Silver Sea (37 page)

Yet, as they ate roast pigeon with string beans, yams, and delicious honeyed biscuits, Adrienne saw his pride in Tempest Hall. Would he recognize that she was partly responsible for this night's success? Would he remember how different these rooms had looked when they had arrived just a few days ago?

Later, after mango pudding and cordial, the group strolled the gallery and listened to the chorus of tree frogs and the far-off rush of waves. Candles flickered under their hurricane globes; the night air was soft and mild. When the tall-case clock on the landing struck eleven, Andre Raveneau looked startled.

"This island is spellbinding. I had no idea it had gotten so late." He turned to Adrienne, smiling. "I must start back to Bridgetown if I'll be any good to my new crew on the morrow. It has been a distinct pleasure to meet you, my dear, and I trust that I'll see you again—soon, I hope."

"Oh, yes. Certainly, when we—"

Nathan spoke over her. "Of course, Father, we'll be coming to Bridgetown soon. Adrienne will be longing for the sight of civilization, and we'll both enjoy a visit to the ship."

She had been going to assure his father that they would meet again at her wedding to Nathan, but now that seemed less certain. Feeling strangely sad again, Adrienne slipped away while Zachary and Nathan were discussing the means by which Zach would be sent his possessions from the
Golden Eagle.

Upstairs, she undressed in the darkness and climbed into bed. The sheets were faintly damp with the humidity, with a whiff of mildew. She could hear insects scurrying on the floor and saw a lizard cross the balcony in the moonlight. Adrienne heaved an aching sigh. It was such a strange place. Could she ever be happy here without love?

Now when she looked back at her afternoon's adventure, the memory was tinged with foreboding... and the danger of her brush with death. She'd forgotten to mention the strange woman to Nathan, and a new instinct told her not to. Who was she and what had her cryptic warnings meant?

An hour later, Adrienne was still looking at the peeling walls when a soft tap came at her door.

"Adrienne? Are you awake?"

His voice sounded almost gentle, but she didn't answer. After one more try, Nathan went away.

Chapter 19

Adrienne and Nathan were married under the rose arbor in front of Tempest Hall, the day after word arrived from France that Nicholai and Lisette Beauvisage granted their blessing. Lisette had sent a trunk filled with her daughter's favorite clothes, books, and other keepsakes, and Nicholai had enclosed the deed to fifty acres of oceanfront land adjoining Xavier Crowe's estate on the southeastern coast of Barbados.

Not until she came into the garden and saw Nathan, a vicar, Orchid, Philip, and Lord and Lady McGrath from the next plantation east did Adrienne realize that Nathan had meant it when he said he thought a small wedding would be best.

There was no sign of either Andre Raveneau or Zachary Minter.

Still, standing under the arbor in a whisper-soft gown of white lawn, a garland of bright, exotic flowers decorating her hair, Adrienne tried to think only of Nathan. He looked devastatingly handsome, clad in cream pantaloons, a crisp white shirt and cravat, and a perfectly tailored swallow-tail coat of dark-blue broadcloth. His black hair was wind-blown and his tanned face lent him an air of danger. Adrienne had the rare opportunity to gaze into Nathan's sea-blue eyes while the vicar was speaking, and what she saw there both thrilled and unnerved her.

"Do you, Adrienne, take this man..."

Her hands began to perspire in his. Of all the risks she had embraced in her lifetime, this was the greatest. Heart pounding, Adrienne whispered, "I do."

As Nathan repeated his vows, he had to look away from his bride. He still couldn't believe this day was real. He had certainly tried every trick he could think of to minimize the significance of the wedding, including finding excuses to exclude his father and his best friend. If they could have married by post, Nathan would have done that.

One thing he would not do, however, was postpone the ceremony once the deed to the Beauvisage land arrived. Nathan couldn't consider the land his own until he fulfilled the rest of his bargain with Adrienne's father, and he was, with all his flaws, an honest man.

