Once a Mistress (32 page)

“Of course I mean to arrest him!” Morgan snapped back. “Should he survive the battle, Marcus will stand trial for his crimes. As will this pathetic wretch.” The ex-buccaneer indicated Scroggins.

The henchman overheard the remark and glared. “And what about him? What about El Moreno? Is he goin’ to hang as well?”

“El Moreno!” Maude exclaimed. “What does he have to do with anything?”

“Everythin’! He’s right there, crossin’ swords with the cap’n!”

“What!” Maude whirled on Morgan. “That man is El Moreno?”

“‘Tis the bleedin’ truth,” Scroggins swore.

“Sir Henry, I demand you take those men into custody!” Maude put her hands on her hips. “Or did you mean to ‘let’ them escape?”

“I intended no such thing,” Morgan roared. “Woman, you go too far!”

“The Assembly shall hear about this,” Maude threatened. “Those men should be taken and hanged at once!”

“No!” Diana protested, tearing her gaze from the duel. “Maude, you do not understand. El Moreno saved my life! Does that not prove him an honorable man?”

“Honorable!” Maude stared at Diana as if she had lost her wits. “Missy, that man is a pirate. A criminal! He must be arrested and hanged!”

“Does it mean nothing to you that he saved my life?” Diana propped her hands on her hips. “Marcus would surely have killed me if not for him.”

“But at what cost?” Maude demanded. “Yer reputation is in tatters now because o’ those two. Nae decent man will take ye tae wife now.”

“Hang my reputation! I will not stand by and watch the man who saved my life be executed!” She turned to Morgan. “Sir Henry, he rescued me from certain death and did not harm me when he had the chance. Does that not mean anything to you?”

“It will be taken into account.” Morgan watched the battle as he spoke to her, his expression grim.

Maude came forward and took Diana’s arm. “Come, lassie. We’ll go home and ye can forget this unpleasantness.”

“I will not go home. And I will thank you to stop treating me like a child, Maude.” Diana shook off the woman’s hold. “You are threatening to hang the man I love!”

“Love!” Maude snorted. “Do ye think ye’re in one o’ yer daydreams, missy?”

“On the contrary, except for Alex this whole thing has been a nightmare.”

“Alex is it?” Maude splayed a hand over her bosom. “Are ye mad, girl? What did he do tae make ye say such things?”

“He did nothing…even when I wanted him to!”

Maude gasped. “Diana Margaret!”

“Accept it, Maude. I want no man but him.” Diana crossed her arms over her chest in a gesture of finality.

“Then ye’ll be disappointed,” Maude snapped. “The man is a criminal. Soon tae be a dead criminal. Is that no the way o’ it, Sir Henry?”

Diana, Maude, Scroggins and all the soldiers looked at Morgan.

“Sir?” the captain of the patrol asked. “Shall we apprehend El Moreno as well?”

Morgan surveyed the faces of the people staring at him, form the patrol captain’s inquiring expression to Maude’s accusing one. He cleared his throat. “Of course we will take El Moreno into custody,” he announced.

“No!” Diana cried.

Maude took Diana’s arm and pulled her away from Morgan. “Ye’re overset, ma bairn. Let us leave this place.”

“I am not overset!” Diana pulled loose of the dark-haired woman’s hold. “You are talking about executing the man I love. I’m staying.”

“But—”

“I am staying, Maude.” Chin jutting out in challenge, she crossed her arms over her chest. “It would take this whole patrol to forcibly bind me and carry me off to make me leave.”

Maude sniffed and glared at Diana from her lesser height. “I’m of no size tae be draggin’ ye off by force, missy. We’ll see what yer father says when he gets here.”

“Should we break this up, sir?” the captain of the patrol asked, indicating the swordsmen.

“No.” Morgan focused on the battle. “I am curious as to who the victor will be. But the one who lives is going to swing.”

“You would let them kill each other out of curiosity?” Diana exclaimed, appalled.

“Young lady, I merely give the devil his due.”

“Just as I telt ye,” Maude scoffed. “Pirates protect their own.”

“Woman, that tongue of yours…”

Diana turned away as the argument erupted. She searched out Alex and found him, keeping her gaze locked on him as he struggled between life and death. Behind the combatants, the two ships mirrored the struggle between good and evil.

The smell of smoke drifted across the water. The guns boomed. Cannonballs whistled through the air. Distant cries of alarm sounded from the
Renegade
. Sails aflame, Marcus’s ship slowly sank into the sea.

