The Raider (18 page)

“I don't want any of them!” she said with force. “All they want from me is…is what Mr. Clymer wants. I can't go off and leave the children. Who will support Eleanor and the babies? All those men want me alone, not the kids. They want their own children, not someone else's.”

“I'll take the kids,” Alex said softly. “I have room for them at my house.”

She paused, smiled at him and squeezed his hand. “That's kind of you, but I couldn't do that. What if the Raider is the captain of a ship? I'd be sailing with him and you'd have the care of all those children. I couldn't even help support them.”

He held her hand in his tightly. “I want you to come with the children.”

She gave him a blank look. “The Raider and me
and
the kids to live with you? That's real generous of you, Alex, but—” She stopped, her eyes wide. “You couldn't mean…”

“You could marry me, Jess,” he said solemnly. “I'll take care of you and Eleanor and the children.”

Jess began to smile, then her laughter bubbled out. “You!” she gasped. “Oh, Alex, what a joke. I want the Raider, and I get offered a weak-spined, blue-and-orange piece of seaweed. You've certainly lightened my day. And old Mr. Clymer thought—” She stopped when she saw Alex's face.
Never
had she seen such anger on a human face before.

He rose from the log.

“Alex,” she said, “you were kidding, weren't you?”

He turned his back on her and made his way up the steep hill.

“Alex,” she called after him, but he didn't look back. She kicked at the rocks and shells on the beach, sending many snails flying. She hadn't meant to hurt Alex's feelings—again, she thought. Eleanor was right, he'd been good to her and her family and they owed him a great deal. She should have turned him down gently, or at least without calling him a…She didn't like to remember what she'd called him. She put her scarf back in the top of her dress, gathered her nets and catch and started home.

Jessica had no sooner made her way through the tidal wave of suitors—accepting gifts of food along the way, for she was nobody's fool—than Eleanor started in on her.

“Mr. Clymer came by here and he was very angry.”

“I think this is ham,” Jess said, inspecting her bundles. “And here's candy for all of you.”

“I hope they always want to marry you, Jessica,” Molly said, putting the maple sugar man in her mouth.

“But you don't
have
always,” Eleanor said. “Oh, Jess, you have to make up your mind.”

“I know which man I want.”

Eleanor ignored that remark. They'd already had a long discussion about the Raider, with Eleanor saying Jess had to be practical rather than romantic. “There's that man who owns the
Molly D,”
Eleanor said.

“How many of the kids will he take with him when he sails?” Jess asked as she sat down and began sucking on a piece of candy. “And, besides, he has a wart on his chin.”

Eleanor named several men, but Jessica found fault with each of them.

Eleanor sat down at the table, her head in her hands. “That's all of them. You've refused every man I know.”

“Even Alex,” Jess said, remembering his anger.

“Alex?” Eleanor's head came up. “Alex asked you to marry him?”

“I think so. He offered to take on all the kids but he wanted me to go with them.”

“What did you say to him, Jessica?” Eleanor asked, her voice very, very calm.

Jess grimaced. “I didn't know he was serious. I'm afraid I laughed at him. Tomorrow I'll apologize. I'll turn him down in a much nicer way and I'll—”

Eleanor leaped up from the table and leaned over Jess. “You what?!” she yelled. “You turned down Alexander Montgomery? You
laughed
at his proposal of marriage?”

“I told you I thought he was kidding. I had no idea he was serious until I saw his face.”

Eleanor grabbed Jess's arm and pulled her up from the table. “Watch the kids, Nate,” she called. Jess protested as Eleanor dragged her through the men camped outside their house, through the town and then up the hill to the Montgomery house.

Alex was in his bedroom, a book open in front of him. He didn't rise when Eleanor burst into the room, nor did he look at Jessica.

“I've just heard what a fool my sister has made of herself,” Eleanor said, breathless. “She was just so overwhelmed at the generosity of your offer that she was giddy.”

Alex glanced down at his book. “Eleanor, I have no idea what you mean. I merely happened to rescue Mistress Jessica from one of her suitors. I remember we talked of marriage in general, but nothing specific.”

“Let's get out of here,” Jess said, turning away, but Eleanor was leaning against the door.

“Alexander, I know she was rude but then she often is. Still, she'll make a fine wife. She's strong and sometimes she's intelligent, a little proud, I admit, and sometimes she opens her mouth when it should be kept closed, but she's a hard worker and she'll help put food on the table and—”

“I am not a mule! Eleanor, I'm going.”

