Enchanted by Your Kisses (36 page)

Outside the air felt heavy with moisture, little droplets clinging to her face and eyes. He helped her into a hired hack, then settled on the seat opposite.

"Where are we going?"

"To the docks."

Her heart sped up. Had Gordon found
Wess
Trevain
? Would this man take her to Nathan's brother? She clenched her hands in the folds of her cloak, wanting to find Nathan's brother so badly she could barely breathe.

They arrived at the docks quickly. Unfortunately, they smelled just as she remembered them. Fishy. The sounds of the ocean were just as she remembered, too. The booming roll of breakers offshore. The sound of nearby waves as they broke upon the legs of the pier. She clutched her cloak tighter, for the fog seemed thicker here, the chill increasing as the officer helped her into a shore boat crowded with rowers. He sat down next to her, his body affording little protection against the cold ocean air. The boat tilted as they both settled down.

Nervous energy made it hard to sit still, and as they rowed across the bay, that energy grew harder to bear. The fog and the darkness made it impossible to see the ship they headed toward, until suddenly they were next to its hulking mass. The thing was huge. Like a ghostly building it rose from the water, at least four stories high. A first-rate warship, no doubt, Ariel thought, the kind her father served on.

Her father.

She stiffened, her heart suddenly stopping in her chest before kicking back into action, if possible, at twice the speed.

It couldn't be.

"We're not here because of Gordon, are we?"

She could barely see the man as he glanced her way. "We are here because of Admiral Gordon, but 'tis not him you are going to see."

She closed her eyes. Oh, dear God, no. Not her father. But she was afraid to ask.

Still, did she need to? A court-martial had been convened. Only the highest-ranking officers were allowed to preside over courts-martial. If her father was near shore, he would have had to attend. And what if Lord Gordon had known that? What if he'd sent word to her father of her expected arrival last eve? What if this was Gordon's way of getting rid of her?

Her mouth turned dry, her body grew clammy. In vain she tried to make out the name of the ship, but it was too dark and too foggy to see anything but the shape of the vessel.

"Ship ahoy," called the watch on board deck as they pulled alongside, the boat rolling even closer on the crest of a small wave. They bumped into the side.

"Let me give you a hand, my lady," the officer said.

Ariel nodded. She had climbed aboard a ship before, though not in boys' clothes. Breeches and boots would make it much easier to move, no doubt. Taking a deep breath, she stood up. If she wanted to turn back, now would be the time. But if it was her father who was aboard, she had a feeling these men had their orders to bring her to him.

Bring her to him.

As if she were one of his crew, not his own flesh and blood.

Now, Ariel, you don't know 'tis your father aboard.

But she knew. It had to be. The officer treated her with too much respect for it to be anyone else. A lady in boys' clothes did not as a rule lend a man to behave with good manners.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

She nodded. He put his hands around her waist, lifting her, then holding the ladder steady. '
Twas
one of the hardest things she had ever had to do, and not because of the physical effort. No, 'twas difficult because she knew if her father had ordered her presence, it could only bode ill. That meant he'd heard about her attempt to help Nathan
Trevain
. It meant, too, that he might suspect that she had become his lover.

The memory of the lovemaking acted as ballast. It steadied her, gave her courage, as a crew member helped her on board. Lantern light spread a muted, foggy glow over curious faces. She searched those faces anxiously.

"So Gordon was right. You have turned traitor."

She spun.

And there he was. Her father. She stiffened, telling herself she had nothing to be afraid of. She'd done the worst possible thing a daughter could do, ruin herself, and he hadn't beaten her or threatened her or sent her away.

No, he just stopped caring for you.

But she refused to think about that. "Father," she acknowledged him with a nod.

"Where'd you find her?" he asked the officer who'd just climbed up behind her.

"At the Boat and Anchor Inn."

"Was she alone?"

He nodded. "But
Trevain
was across the hall."

So they knew. They knew he was here. She felt her hands clench in sudden fear.

Her father nodded, his eyes shards of ice as he stared at her.

"Bring her here."

"I can follow on my own," she told her father, but he'd already turned. The officer took her elbow. She tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let her. The men on deck stared, then looked away. Ariel wondered how much her father had told them. But did she care?

No, she admitted. She did not.

They followed in her father's wake, the smell of hemp and salt water filling her nostrils. Tall masts rose up on her left. The sails were furled now that the ship was in port. Cannon squatted in specially carved holders along the rail. The gun ports were closed. She thought of the battles this ship had fought, of the men who'd lost their lives because of it.

Opening a door beneath the poop deck, her father ducked inside. She knew his cabin would be at the back of the ship down a narrow gangway with smaller cabins on both sides. By the light spilled by small lanterns, she could see his stiff back. He wore no wig, like most of the officers when aboard a ship, including the one who had escorted her with such aplomb.

