Читать книгу Christmas Wedding Belles: The Pirate's Kiss / A Smuggler's Tale / The Sailor's Bride - Miranda Jarrett, Margaret McPhee - Страница 10

‘OF ALL the unpardonably dirty tricks!’

The door of the room was locked and the guard’s footsteps receded along the corridor. Lucinda grabbed Daniel by the lapels of his jacket and shook him hard, her weight carrying them both backwards onto the dirty pallet bed in the corner of the room.

He went down with a thud, banging his shoulder against the wall, all the breath knocked from his body. Lucinda was no lightweight. Now she was sitting on top of him, just as she had when they had fought as children, in the days before their youthful feelings had turned to something deeper. Daniel shifted beneath her. No. On second thoughts it was not quite as it had been when they were children. Now Lucinda’s silk-clad legs were pressing against the side of his body, the warm juncture of her thighs was brushing a rather delicate and responsive part of his anatomy, and as she leaned forward, her wrathful face only a few inches from his, he caught a tantalising glimpse of the curve of her breasts beneath the silk ballgown.

He did the first thing that came into his mind.

He seized the hateful turban from her head and threw it into a corner of the room. Lucinda’s hair tumbled down to her shoulders, sticking out from its pins in charming blonde disarray. Daniel smiled.

‘That’s better.’

Lucinda made a noise like an enraged kitten and beat her fists against his chest.

‘Beast! Hateful, lying, deceitful, manipulative, traitorous beast!’

Daniel laughed out loud. ‘Don’t hold back, Lucinda!’

‘I hate you! You ruined my life once before, and now you have ruined me! I detest you!’ Her voice broke. To his amazement, Daniel realised that she was on the very edge of tears, his indomitable Lucinda. He had never, ever seen her cry—not even when her pet slow-worm had died when she was thirteen.

His hands gentled on her shoulders. He felt a huge wave of remorse, sobering him, humbling him. He got into—and out of—situations like this every day of his life, but Lucinda did not. In his careless, selfish disdain for her feelings and her future he had indeed ruined her.

‘I am sorry,’ he said slowly.

Her eyes were very bright with unshed tears as she looked down at him.

‘Why did you do it?’

Daniel shrugged uncomfortably. ‘It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We weren’t supposed to be locked up. I thought that Chance would believe me. My plan was for him to back down and apologise, and for everyone to congratulate us, and then we would simply walk out of there—’

‘And you would walk out of my life. Again. Leaving me to explain—again—the disappearance of my fiancé.’

There was a silence.

‘Something like that,’ Daniel admitted.

Lucinda straightened, moving away from him. Daniel swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat next to her. They were in a hastily converted office on the first floor of Woodbridge Gaol, detained at His Majesty’s pleasure whilst Owen Chance sent to Shropshire for urgent confirmation of Mr Jackson Raleigh’s identity. The door was locked, and a soldier was on guard at the end of the corridor. The Riding Officer had been apologetic but firm. Clearly he had not thought he could consign to the filthy cells a couple who might just possibly be all that they seemed—outraged gentry caught up in a case of mistaken identity. Even so, their situation was not a comfortable one. The room had one pallet bed, a desk, a wooden chair, a bucket, and that was all.

Daniel could not see Lucinda’s face. The unruly strands of hair that he had released now masked her expression from him.

‘You have never cared about anyone else in your life,’ she said slowly. ‘It is all of a piece.’

When he did not reply she glanced sideways at him.

‘Why do you not answer?’

Daniel shook his head. He felt cold within. ‘I have no defence against your words. You are correct. I thought only of myself and how I might escape.’

‘You abandoned me without a word when I was seventeen,’ Lucinda continued. ‘Tonight I almost forgot all of that, and was nearly seduced into caring for you all over again. But you—you care for no one but yourself, Daniel. You always have and you always will.’

Daniel made an abrupt movement of pain and frustrated rage. Until recently he had been his own sternest critic. Sometimes in the dark hours he struggled with his guilt, but that fight was his alone and he never spoke of it. That had changed when Lucinda had burst into his life again. She had confronted him and made him face up to the hurt he had dealt her in the past. And now he had hurt her all over again.

‘Why did you not denounce me?’ he said now. ‘Why did you lie to save me? Why did you not tell them at once that I was using you?’

She shot him a look from her very blue eyes. A tinge of colour touched her cheek. She caught her lush lower lip between her teeth.

‘Because I find that I am not as ruthless as you.’ She knitted her fingers together. ‘I did not want to see you hang.’

‘Thank you.’

She glared at him. ‘Oh, I wanted to denounce you for ruining me. Don’t mistake me. It is simply that I do not have the necessary hardihood.’

Daniel winced. ‘Well, thank you anyway.’

Lucinda turned her head slightly towards him. ‘Is there someone in Ludlow who can vouch for you?’

‘Of course not.’

‘Nor anyone else who will come to our aid?’

‘No.’

