Captain Vane's Daughter, page 23
“Yes, of course. Sit, please, Elizabeth. There’s no need in engaging in anger. I’m sure we can talk this out and we’ll be sure to compensate you for the gown,” Tobias said.
Now I was concerned about why these two ladies were really in the colonies. I should have known the delicate Elizabeth wasn’t here because she was burning with love for me or anyone else. Had they lost their fortunes? Was Penelope here merely because she knew she could always make Tobias do as she wished?
I was sure that was it. Penelope didn’t love my brother. She only loved herself and what kind of fortune my brother would share with her. Sure, here in Jamaica, he was merely a vicar with a small living, but if he returned to our ancestral home, his allowance from our father would be reinstated. He’d also be able to take up residence in one of the many houses owned by the family.
In my mind, Elizabeth was as treacherous as her sister. Neither of them cared about the Mountbank brothers other than for what we could do for them.
Angry, I realized I was still on my feet. “I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll see you back at the manse.”
“Don’t go, Leo.” Elizabeth smiled at me. “Or if you do, please allow me to accompany you.”
I didn’t want to let her come with me since I wanted to be away from all of them so I could think about this conversation in peace. Unfortunately for me, even being the privateer I’d been, at heart, it seemed I was still the same child my mother had raised. If a lady asked me a favor, I couldn’t say no.
“Very well then. Let us take a stroll.” I held my arm out to her and she slid her hand into the crook of my elbow.
Hoping she wouldn’t talk too much, I led her out of the café.
Before we’d gone very far, she said, “I hope you don’t think, by what I said back there, that I’m not happy to see you and renew our acquaintance.”
I didn’t know how to respond because I was sure she and her sister were merely looking for rich husbands, no matter who the man was. It would certainly be interesting to ascertain what the truth was in England. How had they spent the last ten years? Was there some scandal attached to one of them that they needed to leave and return with husbands? And my brother and I would suit as we had no way of knowing what really was behind their long trip.
The journey across the ocean wouldn’t have been easy and Elizabeth was still quite a comely woman, but could I be happy with her, always wondering where her true feelings lay? And what about Lydia? Was she as treacherous? Were all woman? I’d really only been around prostitutes in the last years and now it seemed as if all people of that sex were willing to compromise themselves for gold or lucre. Lydia was even here to see if she was the child of a pirate. Was she hoping for treasure?
I shook my head to clear it. Surely I was mistaken and my mind muddled from seeing someone out of my past as suddenly as I had.
“Are you angry with me, Leo? You’ve got a terrible frown on your face.” Elisabeth looked up at me and giggled. “I remember when I could make you smile when you were out of sorts.”
Not wanting to let her know what I was thinking, I said, “No. I’m not angry. I think I’m tired from my voyage from Nassau. Would you mind if we returned to the manse and I took a rest?”
“Of course not. As soon as I do this.” She stopped me almost in the middle of the street and threw her arms around me. Pressing her breasts against my chest, she kissed me hard on the lips.
Unsure how to react, my arms automatically went around her and I pulled her to the side of the closest building as she continued to kiss me.
When we were safely out of the way of the crowds, I disengaged my lips from hers and looked over her shoulder to see if we’d been noticed by any passersby.
My eyes came to rest on Lydia standing under the awning of a building across the street. She was looking right at me.
Chapter Twenty
Lydia
When I spotted Leo kissing Elizabeth in front of everyone, my heart cracked in two. Or at least it seemed to. I turned my head as he stared at me with an expression of defiance on his face. It was as if he wanted me to see them so he could be saved from coming to my rooms to tell me he was going to England with her. Never mind that I knew that from the moment I’d set eyes on her. Who could resist a woman such as she? Wouldn’t she be especially desired once one had been on islands such as this for as long as Leo had been? He’d been around too many women of the bordellos over the years to not appreciate a tiny, beautiful lady with a heart-shaped face.
When I turned to walk away from him, Marguerite appeared at my side with a packet of papers in her hand. “I have your pardon from any actions you took against Silas as well as the deed to the plantation. I also have a copy of Vane’s will leaving his property to his wife, Constance Vane.”
“Does the deed have Charles’ name or Nathaniel’s?”
“Charles. All this time, it’s been in your father’s name. It’s now a matter of getting you established as his daughter. We have an appointment with a magistrate tomorrow.”
“I still think it’s going to be harder than you think.” I appreciated all the work she was doing on my behalf, but I also thought she might be enjoying a change in her own routine as well. Her next words told me I was right.
“You’ll see. It’s all but done. I’m going to visit our friend, the governor and won’t need your assistance further this evening. You can do as you please. I’ll meet you at your inn in the morning.”
“Where will you be? Aren’t you going to take a room yourself?”
“Oh no, I’ll be staying on The Empress.” Marguerite winked which made me wonder if she would really be spending that night somewhere else, but as it was none of my concern, I didn’t ask. “My crew will come into town tomorrow in case we need them.” She touched my arm. “Not that I think we will.”
“Then I’ll leave you to whatever business you still need to conduct.” I smiled at her. “And I thank you for all you’re doing for me.”
