The Infamous Rogue Part 30

May you rot in everlasting h.e.l.l.

That biting inscription still hounded him, tortured him, strengthened his desire for revenge. Sophia had him in chains, the witch. She still enslaved him. But he would break the bonds keeping him shackled to the past.

He would break her.

"But we need to know where Adam lives," expounded Quincy. "He's hiding."

"He's not hiding." Mirabelle frowned. "I get regular letters from him and his wife."

"He lives in the wilderness, Bel e."

"Rot, Quincy! The couple lives near the sea."

"There's no address," grumbled Edmund.

"Right." She sighed. "Very wel , I'll have Damian note the directions to their home."

"Thank you, Belle," the brothers returned in unison.

"Hel 's fire," she muttered. "You've all too many enemies."

William consoled her with "We'll have a few less as soon as we find the impostors."

"I'll have the staff prepare your usual rooms." She lifted from her seat. "But you have to behave during your stay at the castle."

Quincy grimaced. "Why?"

"I have company."

He griped and removed his dusty boots from the furniture. "You mean, I have to behave?"

"Who is it?" said William.

"Dawson's daughter."

The men quieted.

Quincy quickly propped his feet back on the furniture. "Oh, well, in that case."

Mirabelle looked at him sternly. "She might be a pirate's daughter, too, but you stil have to behave, Quincy."

"Why? She's-"

"Quincy," James drawled in a low yet deadly voice. He didn't want Mirabelle to know about his former re lations.h.i.+p with Dawson's daughter. It wasn't right for her to hear about such intimate things.

"She's my guest," returned Mirabelle sharply. "We all owe her father a great deal of grat.i.tude. I want to offer her my hospitality and friends.h.i.+p, so be polite. No scandals!"

"Too late," said Quincy. "She's James's mistress."

James gnashed his teeth. "You miserable son of a-"

"She's what?" Mirabelle glared at James and crossed the room. She smacked him in the arm. "How dare you!"

He glowered. "What was that for?"

"That poor girl is trying to make her way through society and she's recently lost a dear friend. She's vulnerable. How dare you seduce her!"

Quincy snorted. "He seduced her eight years ago."

"What?"

"Shut up, Quincy!" James barked.

The Duke of Wembury strolled into the room, unruffled by al the customary familial noise. "Jenkins wants to know where to put the snake?"

Mirabelle blinked. "Snake?"

"Achoo!"

Sophia eyed the old woman in bed as she dabbed a cool compress across her wrinkled brow. "We should not have journeyed to the castle, Lady Lucas."

The matron had suffered great stress over the past few days, keeping her charge's disappearance a secret. The strain had weakened her, made her more susceptible to il ness.

"Rubbish." She sniffed. "I'll be fine. All I need is Dr. Crombie to mesmerize me, then I'll be cured of the chill."

Sophia admired her grit and good cheer. She wasn't one to forsake her duty, not even for a cold. She would see her charge safely at the castle and ensure all whisper of scandal quashed before she'd confess to any discomfort.

"Would you like me to summon a physician, Lady Lucas?"

"For the sniffles? No, my dear."

"I'm sorry, Lady Lucas." Sophia stroked the woman's hand. "It's my fault you're sick."

"What tripe." The matron rubbed her nose with a kerchief. "It's the weather, I'm sure.

Autumn is approaching. There's a chill in the air, I can feel it." She sighed. "I won't be with you for supper tonight, I'm afraid. But don't fret, my dear. The d.u.c.h.ess will be there.

She is respectable. You won't have to endure the barbarian's company alone."

Sophia set the compress aside, a thick darkness flowing through her veins and pumping into her heart. The shame still lingered in her breast. The black devil had made it clear she wasn't worthy to be in his sister's company. What would he do to her at supper? How else would he humiliate her? He had suffered scorn and ostracism at the earl's country house party. But now he was surrounded by his kin. Now he was in his element and she was the outsider. And she suspected he would make her feel it keenly.

"I would much rather stay here and take care of you, Lady Lucas."

"No, my dear. You must honor our host and hostess. Be strong. I know you dislike the captain's company, but be brave."

What was the pirate captain doing at the castle anyway? Had he followed her to the ancient keep? Had he come to punish her for rejecting him aboard the Bonny Meg?

"It wil look like the barbarian is courting you."

Sophia's heart quivered. "What?"

"Forgive me, my dear. I was thinking aloud." She meshed her pasty lips together. "The captain is visiting his sister, but it will look like the man is courting you once word reaches the ton that you are both at the castle. It's such a vexation. He isn't supposed to be here."

Sophia quieted the myriad fretful thoughts that besieged her with a deep and measured breath. No, he wasn't supposed to be at the castle. He wasn't supposed to be back in her life at al . But Providence had thought it a splendid jest to pair them together again.

"Perhaps al is not lost," said the matron, nose congested. "We might be able to use the situation to our advantage. The earl might still propose."

"Do you really think so?"