Alex leaned back in his chair as Eleanor threw her body across the door. Jess was pulling on the latch.

“I've seen her start work before sunup and not stop till she dropped and—”

Alex put his book aside, his index fingers together and contemplated Jessica. “I could buy a team of oxen for what you're talking about, and an ox doesn't talk back. What else do I get out of this besides a fieldworker?”

Jess glared from one to the other and tried harder to push Eleanor out of the way.

“She comes with six free little workers. Think what you could do with all those eager little bodies to help you. You could expand and—”

“I could go bankrupt trying to feed them. Any other enticements? How about a dowry?”

“Dowry?” Jess gasped. “If you think—”

Eleanor poked her in the ribs. “On your marriage will come one-half interest in a beautiful little cove that's alive with oysters and sundry other sea creatures.”

“Hmmm.” Alex slowly got up, walked toward Jess, then looked her up and down.

Aghast, Jess let go of the door and scowled at him.

He took her chin and lifted her face. “She isn't unpleasant to look at.”

“The prettiest girl in town, in the whole area, and you know it. Some of the sailors have said she's prettier than any of the girls they've seen all over the world.”

He dropped her chin, and stepped back. “I don't know what came over me when I asked her to marry me, purely sympathy I assure you. I felt sorry for her after seeing that fat old man pawing her.” He adjusted the lace at his sleeve.

“Yes, of course, Alexander, but you
did
ask her to marry you and we wouldn't want the words ‘breach of promise' whispered in connection with the illustrious Montgomery name, would we?”

“I wouldn't marry you—”

Eleanor clamped her hand over Jess's mouth.

Alex turned away, stifling a yawn. “One woman is as good as any, I guess. And it would be more convenient to have a wife than these bond servants moving in and out. By the time you get one trained, she leaves. I imagine you'll be marrying soon and leaving us, Eleanor. What will we do then? Shall we set the wedding for three days hence?” He sat down and lifted his book. “You can move in tonight. Put the boys in Adam's room and you and the girls in Kit's room. And feed everybody.”

Jess pushed away from Eleanor. “We Taggerts don't take charity.”

“But it won't be charity, my dear, it will be all in the family.”

Eleanor was pulling Jess from the room. “Thank you, Alexander. God will seat you at his right hand for this act of generosity.”

“And, Eleanor, clothes for everyone. I don't want children in my care dressed in rags.”

“Yes, Alexander. Bless you, Alexander.” Eleanor closed the door behind them.

J
ESSICA
sat on the floor of the Taggert house, facing the fireplace, roasting a fish stuck on a long stick over the little fire. The house seemed oddly silent with the children gone. No one was laughing or crying; no child was jumping on her back or begging her to give him a ride. She should have been enjoying the quiet but, instead, she missed the children—she even missed Eleanor. Or at least the old Eleanor who wasn't always shouting at her.

Two days ago, the very evening of Alexander's proposal, Eleanor had packed what little they owned and moved into the Montgomery house.

Jessica had refused to go with her. She had said she had no intention of marrying Alexander and therefore she was not going to move into his house. Eleanor had screamed some things that surprised Jessica; she wondered where her sister had learned such words. Eleanor had said she'd have to come to her senses sooner or later and that she and the kids would be waiting for her by Alexander's side.

So, Jess had remained alone since then. Alexander—the presumptuous ass—had sent a town crier about to announce his engagement to Jessica. When some of her more persistent suitors refused to leave, that arrogant Russian of Alex's had played a few tricks with the men's clothing with the tip of his sword. Jessica came back from fishing to see a suitor—the one who'd offered the pig for her—running away as he clutched his trousers on.

She barely glanced at Nicholas before slamming into her house. Alexander—the coward—was nowhere to be seen.

So here she sat for a second night alone, the wind whistling through the cracks in the walls, with nothing to eat but roasted fish, since it was the only thing she knew how to cook.

A crack of thunder outside and the ensuing downpour of rain made her feel even more lonely and isolated. She didn't hear the door open.

“Jessica?”

She glanced about to see Alexander standing there, his bright yellow coat shimmering in the darkened room. “Go away.”

“I brought some food,” he said, holding out a basket. “Some of Eleanor's pasties. With beef. Not a fish in it.” He put the basket down, then removed his yellow coat and carefully spread it on the floor to dry.

She didn't answer him, just kept her eyes on her fish.

“And cheese and bread and a bottle of wine and…” He hesitated. “A piece of chocolate.”

