Offering bribes, offering threats—all in the probably vain hope that Luke’s brother wasn’t dead, like the rest.

Suddenly he realised that one of the fishermen was nudging him. ‘Your turn, Captain.’ Luke nodded and gathered up the dice. He threw them awkwardly, of course. He did everything damned awkwardly with his left hand. He remembered the bleak night last autumn when the bandaging was removed for the first time and Luke—low in spirits after weeks of enforced inactivity—had said to Jacques, ‘The next time, I will go to France with you. I cannot wait here any longer doing nothing, when my brother might need me.’

Then he’d seen the look on Jacques’s face. And he’d known exactly what the Frenchman was thinking, even if he was too kind to say it. You? With your crippled hand? What earthly good would you be to us? You cannot row a boat. You cannot wield a sword, or fire a gun.

Luke’s dice landed high and he realised that for once the pile of copper coins at his side was growing bigger. Well, there was a surprise. He ordered more ale for them all and muttered, under his breath, ‘Anthony. If you’re still alive, for God’s sake let Jacques find you.’

And then, Tom Bartlett was at his elbow, with the Wattersons standing big and burly behind him. ‘You’re wanted outside, Captain.’

‘Who by?’

‘A bunch of local ruffians. And Sam Snaith is their leader.’

A hushed silence descended on the tavern. ‘Why does he want me?’

‘He says he’s got someone interesting for you to meet. A girl—’

Luke was on his feet. He knew, without having to ask any more. He knew, as he strode around to the back of the tavern, where a dim light from a window illuminated the dingy courtyard.

Sam Snaith and his companions looked as disreputable as ever. They were all fishermen, supposedly, though he guessed they’d rarely brought in an honest day’s catch in their lives. But this time, they’d actually caught something of value. Luke exhaled sharply.

Just as he’d suspected—there she was. The French girl who’d been heading for Bircham Hall in Lord Franklin’s coach when he last saw her. The girl with the compass.

She’d been as haughty as hell with him, turning up her pretty nose in the air. And now that she’d recognised him, she was struggling even more desperately to free herself from Sam and his men, which they were enjoying, because it gave them all the more opportunity to manhandle her.

And he couldn’t bear it.

‘Stop,’ Luke rapped out at them. ‘Get your filthy hands off her. Now.’

They let her go, reluctantly. The girl lunged for a leather valise that had dropped to the ground and ran.

‘Tom,’ ordered Luke. ‘Get her.’

The Wattersons went after her, too. The three of them brought her back, and this time she didn’t struggle. But that leather bag, Luke noticed. She clung to it as if it meant more to her than life itself.

‘So,’ he said. ‘We meet again. Having an adventure, are you?’

* * *

She threw him a look that expressed downright contempt, but even so, something smote him deep in his guts. That wild dark hair, he marvelled. Those eyes. Green, with flecks of amber that glowed brilliantly in the candlelight. She was proud, she was brave—and beneath that bravado he guessed she was absolutely desperate. Whatever kind of mess she’s in, it’ll be all her own fault, he told himself fiercely.

Tom nudged him. ‘Captain, behind you—’ and Luke was suddenly aware that Sam Snaith, all lanky hair and crooked teeth, was sidling up close.

‘Now, look here, Captain,’ Sam began. ‘She was our captive first of all. And we trust you to treat us right for this. See?’

‘Treat you right,’ said Luke thoughtfully. ‘Now, what do you mean by that, I wonder? Should I, perhaps, break every bone in your miserable body for attacking a defenceless girl?’

‘Her? Defenceless? Ha! The wench knows how to put up a fight—you saw her!’

Tom and Josh were holding her by her arms, but she’d gone extremely still, as if her instincts told her he, Luke, was far more dangerous than Sam or his rogues. And by God, her instincts were right.

‘You told us, Captain!’ Sam was grumbling. He shoved his fists on his hips and stared up at Luke belligerently. ‘You said there’d be a reward for any news about the girl staying at Bircham Hall. And we’ve done better than that, see? We’ve brought her to you!’

‘Well—almost,’ said Luke. ‘Though I do believe I saw her a few moments ago giving all four of you the slip. Did you kidnap her from the house?’

‘What—and take on Lord Franklin’s men? No chance of that. But me and my lads, we were out on the Bircham road, minding our own business—’

‘You’d been thieving, you mean? Or poaching?’

Sam scowled. ‘Minding our own business, as I said—when all of a sudden, we saw the girl. She was scurrying along with that bag clutched in her hand, but Nathan here recognised her. Nathan said, “She’s the new girl, at Bircham Hall! The French girl that everyone’s talking about!” So we stopped her.’

Luke glanced at her, seeing the rapid rise and fall of her small breasts beneath her clothing, noting the fear that still shadowed those wide, alert eyes of hers. ‘I imagine,’ he said, ‘that she was less than delighted.’

‘We treated her well enough! We asked her, polite like—“Where are you going to, miss?”—and she said that she would give us money, good money, mind, if we would find her a ship that would take her over to France! But since you’d promised a reward, we brought her to you, see?’

Luke turned and said to her, ‘Is this true?’

Inside she must be terrified, he thought. Terrified. But her voice was etched with icy scorn as she replied, ‘Yes. It is. And it’s none of your business.’

‘But it is, I’m afraid. Listen to me. You’re wasting your time and energy by trying to escape. Tell me why you want to run and where to.’