His own hands were cold as he found the carved gold band and slipped it onto her finger. "With this ring I thee wed, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow."

"I now pronounce you man and wife." The vicar, a gaunt man who read the words without expression, had not met even the groom until today. "You may kiss your bride, Captain Raveneau."

Something in Nathan's eyes made Adrienne take an involuntary step backward. Immediately, like a cat, he closed the distance between them and captured her in a hard embrace. Startled, Adrienne couldn't breathe for a moment. His arms seemed more powerful than ever and when he kissed her, his demanding mouth evoked sensations that made her shiver in the heat.

In the background, Orchid was weeping and clapping. Lord and Lady McGrath stiffly offered congratulations, then she said something about being under the weather.

"Good of you to ask us," Lord McGrath muttered, "but we must go."

His wife was watching Adrienne closely. After a moment she looked at Nathan and said sweetly, "Oh, Captain Raveneau, I happened to see Eloise Crowe at the milliner's yesterday. She was having the most fetching bonnet made; I think she grows younger by the year." Still smiling, Lady McGrath tried to pretend she didn't notice that a rivulet of perspiration was drizzling down her pudgy, powdered cheek. "I mentioned your impending nuptials, but she hadn't heard. She begged that I convey her sincere wishes for your lasting happiness...."

Lord McGrath was scarlet with embarrassment. "My dear, I really don't think—"

"My lady," Adrienne interjected in cheerful tones, "if you should see Mrs. Crowe again, do thank her for her kindness. I look forward to meeting her at last when Nathan and I are finished with our—" She rested her cheek against his shoulder and gazed dreamily up at him. "—
honeymoon."

"Quite, quite," McGrath blustered. He gripped his wife's arm and led her off toward their landau before she could say another word.

Adrienne felt slightly dizzy and wondered if she would be ill. As they went into the house for a light celebratory meal, she lingered at the edge of the dining room.

"What's wrong?" Nathan asked. Retta came toward them with glasses of champagne on a tray, and he accepted one for both Adrienne and himself.

"I don't feel well." She managed a weak smile. "Perhaps it's all the excitement. I think I ought to go upstairs and lie down for a while."

* * *

There was so much work to be done on the plantation, as the new crop of sugarcane was planted, that the new bridegroom went back out into the fields. The ground was covered with shallow holes, and slaves were putting cane cuttings into them. Zachary Minter stood sweating in the afternoon sun, talking with the overseer.

"For God's sake, what are you doing here?" Minter exclaimed upon sighting Raveneau.

Nathan had changed into light biscuit trousers and a loose white shirt, and gave no sign that he was now a married man. "Adrienne wasn't feeling well. She went upstairs for a rest, and I thought you might need me out here."

"Did you explain to her why I wasn't at the wedding?" He shaded his eyes against the sunlight. "I think we're both beasts for deciding that I couldn't spare the time to be a witness—"

"I think it was just as well. Lord and Lady McGrath came to sign the papers and, I expect, to have a look at the new Mrs. Raveneau. They're doubtless making a tour of the island this afternoon to spread the word."

"Nothing wrong with that." Zachary watched his friend's rakish profile, but it gave nothing away. "Did it go well? Are you... happy?"

Nathan shrugged. "Well enough. But I should be asking you how this work is progressing." His gaze traveled over the lines of slaves, laboring in the punishing sun. "It's hard to watch, isn't it? Now I remember why I chose to be an absentee planter."

"Believe me, I would do this only for you. It's hell to watch the slaves sweating like this."

"I suppose we ought to change the system one day."

"In the meantime, we are behind with the planting. It was a wonder that the last crop was harvested and processed at all, given Horner's poor performance. Now time is of the essence."

"You know that there must be three thousand holes for every acre of land, right?"

"Yes. And a cane cutting placed in each hole, then covered with mold." Zachary began rolling up his sleeves. "The ground is showing signs of overuse, you know. There are plenty of problems to address when you have a moment."