“You’re welcome, dear. I’m not sure when I last had so much amusement so I should be thanking you.”
I left her there and decided to return to my room and give myself the chance to think over the past few days. A lot of things had happened and I felt a bit tossed around and unsteady in my mind. I would dine alone and prepare myself for the next day. And for the days to follow as I found a new life.
In the middle of the night, I sat bolt upright and wanted to smack myself on the head for my idiocy. Remembering being in the cemetery and Silas staring at me, my sleeping mind must have realized what I'd not seen while awake.
If my father wasn't buried under that grave marker, who or what was? Could it literally be buried treasure? Hadn’t Captain Cornwall mentioned gold? And didn’t the governor say my father couldn’t be buried in consecrated ground?
I let out a sound that could only be described as a laugh mixed with a snort. Would Charles Vane direct his trusted men from his cell in the gaol to hide his coins and other valuables there? Or did they do it treacherously after he was dead?
Either way, I was going to find out.
I rose and made my way downstairs and out of the inn.
Unsure of the time, I crept down the quiet street and hoped I'd be able to find a shovel somewhere along the way. I was going to dig up that grave tonight and see what was there.
I gave a passing thought to the fact that I was a woman out here alone, but didn't want to take the time to wake someone to accompany me. Besides, I had my pistol and knife and would soon have a shovel. I hoped.
Arriving at the cemetery, I was glad to see a small lean-to with tools inside. It was also lighter outside now than it had been before the rainfall on my first visit here. Either that or my eyes had gotten used to it as I could see pretty well.
There were several implements I could use for my digging, but chose to take the shovel with the shortest handle since it fit my hands perfectly.
After I dragged it to the marker with my father's name, I shoved the tip into the soil.
To my shock, it sunk in deep, the dirt loose. Somehow, I'd expected it to be packed solidly as it had been close to twenty years since the burial.
Then I remembered the words on the marker. "Lay not up treasures on earth where thieves break through and steal." Who had chosen those words from the book of Matthew? And did they mean what I think now that they mean?
I kept digging, working myself into a damp sweat and focusing so intently on the task at hand, I almost screamed when the sound of my name wafting over the small breeze hit my ears.
Stopping my work, I stood still, trying to determine if it was my imagination. After all, I'd heard my name that first night as well.
When I'd regained control of my rapidly beating heart, I shoved the tip of the shovel into the dirt again. My reward this time was a sound of metal hitting metal. Hope surged in my chest. A coffin would surely be wood and probably disintegrated by now. It must be something else.
"My, my. What do we have here? A grave robber?" a voice I recognized came from behind me.
Turning slowly, I came face to face with Silas. Holding a flintlock pistol pointing directly at my head. "I believe that's a deed punishable by death."
Trying to keep calm and hoping my voice wouldn't betray my nervousness, I said, "I don't think you're authorized to mete out such a sentence. Unless you've been promoted from a nobody to magistrate in the last few days." Oh yes, I was sure piling on the bravado. None of which I felt.
"Last I looked, you and me is all that's out here. What if I shoot you where you are and bury you there with the man you so desperately want to be your sire for some reason." Silas scratched his head with the barrel of the gun. "Why you'd want to be his whelp is the mystery, ain't it? Seems awful peculiar to me to want to be the child of such as he."
“Why do you care anyway? What difference does it make to you?” I had to keep him talking until I could figure out a way to get to my own weapon without him noticing.
“I was his quartermaster and I tell you, he never had any children. You sully his name by claiming you’re his child.”
“I still don’t think that should make a difference to you. Unless you were his child yourself and thought you might have to share your inheritance.” It was a risk to try to upset Silas, but I wanted to see if I could catch him off guard enough to get a chance to bend down.
“Inheritance?” He laughed, but I caught a bit of a quaver in his voice. Was I on the right path thinking there might be gold here? “What kind of inheritance do you think a pirate would leave? We’re all known for spending our pieces of eight freely on women and rum. Why would Captain Vane be any different?” Silas laughed again, this time letting out a snort.
“Just what you said. He’d leave gold and treasure, wouldn’t he?” I pressed my back against the handle of the shovel, hoping to hide it from view so Silas wouldn’t know I was truly seeking booty.
“The real truth is out now. You are someone who is placing a claim on any property he owned when he died. When he’s gone and can’t fight against it. I’m not going to stand by and let you pretend he was your father in your plan to get rich.”
“So there is money he had when he died?”
“Too bad you’ll be too dead yourself to know.” He raised his firearm as he uttered the last word.
I ducked down just as he let the shot go.
Grabbing my knife from where I stowed it in my boot, I slashed out at his ankles as it was the only place I could reach from my position.
Blood gushed out of his legs and he went down, screaming.
Appalled at what I’d done, I had enough sense to grab his gun from where it fell and held it pointed at him although it didn’t seem he’d have the ability to attack me any longer.
Footsteps thudded through the cemetery. There was nothing I could do about covering what I was doing. They came too fast as Silas kept yelling in pain. He was cursing me with words I’d never heard before.
I wasn’t proud of cutting him like I did, but at least I was alive.
