Pirate Hunter's Mistress (The Virginia Brides) (23 page)

“Yes,” she replied, ever honest, perhaps too honest. “I love him and hope we shall be married.”

“Hmm, I was wrong about you and apologize. You are an innocent, and a very bewitching one.”

Marlee grew exasperated with his compliments and leering looks. “Sir, I haven’t all night! Do you plan to release Captain Arden’s friend?”

Amusement glowed on his face as he took another puff and rose to his feet. “Beauty, innocence, and a temper—an intriguing combination in a woman.” He bowed gallantly. “I bend to your will. Arden’s friend shall be released this night.”

“Oh,
Señor
Silva, thank you!” She knew she was gushing but she didn’t care. Finally, she’d convinced Silva to release his prisoner. Lark could stop feeling guilty, he could put the vengeance aside. Now they could be married. Marlee’s dearest wish was about to come true.

“You’re more than lovely, Lady Arden,” he said and kissed her hand. “More than welcome, too.”

“Shall Lark’s friend come here soon?” Marlee wondered aloud, not the least swayed by his gallantry.

“His friend is here already.”

“Here? In the house?”

“
Sí
. Just as soon as she can pack her bags, Lady Bettina can leave with Captain Sloane.”

Marlee felt as if the wind were knocked out of her. “Lady Bettina is— “ She could barely speak the words but Silva finished the sentence for her.

“Lark Arden’s friend, my lady, or should I say his fiancée.”

“That can’t be—I don’t be-believe you,” she stammered like an idiot, standing before Manuel Silva in a daze.

Manuel shrugged. “It’s the truth. You’re surprised to learn of your lover’s engagement to Bettina.” He made a tsk-tsking sound. “You must be disappointed to learn of it, to realize Arden kept the truth from you. As I said earlier, I don’t trust the English.” Extending his arm to her, he smiled. “Shall we go tell Bettina the happy news?”

~ ~ ~

“Leave? You want me to leave?” Bettina’s shrill cries echoed from the bedroom while Marlee and Sloane waited on the patio. Silva’s monotone syllables followed the outburst, but the air was again punctuated by Bettina’s shrieks. “You bastard! I hate you!”

“It seems Bettina isn’t pleased about leaving her captor,” Sloane observed wryly and puffed on a cheroot his host had given him.

Marlee barely heard him. Her mind wasn’t on Sloane or even Bettina’s deafening shouts. All she could think about was what Silva had told her—Bettina was Lark’s fiancée. Emotionally, she felt numbed by the news. At first, she was unable to believe him, wouldn’t believe him. But then things started to make sense to her. Lark had never told her anything about his captured “friend,” not even giving her a name. She’d just assumed the person had been a man, but now she knew the name and felt that a sharp knife had forever etched it upon her heart. Lady Bettina Gilbert.

She found herself fingering the gold locket and looked at it. The engraved letters, B.G. shone ominously in the torchlight. She didn’t open the locket—she didn’t have to. She knew whose face would be staring at her. A sob threatened to choke her. Lark had hoodwinked her again.

“You knew about Bettina the whole time,” she found herself saying to Sloane. “You knew what she is—to Lark.”

“I admit that I did.”

“And you wanted to hurt me.”

“Not hurt you,” Sloane hurriedly assured her, “but Lark. I knew his feelings for you and I wanted to hurt him by having you see Bettina and learn the truth for yourself. I hoped you’d turn away from Lark in the process, but I didn’t think Silva would agree to release her to us.” Sloane frowned worriedly.

“You hate your brother very much, don’t you?”

Nodding, Sloane carelessly tossed the cheroot into a fish pond. “I hate him more than anybody in this world.”

Marlee didn’t hide her resentment or her pain. “Should I be grateful that you hate me less? What I feel now is unbearable, horrible—” She ceased speaking as tears welled in her throat.

Sloane bent down and touched her chin. “I never meant to hurt you so much, only Lark. Please find it in your heart to forgive me. Here, I’m returning this to you.” He took the diamond ring that she’d given to him as payment out of his pocket and placed it in her hand.

She gazed in repulsed horror at it, feeling as if the fiery diamond burned her flesh. This was Bettina’s ring, the ring Lark had no doubt presented to her to seal their engagement. She didn’t want the blasted thing, hated the sight of it. “I don’t want this!” she heatedly protested and would have said more except Silva suddenly appeared, dragging a disheveled and defiant Bettina behind him.

