At last. A weapon she could use against him!
Eliza smiled, a full-blown, warm and friendly smile.
“Please, Cyprian,” she said, using his given name as he’d requested she do. “Unless you’re truly too busy, Aubrey and I would much rather you explained the charts to us. Please say you’ll do it. Please?”
Aubrey watched the odd byplay between the two adults with a skeptical eye. He’d much rather have had breakfast with Oliver and Xavier than with their unsmiling captain. And now Eliza was acting daffy in the extreme, even using the man’s given name. He stared at her in disgust. Not that he was an expert or anything, but he could swear she was flirting with the stern-faced Captain Dare. He’d seen his older sisters lead enough suitors around by the nose to know that when a woman leaned forward that way, her eyes sparkling and her mouth opened in an encouraging smile, that she was doing some serious flirting—or wheedling, if the target was a father or brother. He, of course, was never in the least affected by their ploys. His father, however, could be had. Aubrey had witnessed that often enough.
But whether Eliza could pull it off with a man who was neither her father or brother, or her suitor either—
He stopped short on a loathsome thought. Could she possibly view Captain Dare as a potential suitor? But what about Oliver?
Aubrey turned a suspicious gaze on the captain, a gaze that swiftly escalated to a glare. The man was staring straight at Eliza, as if he might have her for breakfast or something, the bloody blighter!
A sudden twitch of Aubrey’s arm was all it took to send his tumbler of apple cider over, spewing the amber colored liquid across the small table.
“Oh, Aubrey.”
“Son-of-a-bitch—” Cyprian muttered.
Eliza quickly dabbed at the spreading pool with her napkin, then grabbed Aubrey’s as well. “It’s just an accident. You needn’t curse,” she rebuked him as she sopped up the mess. Aubrey repressed a grin when the
captain muffled another curse. But Aubrey’s smugness faded when the captain answered her.
“I’m sorry. I’m not accustomed to having a lady onboard. Or a child,” he added as an obvious afterthought. Then he smiled at Eliza, and Aubrey’s expression changed to a glower. His spur-of-the-moment plan, meant to put an end to Eliza’s moon-eyed absorption with the captain had failed. If anything, the man’s obviously insincere apology had wooed her more effectively than ever.
“Can we go now?” he complained, tugging at her sleeve.
“But we haven’t finished eating yet,” Eliza answered.
“I’m not hungry.”
She let out an exasperated sound. “But what about the charts? The geography lesson?” She glanced at the captain. “You never said whether you would show them to us.”
The man looked ready to devour her right then and there, and it was beyond Aubrey’s capacity to remain calm any longer. He wanted Eliza to marry Oliver, he decided on the spot. And to bring Ollie home with her to England. Wouldn’t that throw the whole family into a snit!
“If you really want to see them,” the man said, smiling into Eliza’s shining eyes.
“Well, I don’t want to see them!” Aubrey burst out.
When they both turned to face him he shoved his plate away and crossed his arms on his chest. “I’m sick to death of lessons. And I hate this meat. It’s too salty.”
“Perhaps you would prefer the gruel we feed to the rest of our prisoners,” the captain growled, his voice low and menacing.
Frightened now, as well as angry, Aubrey grabbed his cousin’s hand. “I want to go home, Eliza. I want to go home right now. Make him take us home!” he wailed.
In a moment she was kneeling beside him, her arms
thrown around him for comfort. “It’s all right, Aubrey. Everything is going to be all right.”
“But I want to go home. I hate him! I hate him and his smelly old ship and nasty old food and … and everything! I want to go home.”
“We will, sweetheart. We will. I promise you.”
With his face buried in Eliza’s shoulder, Aubrey didn’t see Cyprian’s furious expression. Or Eliza’s imploring one. But he heard the man’s chair scrape back and the sharp progress of his boot heels across the floor.
“The charts are in that trunk in the corner.” Then the door closed with a solid thud.