She tilted her head defiantly. ‘Je ne comprends pas,’ she declared.

Luke sighed inwardly. She was telling him she didn’t understand—but he was pretty sure that she did. Every single word. And now she was jumping away again, wary as a wildcat, because Sam Snaith had drawn close, leering at her openly before saying to Luke, ‘We thought you’d be interested in her, Captain, and fair’s fair. We want that reward you promised—see?’

He held out his open palm, but Luke knocked it aside. ‘I asked for news. Not a prisoner.’

‘Oh, Captain,’ said Sam softly. ‘You’re a proud one, aren’t you? And you know what they say, about pride. Look around you.’

Luke looked, only to realise that more of Sam’s comrades had come out of the tavern and were gathering in the shadows—outnumbering Luke and his men by three to one at least. Damn. He glanced quickly at the girl, who’d gone very still.

And Sam was at his shoulder. ‘If you’re not going to give us our reward—Captain—then we’ll have the girl back, if you please. We’ll at least get a night’s entertainment out of her—’

The click of a pistol’s safety catch being released echoed around the courtyard. Everyone stared in shock at the girl—because she had a pistol in her hand that was pointed straight at Sam’s heart.

Luke groaned inwardly. Oh, God. He should have remembered. Most girls would have fainted—not this one.

‘Back away,’ she said to Sam Snaith. ‘Back away now.’

Sam lifted his hands, but he was trying to sneer. ‘You think you’re frightening me? I’ll wager it’s not even loaded.’

She held the gun steady. ‘Oh, I assure you it is. And it will take only one bullet to finish you off.’

And then—as if that wasn’t enough, thought Luke as he braced himself—then they heard horses, clattering down the road towards the inn and the nearby harbour. More local men were pouring out of the tavern’s back door and everyone was shouting at once. ‘The Revenue men. Quick. Scatter.’

And Luke plunged towards the girl. Grabbed the gun off her and passed it to Tom, then seized her arm. Tom and the Wattersons were close behind him. ‘Run,’ he whispered to her. ‘This way.’

She tried to stand her ground. ‘My valise...’

That leather bag of hers. It was lying on the ground. He grabbed that, too, and thrust it towards Josh. ‘Here. Carry this.’ By now, he could hear the government men pulling to a halt around the front of the inn; in no time they would be round the back, hunting for—what? Smugglers? Or were they looking for a runaway French girl, who was supposed to be dwelling in comfort at the country home of Lord Franklin Grayfield?

He, Luke, wanted a little time alone with her. He wanted to know what the hell was going on. Why she’d come to England, for a start—and why she was already trying to flee.

Luke pointed to a narrow alley that led away from the courtyard into the twisting steep lanes of the village. He tugged at the girl’s arm. ‘I said run.’

The first few riders were already jostling their way into the yard, peering around from their saddles in eager search of captives. This time she obeyed him. She ran.

* * *

For Ellie, the nightmare had begun when those men had appeared out of the darkness, on the road down to Bircham Staithe. She’d thought at first they might be Lord Franklin’s men after her; but the way they spoke soon dispelled that notion—as did the way they leered at her, before asking insolently what her business was and where she was bound.

‘I’m on my way to the harbour,’ she’d answered. She’d tried to keep her voice calm. ‘I need a ship, to Calais or any part of the French coast. I can pay you—’

They’d stared, incredulous. ‘She’s French,’ they’d said. ‘It’s the little French missy from Bircham Hall. And we know there’s someone not far from here who might be willing to pay a fine fat reward for her, lads.’

They’d grabbed her so swiftly that she hadn’t had chance to get her gun. They’d marched her down to the harbour and the inn. They don’t know that I’ve got my pistol, she kept telling herself. They don’t know.

But her heart had really started beating hard when they reached the inn yard, and the man strolled out. The man in the long patched coat, who wore a black glove on his damaged right hand. His voice, as he spoke to her, had been cool and controlled and almost amused. His blue eyes had gleamed with some knowledge she couldn’t begin to guess at.

Having an adventure, are you? he’d said. And she’d felt as though she was on the brink of hurtling down a bottomless abyss.

She would never, ever admit how vulnerable—how scared—she felt. She’d rather die than let him know it. But she knew, in that moment, that he was the most dangerous of them all.

She’d foolishly hoped that producing her pistol would help her get away from the lot of them, but the arrival of the riders—Revenue men, she heard the others call out—had put paid to her plan. And now she’d lost her gun, one of his accomplices had her valise and the man they called the captain was dragging her away from the village, into the blackness.

‘Come,’ he was saying harshly.

It was either him or the Revenue men.

His three henchmen were just behind them, running, too. One held her valise and the other one—stocky, with spiky black hair—had her pistol. But it was the captain’s strong left hand that still grasped her wrist.

They were heading away from the harbour, she realised, towards a rough track that led up the headland; so that as they climbed, she could see the black surface of the sea stretching out below her, its softly churning waves painted silver by the moon. A salty breeze caressed her face and teased her with its hint of freedom.

What now? she was thinking desperately. All right; so Captain Luke had rescued her from the ruffians who’d captured her on the road. But wasn’t this man—this cold, forbidding man—even more dangerous than they were? He knew she was in Lord Franklin’s care. He knew, now, that she’d run from the Hall tonight.

And it was clear that he didn’t intend to let her return there. Perhaps he wanted a ransom, she guessed suddenly—but she was pretty sure that Lady Charlotte would pay him to keep