The Guise of a Gentleman (26 page)

Blushing, he stammered, “A pleasure, ma’am.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m about sixteen or seventeen, ma’am.”

“Don’t you know?”

He looked away. “I come from murky origins, if you get my meanin’.”

Sympathy crept over her. “No matter. You are a fine young man and I’m grateful to you. I see why the captain thinks highly of you.”

He blinked and a slow look of joy overcame his features. He squared his shoulders and actually puffed out his chest.

“I’m glad you’re seeing to her comforts, O’Brian. I knew I could depend upon you.”

Elise inwardly groaned at the way her heart fluttered at the sound of Jared’s voice. Wearing his smug, lazy smile, he lounged with his arms folded, one shoulder resting against the nearest mast. His shirt whipped around him in the wind and his skin- tight breeches hugged his long, muscular legs.

O’Brian murmured something about seeing to his duties and beat a hasty retreat.

Jared prowled closer, with a very predatory glint in his eye. How could a barefoot man appear so dangerous? He stopped an arm’s length away and smiled down at her as if she were the most beautiful woman alive. She couldn’t help but return the smile.

“You were gone when I awoke. I missed you.” He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. His thumb traced a line down her cheek; tender, intimate, possessive, invoking eddies of pleasure.

As she looked up at him looming over her, feeling safe rather than threatened, she realized she still loved this man. Desperately, completely. He made her feel cherished. Protected. Desirable. Loved.

She loved him.

She loved him despite the shadows of his profession. He would stand between her and all danger. She would do the same for him. Loving him did not catch her in a trap. It freed her.

Tears tickled  her eyes and she looked away lest he see her sudden emotion. Other women prided themselves on crying at will to appear poetic, or romantic, or to coerce others into bending to their whim. Elise prided herself on her decorum. Yet Jared turned her into a weeping ninny.

Absently watching a crewman mop the planks of the deck, she said, “You certainly keep your ship clean, Captain.”

He grinned. “You expected a slovenly bunch, no doubt. To be honest, we don’t swab the deck to keep it clean; we do it to keep it wet.”

“Why?”

“Dry wood shrinks. Shrunken wood makes big cracks. I swim well, but not enough to get me all the way to land. Do you?”

“I don’t swim at all.”

“You don’t know what you’re missing. I spent a great deal of my youth in the lake.” He held out a hand. “I need to go to my cabin for a moment. Would you care to get out of the sun?”

She took his hand. “I would.” His fingers curled over hers in a surprisingly intimate touch.

Inside the captain’s quarters, while Jared spread out a map and weighted the edges while he studied it, Elise perused his library. She took up a book and settled down to read, but found it more interesting to watch Jared. The men came freely in and out as if they had as much a right to the cabin as he. They spoke with him regarding the ship, asking his opinion, informing him of matters. They never asked his permission, but sought his approval, nonetheless. The crew might see themselves as equals on the ship, but they deferred to his judgment.

She followed him back up to the quarterdeck. He raised an astrolabe to the horizon and sighted along it. After checking the reading and then both a timepiece and compass, he looked over the Nautical Almanac and carefully recorded his readings in a log.

“Is something wrong?” Elise ventured.

“Finding our bearings after a storm can be tricky. It’s difficult to determine how far off course we’ve been blown.”

At high noon, Jared checked the sextant, a timepiece, and compass again, and made a chalk mark on a chart.

He looked up at Dubois with a wry smile. “I think I know where we are. I used dead reckoning too, and both came in pretty close.”

Dubois shrugged. “I’d trust your best guess.”

“The
Venture
!” called a lookout.

Jared let out his breath in relief. “She weathered the storm.”

Elise smiled in bemusement. Yesterday, they’d been trying to kill one another and today they were glad to be together. She’d never understand men.

The
Venture
drew alongside and Jared leaped gracefully over to the other ship where the other crew crowded around him. “Are all hands accounted for?”

As they spoke animatedly, Elise shook her head, part puzzled, part amused. They were ill-kempt and rough-looking, but failed to fit the image she’d conjured of pirates. None looked particularly evil or bloodthirsty. They didn’t appear to be contemplating murdering Jared
; instead they smiled and clapped him on the back. Perhaps the other crew was mostly his; most of Leandro’s crew had probably died in the bloodbath as the two pirate captains and crews battled. From what she’d heard, Leandro’s crew had suffered heavier casualties than Jared’s.

Jared laughed and talked with them, perfectly relaxed. He exuded confidence, authority, and an air of dignity the others lacked. Otherwise, except for his handsome face, he seemed little different than the others. He fit in with them as easily as he fit in with the landed gentry.

Did he play a role when he played the gentleman?

Or when he played the pirate?

How could one ever know? The man was a human chameleon.

Jared leaped back to the
Mistress
with the power of a great cat, landing lightly on deck. Some of the men traded places on the ships as they discussed storm damage. Jared gave the heading to the man holding the wheel and Dubois relayed the course to the other ship. Jared winked at her and returned to his work.

He was always moving, always active right along side his crew, as hard at work as they. He worked amid the men hoisting a sail, or moving ropes she’d been informed were called ‘lines.’ He climbed the rigging at dizzying heights.

Jared’s eyes sought her often, his face always softening, and sometimes when he passed by her, he touched her surreptitiously. Other times, he stopped to speak with her. Either Dubois or O’Brian checked on her frequently to inquire as to her needs.

Late that afternoon, the lookout called from above, “Land ho!”

Amid a flurry of activity spurred by the announcement, Elise shaded her eyes and looked out over the prow.

Jared shimmied down a rope and dropped lightly on deck, calling out orders to the helmsmen.

As land draw steadily closer, Jared appeared next to her. “Our safe harbor.”