‘The Duchess of Kestrel might try, for my sake.’

‘She cannot do anything to help.’ Daniel rubbed his brow. ‘I dare say she realises that I am indeed de Lancey, but she will not intervene. I have worked with Justin Kestrel for the past five years, but he cannot save me now. He offered me a pardon only a few weeks ago and I turned him down. It is understood that if I am captured I am on my own.’

Lucinda was staring. ‘You have worked with Justin Kestrel?’

‘Yes.’ Daniel paused for a moment, but he knew that this was hardly the time to keep any further secrets from Lucinda. ‘You mentioned tonight that you had heard I worked for the Admiralty. Well, it is true. I am no traitor, Luce. I have worked for this government throughout the war.’

‘Then you are no spy?’

‘I spy for the British, not the French.’

‘And the piracy?’

‘I certainly harry the French fleet as much as I can.’

‘And the smuggling?’

‘I have helped smuggle fugitives from Napoleon’s regime.’ Daniel shrugged. ‘And I also smuggle good French brandy, so it is absolutely true that I am a criminal.’

‘Oh, Daniel!’

For a moment he thought Lucinda was going to throw herself into his arms, but being the woman she was she swallowed hard and glared at him instead.

‘Why did you not tell me the truth before? Why did you want me to think the worst of you?’

Daniel shifted a little. He took her hand. ‘Because I had to drive you away, Luce. It is not as simple as you think. I may have worked for the Admiralty, but I have crossed the line many times. By any definition I am a criminal now. That was what I meant when I said that you had not misjudged me.’ His grip tightened on her hand. ‘All the things of which you accuse me—the selfishness and the recklessness and the love of danger—they are all true.’

Lucinda’s eyes flashed. ‘But it is iniquitous for the Admiralty to treat you so when you have worked for them! Justin Kestrel should be ashamed if he leaves you to hang!’

Daniel’s lips twitched. ‘Your sense of fair play is admirable, Lucy,’ he said quietly. ‘But in your haste to acquit me do not forget that I have ruined you. I am as bad as you have painted me.’

‘That’s true,’ Lucinda agreed. ‘You are still a lying, deceitful and manipulative beast, even if you are not a traitor.’

Daniel smiled at her. ‘Thank you.’

Lucinda fidgeted and looked away, though she allowed her hand to remain in his. ‘So, if Justin Kestrel will not come to our aid, we have a couple of days of this…this purgatory…until they get word that you are not Mr Jackson Raleigh and then we are both hanged.’

‘That’s about the size of it.’ Daniel’s squeezed her fingers. ‘But we shall escape before that.’

Her eyes flew to his. ‘Shall we?’

‘Of course. In fact we are about to do so. It is always best to escape early on, with the element of surprise.’

Lucinda raised her brows. ‘I see. And I admire your confidence. So how is this cunning plan to be achieved?’

‘I am not sure yet,’ Daniel admitted. ‘But I know I will think of something.’

Her shoulders slumped slightly. ‘How reassuring.’

He put his arm about her. ‘Whatever happens, Lucy, you are coming with me. You have to now.’

She looked down her nose at him. ‘I have to do no such thing. Why should I?’

‘Because, as you so succinctly pointed out a few moments ago, I have ruined you,’ Daniel said calmly. He had had no time to think anything through beyond an absolute certainty that he had to put matters right for Lucinda. It was the one good thing that he could do—even if it would be the last. ‘You will come with me and you will marry me.’

‘What makes you think that I will have you?’ Lucinda said, with a flash of hauteur. ‘You are no great catch.’

Daniel grinned. ‘Being married to me will be better than trying to marry off the brats of the nobility for a living. Trust me on that.’

‘You always had an inflated opinion of your own charms,’ Lucinda commented. ‘I cannot believe that you are using the opportunity of us being locked up together to press your suit. I will not marry you, Daniel, and that is final. You are the least reliable man on earth, and I would have to be mad or desperate or both to accept you.’

Daniel was thinking quickly. He was sure that if the worse came to the worst he could barter information for Lucinda’s freedom. Justin and Sally Kestrel could help her, if not him. She could go to Allandale, do the work that he had been too weak and too wild to do. At least she would be safe…

‘Marry me,’ he said again. ‘Please, Lucy. It is the only way in which I can put matters right.’

‘I have no wish to be a pirate’s wife,’ Lucinda said. ‘If we escape I would be obliged to sail with you, and I am the world’s worst sailor. Merely sitting in a rowing boat makes me sick. It is a miracle I was not ill aboard the Defiance.’

‘You were too busy quarrelling with me to notice,’ Daniel said ruefully. He spread his hands. ‘You need not sail with me. I inherited Allandale from my cousin just a month ago. You could live there—’

‘You are Lord Allandale now?’ Lucinda’s eyes widened.

‘Yes. Which is why I need to know there is someone I can trust to take care of the estate.’