For Eliza it was a dark, defeated sound. But Aubrey heard the clear ring of victory. At least for now.
“
I
hate him.”
Eliza scowled at the chart spread before her. That heavy line to the right must be the westernmost coast of the African continent. That would make the group of islands to the far left the Madeiran group. Yes, there was the bay where the town of Funchal lay, and the smaller island called Porto Santo.
“I said I hate him.”
Forcing herself to a calm she hardly felt, Eliza lifted her face to meet her petulant cousin’s frown. “Yes, well, I’m not pleased with him either, but behaving like a spoiled infant is not likely to soften his feelings toward us, is it?”
“I don’t care,” the boy persisted.
“Well, you had better care, Aubrey Haberton. In case you’ve forgotten, we are his prisoners. You may be having a grand adventure with Oliver, but we are nevertheless here by force. I am trying—with no help from you, I might add—to find a way to change Captain Dare’s mind. To convince him to release us. Don’t you see?” Her voice softened. “If he likes us it will be harder for him to follow up with whatever unpleasant plans he may have for us.”
Aubrey looked down at his hands knotted in his lap,
and she recognized indecision in his crestfallen features. “But he’s so mean,” the boy muttered.
“He was starting to be nicer today.”
“He threatened me! He said I’d have to eat gruel.”
“But only after you complained about the meat.”
Aubrey began to waggle his feet back and forth at the ankles. He was getting very good at it, she realized. The movement in his injured ankle was nearly as strong as the other’s, though still not so wide ranging.
“Aubrey,” she began. “Tell me about your foot. Have you tried standing on it yet?”
The feet moved faster. “Yes.”
“And?” She leaned forward hopefully.
“And it hurt like the devil.”
“But were you able to stand up?”
He reached down to rub his injured ankle. “A little.” Then he shot her a lopsided smile. “Actually, Oliver and I were going to surprise you.”
“Surprise me?” Excitement colored her face and lent a sparkle to her eyes as she grasped his arm. “You’ve already surprised me, you little imp! But tell me, were you at all able to walk?”
Aubrey grinned, his good humor restored. “Just a few steps, and it hurt powerfully bad. But Oliver said I should just buck up and take it like a man. Did he ever show you those two scars I told you about, from his knife fights?”
Eliza rolled her eyes. In his own peculiar way Oliver Spencer had done wonders with Aubrey, but at the same time, he’d shown the boy another side of life, a rough-and-tumble world made up of a far less privileged people than Aubrey had ever known existed. When they finally were returned home, Aubrey would no doubt shock his family with more than just a renewed ability to walk.
“No, he has not shown me his scars. Nor do I ever wish to see them.”
Aubrey frowned and squinted at her. “Why don’t you like Oliver? He is quite the finest chap I’ve ever known, but you act as if he is less than nothing at all.”
“I
do
like Oliver,” Eliza protested.
“But you like that grouchy old captain better—even though you
say
that you don’t.”
Eliza sat back in her chair. Did it show that clearly? She wanted to groan. How was she to get out of this? “Well, I suppose I like them both—even though I don’t approve of what they’re doing. But the captain is just—”
“He kidnapped us, don’t forget.”
“And don’t
you
forget that Oliver played a considerable role in the whole escapade.”
“But he was just following his captain’s orders.”
“He lied to us. He duped us—pretending to be a servant. What if I hadn’t been awakened and come along with him and Xavier?”
“He wanted you to come along, you know.”
“Who, Captain Dare?”
It was Aubrey’s turn to roll his eyes. “Not him. Oliver. He wanted you to come along because he fancies you.” He paused, giving her a thorough and rather adult examination with his dark eyes. “You know, Eliza, you’re different now from how you used to be at home.” Then he grinned. “I think Oliver would like to marry you.”
Marry her! Eliza gaped at the boy but managed somehow to refrain from laughing. “I’m marrying Michael. You know that. So does Oliver, for that matter.”