Nathan drew a harsh breath and replied ironically, "You make it sound so inviting. We'll sit down together and discuss your concerns—but first I suppose I ought to visit my bride."

"Wait." Zach touched Raveneau's sleeve. "I haven't any right to interfere, but I have known you all my life, and—"

"Yes, yes, go ahead," Nathan retorted tersely.

"I just want to say that I think your new wife is a splendid woman, and you are a fortunate man. I know that you both are stubborn and proud, but now that you're married, couldn't that be put aside? Adrienne cares for you, you know. She could make you a damned fine helpmate, if you'll let her."

Nathan nodded slowly. "Yes... well, we shall see." He patted his friend's shoulder, then started back to Tempest Hall.

* * *

His hair still wet, Nathan came from the bathhouse into the shadowed back hallway. Through the door to the serving room, he could see Orchid, sitting in an old chair, watching Lily and Retta clean a batch of flying fish.

"Captain?" she called, and leaned forward so that he couldn't slip out of her view.

"Hmm?" Nathan moved toward the doorway but did not enter. "I was just going up to see if Adrienne is awake yet."

She pursed her lips, obviously making an effort not to say everything that was on her mind. Instead she muttered, "I never see a wedding day like dis."

"Yes, it was a shame that Adrienne didn't feel well." Nathan stared Orchid down, then added, "I'm not hungry. I ate enough for the whole day at the wedding meal."

"I send a tray up to Mistress Raveneau." Orchid nodded toward the empty dishes. "She seem better. Some way, at leas'."

"As always, I deeply appreciate your tact and restraint."

"You miss me when you go away!" she reminded him as he moved out of sight. "Goat head every day better dan cow head every Saturday!"

"Words to live by, I'm sure."

Ascending the stairs, Nathan realized that the house was slowly changing. When he had first come here as the new owner two years ago, Tempest Hall had been run down, and since it was already furnished, it felt like someone else's home. Nathan had been away most of the time since then. Each visit had strengthened his bond with Orchid and Philip, and he'd slowly come to know the names of other slaves. The seed of a desire to stay and make Tempest Hall his real home began to take root—and now it had happened, almost without his realizing it.

Adrienne's subtle touches were everywhere, from the newly washed and painted shutters, to the floors that smelled of polish, to the bouquets of flowers, large and small, that seemed to grace every room and corner. Nathan felt a twinge in the area of his heart as it occurred to him that he had backed into marriage just as he had backed into residing full time at Tempest Hall.

He was deep into a new life but unable to look at it squarely... yet. Part of him still wanted to bolt, to swing onto a stallion's back and gallop down the coast to Bridgetown, back to the sure escape the
Golden Eagle
had always afforded. At sea, Nathan was master of all he surveyed, and there were no realities except the water, the next adventure, and the distance from conventional existence.

He stood in front of Adrienne's door and wondered how it could be possible that he now had a wife. He knocked.

"Adrienne? Are you awake?"

"Yes," came her muffled reply.

"May I come in?"

A full minute passed, and then the door opened. Adrienne had changed into a plain chemise frock, and in the distance Nathan glimpsed the wedding gown she'd worn earlier in a pile on the floor. The garland of flowers that had graced her chestnut curls now lay forgotten amid the folds of white lawn.

She stared at the floor. "I don't have anything to say to you right now, and I certainly do not intend to consummate our marriage tonight."

"Indeed?" He tried not to smile. "I suppose I shall have to content myself with memories, then."

"Don't be crude." Adrienne turned away and walked barefoot to look out on the balcony.

Although she appeared to be dismissing him, Nathan chose to close the door and follow her across the room instead. "I gather that you are disappointed... with me. Are you going to make me guess what I've done wrong?" He touched her shoulder. "Was it the wedding?"

She fought the power of her attraction to him and tried not to smell his freshly washed skin. More tanned and lean-muscled with each passing day, Nathan was nearly impossible to resist.