The chocolate did it. She dropped her fish in the fire and held out her hand to him and he put a piece of real chocolate in it. She began licking it. “What do I have to do to pay for this?”

“Marry me,” he said, sitting down and then clamping his hand on her shoulder to keep her from leaping up. “Jessica, we have to talk about this. You can't remain in this house sulking. Two more days and Westmoreland will be here to get you.”

“He'll not find me,” she said, her jaw stiff.

Alex began unloading the food from the basket, his eyes downcast. “Do you hate the idea of marriage to me so much?” he asked softly.

She turned to look at him. Without his coat, he didn't look so preposterous. His big white shirt was gathered and the dampness made it cling to his shoulders. Although she knew him to be fat, from this angle, he looked almost slim.

“I don't like to be forced into anything,” she said. “Women don't have too many choices given to them in life, but who they marry should be one of them.”

He unwrapped a pastie—meat and vegetables in a crust—and handed it to her. “I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. Jess, you have to be practical. Either you get married within the next couple of days or you'll have a half-wit forced on you. I may not be much to look at but I do have all my wits about me.”

“Alex, you don't look so bad, especially when you're not wearing one of those hideous coats.” She nodded her head toward the shimmering pile of satin behind him.

Alex turned and grinned at her. “Have some wine, Jess,” he said jovially. “I stole it from my father's private stock. He brought it from Spain ten years ago.”

She smiled back at him and accepted the mug of wine, loving the clean, sharp taste of it.

“To business,” he said. He was roasting cheese over the fire, removing it just before it dripped. “You don't want to marry me, your Raider hasn't even shown up and you have two days left. What do you plan to do?”

“I can't go off and leave the children,” she said, “or else I'd leave town. Someone has to support them. Eleanor can't do it alone. And no other men seem to consider the idea of taking me and the children.”

“I see. Maybe I'm to win you by default.” He put a piece of cheese on bread for her.

“Alex,” she said pleadingly. “It's not you so much as it is that I don't want to marry but one man.”

“Your elusive Raider.”

“Yes.” She finished her wine. “Besides, there are things about me you don't know. You wouldn't
want
to marry me if you knew them.”

“All right,” he said, refilling her mug. “I'm prepared for the worst. Tell me what horrible secrets I don't know.”

“I…I'm not a virgin,” she whispered, her head down.

“Neither am I. What else?”

“Alex! Didn't you hear me? I said I'd been with another man. I can only marry him.”

“Would you like more cheese? Stop looking at me like I'm an idiot. I know what you're saying. I also know you've lived all your life in this little town. There are some places where it's not unusual for a woman to be married and have two or three lovers at the same time.”

“Really?” Jess asked, interested. “Tell me.”

He smiled at her. “I don't think a man should tell his wife-to-be about adultery. All right, you've told me you're not a virgin. I assume it's this Raider.”

“Yes, he and I—”

Alex put up his hand. “I'd prefer not to hear the details. I'm sure it was a moonlit night and you found his black mask fascinating. Here, eat this. I don't like skinny women.”

She accepted the cheese. “Alex,” she said softly, “how did you lose…I mean, who was the woman who was…your first, you know?”

He leaned back on his arms. By a trick of the light, she could barely see the mound of his big belly surrounded by the lemon yellow satin of his vest. “Remember Sally Henderson?”

“The seamstress?” Her head came up. “But she was my mother's age. She left town when we were children. Alex, you're lying.”

He turned and grinned at her in a way that made her relax her muscles. She sprawled on the floor a few feet from him. “Sally Henderson,” she murmured. “You must have been a boy.”

“Old enough, I guess.”

“And no one since then?” she asked, eyeing him. He certainly did look different in this light. He didn't have on that wig with all the curls, but, instead, wore the small one tied by a black ribbon at the nape of his neck. She'd never noticed before how the whiteness of the wig contrasted with the black of his brows.

“A few here and there,” he said, grinning at her over his shoulder. He turned onto his belly and looked at her. “I was pretty rotten to you when you came to my room with Eleanor, Jess,” he said. “I never met anyone with the ability to make me angrier than you. A man doesn't like to be called a piece of seaweed when he's just asked a woman to marry him.”

“For the kids' sake.”

“What kids?” he asked.

“You
did
ask me to marry you because of the children, didn't you? And also because your father wants you to marry. Isn't that why?”