"Oh yes. Do you remember our talk about jealousy? As soon as you and the captain boarded that boat-"

"What boat?!"

"The rowboat at the picnic, my dear."

Sophia's pulse softened. She was dizzy. For a moment she had believed the matron was privy to her sojourn aboard the Bonny Meg. Now that report would ruin her for sure.

"As soon as you and the captain had boarded the boat," the old woman croaked, "the earl was positively green. What will he think to learn you are staying with the captain's sister?"

What would he think, indeed? All Sophia could think about was the trouble she had had in that rowboat...as the d.a.m.nable pirate lord had aroused her senses to wretched want before he'd abandoned her, unfulfilled.

"Our trip to the castle might stir the earl's conviction to marry you," said Lady Lucas.

"The man is wary. Or mulish. He thinks he can take his time proposing, that you will always be waiting for him. Perhaps our visit with the d.u.c.h.ess will convince him otherwise -and encourage him to act before he loses you."

Sophia's heart pinched. "He won't lose me to the captain!"

The thought made her heart swell with gloomy memories. She had not been good enough for the captain seven years ago. And she stil wasn't good enough for him. Not now. Not when he had a d.u.c.h.ess for a sister. If the man ever married, he would wed a woman with pure blue blood. Not one with a pirate for a father and a wench for a mother.

"Marry the barbarian? Outrageous, my dear! But we can let the earl think he is losing you to the captain."

Sophia pressed her fingers against her breastbone and ma.s.saged the muscles, pulsing with vigor. "But the earl is an honorable man. You said so yourself, Lady Lucas. That he might step aside if he believes the captain is interested in me...or he might search elsewhere for a bride if he thinks I am attached to the captain."

"That was before the country house party. Now the earl knows-and likes-you better.

He might not be so honorable anymore. He might fight for you, Miss Dawson. Men do that, you know?"

"With swords?"

"How uncivilized! No, my dear. I mean he wil not be such a gentleman. He wil not just step aside and let the captain have you. He wil court you enthusiastically instead.

Perhaps even propose."

Sophia was wary. The season was over and most of the peerage had settled in the country in preparation for the approaching winter. What if the earl resumed his courts.h.i.+p of her in the spring? Or not at all?

"You should go below, my dear."

"Yes, Lady Lucas."

Sophia left the woman's bedside and approached the tall mirror. She perused her reflection, eyeing the golden satin and lace. She touched her locks in lambent strokes to ensure the thick tresses firmly in place before she sighed wearily.

"You look lovely, my dear."

"Thank you, Lady Lucas." She glanced at the matron, so pale. "Are you sure you'll be al right?"

"A bit of rest wil do me good." She fluttered her kerchief. "Now off with you."

Sophia sighed again. She offered the old woman a weak smile before she quietly quit the room and traversed the lonely causeway, her innards twisted in dread.

The elegant wal sconces illuminated her path, guiding her to the dining hall. She stayed on the lighted trail, peeking into the other dark pa.s.sages that branched away from the main one. She wondered if Black Hawk was staying in one of the rooms draped in shadows. She wondered if he was staying in one of the other wings, far away from her.

Not far enough.

He was never far from her thoughts. He lived inside her head, it seemed. He lived under her skin for sure, for she sensed his burning eyes on her even now.

Sophia reached the top of the steps and paused. She stared at the waiting sentry stationed at the lower level, and hardened.

He stood at the base of the stairwell, blocking the route with his robust form-and commanding eyes. That set of hard blue eyes willed her to remain still as he perused her figure in thorough detail.

"Do I meet with your approval?" she gritted.

Slowly he lifted his eyes from her toes and stabbed her with another piercing stare, making her bones rattle. "Take off the diamonds."

Sophia touched the jewels at her throat. She fingered the cold stones as she descended the steps, gaze fixed firmly on the barbarian.

He was even bigger as she approached him, thick arms folded across his wide chest.

The smell of the dust from the road, the vegetation from the wood still remained in his hair, lingered on his skin. She inhaled the heady and natural musk. She inhaled him. The man's scent swirled through her senses, lighting her blood and making her heart pound.

She was accustomed to the treacherous desire of her flesh and bones. She had learned to accept the stirring want within her whenever he was near. She had learned to stand her ground despite it.

She stilled a step above him, at level with him. She delved into the dark blue pools of his eyes and searched for truth. He hated to see her in the jewels. Why?

He sensed her probing stare, and his eyes blackened even more, as if to s.h.i.+eld her from the truth, to keep her from delving too deep into his soul.

He had once let her inside his heart. He had once let her see and hear his every thought and feeling. But now he cast her out of his inner being. And the chil was biting.

"I like the diamonds," she said tersely.

Slowly he inclined his head. She gasped as he set his lips so close to hers.

"The earl isn't here, Sophia." He brushed her lips with his warm mouth, ever so softly.

"There is no one here to seduce."

She shuddered. "Not even you?"

He stiffened. "If you want to seduce me, take off the diamonds."