Aubrey pursed his lips. “Does
Cyprian
know it too?” He dragged out the name in a derogatory manner.
She straightened the chart with her fingers, aligning it with the edges of the desk. “Of course he knows. But my marriage plans have nothing to do with anything.”
“I think Captain Dare fancies you too. I think that’s why Ollie was so out of sorts earlier. You’d better be careful though, Eliza. Jessica likes to play one fellow against the other and look where it got her. That’s why
she didn’t marry that baron’s son. He got mad at her and tossed her over for somebody else.”
“I am nothing whatsoever like your sister,” Eliza declared. Jessica Haberton was widely renowned as a heartless flirt, while Eliza Thoroughgood had always been rather a wallflower.
But Aubrey obviously disagreed. “If you continue to encourage your darling Cyprian, then you’re just like her.”
Eliza slapped her hands down on the desk and jerked to a stand. “He is not my darling! And if I appear to be encouraging him, it’s only for
your
benefit. You are the one, after all, who was kidnapped. I’m your guardian, at least on this trip, and it’s my responsibility to do whatever I must to ensure your safety. Instead of criticizing me, I should think you’d be thanking me. And cooperating with me.”
She rolled up Cyprian’s chart with hands that shook with anger—or was it guilt? She really didn’t want to know. “I believe I’ll take a stroll above decks. Since you’re doing so well with your exercises, I’m sure you can get back to your own cabin under your own power.”
Oh, but she was too cruel, Eliza thought not one minute later. She’d fled Aubrey and his far too astute remarks. But once on deck, with a good dozen sailors eyeing her every move—some discreetly and others not even remotely so—she wanted nothing but to return to the boy. He might be in pain. He could fall. He might be reduced to crawling, dragging himself in a humiliating fashion down the narrow companionway on his hands and knees.
She pushed away from the starboard rail, determined to go to him, only to confront Oliver. More trouble.
“Miss Eliza?” He yanked a red and white striped knitted cap from his head then tried in vain to control his wind-whipped hair with his other hand. “Is everything all right?”
Eliza steeled herself. She’d never been in the position of having to let a suitor down easy, and she had no idea at all how to begin. “Everything would be all right if Aubrey and I could be set free. All I want is to go home, marry Michael, and never again set foot on a ship, so long as I live.”
He blanched. Even under his nut-brown tan, she saw him pale, and his Adam’s apple moved reflexively.
“What if—I’m sorry to bring this up, Miss. But what if, you know, this Michael bloke, he cries off? Because of the kidnapping and all.”
“And all. You mean, of course, because my reputation will be in shreds and any decent man might consider me ruined?” She pinned him with her eyes, refusing to give in to the urge to let him off easy.
After a long, uncomfortable pause he nodded.
She was conscious of Xavier heading in their direction, so she hurried on. “Michael and I are—how shall I say this without sounding vain? We are quite madly in love. As for my reputation in the rest of society, my father is quite wealthy enough to squelch any unpleasant rumors which might surface. Or to buy them off,” she added. If she were going to lie, best do it up right.
“Oliver. See to the crow’s nest,” Xavier ordered, before even saying a word of greeting.
Oliver did as the first mate told him, much relieved, Eliza was certain, by Xavier’s rather curt interruption. When Eliza turned to the huge man, however, she was taken aback by the clear disapproval that showed in his frowning face.
“Truly I am angering everyone today,” she began, not curbing her tart tone. “Cyprian. Aubrey. Oliver, and now you. Pray tell, what have I done now?”
His sketchy black brows raised in surprise. “How have you angered Oliver?”
“Oh, so you care more that I anger Oliver than that I continue to irritate your esteemed captain.”
“Come now, Miss Eliza. Let’s not argue, we two. Just tell me why Oliver should be angry with you.”
In the face of his calm manner, Eliza’s aggravation quickly faded to frustration. Her shoulders slumped and she sat down petulantly on a heavy coil of ropes. “I made it clear that I could hardly wait to be reunited with my fiancé.”