“Lady Bettina is ready for her voyage back to the arms of her beloved,” he ground out through a mouth that was formed in the shape of a harsh, taut line. He halted his step in midstride, causing Bettina to nearly fall. Sloane reached out and steadied the furious woman who cast a malevolent eye upon Silva.

“Hateful bastard. You know very well that Lark won’t want me now!”

Silva leered down at her. “That is your problem. Perhaps you should have curbed your amorous appetite, hmmm?”

“God! How I hate you!” Bettina’s fingers curled into claws and she went for his face, but he quickly discerned her intention and grabbed her wrists, holding her at arm’s length.

“That isn’t what you said this morning, my love.” He thrust her toward Sloane. “Take the whore to her beloved Lark and be done with it.”

Sloane appeared uncertain, but he took Bettina by the arm and quietly urged her toward the wrought-iron gate at the edge of the courtyard. Marlee began to follow suit, but Silva reached out with a hand that could only be deemed iron-like and held her in place. “Dearest Lady Arden, you’re not going with them.”

“Yes, I am,
señor
. Our business is settled here.”

“Sorry, but no. You’re staying with me.”

Marlee didn’t know what was happening, why Silva refused to let her leave, but from the rigid expression on his face she knew he wasn’t joking. He meant her to stay. “I’m sorry,” she said and gulped, “but I’m returning to The Merry Bandit with Captain Mason.”

“And I say you’re not.”

“Manuel, what are you doing? This wasn’t part of the plan.” Sloane came forward and reached out for Marlee, but Silva bellowed in Spanish and immediately armed guards appeared.

“Touch Lady Arden again, Sloane, and Bettina will be making her voyage alone.” The ominous threat wasn’t lost on Sloane, and he backed away.

“You can’t keep her here,” Sloane warned, and there was a frantic, plaintive note in his voice. “Lark will come after her.”

“Ah, my friend, I hope he does. I hope he does so I can end his miserable life once and for all.”

Marlee made an aborted attempt at struggling, but Silva was far too strong for her. “I won’t stay here. You can’t keep me here.”

“I can and I will.” Silva leaned down and whispered hotly in her ear, “I decided that I have enough money, that I should like something else for releasing Bettina to her dear fiancé. Let’s say I have something more pleasurable in mind for my payment—something so pleasant that you shall swoon from the ecstasy of it.”

“You’re mad,” she proclaimed through pale, trembling lips. “I’ll not stay here. I won’t.”

She started to push against him, but Silva’s hands tightened painfully on her arms. “Rail against me, my wild English rose, and Mason is a dead man.” His dark eyes glittered with malevolent intent.

Marlee stopped fighting when she noticed two of the armed men circling Sloane with their swords brandished. No matter that Sloane had withheld the truth from her, she didn’t want him harmed. Her apparent acquiescence delighted Silva, and he smiled a chillingly lewd smile before he spoke to his minions. “Escort Captain Mason and Lady Gilbert to his ship—and make certain he leaves Saint Augustine and doesn’t double back.”

Sloane shook off one of the men’s hold on his arm. “You’ll pay for this, Manuel. I’ll make certain you do.”

A malicious smirk turned up the corners of Silva’s mouth as he waved his hand toward his men. “Take them to the ship,” he ordered. Immediately Sloane and Bettina were led away and Marlee was alone with the leering Manuel Silva. “Well, Lady Arden, the hour grows late. I’ll have Doña Carlotta show you to your room.”

“I won’t be a docile prisoner, I can assure you of that.”

“Ah, you’re my guest, not a prisoner,” Silva corrected her. “But I’d advise against trying to escape. My men are everywhere.”

“Why are you doing this? I don’t understand why—”

Silva cut off Marlee’s sentence with an arm around her waist as he pulled her roughly toward him. “You don’t need to understand my reasons, you need only to obey me.”

“I won’t obey you,” was her hot declaration. “You don’t own me!”

“No? I say I do. From this day onward, I own you body and soul, Marlee.” He breathed her name like a warm wind against her cheek, sending ripples of repulsion through her. “And if you believe your beloved Lark shall rescue you, he won’t. He shall soon have his Bettina again by his side, and you’ll be only a sweet memory. But you’ll be more than that to me, much more.” His hand stroked the side of her breast and he grinned wickedly. ‘I’ll not bother you tonight, but soon, I promise you. Soon you’ll belong to me, my innocent English rose.”

