Page 76 of The Pirate and the Pagan
“That’s most generous of you, Cat.” He sat down in a comfortable chair by the open window and stretched out his long legs. “Did you know the Dutch port of Stasia takes in a million pounds a year for warehouse space? The cargoes in these trading ports are beyond your wildest dreams,” he told her.
“You sail into Dutch ports?” she asked doubtfully.
He grinned. “I don’t fly the Union Jack, darling. My crew are all foreign, they come from every country in the world. The Phantom slips in and out virtually unnoticed, wherever she can make a profit.”
“What kind of cargo do you carry?” she asked curiously.
He laughed. “Not always what you might expect. Sometimes my cargo is human.”
She puzzled on his words for a moment, then realized he smuggled spies. The question was, did he smuggle people in and out of Holland or in and out of England? She dared not ask.
Suddenly he stood up and took her hands. “Come with me, Cat. Sail with me across to the continent. I’ll show you exotic places you never dreamed possible … warehouses piled with treasures from the East Indies … sun-drenched coasts with miles of white, surgary sand where we could swim naked.”
For one breathtaking moment she was tempted. “It’s not possible, Rory.” She hesitated a moment. “There’s something I haven’t told you … Ruark said he was going to have our marriage annulled.”
He threw back his head and laughed. His neck columns stood out strong and brown and his white teeth flashed in his face. “If he is mad enough to release you, you’re mine,” he claimed with authority. Then his head dipped and his mouth claimed hers in a demanding, sensual kiss that showed her exactly how susceptible she was to him. His lips traced a fiery path to her ear. “You will sail with me; it’s inevitable. You’ll love me, too,” he added with amusement. “In fact, I think you already do,” he added outrageously.
“My windows and doors will be locked from now on,” she warned him.
“It’s your heart you had better lock.” He winked and then he was gone, over her balcony.
What in the name of God was the matter with her? She had just committed one of the most unpardonable sins a woman could ever commit. The guilt washed over her in waves. The trouble was that while Rory was close, she was under his spell, then when he left, she came to her senses and the realization of their sinful intimacy overwhelmed her. She prayed for forgiveness and swore an oath that she would never be intimate with him again. If her husband had their marriage annulled, then it would be another matter and she might someday consider accepting Rory’s love, but for the present she had to make him understand that nothing further must happen between them. She couldn’t change the past, but she must take responsibility for the future.
At dawn she rode Ebony along the Helford River but there was no sign that any ship had ever been moored there. She spent long hours riding the beach each day and it was there she heard Spider call to her from the cliffs of Roseland. She had never been so glad to see anyone in her life. Her happiness was extremely short-lived, however, as her brother imparted his news. “I’m sorry, Cat, I was too late. When Auntie Lil took me to see Solomon Storm, he told me he had already sold the mortgage on Roseland. He wouldn’t take the money, of course—he explained it would be up to the new owner whether he would redeem it for the twenty thousand owed or whether he would choose to keep Roseland. He warned me that the man would be a fool if he didn’t keep the estate. He gave me this sealed letter for you. I didn’t open it, though I was tempted.”
She took the letter and swore a blue streak. “Damn, blast, and set fire to it all!”
“Cat, it’s no good venting your spleen on me. We missed the due date on the loan. Solomon Storm showed me the papers Father signed and the ones you signed for the extra two thousand. He was within his legal rights to do so and I’m pretty sure we have no recourse.”
“Damn, damn, damn,” she cried. “I was absolutely counting on us owning Roseland, then I could tell his high-and-mightiness where he could stick Helford Hall! Oh, Spider, I have so much to tell you. I met Black Jack Flash … you’re never going to believe this, he’s Lord Helford’s younger brother.”
“The magistrate’s brother is a pirate?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yes, it’s true, honest to God. He’s absolutely nothing whatsoever like Ruark. He’s so easygoing, I swear he never stops laughing. He lives life exactly as he chooses and thumbs his nose at the entire world. You’ll just love him,” she promised.
Spider looked at her shrewdly. “Well, it sounds like you do, at any rate!”
Summer blushed uncontrollably. “Wait until you see him. His hair is streaked with a zigzag of silvery white at the temple. That’s where the name Black Jack Flash came from. He’s larger than life, he only wears dramatic black or white and his bed is hung with red silk panels …” Her voice trailed off as Spider’s eyebrows went up.
“You’ve already shared his bed, haven’t you, Cat?”
She ignored the question as they went in through the front door of Roseland. The scent of the climbing flowers above the entrance and the pearl gray doves perched cooing softly on the slanted roof brought a lump into her throat. She sat down on a faded sofa and broke the wax seals.
To Lady Summer St. Catherine:
On July 7 when your mortgage became overdue I sold it to Lord Ruark Helford of Cornwall. Please find enclosed a note from that worthy gentleman regarding instructions.
Solomon Storm
As she read the name Helford her face drained of color. She tore open the note from her husband and read the following:
I took a notion to acquire Roseland for the twenty thousand pounds owing on the property. I plan to do some necessary renovations and will allow you to remain at Helford Hall until such time as the annulment is finalized. After that I will allow you and your brother to live at Roseland, even though this property is now legally mine.
RH
“That bastard!” she screamed.
“Who, Storm?” asked Spider.
