Madeline stood alongside the rest of the crew, watching the unidentified ship lower two skiffs into the sea. Tension aboard the Nemesis was as thick as molasses. And there were whispers among the tars about the captain’s sanity. She prayed there wouldn’t be a mutiny. But she also prayed for the captain’s sanity. Trust me, Maddie, he had said. But she was having a deuced hard time trusting him, the man far too enigmatic.
She glanced over her shoulder. A distance away, William remained atop the poop, his expression impenetrable. He had folded his arms across his chest, defensive, bone-rigid in posture, as his steely gaze observed the advancing rowboats.
Madeline cast her eyes toward the same rowboats, flexing then fisting her palms. What the devil was going on? she wondered. William would never sacrifice his crew and ship. He was a man of war . . . unless there was no war, no danger.
At the peculiar thought, she shot the captain another critical glare, and his uncompromising composure seemed more and more like repressed annoyance. The ship wasn’t under threat, she then realized. He was.
As the skiffs reached the hull, William ordered, “Lower the ropes.”
But when the uncertain sailors dallied, the loyal lieutenant blasted them for being too slow, and the rope ladders were quickly dropped overboard.
The unfurling rope and wood clattered along the ship’s planking before splashing into the water, and then the undeniable sound of climbing boots echoed across the silent ship.
Her heart thundered as the unidentified men ascended the ship’s flank, and a primal instinct overcame her—to fight. These men were after William. And William would do anything to protect his ship and crew, even sacrifice himself.
Heads soon appeared above deck.
Madeline braced herself—then gasped.
Captain James Hawkins boarded the ship, his long black hair tied in a queue, his sharp blue eyes as dark and smoldering as gun smoke on a battlefield. He was followed by his exotic wife, Sophia, dressed in breeches and a capable seafarer, it seemed, for she scaled the ship with perfect ease.
Madeline’s breast tightened in awe as another, then another brother appeared, their wives in tow, with the Duke and Duchess of Wembury bringing up the rear.
“Maddie!”
Cousin Amy dashed toward her and dragged her into an embrace.
“Are you all right, my dear?”
“I-I’m fine,” she stammered, still bewildered. “What are you doing here, Amy?”
Amy glanced warily between the family and William. “There were rumors.”
“Rumors?”
She whispered, “Of an abduction.”
Madeline groaned. “I assure you, there was no abduction. I’m here because . . . It’s a long story.”
As Amy wrapped a supportive arm around her shoulder, she smiled. “Shall we hear it over a cup of tea?”
Madeline nodded. The strain in the air hadn’t lifted, though. There was another reason the family had given chase, she swiftly concluded. It was apparent in their stiff postures. She would have assumed an uncomfortable matter was at hand, but there was also a crisis.
She eyed the Duchess of Wembury, standing at the far end of the ship with her husband, her features ever so resentful, broken even. Edmund looked just as infuriated, Quincy somber, perhaps remorseful. And then there was James, inscrutable, but undoubtedly repressing the same powerful emotions as the rest of his kin.
They had not just come to rescue her from a rumored abduction, she reasoned, even though their grave expressions indicated severe disapproval. There was something more going on between the siblings, something immensely personal.
Madeline had always known William was hiding a dark secret from her, the crew, and likely his family. Was it about to be revealed?
~ * ~
William felt as if he’d been shot in the chest again, his wound gushing unhindered amounts of blood. He remained unmoving on the poop, watching his entire family descend upon his ship.
The moment he’d recognized his eldest brother’s schooner, the Bonny Meg, he’d realized his carefully orchestrated plans had been dashed to bits, that fate’s unexpected fortune had been a joke—and he would have to confront his tempestuous kin, after all.
His tars greeted Edmund, who’d served aboard the Nemesis at one time, as well as Quincy, who was still the ship’s official surgeon. The women gathered around Madeline, but his sister, Belle, remained at the other end of the vessel, her eyes digging into him with unforgiving fury.
It was James who finally approached him, his gait slow yet determined. “I want a word with you, brother.”
A few minutes later, he and James were alone in the captain’s cabin.
“Hullo, sweetheart.” James reached into the terrarium and scooped up the snake, coiling her around his forearm. “I’ve missed you, girl.”
William observed their strange exchange from across the room, arms folded. He leaned against the wall and braced the heel of his boot on a chair. “How did you find me?”
“You can’t set sail in total secret, not from the Thames,” he said, returning the serpent inside the glass enclosure. “When large amounts of food and rum and gun powder are loaded aboard a ship, there’s always gossip. And you’re a man of habit.” He shrugged. “I figured you’d take the same route to the Caribbean as we always did in the past.”
At the suggestion he was the predictable brother, the brother who never took any risks, William gritted his teeth. The charge would have pleased him once. Now he was bloody insulted.