“No!” Marcus cried. He moved into a position where he could see his vessel without letting down his guard. Far away splashes indicated that Marcus’s crew was abandoning the sinking craft. “Damn your hide, El Moreno! This is your doing!”

“No, Marcus.” Alex nimbly fended off his opponent’s wild swings. “This is your undoing.”

“A pox on you! You think to take my life?”

“As you have taken others’. As you tried to take Diana’s.” Alex countered Marcus’s attempt to slice open his chest.

“So noble,” Marcus sneered, slashing at Alex’s midsection.

Diana inhaled sharply, then slowly exhaled as Alex jumped back to avoid the blade. He immediately engaged Marcus again.

“Tell me,” Marcus taunted. “Do you mean to avenge every death attributed to me?”

“You killed my brother,” Alex growled. Violent emotion crossed his face. “And you meant to harm Diana as well. And for that you will die.”

“Your brother?” Marcus swiftly eluded Alex’s thrust. “I have killed so many Spaniards, I cannot possibly remember them all.”

“He wasn’t Spanish. He was English, aboard the Marie Louise out of France.” Alex’s breathing grew harsh as Marcus became more aggressive. His voice roughened. “You tied him naked to the mast and made him beg for his life. Then you butchered him, one body part at a time, and threw him to the sharks.”

Diana’s heart clenched, echoing with the pain in Alex’s voice as he recited the horrors done to his brother. With each word that passed his lips, his movements grew more agitated, more frenzied. He was losing control, she realized with alarm.

“Oh dear.” Marcus smiled. “Was that whining bugger your brother? How pitiful he was, crying for mercy like a woman. ‘Twas a relief when he finally died.”

“You bastard,” Alex snarled.

Marcus began to laugh. The sound grew louder and louder, drowning out the roar of the waves and the clash of the swords. As he gasped and howled as if demented, Marcus’s defense grew weaker. His guard dropped.

Alex moved in for the kill.

The laughter ceased. Marcus came around, his face a mask of mad determination. He swung a full circle, his blade arcing for Alex’s throat. Alex ducked. The sword whizzed over his head. He came up on the other side of Marcus’s arm and pivoted, bringing his own blade down to slice through muscle and bone. Marcus screamed in pain. His spasming fingers opened. His sword fell into the sand, and he dropped to his knees, holding his half-severed arm.

Alex raised his sword.

Diana held her breath. His face looked hard and fierce, primitive, like a warrior chieftain about to conquer his enemy. He stood there for a long moment, poised to deliver the killing blow to the foe who knelt weaponless at his feet.

“Do it, God damn you,” Marcus spat.

Alex blinked. His expression changed, and he frowned slightly, like a man trying to remember an elusive dream. Slowly he lowered the sword.

“It seems we will both live this day,” he said.

Diana sighed with relief and closed her eyes. It was over.

“Well now, Henry Morgan,” Maude challenged. “Would ye be takin’ thon criminals into custody? Or will ye prove the Assembly correct by letting the Brethren o’ the Sea walk away wi’out punishing them for their misdeeds?”

Diana’s eyes flew open. “Maude!”

Morgan shifted as if uncomfortable. He glared at Maude in a way that no doubt made most men tremble. Maude didn’t flinch. She merely propped her hands on her hips and looked at the deputy governor expectantly. He sighed. Glancing to the captain of the patrol, he indicated the two pirates with a jerk of his head.

“Arrest them.”

“No!” Diana started towards Alex, but Maude jerked her back.

“Dinna shame yerself, Diana Margaret,” she hissed.

Diana shook off the other woman’s hold. “There is no shame in loving.” She ran to Alex as he was led up the beach by the patrol and threw herself into his arms. Resting her cheek against his chest, she gloried in the sound of his beating heart. She had never thought to hear it again.

One of the soldiers tried to pry her away. Alex glared at him so fiercely that the man backed off. “Don’t touch her,” he growled, enfolding her in his arms.

“Unhand her, ye motherless cur!” Maude shrieked. “Yer kind shouldna be mixing wi’ decent company.”

“Maude, how could you? This man saved my life!”

“I’ve had enough o’ such talk, Diana Margaret! The man is a thief and no doubt a murderer as well. I expect he has reasons for any decent behavior he may have exhibited.” Maude gave Alex a contemptuous look. “I shall attend yer hangin’ wi’ pleasure.”

“No!” Diana turned to Morgan. “Sir Henry, not only has this man saved my life, but he captured Marcus as well. He has rid our island of a terrible evil. Does that count for nothing?”

