Capturing the Pirate's Heart (The Emerald Quest Book 1) Page 4

  “Slave code?” Sébastien had not heard of this. “When did that happen?”

  “Since the French abolished slavery two years ago, the local plantation owners have been vocal, as they fear for the cotton industry as well as the sugar production. I have formed three companies of people of African descent and there are now prescribed standards for quantity and quality of food and clothing for the plantation slaves.”

  “That is wonderful news.” Sébastien took the glass of port and swirled the liquid around in the glass before taking a sip. “You are aware this is my last mission?”

  The governor nodded. “Yes, I am and I wish you well in your venture to the Hawaiian Islands.

  Sébastien’s head flew up and the governor smiled at him over the rim of his glass. “I have spies everywhere, Captain, and please do not fear, I know of your concern with your brother. Your gold is safe. I have ensured that for you, in appreciation of the fine work you have done for me.” Carondelet crossed to the window as the last rays of the setting sun hit the glass. “I fear that it will be a long time before the king can…it will be a long time before the slave trade is abolished in all the dominions of Spain. In the meantime, I, and your vessel, shall play our small parts.”

  “One more request, Francisco.” Sébastien crossed to the window and looked out over Jackson Square with the governor. “I have fifteen slaves on my vessel now and they are educated men. I suspect they may be of great assistance on this last mission.” He leveled his gaze at the man beside him. “With your permission, I would like to take them with me on this voyage.”

  “I trust your judgment.” The governor put his hand on Sébastien’s shoulder. “I wish you a safe voyage and pray that you will return without mishap. His eyes twinkled as he smiled. “I am sure you will be departing for your islands soon.”

  ***

  Her intended husband was a short, fat man with lank hair and sour breath. When he had taken her hand in his, it had reminded her of one of the cold, floppy fish that she and her brother had caught in the brook below Bellerose Hall when they were children.

  “I am indeed honored to take you as my wife.” Jeremiah Benjamin’s rank breath brushed her face as he leaned in close, and Uncle Titus frowned at Madeleine as she snatched her hand away and stepped back. They stood in the shadows beneath a balcony of a building in a street not far from the wharf.

  “I have booked the church for tomorrow morning and have arranged for you to conduct the ceremony, Titus.”

  Her uncle nodded. “I shall depart on the tide in the afternoon and leave you with your new wife.”

  Madeleine’s stomach roiled as Jeremiah turned to her. “I have taken the liberty of securing a room in the town for our wedding night.”

  Over my dead body. No way would she marry this horrid man. No way would she marry anybody.

  “Uncle Titus, may I ask you for something that is very dear to my heart?” She kept her voice meek and hurried on as her uncle’s eyes narrowed. “Before we go back to the ship, may we take a walk through the town and see where Great Aunt Josephine lived?”

  He stared at her without speaking for a long moment. Madeleine waited. It would be so much easier if she knew where the house was.

  “Do you think I am a fool, Madeleine?” A shiver ran down her back as he exchanged a glance with her intended. “I read that…that… filth that my aunt penned in that diary. I had hoped that you had not read it.”

  “Perhaps I could take Madeleine for a stroll down to the Rue Toulouse?”

  Her uncle butted in but Madeleine stared at Jeremiah, taken aback that he knew the street that the house was on. She narrowed her eyes as she wondered at the connection between him and her uncle. Her uncle had obviously read and shared what had been in the diary.

  “No, that would be entirely inappropriate.” Titus exchanged a glance with Jeremiah who cleared his throat nervously.

  “Of course, of course.” His fleshy hand reached out for Madeleine’s hand again and she turned away. This time she was not even going to pretend to be polite. As soon as Uncle Titus was asleep she was going to run away. Keeping her head down, Madeleine stepped off the edge of the porch. She let out a soft cry as she stepped straight into the path of a tall man who was striding around the corner. He grabbed at her shoulders as she lost her balance.