He took a while to answer as he sat up and looked into the fire. “Of course. I
need
seven kids hanging on me, their sticky hands on my expensive coats. Yesterday Molly used my best wig to cradle a bird with a broken wing. And Samuel sat on Marianna's silk embroidery wearing a wet diaper. And Philip climbed in bed with me at two this morning because he heard a noise and the other kids were afraid to sleep alone so, by three, they were all in bed with me. Yes, I'd say they were a real joy to have around, something of yours I've always coveted.”

Jess looked at the fire. She was afraid to say a word. She wanted to ask him why he'd asked her to marry him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Could he possibly
want
to marry her? She looked at him while he had his head turned. She hadn't been exactly kind to him since he'd been home, but they had spent a lot of time together and she felt, well, almost attached to him. The first man she'd ever noticed was a Montgomery and she'd been selling fish to the Montgomerys since she could hold a net. She remembered Alex's mother sitting her down beside Alex, feeding them both milk and cookies.

“Alex,” she said softly. “What about children?”

“I'll keep them,” he said firmly. “No matter what they do. Father spends a lot of time with Nate, and Marianna may take on the girls, so that leaves me with the rest of the boys. Sam follows me like a fat Christmas goose and Philip—”

“No, I mean
our
children.”

He kept his back to her. “We'll have to postpone our children, Jess,” he said softly and there was great sadness in his voice. “I can't…not yet. We'll have to wait.”

Jess's heart went out to him as she looked at the back of him. Silhouetted as he was by the firelight, all she saw was his broad shoulders, his lean jaw, and his kindness to her. She remembered all the things he'd done to help her—and all the times she'd been ill-tempered with him.

She sat up and put her hand on his shoulder, her lips next to his cheek. He put his hand over hers. “Alex, thank you for all you've done for me, thank you for putting up with the kids, and for tolerating my temper.”

She leaned forward so that she was facing him. He really did have a handsome face she thought and, on impulse, she bent forward to kiss his lips.

He turned and her kiss landed on the corner of his mouth.

His reaction made her feel very sorry for him. No doubt she reminded him of times before his fever.

She patted his hand. “That's all right, Alex, I don't mind. I understand. And I'll marry you. If the Raider doesn't come forward to claim me by Tuesday night, I'll marry you on Wednesday morning.”

For a man so fat, Alexander certainly reacted quickly. He was on his feet before Jess could blink.

“If he doesn't what?” he shouted. “I'm to wait until the night before my wedding to see if I have a bride or not? Jessica, you go too far! You may think you're the most desirable woman in the world, but there are other women.”

She stood, hands on hips. “Women who'll marry you for your money? Why else would they marry you? Your looks? The way you make love to them? Even with your money you can't get anyone else. I've never lied to you. I want the Raider. If he comes for me, I mean to take him.”

“But I'm second choice, is that it?”

“I didn't have any choice at all, Alex,” she said, softening, walking toward him.

He was putting on his damp coat. “How can you be so stupid as to love a man who only appears now and then? A man who won't show you his face or tell you his name?”

“I didn't say I loved him.”

Alex stopped and stared at her. “If it isn't love, then what is it? Lust?”

“No, I…I don't know. He's like me. We think alike. I've never met a man like him before. I think I could love him.”

Alex went to the door, then turned back. “You can damned well love me, too,” he said and went out into the rain.

For an astonished moment, Jess stared at the door. “Love?” she whispered. Was Alexander in love with her? For some reason, the thought pleased her very much. Whistling, she went upstairs to her lonely, cold bed.

*   *   *

Alex was shoveling hay for the Raider's big black stallion.

“I thought I'd find you here,” Nick said, laughter in his voice, a smirk on his lips. “I hear shouting and you run away to your private island.”

Alex didn't answer him. “Doesn't Eleanor give you enough to do?”

“I gave her something to contemplate this morning,” he said smugly. “She was too busy to even remember her sister's name. So, you're going to marry your Mistress Jessica tomorrow morning.”

“Someone is,” Alex said, filling the horse's water trough. As usual, he was stripped to the waist. Whenever he didn't have to wear the padded clothes, he wore as little as possible.

“The wedding night with that little cat should be memorable.”

Alex gave Nick a malevolent look. “I can't sleep with her and you know it. She'd know I wasn't fat and she'd know the reason for the disguise in a minute.”

“Perhaps you could tell her the truth.”

“Jessica?” Alex spat. “Tell
Jessica
the truth? That woman has no sense at all. She'd probably borrow my mask and challenge the admiral to a duel. Besides,”—he grinned—“it's better for my disguise if she doesn't like me. If we spent a few nights together, she'd look at me, well, differently. People might guess I wasn't the weakling I appear to be.”