Pirate of My Heart: A Novel (4 page)

He took Kendra’s hand, leaving it with a sloppy kiss, and stated in a nasal voice, “I am most pleased to meet you, Lady Townsend.”

Kendra jerked her hand away and wiped it on her skirt. She turned her head away, ignoring his greeting, which caused Andrew to jab her in the ribs with his elbow. “The pleasure is mine, I’m sure.” She didn’t try to cover the sarcastic tone in her voice.

Andrew gulped down the drink in his hand as a servant announced that dinner was ready to be served. Her uncle hesitated and then offered Kendra his arm once again. He must have known she would ignore Lord Barrymore’s arm, had he extended it.

“Shall we?” Uncle Andrew glared at her behind Lord Barrymore’s back, despite his tight smile and jolly voice.

During the dinner, between tiny bites of food, Lord Barrymore boasted of his wealth, describing in detail his penny-pinching methods of keeping his estate intact.

So, he was a miser along with being too old for her. When he started to expound on his manly abilities and how she was not to worry that age had slowed him down, she knew she had to do something. It was time to act.

“Not to worry, Lord Barrymore, for I have no desire for children. We need not even consider them, really.” She looked up into his face and gave him a sunny, innocent smile. “I always sleep with my door bolted and a gun under my pillow.”

Andrew sucked in a breath at the blatant lie and glared at her, his face turning red.

“Well, there will be no more of that!” Lord Barrymore wiped his thin lips with a cloth and widened his eyes at her.

Kendra floundered for a second in despair and then plunged forward. “Oh, you’ll not want to see me as a mother. Why, I’ve taken such poor care of my pets that they never lasted over a year.” She laughed with a fake, hollow sound. “My greatest talent is, of course, shopping. I must have a new wardrobe every season, and I seem to go through jewels like water. Why, just the other day I misplaced my favorite diamond and emerald necklace. We must replace it with a better one, dear uncle,” she added sweetly, nodding to Andrew, knowing he couldn’t disagree with her without giving away their dreadful state of finances.

Andrew gave her a look that said he would like to wrap his hands around her throat but only smiled a smile so bland that Kendra had to shove down the laughter.

“Of course, my dear,” he choked out.

Lord Barrymore gaped at her, looking properly appalled with the vision of his wealth slipping through his fingers.

By dessert Kendra had countered everything important to Lord Barrymore until, by the end of the meal, he made his apologies, saying he had suddenly taken on a headache, and fled as fast as his legs could speed him out the door.

Andrew burst into a fit of rage as soon as the door slammed shut, while Kendra let out the laughter she’d been suppressing all night.

“What do you think you’re doing, you ungrateful brat?” He stormed around the room. “He was the only one that responded to my offer!”

Kendra looked him square in the eyes and replied in a calm and serene voice. “I wouldn’t marry that skinny old goat if he were the last man on earth. We will not suit and you know it.”

Andrew’s eyes turned dark as he glared at her. He took a deep breath and made another circle around the room and then faced her with his hands extended. “My dear, don’t you see, with no dowry we are limited . . . I’m only trying to do what is best for you.”

“A lecherous old man is in my best interest? Uncle, how could you think such a thing?”

Andrew turned away with a great sigh. “Well, if you won’t wed a man of my choosing then I have only one option left. You will go to America to live with your mother’s sister.” There was a hint of certain victory in his voice that made Kendra sit up straighter and grip the arms of her chair so that her knuckles turned white.

“You would send me away from my home?” Her anger grew apace with despair at the thought of leaving England. “You would ship me off halfway across the world just to rid yourself of me? You despise me that much?” Her voice dropped into confusion mixed with the pain. “What have I done to make you hate me so?”

“Kendra, I’m only trying to do what is best. You shouldn’t live here the rest of your life. It’s time to make a future of your own. If you can’t find it here in England, then mayhap you will find happiness in America.”

America or Lord Barrymore. She could hardly fathom either possibility. “If those are my choices, I will need time to consider. I will give you my answer in the morning, Andrew.” She had deliberately left out the “uncle” title that she had always called him with such pride and joy. She knew it was wrong, but she wanted to hurt him as he was hurting her.

Andrew seemed not to notice the slight as he nodded his head.

Kendra picked up her skirts and ran, tears blinding her, to her room. Once inside her bedchamber she paced back and forth.
Father, why did you have to leave me like this? What do I do?
She could either resign herself to a miserable marriage or take her chances in America where she would at least have some say in her life. She hoped she would, in any case.