“And he took it badly. But that is really for the best. You know it is.”
She sighed and looked up at him. “I know. But I don’t enjoy hurting people that way.”
Xavier levered himself down beside her and leaned back against the rail as the ship rocked an endlessly gentle rhythm. “Shall you now dismiss Cyprian in the same manner?”
Eliza shot him a narrow-eyed glare. “Would it do any good if I did? The man pays absolutely no attention to anything I say.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Ah, my innocent little girl. Cyprian Dare pays attention to everything you do or say. Everything.”
His words should not have affected her so profoundly as they did, but there was no pretending otherwise, at least not to herself. But to Xavier she only said, “If he pays attention to me, ’tis only so that he can determine how best to unnerve me. He blows hot and cold, menacing one minute and then all smiles the next. He terrorizes me, then turns on the charm until I don’t know—”
She broke off, aware she’d said too much already. But Xavier just reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Tell me about this man you plan to marry.”
“Why?” she asked suspiciously. She pulled her hand free from his and from the lulling sense of security he always managed to surround her with. “So you can then relate it all to Cyprian?”
His soft rumbling laughter made her feel the ungrateful
wretch. “Eliza, as first mate it is my duty to see to everyone’s well-being. Yours and Cyprian’s also.”
“Well, the two have nothing whatsoever to do with one another. And anyway, it’s Aubrey’s well-being which is of paramount importance.”
“That’s true enough,” he conceded, gazing upward, following Oliver’s monkeylike climb up the swaying rigging to the tiny crow’s nest perched high on the main mast. “But it seems the three are intertwined. Your welfare; Cyprian’s. Aubrey’s.”
Another truth. But she did not know precisely why it was true. “Maybe … maybe if I knew why Cyprian hates Aubrey’s father so … .”
The first mate’s gaze jerked back down to hers. “No, no, no, Miss. You will be better served turning that pleading look upon Cyprian, not me. ‘Tis his feud, not mine. ’Tis for him to explain it to you, not I.”
“But he won’t.”
“Then you must try harder.”
“Try harder?” Eliza frowned at him. Even in her sheltered position the wind buffeted her, but not nearly so much as her careening emotions did. “You are throwing us at one another, aren’t you?” she accused. “You are like some … some overgrown cherub bent on matchmaking.” It was so ludicrous she could scarcely believe it and she began to laugh. “Oh, Xavier, I believe your captain and I are far, far too unsuited.”
“Perhaps. Perhaps not.”
Her joviality faded in the face of his enigmatic half-smile. She’d tried to ignore Cyprian’s change of attitude toward her, but Xavier made it even harder. Between Cyprian’s late night visit—ostensibly to bring her the clothing he’d found—and his half-hearted attempt to be a good host at breakfast, he’d hardly behaved like the wicked captor with his hapless victims. It didn’t help that somewhere, buried deep inside her, she felt the
most inappropriate stirrings whenever he was around. Whenever she even thought of him, if the truth be told.
But Xavier couldn’t know that. Could he?
“I think I’d better see to Aubrey,” she said, unwilling to continue any farther with this conversation.
“That shall not be necessary,” Xavier replied, looking past her. “It appears that he has come to you.”
Eliza turned, curious, then scrambled to her feet, unable to believe the sight that met her eyes. Aubrey stood in the opening that led below. His face was flushed from exertion and his two arms braced against the wooden frame. But he was standing and he was grinning, and the sight brought tears to her eyes.
“Oh, Aubrey! Dear, dear Aubrey!” she cried as she dashed up to him.
“Be careful, Eliza. If you even touch me, I’ll fall. Five steps may not mean much to you,” he panted good-naturedly. “But they felt like a mountain to me.”
Had it not been for the shining light of triumph in his bright blue eyes, his nonchalant attitude might have rung true. But Eliza knew he was even more elated than she.