“And why am I going to the Caribbean?” he asked in a voice not far from a growl. “You don’t really believe I abducted Maddie?”
“Maddie, is it? No, I don’t believe you abducted her. I don’t know why she’s here, in truth. But I know what you’re doing.” His eyes flared. “Running away.”
William kicked the chair across the room with such force, the legs shattered. “Curse Quincy!”
Unperturbed, James persisted, “Don’t blame the pup for telling us the truth. You should have told us—”
“Told you what?” he stormed. “That I’m sick, like Father? That I’m dying, like Father?” His fist slammed into the wall. “Fuck you, James! You would’ve done the very same thing. You would never have let us watch you fall apart.”
“Damn right. Next time cover your tracks better.”
William raked his hair until his scalp pinched. “There isn’t going to be a ‘next time’.”
“Are you sure you’re sick . . . like Father?”
“Yes.”
“He died seven years ago, Will. Quincy’s a member of the Royal College of Physicians now. He can help you.”
“What? When did this happen?”
“Quincy received word just before Eddie’s wedding. He was going to tell you after the nuptials about his membership, that he wouldn’t be serving aboard the Nemesis any longer.”
“It seems I’m not the only one keeping secrets.”
James glowered. “Quincy didn’t want to take the attention away from Eddie and Amy on their special day. But you—”
“Enough! I’m glad the pup’s settled. I don’t have to sack him now. It’s my last voyage, after all.”
His brother’s voice dropped. “Are you sure?”
William paced the cabin, rubbing the back of his stiff neck. “I’ve already been to the most renowned doctors in London. I’ve visited the wisest medicine men in Africa. There is no cure.”
“How much time do you have?”
“Four months, maybe six.”
“Were you ever going to tell us?”
“I wrote a letter,” he said, then stopped, turned away from his brother. “Maddie was going to deliver it to Belle when she returned to England . . . I want you to leave, James.”
“No.”
“I don’t want any of you with me at the end.”
“I understand, but I’m not leaving—we’re not leaving.”
He fisted his palms. “How can you be such a bloody hypocrite?”
“It’s rather easy.”
William took in a measured breath, changed his tactic. “I can’t believe you brought the women?”
“Did you really think I could leave them behind once they’d heard you were sick?”
“They’re in danger, James.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to rescue Maddie’s grandfather. He’s being held hostage in the Bahamas—by pirates.”
“Shit. Quincy didn’t mention—”
“Quincy didn’t know anything about it. I made the plan with Maddie.”
“Maddie again? And why are you doing this for Maddie?”
He next rubbed his aching brow. “She’s family.”
“She’s also a good reason to avoid us, maybe even die in battle. You and I are alike, Will.”
“Are we?” He confronted his brother again, blood burning in his veins. “I’m the soulless head of this family, while you’re its destructive ass. I repair what you’ve ruined. I clean up what you’ve razed. And I stand between you and your own insufferable temper. Isn’t that what you meant when you said I have no soul, that I can’t bleed, that I don’t even know love?”
James offered him a queer expression at the uncharacteristic outburst, and William headed for the door before he blubbered any more rot. “Forget it.”
But his eldest brother grabbed him by the arm. “It’s Maddie, isn’t it?”
William jerked his arm away and circled the cabin, his guts twisting, his heart pounding.
“Why?” he gritted. “Why now? Why did I meet her now?”
He released the tension in his bones and turned over the dining table with a wild roar.
“Why now, James? When I’m fucking dying and can’t . . . and can’t be with her?” His energy spent, William slumped against the wall. “I sometimes wish I had never met her. Other times, I thank the stars I had a short time with her. What am I going to do?”
“Marry her.”
“Are you mad? I can’t marry her, then leave her a widow.”
“She might be pregnant.”
William seized. He hadn’t even considered . . . he hadn’t even considered the possibility of a babe. “I never thought about that.”
“I guess you’re not the soulless head you think you are, that you’ve got a destructive ass, too.”
As his head throbbed, William clutched his temples. “What am I going to do?”
“You have to protect Maddie. She can’t come home, pregnant and unwed. I will marry the two of you.”
“You?”
“I can marry you aboard my ship. When I record the ceremony in the ship’s log, it will be considered a common-law marriage. And if you change your will to include Maddie and any heir she might have, she should be protected.”
“What if she refuses to marry me?”
“And ruin her reputation?”
“She doesn’t care about her reputation; according to her, she lost it long ago.”
“And the babe’s reputation? Does she want it labeled a bastard for the rest of its life?”
William thumped his head against the wall. “She doesn’t know I’m dying, James.”
“I can’t help you with that, brother. You’ll have to tell her the truth. But first you have to propose to the woman.”