She couldn’t stop the trembling sensations which wracked her as moments later, Doña Carlotta appeared to lead her through a hallway to a bedroom at the back of the house. The old woman lighted a wall sconce and barely glanced at her. “This is your room,
señora
. I’ve placed a nightgown on the bed for you. It’s one which my lady Bettina never wore.”

Marlee barely took in the pretty brocaded coverlet and matching drapes which were closed, barring any moonlight from entering the room. Her eyes burned with unshed tears, and she willed herself not to cry in front of Doña Carlotta. No doubt the woman thought she was Manuel Silva’s new mistress, that she’d willingly come here. And God help her, she had come to St. Augustine of her own accord. No one had forced her. Nothing had brought her here but her own foolish heart and dreams.

But no longer would Lark, or any other man, play her for a fool. In her hand she still clutched the diamond ring, a vivid and painful reminder of the woman who’d once worn it and of the man who’d given it to her. She placed it on her trembling finger and peered at the glittering stone for a long time. She’d wear the ring as a reminder of what Lark had done to her. Never would she forget how he’d ruined her life.

~ ~ ~

“Captain Silva awaits your presence in the dining room,” Doña Carlotta informed Marlee the next night.

“Tell him I’m not hungry,” she told the elderly woman. In reality, Marlee was starving but she wouldn’t give Silva the satisfaction of dining with him.

Doña Carlotta wrung her hands together. “Please, you must come downstairs to table. You didn’t eat your midday meal, and I don’t wish you to fall ill. He’ll be most displeased with me—if you get sick.”

For the first time Marlee really looked at the old woman and felt extremely sad for her. Doña Carlotta’s thin frame trembled, and Marlee realized that the woman was terrified of Silva’s wrath. “How do you come to be here?” she asked her gently.

“Ah,
señora
, such a tale of woe I could tell you.” Doña Carlotta anxiously bit her lip. “In a way, we’re both prisoners of Manuel Silva. This house belonged to my late husband, Juan Delgado. He was a powerful and kind man, but he made the mistake of having dealings with a sordid and despicable pirate—”

“Silva,” Marlee interrupted.

Doña Carlotta’s expression became harsh. “
Sí
. I had no idea that my husband owed Silva money, a great deal if Silva is to be believed. When Juan died, Silva appeared at my door like a carrion, ready to rip the life out of me in my time of grief. He claimed my home with the governor’s knowledge, took all from me. I was distraught, so unhappy.” She sniffed into a lace kerchief she took from her pocket.

“How is it that you’re a servant? Did Silva take pity upon you?”

Carlotta glanced up in disbelief and scorn. “That one has no heart,
señora
. Silva is an evil man. The only reason I am here is because he’d captured that red-haired creature and brought her here soon after my Juan died. She was a lady, or so he told me, and she needed someone to look after her. Lady,” she spat as if the word tasted vile upon her lips, “the town whore was more of lady than that one!” Calming down, she wiped the tears from her eyes. “I cared for her because it was a way to stay in my home, to keep what was mine, though nothing belongs to me as long as Silva lives here. I do love it when he sails away. Then I can imagine the house is mine, I can relive happy memories—until he returns, which is much too often for my liking. I wish that evil man would sail away and stay away—forever.”

Marlee wished that, too. Her heart filled with pity for the old lady. “Does Silva beat you if he is displeased with you?”

Carlotta shook her head. “No, but I fear him just the same. His temper is vicious,
señora
. Horrible.” She shuddered and cast a pleading look in Marlee’s direction. “Please go downstairs and dine with him and his friends, otherwise, I fear what may happen—to you.”

Marlee already feared the very same thing. She had to find a way to escape from the house, she had to seek help in some way, but it seemed there was no way out. The windows on her room were barred, as were the other windows she’d viewed when she’d first entered the house. Besides the bars there were armed men on the grounds. It seemed there was no escape—none whatsoever. Unless Carlotta knew of a way out.

“Are all the windows barred?” Marlee asked and stood up to shake out her gown.

“
Sí
,” Doña Carlotta seemed hesitant to continue. “You’re not thinking of trying to escape, please don’t.”

“Then there is a way out.”

“
Madre de Dios
, I shouldn’t tell you this,” she said, wringing her hands together, “but once Silva has you in his bed, you’d learn the truth. There are no bars on the window of his bedroom, but there is no escape either because the room is upstairs.”