onto the daughter, Adam. Not without cause.”
“Oh, y’are impossible. There’s no talkin’ to you.” Adam glowered up at him. “An’ there she was, bold as brass, watchin’ you take the
Doña Elena
—”
“She did her part, if you recall.” Anthony interrupted him before Adam could lose himself in his argument.
“ ’Twas a disgrace,” Adam declared. “ ’Er bein’ who she is.”
“This is no ordinary woman,” Anthony said with conviction. He looked down at Adam and the gray eyes now were serious, intent, his mouth set. “Trust me, Adam. Olivia Granville is no ordinary woman.”
“I suppose that’s another o’ your instincts,” Adam muttered.
“And are they not always right?” Anthony raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“Aye, but there’s always a first time,” Adam muttered without too much assurance. Anthony’s mother had hadthe same uncanny ability to understand people on a level they didn’t understand themselves.
Anthony shook his head. “Not this time.”
“Well, if y’are thinkin’ of beddin’ her, I hope you’ll remember she’s no village doxy. An ’ighborn lady, she is. And you’d do well to remember that!”
“I will, Adam. I will.” Anthony laughed. “There’ll be no irate papa beating down my door.” He looked down at his man’s creased expression, teasing, “There never has been as yet.”
“Aye, well only the Lord knows why not. An out-an-out rake is what y’are,” Adam declared roundly.
“Nonsense,” Anthony scoffed. “I take my pleasure when it’s offered like any other red-blooded male.”
Adam sniffed at this and Anthony kept his counsel. It wasn’t so much that he intended to bed Olivia Granville as that it was inevitable. And he knew that on some level she knew it too.
What he didn’t know was what it would mean in the greater scheme of things. The riches liberated from the Spanish galleon would go a long way to swelling the coffers of the Royalist insurgents and their Scots backers as they broke the uneasy truce that had been in place since the king’s imprisonment, and brought war once more to the English countryside in one last attempt to secure the king’s sovereignty.
In this enterprise, Cato Granville was the enemy. At the moment, he was not at Carisbrooke Castle, but he would be back. The renewed fighting by the king’s supporters and the news of his undercover negotiations with the Scots would harden His Majesty’s jailers. They would try to move him off the island and back to London. Before that happened, Anthony intended that King Charles would take safe passage to France on
Wind Dancer
.
Just where Olivia Granville would fit into his planning remained to be seen.
“You got any idea what was on that ship the wreckers brought down the other night?” Adam inquired. “Mighty rich pickin’s, I’d guess. You think you got the word out all right?”
Anthony’s face was wiped clean of humor. “Oh, yes, the word’s out, Adam. However rich the pickings, the goods have no value if they can’t sell ’em. If whoever controls them knows there’s a discreet buyer, he’ll make contact. I don’t know what we’ll get, but I’ll lay odds it’s good. The ship was a merchantman.”
He gave a harsh laugh and Olivia would not have recognized this man. His eyes were gray iron, his mouth twisted. There was no vestige of the softness or amusement she had come to expect. “Why not let someone else do the work for a change?” he said.
The setting sun was throwing a great palette of colors across the western sky, and the lively water beneath
Wind Dancer
’s bow was pink and gold. The good rich smells of cooking came now from the rekindled fires in the galley. The hardness left Anthony’s countenance as quickly as it had come. He was remembering his promise to the newest member of his pirate crew.
“What d’you have for our dinner, Adam?”
“A leg o’ mutton on the spit,” the older man said be-grudgingly. “An’ what ye
“Oh, y’are impossible. There’s no talkin’ to you.” Adam glowered up at him. “An’ there she was, bold as brass, watchin’ you take the
Doña Elena
—”
“She did her part, if you recall.” Anthony interrupted him before Adam could lose himself in his argument.
“ ’Twas a disgrace,” Adam declared. “ ’Er bein’ who she is.”
“This is no ordinary woman,” Anthony said with conviction. He looked down at Adam and the gray eyes now were serious, intent, his mouth set. “Trust me, Adam. Olivia Granville is no ordinary woman.”
“I suppose that’s another o’ your instincts,” Adam muttered.
“And are they not always right?” Anthony raised a quizzical eyebrow.
“Aye, but there’s always a first time,” Adam muttered without too much assurance. Anthony’s mother had hadthe same uncanny ability to understand people on a level they didn’t understand themselves.
Anthony shook his head. “Not this time.”
“Well, if y’are thinkin’ of beddin’ her, I hope you’ll remember she’s no village doxy. An ’ighborn lady, she is. And you’d do well to remember that!”
“I will, Adam. I will.” Anthony laughed. “There’ll be no irate papa beating down my door.” He looked down at his man’s creased expression, teasing, “There never has been as yet.”
“Aye, well only the Lord knows why not. An out-an-out rake is what y’are,” Adam declared roundly.
“Nonsense,” Anthony scoffed. “I take my pleasure when it’s offered like any other red-blooded male.”
Adam sniffed at this and Anthony kept his counsel. It wasn’t so much that he intended to bed Olivia Granville as that it was inevitable. And he knew that on some level she knew it too.
What he didn’t know was what it would mean in the greater scheme of things. The riches liberated from the Spanish galleon would go a long way to swelling the coffers of the Royalist insurgents and their Scots backers as they broke the uneasy truce that had been in place since the king’s imprisonment, and brought war once more to the English countryside in one last attempt to secure the king’s sovereignty.
In this enterprise, Cato Granville was the enemy. At the moment, he was not at Carisbrooke Castle, but he would be back. The renewed fighting by the king’s supporters and the news of his undercover negotiations with the Scots would harden His Majesty’s jailers. They would try to move him off the island and back to London. Before that happened, Anthony intended that King Charles would take safe passage to France on
Wind Dancer
.
Just where Olivia Granville would fit into his planning remained to be seen.
“You got any idea what was on that ship the wreckers brought down the other night?” Adam inquired. “Mighty rich pickin’s, I’d guess. You think you got the word out all right?”
Anthony’s face was wiped clean of humor. “Oh, yes, the word’s out, Adam. However rich the pickings, the goods have no value if they can’t sell ’em. If whoever controls them knows there’s a discreet buyer, he’ll make contact. I don’t know what we’ll get, but I’ll lay odds it’s good. The ship was a merchantman.”
He gave a harsh laugh and Olivia would not have recognized this man. His eyes were gray iron, his mouth twisted. There was no vestige of the softness or amusement she had come to expect. “Why not let someone else do the work for a change?” he said.
The setting sun was throwing a great palette of colors across the western sky, and the lively water beneath
Wind Dancer
’s bow was pink and gold. The good rich smells of cooking came now from the rekindled fires in the galley. The hardness left Anthony’s countenance as quickly as it had come. He was remembering his promise to the newest member of his pirate crew.
“What d’you have for our dinner, Adam?”
“A leg o’ mutton on the spit,” the older man said be-grudgingly. “An’ what ye
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