Kendra tried to remember everything her father had told her about her aunt and uncle. It wasn’t much, she decided, plopping back on the bed and staring at the ceiling. Why had her relatives left their homeland to travel to a new world? She knew that some of the aristocracy had been appointed posts in America when they were England’s colonies and many had stayed on after the war. Maybe that was it. She contemplated appealing to her grandmother for help, but soon realized the folly of that plan. Her grandmother only had eyes for Andrew and was sure to agree with him.

Dear Lord, please help me make the right decision.
The image of Lord Barrymore popped into her head. She thought of the marriage bed, what would happen if she married him, and knew her answer. She would leave her home and take her chances in a strange new land.

When dawn finally peaked its head above the horizon it found Kendra dressed and ready for her future. She wanted as much of the time she had left to see her favorite places around the estate. There were the tenants to say good-bye to and the wooded creek she had played beside as a child that had been her secret haven. Her uncle was inclined to rise late, so she would have time to spare before the dreaded confrontation.

Just before noon Kendra strolled into the hall. The butler, Hobbs, seemed nervous as he said with a shaky voice, his hands twisting together, “Oh, thank goodness it’s you, Lady Kendra. The earl has had us searching high and low for you. I believe he thought you had run off.”

“Ran off?” If only she had somewhere to run off to. She made her way down the corridor to the library and knocked.

A gruff voice answered. “Yes, what is it?” Kendra recognized her uncle’s black mood and sighed.

She entered the room to a thundering lecture as to the fright she had caused everyone.
Patience!
She repeated the reminder to herself, remembering her father’s teachings. Finally, Andrew paused for a breath and she was able to make her announcement. “I have made a decision, Andrew.”

He stopped and stared at her. “I hope you’ve come to your senses.”

“I’m going to America.”

For the first time ever, her uncle’s face blanched with genuine shock. “You would rather leave your country than marry Lord Barrymore?”

“Yes.” Kendra stared hard into his eyes.

“Well, in that case, be prepared to leave within a fortnight. I will write a letter of introduction for you to take to your aunt. They will be forced to do their duty by you with you on their doorstep, all the way from England.”

Kendra’s heart sank. He was really going to send her away. She bolted for the door as fresh tears sprang to her eyes.
Love. Love your enemies.
She heard the words but couldn’t imagine how to do that when all she wanted was to have her father back.

Chapter Four

K
endra stepped out onto the stone terrace and blinked back tears. The dawn of a beautiful day, a most perfect day, and her last day in Arundel. The sky was turning blue as the pale pink shades of a sunrise seemed to dissolve in a million tiny faded particles, leaving the world bathed in a warm yellow glow. The lush greens and brilliant colors of the garden with its white daisies, lavender, rows of primroses, and dotted clumps of red and pink carnations that she had painstakingly tended bloomed and waved at her with the early summer breeze. Pots of purple pansies were scattered along a stone path that led to a row of hedges and a low bench where she had spent many a summer’s day reading or just daydreaming while sitting in her garden.

Shakespeare’s
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
and the fairy king Oberon leapt to her mind and made her smile. Furious with his queen over a baby, the king laid crushed pansy petals on his wife’s eyelids while she slept as he believed the special properties from the pansies would make Titania fall in love with the first thing she saw upon waking. In this case he planned that she see a man with a donkey head. Kendra smiled and then a crushing sadness swept over her. She would never sit here and read again.

Lord, am I making a mistake? I feel as if I’m leaping from a cliff.
She turned down a winding path that led into a leafy bower bordered by rose bushes. She stopped under a sunny spot, closed her eyes, and lifted her face into the warmth.
Please, don’t let me make a mistake.

A whirring sound and something tickling her nose made her eyes fly open. There, darting around her, were two dragonflies. She gasped, reaching for the brooch that she had placed on the bodice of her dress that morning. It had been her mother’s gift to her at her birth and she only wore it on the most special occasions or on days like today, when she needed the extra courage and to feel close to her parents. The dragonflies flitted about her, zigging and zagging, swooping near her head and then away. A smile spread across her face as joy flooded her chest. It was a sign. Her parents were with her, watching over her and telling her everything would be okay.

She twirled slowly around with her arms outstretched.
Joy. Thank You, Father. I needed that today.