  “I am so sorry, madam. I was not watching where I was going.” His voice was deep, and heat ran up Madeline’s neck when she looked up and caught his amused gaze. It was the man from the boat. The one who’d fallen in the water. The man who had smiled at her, and had made the heat run through her body.

  “Madeleine.” Uncle Titus stepped onto the road and took her arm. “Watch where you are going.” He turned to the man with the tanned face. “I am sorry, sir.”

  The man held his hand up. “No harm done. Good day.” He caught Madeleine’s eye as she looked past Uncle Titus. The heat ran into her face as he held her gaze a little longer. “Good day, madam.”

  They took leave as soon as the two men had finalized arrangements to meet at the church in the morning. Uncle Titus escorted Madeleine to the end of the street leading to the boat, but she stopped before they turned the corner. The afternoon was quickly fading into evening and lights were coming on in the buildings. She looked with interest into the windows and open doorways. Everything was so bright and colorful—nothing like the muted colors of Bellerose Hall.

  “Uncle Titus?” He was striding along ahead of her and she had to call his name a second time before he turned around with a frown.

  “What now?”

  Madeleine bit back an angry retort and tried to keep her tone civil. “How is it that Mr. Benjamin knew where Aunt Josephine’s house was?”

  “It is a small town.” He would not meet her eye and a chill ran down her spine. Something was amiss here. “Is Mr. Benjamin a missionary too?”

  “He has a sugar plantation in Antigua.”

  “And you think you can just marry me off to him and abandon me in the wilds of a country far from home?” Anger fueled Madeleine’s words. “And why him? He is a most unpleasant man.”

  “Enough.” Hs voice was stern.

  She pushed her anger away. There was no point getting Uncle Titus upset but she was uneasy about the situation. She dropped her gaze and spoke quietly. “I am sorry, Uncle. I am sure you know what is best.”

  “Indeed.” He waited for her to pass him and Madeleine kept her head down as he walked behind her to the ship, her thoughts crowding her head as she plotted her escape. Maybe this betrothal could work in her favor.

  If Uncle Titus thought she was with Mr. Benjamin and her intended husband thought she was safely with her uncle on board this ship, no one would look for her and she would be free to find Great Aunt Josephine’s house.

  Chapter Four

  It was stuffy below decks and the air was rancid. The privy in the corner had not been attended to since they had departed Bristol and Madeleine gagged as the stench wafted across to her. The captain had allowed Jake to rig up a curtain of sorts to give her privacy but it did not mask the smell. No wonder Uncle Titus was ill all of the time. It was not sea sickness, it was the malodorous stench that came from the excrement in the corner. She sat quietly on the edge of the bunk, her mind darting here and there as she waited for Uncle Titus to fall asleep and begin snoring.

  After what seemed an eternity, the soft snuffling preceded a trembling snore.

  “Uncle Titus?” she whispered.

  No response.

  Madeleine held her breath as she stood and crept over to his bunk.

  “Uncle Titus?” She made her voice a little louder, but still he didn’t stir. Quickly, she checked that her reticule was firmly secured to her skirt before she gathered up her soft bag. Madeleine took a last quick look around the cabin she had shared with her uncle for the past thirty two nights. She crept slowly to the ladder, her breath still held, but now more from the fear of her escape plan being thwarted than to avoid the unpleasant sm
ell.

  She had come to a decision in the past few hours. It was the only way she could stop her uncle from pursuing her. Closing her eyes as she climbed the ladder, she prayed that Jake was above deck and had not gone ashore with the rest of the crew. While she had been waiting for her uncle to fall asleep, the clatter of eager footsteps on the gangplank had reverberated through the cabin. Surely he would not have gone to the taverns?

  “Please be there,” she whispered to herself. If he was gone, she would have to come up with a new plan.