“He will have a fair trial,” Morgan answered.

“Fair? Nothing about this situation is fair!”

A soldier came forward and gently pushed Diana aside, then clapped manacles on Alex’s wrists. Another claimed Alex’s sword belt, pistol and the knife in his boot. The same was done to Marcus.

“What are you doing?” Diana stared at the chains in horror. She whirled to face Morgan. “Please, Sir Henry! Is this really necessary?”

Morgan looked away.

“Diana.” Alex’s soft tone held a command she could not ignore. She turned back to him, her heart clenching at the depth of emotion shining in his dark eyes. He smiled. “‘Tis best this way, my love,” he said. “Go home to your father. Get married. And forget that you ever knew El Moreno.”

“But I love you.” She clenched her hands on the sleeves of his shirt. Tears welled in her eyes. “It cannot end like this.”

Alex lifted his manacled hands and brushed a teardrop from her cheek. “Do not cry,
amada
. All will be well.”

“Come on!” One of the soldiers grabbed his arm. “‘Tis the lock-up for you.”

“No!” Diana gripped Alex’s other arm, forcing him to either stop or drag her along in the sand. Cupping his cheek, she whispered, “I will find a way to free you.”

“There is no way.” His expression tender, he gently tugged his arm from her grasp.

“This cannot be happening.”

“
Amada
.” Heedless of the people watching, he leaned forward to brush a kiss on her lips. “Just remember that this is not the end, my sweet. I love you.”

His loving smile was the last thing she saw as the soldier shoved him forward.

“Easy now!” Morgan went over and pushed the soldier aside. “This is a valuable prisoner, you know. You would not cheat us of a hanging by injuring him before he can stand at the gallows, would you?”

The soldier protested, but Morgan dismissed him. “See to the other. I will accompany this one myself.” He went to Alex and rattled his chains to check their security. Then he sent Maude an arch look. “Perhaps you feel the need to accompany us, madam?”

“I do.” She sniffed and took Diana’s arm. “Come, missy.”

“I will not.” Diana jerked away from the woman and glowered at her. “I will wait here for my father, Maude.”

Maude pursed her lips. “As ye wish.”

Signaling to the patrol, Morgan led the way toward the rocky path. Diana watched them go, her helplessness weighing on her like the chains her beloved dragged with him.

Frederick completed his descent to the beach, and frowned after Morgan and the patrol as they passed him without a word. Then he shrugged and hurried toward his daughter.

“Diana!”

“Papa.” With a sob, she threw herself into his arms. He held her as she wept out the turbulent feelings that gripped her.

“Thank God you are safe.” Her father hugged her tightly and stroked her hair as the emotional storm waged. “I thought never to see you again.”

“He saved me,” she sniffed. “I love him. And they are going to kill him!”

“Who?”

“El Moreno.” She took a deep breath, trying to control the flood of tears.

“El Moreno? But…” Frederick stopped, glanced at the patrol winding up the cliff and frowned.

“I know you probably think him a pirate, but—”

“On the contrary, I owe him a great debt.” Frederick pulled forth a handkerchief and dabbed at the wetness on her cheeks. “He brought you back to me.”

“Maude says he is a criminal and should be hanged!”

“Now, now.” He patted her shoulder. “You know how Maude is. She still doesn’t trust Morgan, and he is the lieutenant-governor of the island!”

“I know. But they arrested him.”

Her father sighed. “I will talk to Morgan. But for now, let us go home.”

She nodded. Papa would be able to help, she thought. Morgan would soon see that Alex’s service in delivering Marcus far outweighed any crimes he may have committed at sea. Her father slipped an arm around her shoulders, and she let him lead her toward the path.

They had just reached the bottom of the cliff when they heard the commotion.

“What the devil…?” Shading his eyes, Frederick squinted upwards. Diana did the same.

A shot rang out.
 

Diana’s heart leaped into her throat. Then she saw him. Alex’s dark form teetered for a moment at the edge of the cliff, one hand clutching his chest. Then he fell, plummeting to the sea below.

“No!” Her anguished cry echoed off the cliffs around them.

“By God,” her father murmured.

“No, no, no.” Diana clenched her hands and lifted them to her trembling lips, her gaze fixed on the water where Alex had disappeared. “Where are you? Alex, where are you?”

“Diana…” Her father reached for her.

“No, do not say it!” she cried. “He is alive. I know he is.”