“Lady Kendra!” One of the servants called her name.

She turned and hurried back toward the house. “Coming.”

Her trunks had been loaded onto a new carriage and she knew her uncle was waiting for her, no doubt pacing and slapping a riding crop against his thigh. She walked through a back door and gave a last look around the drawing room where she and her father had spent many evenings together playing chess or dominoes, drinking hot chocolate while he told her stories of their ancestors’ plights throughout the centuries. The ache of missing him flared into a sharp piercing pain as if someone had just stabbed her. Her throat worked as she swallowed it back, pressing one hand against her chest.

Joy. The joy of the Lord is my strength.
She remembered the dancing dragonflies and allowed God’s peace to return to her heart. Her parents may have been taken from her, but God would never forsake her, not even in a place as far away as America. With that thought bolstering her flagging spirits she forced her chin up a notch and walked from the room, closing the door with a soft click behind her.

The few servants they still had were gathered outside, standing in two short lines on either side of the door in their faded red and gold livery.

She’d heard Andrew trying to discourage them earlier that morning, saying it would make Kendra’s parting harder, but they had flatly disobeyed him. They didn’t treat her uncle with the same respect born out of love that they had given her father. As Kendra walked down the steps they bowed or curtsied, one after another, several with tears shining from their faithful eyes.

Kendra smiled at their tribute and bit her quivering lower lip. She wanted them to be proud of her and this was no time to be weeping. Several stopped her progress and whispered oaths of loyalty. “You will be sorely missed, my lady,” and “We won’t forget yer lovely self,” among many good-bye hugs. The cook, Mildred, was beside herself, tears racing down her full cheeks as she stammered out with a quivering chin, “It j-just w-won’t be the s-s-same without you in the k-kitchen, my lady.” At first cook had been appalled when Kendra had rolled up her sleeves to help, but after a time she’d gotten used to the idea of a lady in the kitchen and enjoyed teaching Kendra how to make tasty meals from simple ingredients.

“I shall miss you too, Mildred.” Kendra patted her arm. She glanced up and saw Andrew picking invisible lint from his sleeve between heavy sighs and some eye-rolling. Kendra turned to look once more at the visage of her home and the good people who were like family to her and said in a loud voice for all to hear. “On behalf of my father and myself, I would like to thank each and every one of you for the wonderful care you have taken of our family. Please do not think of this as a final good-bye, for one day I plan to return and I expect this place to be in excellent shape.” She bobbed a quick curtsy and turned away before they saw the trembling of her bottom lip. Refusing her uncle’s outreached hand, she climbed into the carriage and waved one last time. Her uncle ignored the slight with a careless flick of his hand and climbed in beside her.

Three days trapped in this tight space with him. Kendra stared out the window at the rolling farmland that had been her home and wondered how she would endure it.

“You didn’t. Tell me you’re joking.” Dorian could not believe his firstmate had made such a decision. After hearing the story of how some English earl had cornered him at a tavern the night before and how John had been goaded into taking on a passenger, a
female
passenger, he squeezed his hands into fists, hardly able to contain his anger.

“I told him no at first.” John slung his hands into his pockets and grimaced, looking away.

“Don’t you see, the man was trying to force you into giving in.”

“But I raised the fee by a hundred pounds! I couldn’t believe he met my price and figured it would make our trip more profitable.”

“Did you also figure on all the trouble a woman is going to give us? Confound it, man, what could you have been thinking?”

“Sorry, Captain. I won’t make a decision like that without consulting you again.”

Dorian stopped pacing and took a deep breath. “Well, the damage has been done so we may as well make the best of it.” Even as he said it the damage was moving toward him like the lit string of a firecracker.

“There he is.” John pointed toward a tall, blond man walking up the dock toward them. Beside him was a stunning creature, decked out in a plum traveling costume with an enormous hat that bordered on being comical. Huge ostrich feathers drooped and waved over a mass of purple, orange, and white flowers on the brim. No doubt the ridiculous monstrosity was the height of fashion. Dorian groaned. They looked to be London’s finest.

“You’ll be responsible for her, as you got us into this mess.”

John paled beside him. “What do I do with her? She’s—ah, she’s—”

Dorian laughed. “Move her into my cabin and tell her to stay there. I’ll bunk with you.”

“What makes you think she will listen to me? I mean, look at her!”

“Just keep her away from my men.”