  She stepped from the ladder onto the deck and all was quiet aboard the frigate. Soft voices and the occasional laugh carried across the water from the other vessels but it appeared that most crews had disembarked and gone into the town. Her heart was thudding in her chest and she was sure it would be heard by anyone who was on deck. A couple of crewmen were on the upper deck but she crouched low and stayed out of their sight as she crept across to the wheelhouse in the center of the frigate behind which Jake had a small bed. It had at first horrified her that he had to sleep on the open deck, but he had told her stories of much worse conditions on other boats. Madeleine had realized that her previous life had given her little knowledge of the real world. She had led a very sheltered and well-loved existence.

  Her heart beat slowly and heavily as her eyes gradually became accustomed to the dark. She had not ventured on deck after sunset before, even when her uncle had been asleep and snoring. Her hand flew to her mouth as a soft voice came from behind.

  “Miss Madeleine? What are you doing?”

  She spun around and lowered her hand to her chest to still her fast beating heart.

  “Oh, Jake, you startled me,” she whispered.

  “Why do you have your bag? Are you leaving tonight?” Jake looked around. The young cabin boy whose company she had enjoyed so much and who had made the journey bearable seemed to sense her urgency and kept his voice low. “Where is your uncle?”

  Madeleine dropped her bag to the ground and took his hands between hers. They were rough from hauling ropes and scrubbing the decks.

  “Jake, I have a considerable request to make of you.” Despite her determination, Madeleine’s voice trembled. “I beg you to help me.”

  “You know I’ll do anything for you, milady.” He gripped her hands between his. “I knew it. You are going to escape from your uncle, is that so?”

  Madeleine had shared her discontent with Jake as they’d talked on the long days of the journey. She nodded as a lump lodged in her throat and she pulled away from him and picked up her bag.

  “Tell me what you need me to do.”

  “I am going to leave the boat and I need you to pretend I have jumped overboard.” She picked up her bag and pushed it into Jake’s hands. “When I am safely on the wharf, I want you to throw this bag into the water and call for help as loud as you can. Rouse Uncle Titus and tell him I was distraught and jumped into the water.”

  “Are you sure?” Jake looked down at the bag. “What about your possessions?”

  “I have everything I need sewn into my dress and in my reticule. I have been doing that each night while he was sleeping.”

  Madeleine grabbed Jake’s shoulders, leaned across and kissed the young man’s cheek. “I will owe you for this. When I have found the treasure that belongs to my family, I will seek you out and repay you.”

  She waited for Jake to cross the deck to the seaward side of the vessel and when he waved to her, she lifted her skirts and headed for the gangplank.

  “Madeleine!” Uncle Titus’ voice bellowed from below at the same time as she heard the loud splash as Jake threw her bag overboard. She scurried across the deck and ran down the steep timber plank, ignoring the drop to the water on each side. Fear and determination lent her feet wings, and she jumped to the ground, running toward the shadows of the ship moored beside the frigate.

  “Madeleine! Where are you?”

  “Oh, sir.” The plaintive voice of Jake reached her in the shadows where she stood.

  “Where is she?” She could not see Uncle Titus high on the boat but his voice was angry. “Where is that disobedient niece of mine?”

  “Oh, sir, I fear she is drowned. She pushed by me and climbed up on the side and jumped into the river.” Madeleine smiled as Jake’s words carried across to her. “She was wild-eyed and crying as she climbed over the side.”

  Don’t overdo it.

  “Help us. You man, find a boat. My niece is in the river.”

  Madeleine looked around as a flash of light caught her eyes. A man was walking along the wharf swinging a lantern, and it was only a matter of seconds before the light would reach her, showing her whereabouts to anyone who happened to glance down to the wharf. As she turned her head the clatter of feet on the deck of the frigate gave indication that crewmen were taking heed of her uncle and coming to the river’s edge to search for her.

  With a soft gasp, she grabbed her skirts and ran to the gangplank of the closest vessel. Ducking her head, she ran up the incline until she reached the deck of the unfamiliar boat. Her mouth was dry as she heaved in a deep breath and her legs were trembling with the fear of being discovered. If Uncle Titus found her now, he would lock her away and she would lose any chance of escaping him and completing her quest. If he discovered her, she may as well throw herself in the river.