Lucinda’s gaze snapped onto him. ‘You need an estate manager, not a wife!’ She hesitated for a moment, and then looked at him very directly. Her tone changed, turned sad. ‘I cannot wed you, Daniel. Do not press me to it. Oh, I care for you.’ She laced her fingers together a little awkwardly. ‘And ’ tis true that I respond to you—’ Here she blushed, and he wanted to kiss her very much. ‘But I do not trust you. You will always put yourself first. You always have and you always will. And I could not bear for you to break my heart again.’

She stood up, smoothing her skirts, and crossed to the window. She stood with her back turned to him, her arms folded tight about her as though she was cold, and though Daniel wanted to take her in his arms, to hold her and comfort her, he knew she would not let him touch her. What could he say? That it would be different this time? That he cared for her and would never hurt her? He knew it was true, but trust had to be earned and he had forfeited the right to hers.

‘Look!’ Lucinda said suddenly. A note of excitement had crept into her voice. ‘It is snowing outside!’ She paused. ‘You will have observed that there are no bars at the window, Daniel?’

Daniel had already noticed. ‘Given that there is a drop to the ground of about twelve feet,’ he pointed out, ‘I cannot see that it benefits us.’

Lucinda ignored this. ‘We are at the back of the building, and all it faces is a wall,’ she continued. ‘And this door is solid, so the guards cannot see what we are doing in here—and anyway, they are away down the corridor…’

Daniel smiled. ‘An intriguing thought, Lucy. You are putting ideas into my head.’

‘Try thinking of escape rather than seduction,’ Lucinda snapped. ‘Mr Chance has been lamentably lax in leaving us so ill-guarded.’

‘I think he was rather trusting to the fact that you are a respectable widow,’ Daniel murmured dryly, ‘and that I might actually have been telling the truth when I said you could vouch for me.’

Lucinda cast him a look. She was ripping a length of material from her skirt, wincing at the tearing noise it made, and then another, which she knotted to the first. This left her with her gown bodice still intact, but nothing but petticoats below. Daniel stared at her shapely garter-clad legs, feeling his throat dry.

‘What the devil are you doing?’ he managed.

Lucinda edged the sash window up.

‘If the guard comes in, hit him over the head with the chair,’ she instructed. ‘Only try not to hurt him too much. I do not wish to be accused of murder as well as conspiracy!’

Daniel raised his brows. ‘Lucinda—’

She gave him a fierce frown. ‘Hush!’

She tied the end of the makeshift rope to the desk and gave it an experimental tug. Then, before Daniel could protest, she had thrown the other end of the rope out of the window and climbed out. Forgetting his duty with the chair, Daniel rushed to the window and looked down. Lucinda was standing in the snow, her breast heaving slightly with the exertion of her climb down the rope, her face upturned to his. Flakes of snow were settling on her eyelashes and she brushed them away. Her impatient whisper floated up to him.

‘Do you intend to join me, or do you prefer to wait at His Majesty’s pleasure?’

The silk gave way when he was halfway to the ground, depositing Daniel in the snow with a rather sharp bump. Before he knew what was happening, Lucinda had grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet, dusting him down with brisk, impersonal hands. Daniel flinched.

‘Ouch! There is no need to be so rough.’ He looked her over. With snowflakes in her blonde hair she looked entirely charming. ‘Clearly I have underestimated you, Luce,’ he said. ‘You have a natural bent for criminality. I should have invited you to join my crew years ago.’

She gave him a glare from those glorious blue eyes. ‘Are we going to stand here chatting whilst we await discovery? Or are we going to hire some horses at the Bell around the corner?’

‘Surely you mean steal some horses?’ Daniel said mildly.

She gave him another glare, holding her wrist up to show her reticule, still dangling there. ‘I have some money. There is no need to make matters worse by adding theft to our list of crimes.’

‘Absolutely,’ Daniel said. He grabbed her, gave her a brief, fierce kiss. ‘Lucy, you are a wonderful girl.’

For a moment she stood still in his embrace, and he thought he felt her lips soften beneath his.

‘It astounds me that you have been at liberty as long as you have, Daniel, given your lack of resourcefulness and your penchant for wasting time,’ she said, a little breathlessly.

She was shivering. Daniel shrugged out of his jacket and placed it about her shoulders, watching as she drew it close with shaking fingers. For all her bravado he knew that she was half-shocked, half-elated by what they had done.

‘Wait in shelter whilst I get the horses,’ he began—but even as he spoke Lucinda recoiled with a gasp and, looking past her, Daniel saw a figure rear up out of the tumbling snow at the corner of the alleyway.

He had already moved to place himself between her and this latest threat when he recognised the man and saw that behind him was a carriage drawn up in the snow. No, it was not a carriage—it was a covered horse-drawn sleigh.

‘Evening, sir—ma’am,’ Lieutenant Holroyd said, coming forward to shake his hand. He grinned. ‘Good to see you again. Transport compliments of the Duchess of Kestrel. What kept you, sir?’