Without looking back, her father opened the door. The officer paused before the same door, holding it open for her as she passed.

"That will be all, Phillips."

The officer nodded, shooting Ariel a look of sympathy before closing the door. The look surprised her, helped to steady her. Not for nothing had she faced her father before. She gave Phillips a small smile before turning to face her father with her body held straight, her eyes level, her hands relaxed at her sides.

Inside she trembled.

Slowly, so slowly she knew it was a calculated move, he turned to face her. His right hand rested upon a small desk, the papers that rested there moving a bit as his fingers caught the edges of them. She knew beyond the door behind him lay his personal quarters. She also knew that he would never let her into that private world, and though the notion did not wound her—not after all this time—she would still have given much to know why.

"Gordon sent me word that you are helping the traitor Nathan
Trevain
find his brother. Is this true?"

His voice was low, yet booming all the same. A trick of having to yell over the sound of wind and surf. And in his blue and gold admiral's attire, he looked every inch the commander.

"Aye, Father, it is true."

He merely stared. And as always Ariel wondered how she could possibly be his daughter. He was so unlike her in so many ways. His hair was silver, but it'd been blond before that. His face was long, his nose autocratic, his jaw hard and unyielding. A portly body stood upon short legs. That her mother's traits had been passed on to her there could be no doubt. That she looked nothing like her father there could also be no doubt.

Finally he gathered himself. She could see it in the way his hands flexed by his sides. The way his jaw tightened a bit. The way his eyes narrowed. "You are a deep disappointment to me, Daughter."

She tried not to react to his words, tried not to let him see how much they hurt her despite the fact that they were expected.

"Only a deep disappointment, Father? I'm sorry to hear that, for I've always struggled to be a huge disappointment. I see I have failed in my aim."

His eyes glittered. Ariel wondered why she always felt the need to bait him in situations like these. They were like two weather systems, warring with each other until thunder and lightning stuck. She knew it would be that way tonight.

"I should have married you off," he snapped.

"What? And missed out on the fun of ignoring me my entire life? Of making me feel less worthy than one of your officers? Or going away so often I feel as if I was born an orphan?"

He stiffened his stance. "I have a job to do at the Admiralty."

"Most admirals stay in town, father, do not try to bamboozle me. I know the truth. You want to avoid me." She stepped further into the room, her boots tapping on the wood floor. His eyes swept down, obviously noticing her boys' attire for the first time. His gaze turned even more disgusted. "And what I want to know, now, tonight, is why that is." Lord help her, she didn't want to cry, but suddenly she felt tears come to her eyes. Ridiculous tears, for she'd realized long ago that her father didn't love her, she'd just never had the courage to ask why.

"I don't wish to discuss our relationship, Ariel. We're here tonight to discuss Mr. Nathan
Trevain
."

"What have you done with him?" she asked, for suddenly she knew he had done something. There was a look on his face, one of smug satisfaction.

"Nothing. . .yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Surely you realize that as the daughter of a First Lord, I cannot have you associating with the man? He has been taken into custody, again. But I will release him if you promise to never see him again."

"Impossible," she cried. "Father, I—" She struggled to find the right words, settled on the simplest ones. "I love him." She opened her mouth, couldn't speak for a second through the clog of emotions, swallowed again and said, "I know it sounds improbable, but I truly do. He is a good man, one who fought for his country as proudly as any of your men. If you would but meet with him—"

"Never," he slashed her with his voice. "To do so would be political suicide. My position is appointed, or have your forgotten that?"

"Is your career so important, then, that you would sacrifice your only daughter's happiness?"

"Are you such a poor daughter that you would sacrifice your father's career? Again? Already I have weathered one storm for you. . .barely. But this, this promises to be worse. What am I to say to Howell and Parker and the lot of them? Sorry, sirs, but my daughter seems to have fallen in love with a bloody patriot?"

"Would that be so difficult?"

"Not difficult, impossible. They will wonder if a man who cannot control his daughter is fit to run the navy."

"You do not need to control me, Father. Just let me marry him. I will go away. You will be rid of me forever."

"And you think he will want to wed with you after already sampling your wares? Did Archie teach you nothing?"

She felt as if he'd slapped her. "Archie was different. He had no character. Nathan
Trevain
is the most honorable man I know."

"So honorable that he would kidnap you? Use you whilst you pretended to be engaged to him? Oh, yes, I know it all, although how Phoebe could let you do something so foolish, I have no idea. Imagine, your going back into society."

"I only went to appease her. And what Nathan did he did out of necessity. Surely you, as a man of war, should understand?"

"I understand better how a man would pretend to love a woman in an effort to cajole her into helping him."