  Crouching down and pressing herself against the side of the hull, Madeleine caught her breath as she looked around. This end of the boat was in darkness, but she could hear men’s voices to her left and a soft light shone down from the upper deck. The ruckus on the frigate beside this boat began to grow louder and Uncle Titus’ voice was loud—and to her amazement—it was also struck by some emotion other than anger. She tried to ignore the shaking in his voice as it came across the water.

  “Oh, dear God, you must help. She is only a slip of a girl.”

  Three loud splashes reached her and Madeleine realized that crewmen had jumped into the river to search for her. A pang of guilt ran through her as she worried for their safety in the swirling muddy waters. She would never forgive herself if someone drowned in a futile search for her. A movement on the upper deck of the boat she had boarded caught her attention and a light bathed the deck close by her. She realized that some crewmen from this boat were running toward the lower deck, obviously to assist in the search.

  Without thinking, Madeleine ran for the ladder in the center of the deck which was still in darkness, praying that those searching were still on the upper deck. As her head dipped below the opening, a light passed by and she climbed quickly down the last few steps before jumping soft-footed onto the smooth timber floor. She looked around. A narrow corridor led toward three shuttered doors. It was very different to below-deck on the frigate, which had been comprised of one large space. She and Uncle Titus had shared their lodgings with the small amount of cargo on board while the crew had slept in the forward hold. The light here was dim but it was enough for her to find a temporary hiding place. More footsteps clattered above her head and the loud voices carried down into her hiding space.

  “Hurry. Quickly.”

  “It’s the girl from the boat.”

  “We have to find her. Come on, man. Get the bloody lantern.”

  The voices dropped and she couldn’t hear what they were saying. Madeleine pressed herself against the hull. Jumbled words which she couldn’t decipher until the yelling of the searchers faded away.

  “She is the only one who knows where the necklace is hidden. She cannot drown.” The urgent whisper made her skin crawl but Madeleine didn’t recognize the voice. Who could it be? She pressed herself hard against the timber and strained to listen but the voices faded away.

  A loud knocking on the timber above her head was accompanied by another shout. “Hoy, wake up. A young woman is in the river.”

  A creak came from behind the door closest to her and Madeleine gasped. The noise indicated there was someone else below deck. They could not know she was here but
she was not going to risk it. Her heart pounded in her chest as she looked around for somewhere to hide. A light shone through the shutters as a lamp was lit and she held her breath as she crept softly to the other end of the short corridor. The other cabins appeared to be in darkness and she had to take a chance that the occupants were either sleeping—or please God—not there.

  Swallowing hard, she pushed open the door farthest from the ladder and slipped into the darkness, cocking her head to listen for any movement or sound.

  All was quiet.

  Gradually her eyes became accustomed to the dark and she looked around. The cabin was large and appeared to follow the hull all the way along to the upper deck.

  A large table in the middle of the room was covered with pieces of parchment, but it was too dark to see what they were. She crept silently along the outer wall, her soft-soled slippers making no noise. At the end of the large space was a narrow opening in the timbered hull which would hopefully give her a view of the vessel she had left. As she made her way to the end, she looked around, searching for a hiding place. If anyone came below deck she could hide down here until she could get off the boat and make her way back to the wharf. A wide bed filled an alcove at the very end of the space and Madeleine sighed with relief as she spied a smaller bunk in a small alcove with a curtain across the front. Slowly she pulled it back. The bunk was clear with no bedding and looked as though it was unused. Dropping the curtain down, she made her way over to the narrow fissure and pressed her face against it to see what was happening. Her bonnet was tight against her head and she reached up, removed it, and then unwound the tight braid coiled on the back of her head. She massaged her tense scalp and let out a small sigh of pleasure as her hair tumbled free.