“What are you doing out here?” Tobias Mountbank asked. He was dressed in what appeared to be hastily pulled on breeches and a white shirt hanging out of them. My treacherous mind told me he didn’t look half as good as his brother. I pushed that thought aside.
“That witch sliced my feet. Call the magistrate.” Silas kept whining.
“Stop making so much noise. I have guests and they’re trying to sleep. I’ll send for some help for you, but you must be silent.” Tobias turned to me. “Get out of this cemetery. You aren’t welcome here.”
“I won’t go. I’m here maintaining my father’s gravesite which is my right.”
“Since when do you have a father buried here?” Tobias practically snarled the question.
“Can’t you talk to her later? I’m dying.” Silas rolled from side to side.
Tobias glared at me. “I’m going for help for him. If you won’t leave, you’ll have to talk to the magistrate as I’m going to send for him.”
“Good. I’m glad. She should be arrested.” Silas glanced over at me with a look of hatred.
“I’m also happy he’s sending for the magistrate. I’m sure he’s going to side with me.” I sure hoped so. I was putting my faith in Marguerite and her abilities with the men of the world. She would surely see that I was protected and if she could help me take possession of whatever was in this grave, I would be forever grateful to the woman.
I stood in silence with my gun pointed on Silas as he wept until Tobias returned with a couple of men and a wagon. They loaded him and headed toward town.
“Now, we wait for the magistrate. He’ll make you leave my cemetery.” Tobias sat on the side of the grave.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll keep working until he arrives.” I didn’t wait for permission. I picked up the shovel again and dug dirt away from the metal I’d hit earlier. My hand shook and my stomach threatened to expel its contents as the reality of what I’d done to that old pirate sank into my mind. What if I’d lamed him for life? Could I live with that? And more importantly, was I really as cruel as I’d heard my father had been?
Perhaps I wasn’t since I was feeling such remorse for my actions. If I was of the mind of a pirate, wouldn’t I take joy in harming people who thwarted me?
“Why are you digging up the person you think is your father?” Tobias asked as if he were serving tea in his formal parlor.
“I don’t actually think he’s here. I think some of his property is buried here instead.” I didn’t see the harm in telling Tobias what I was doing. Chances were, the box I was going to find under this dirt wouldn’t be big enough to hold a body so he’d know soon enough one wasn’t in the grave.
“Why would property be buried in consecrated soil?”
“To hide it?” I smiled in the dark without looking at Tobias. “If you had possession of something that didn’t belong to you and needed to keep it a secret, what better place?”
“Someone would have to be clever to do such a thing and I hardly think that man who was here earlier is clever. He seemed a bit of a simpleton to me.”
“There are many ways that man is more clever than the two of us together. Don’t you doubt it.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If he’s done what I think he’s done, he’s kept it a secret for twenty years.”
“You’re not telling me much.” Tobias sounded as if he were pouting like a little boy denied a sweet.
“There’s no need to say much. Aren’t you returning to England soon?” I couldn’t resist asking. It was as if I wanted to poke a stick into my wounded heart to see if I could make it hurt or bleed any more than it already had.
“Yes. How did you know that?”
“Leo told me.”
“When?”
“He said it as soon as he knew your former love was in the West Indies. He was sure you would return with her and, from what you said just now, it seems he was right.”
“We’re all going home as soon as we can book passage.”
I stood still at the news, unsure if I could move without shattering. How had it come to pass that I’d let Leo Mountbank inside my heart so completely? It had to be because he was the first person who paid attention to me and acted as if I was special. Of course dear Benedict had always been kind, but we were more like survivors of a shipwreck who were grateful for life and company rather than a man and a woman.
Perhaps I’d meet another man who would treat me the same. Someday.
“It‘s getting lighter out here. I wonder why the magistrate doesn’t come,” Tobias said.
Now that the dirt was cleared mostly away, I could see what I’d hit. It was made of wood, but had metal clasps around it. I wondered how heavy it would be or if it was merely an empty container.
Not really wanting to inspect it with Tobias watching, I wondered how I was going to get him to leave me alone out here. I couldn’t very well use my weapons when he was being so amiable.
Suppressing a snort, I said, “Why don’t you return to your home and get some rest? I promise to wait here for the magistrate.”
“I’m not a simpleton, madam. I’ll wait right here with you until someone comes.” He smirked at me as I turned to look over my shoulder at a sound behind us.
A dark-skinned man walked up. “Message from the magistrate.” He handed it to Tobias and scurried off.
Tobias unfolded it and scanned the words.
When he looked up, he said, “It seems the magistrate says he already has an audience with you later this morning. He indicates I should come along then with my complaints so he can handle them all at the same time.” Tobias chuckled. “I guess you’ve made a lot of people around here angry if the magistrate is already convening a meeting to run you off this island.”
“I don’t think that’s what he’s going to do, but I think we’ll soon know.” I smiled my sweetest smile. “Tell you what, you go on back to bed and I’ll meet you there in town.”
“No. You’ll come with me to the manse and we’ll go together.” He glanced down at the hole I’d dug. “What did you find there?”