“This is where you go when you aren’t plundering?” She winced. She hadn’t meant it to sound so harsh or judgmental.

He did not appear disturbed by her choice of words. “Our haven. Not exactly paradise, but it serves our needs.”

“Don’t you worry the navy will find you here?”

“We’re several leagues off a main shipping route.”

No vegetation grew on that
wind-blasted island. She’d never imagined a more inhospitable place.

He pointed. “The lee side of the island, what we see now, looks totally uninhabitable, so even if someone were to get off course, they’d never look twice at this place. The cove and the habitable part lay on the other side of the island. The cove is deep enough for the
Sea Mistress
and sloops like the
Venture
, but not deep enough for a navy frigate. There are also several off-shore shoals which can be tricky to navigate for those unfamiliar with them.”

Darkness fell as they rounded the island and lights winked from the darkened land. As they put down anchor in the harbor and made ready to disembark, the men gathered up personal effects and pulled on coats and boots while others lowered longboats.

Jared steadied her as she stepped into the longboat. She sat between Jared and young O’Brian, with Dubois at the prow. Moonlight rippled on the water and the oars made a soft slosh as they rowed toward shore. The shimmering lights grew progressively larger and brighter. As they reached the island, several men jumped out and pulled the longboats up onto the beach. The sand made a scraping sound on the bottom of the boat.

Jared’s hand steadied her as she stepped out. “This way.”

He put a hand under her elbow and guided her, holding up a lantern. He led her through the darkness with the men tramping behind, following a path through overgrown vegetation. Jared, O’Brian, and Dubois parted branches and held them aside for her to pass through so nothing touched her. After climbing a steady rise, they broke through the brush to a clearing. Lights and music greeted them. Small buildings crouched drunkenly along the road, light spilling out of their shuttered windows to illuminate patches of the bare ground.

All the men broke off into different directions, calling out farewells, or predictions of the greeting they anticipated receiving. A group of the men headed for the open doors of a large, noisy tavern with tawdry women lounging about in various inviting poses that made Elise’s cheeks burn.

She and Jared were alone by the time they arrived in front of a two-story building at the end of the road. Candlelight flickered in the windows and laughter rang out from inside.

Jared gestured. “Home. Sometimes.”

“You live here?”

“I only come to the island for repairs and to sell my plunder. I sleep at the tavern while I’m here. There are several rooms on the second floor.”

Alarm arose and she took an involuntary step back. “You don’t sleep in a brothel, do you?”

Amusement danced in his face. “You’d be surprised where I’ve slept. But in all seriousness, I would never bring you to a brothel. It’s a perfectly respectable tavern with soft beds and decent food. The locals come for the exceptional ale.” He opened the door and led her inside.

Smoke hung in the air, mingled with the pungent odor of bodies, tar, and cheap wine.

“Jack! Yer ’ome!” A portly woman with a broad, toothless grin wove among tables filled with bearded men and lumbered to Jared and clapped his arm.

“How’s business, Nan?” Jared asked in a hearty voice.

“Can’t complain. ’Ungry?”

“Aye. Bring us a bowl of whatever you’ve got that smells so good.”

She chuckled. “Don’t never get ’customed to yer fancy talk, Jack. Ye almost sound like a confounded gentleman.” Her gaze slid to Elise.

“Mrs. Berkley, meet Nan,” Jared said by way of introduction.

Elise nodded.

Nan eyed her slowly with a look of speculation. “Welcome, Mrs. Berkley.” After sending Jared a sly smile, she trundled off into another room.

Jared exchanged greetings with two nearby men drinking. At another table, three men played cards. Jared guided Elise to a vacant table as Nan returned balancing two bowls of stew and a board of bread. Onions, beef, and a hint of basil wafted from the bowls. Elise tasted the stew and smiled at Nan who hovered expectantly.

“It’s very good, thank you,” Elise said.

Nan’s toothless grin appeared again. “Glad ta ’ear it.” She turned to Jared. “Lor, Jack, she talks jus’ like ye. Ye gonna give up a-piratin’ and settle down wiff ’er?”

Jared grinned and glanced at Elise before returning his gaze to Nan. “What makes you think she’ll have the likes of me?”

Nan snorted. “Shor, Jack, she ain’t blind. I’d take ye and I’m old ‘nuff to be yer dam.”

Elise choked on her bread. Nan waddled off to bring more drinks to the other patrons.

After they finished their dinner, Jared took a lamp and led Elise upstairs under Nan’s knowing grin. Elise’s cheeks heated in embarrassment, knowing Nan assumed they were lovers. Elise found the idea not objectionable. She stole a glance at Jared as he unlocked a door at the end of the passageway.

He stepped back and waited for her to precede him. “This is my room.”

“You have your own room? You must be a generous customer.”

“I own the place. Nan just runs it for me. The agreement was a fifty-fifty split, but she hasn’t paid me my honest portion in years. Still, I always have a room and a meal when I come, and I can trust her. Except with my money.” He set the lantern on a small table.

The clean and aired room held a large, comfortable bed. The linens appeared freshly laundered and crisp.

Jared opened the window and leaned out for a long time, silhouetted by the pale moon. He turned back and looked at her thoughtfully, leaning against the windowsill. The sound of the waves crashing on the beach reached her ears in a soothing cadence, and a gentle, balmy breeze stirred the curtains.

“I don’t dare sleep in the room next door,” Jared finally said. “We’re on the second floor so the casual passerby wouldn’t think of entering. Still, a ladder would make for an easy climb. And this is the first night on land, so there’s likely to be a lot of revelry. There might be trouble.”

The wolfish, plotting pirate with seduction on his mind was nowhere to be found. In his place stood a gentleman who hesitated, torn between wishing to honor her morality and protecting her from others by remaining with her.