As the elegant couple drew closer, Dorian sucked in his breath. She was tall by standard, her head reaching just above his shoulder. Her golden hair was swept up into the monstrous hat, a hat that matched the most arresting bluish violet eyes he had ever seen. He felt as if he had been punched in the stomach and had to order himself to breathe again.

She soon came to be standing in front of him. She tilted her head back to see his face from under the wide brim. As her gaze met his it seemed a sparking electricity, the kind of which the famed Benjamin Franklin told about with his kite, passed between them, jolting him with its suddenness and strength. She blinked, surprise filling her brilliant gaze as if she too felt it and then quickly lowered her eyes. Dorian noted the small nose with two tiny freckles on it and then his gaze became fixed on a pair of cherry-colored lips, the color of his mother’s prized roses back home. He wanted to lean in and kiss them. Absurd. And stupid to even let the thought cross his mind. What was wrong with him? His mind screamed the question while his body stood as taunt as a mainmast in the wind. She was going to be a whole new kind of trouble. He looked down at her and scowled.

Kendra’s glimpse of the man had only lasted a few seconds but his image burned in her mind. She’d never met an American before and he looked as wild as she’d heard them to be, handsome in a rugged way that she was unaccustomed to. His face was tan, so different from the milky white complexions she was used to seeing. He had rather long, dark hair that had been brushed back from chiseled features and waved in the breeze. His eyes were a cerulean blue with silver flecks in them and filled with piercing intensity and . . . disdain. Thick black brows arched almost wickedly over his eyes. His chin was square with a small cleft and she sensed he may have a dimple in his left cheek when he smiled. Small lines stood on either side of his well-molded mouth. His lips were slightly wide with even white teeth peering behind them. Kendra peeked up through her lashes and saw broad shoulders and a wide chest. He looked like a pirate she’d once read about.
Goodness Lord, I didn’t know You made such men for real!

Peeking up at his face she saw him frown with such a look of disapproval in his eyes that it took her aback. What had she done to cause him to give her such a look?

Her eyes widened as she realized the turn of her thoughts. What did she care if this captain didn’t like her? Heathen, blackguard, thieving pirate most likely! But she did care and that made her all the angrier. Of all the injustices, first she was being thrown out of her home and then there was this, this, man whom she would be forced to spend the next few weeks with, maybe even alone with . . . Oh goodness, she had to get these wandering thoughts under control.
Goodness! Self-control!

The other man rushed to make the introductions. “Lord Townsend, this is Captain Colburn and I am John Lucas. And this must be your niece?”

Andrew nodded, peering down his nose at Kendra. “This is the Lady Townsend.”

Kendra dipped her head toward John but ignored the captain as Andrew continued. “I have the payment we agreed upon and instructions for some overland travel once you’ve reached America. As your fee is exorbitant, you will see to it that she is safely delivered?” Andrew pulled out a clinking purse and pressed it into John’s hand.

Kendra frowned. Where had her uncle come up with so much money?

“Of course, sir.” John assured her uncle. “We will see her safely delivered.”

The captain cleared his throat and John rushed to correct the statement. “That is, I will see that she finds her destination, sir.”

Well at least this John fellow seemed decent enough. The captain obviously didn’t want anything to do with her.

Andrew turned to Kendra, gave her an awkward pat and a peck on the back of her hand, which she wrenched out of his grasp, then spun about on his heel and left. Kendra raised her chin a notch, trying to still the traitorous quiver of her bottom lip. She ignored the captain and looked at the kind face of the other man. “I’m ready to board, sir.” When she glanced at the captain she saw that he was glowering in the direction of her uncle’s back. Well, let him scowl! She was on her way to America and meant to make the most of her new life.

John offered Kendra his arm and saluted the captain with a secretive smile. “I’ll just be about my duties to the lady, sir. As you directed.”

Kendra looked from the gleeful, teasing eyes of John to the thunderous gaze of the captain, as he replied, “See that you do.”

John turned to her and flashed a bright smile. “After you’re settled, I’d be happy to show you around the ship.”

“Why thank you, sir. It is so good to see that some Americans have gracious manners.”

John made a choking sound as he hurried them away, leaving the
pirate
, as she chose to think of him, to follow behind with the trunks.

“I do believe I’ve upset the captain. He has been looking daggers at me since the moment we met, but I can’t fathom what I’ve done,” Kendra confessed to John when they were out of his hearing distance.