LITMIR.BIZ

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prize we have taken. One more and we shall sail for Cyprus to re-provision and give the men a chance to spend some of their booty.’

      ‘On wine and women,’ Higgins agreed. ‘For myself I’ll be saving it to invest, perhaps in land in the New World. I had a wife once, but when I returned from a long voyage I found her in bed with her new lover. She wanted a man who was content to live ashore. I needed to feel the wind in my face and the waves beneath me so I left her to it and signed on for a decent master. I’m in no hurry to retire, but when I do I’ll find me a good woman and become a man of property.’

      ‘A goodly ambition.’ Justin’s eyes revealed no secrets. The austere life at sea had hardened him in body and in mind. Thoughts of his quarrel with his father no longer tortured him. Though he’d not chosen his new life he had become accustomed to it and even relished it at times. ‘Make secure the ship, Higgins. We’ll find shelter in a quiet cove for the night. The look of that sky tells me that there will be a storm before long…’

      As the first mate went out, Justin looked at the small chest he had taken from the captain of the captured ship. It was locked, but he prised it open with his knife and looked at the contents. Realising just what he had found, Justin hid the parchment inside his jerkin. If this fell into the wrong hands, it might cause mutiny and endless arguments, even some bloodshed. The map might be worth a fortune, but it would be more trouble than a little. He would keep it hidden for the moment while he decided what he ought to do with the unexpected discovery.

      ‘Will you not relent and let me stay in Spain, Father?’ Maribel asked one last time before she departed for the ship. ‘I could go to my husband’s house and you need not see me again.’

      ‘To draw back now would cause offence to Lord Roberts and default on our contract,’ her father said. ‘Go with Captain Hynes. Your future husband has entrusted you to his care and you must forget all that you knew here. Your husband is a man of some stature in England. You should thank me on your knees for arranging such a marriage for you.’

      Maribel understood that there was to be no reprieve for her. ‘Very well, sir. I shall obey you.’

      She turned away, her face proud and cold. Since there was no help for it she must accept her fate. Samuel Hynes was in the courtyard, waiting for her with the horses. He approached, offering his hand as if he would help her, but she gave her hand to her groom, Rodrigo, and let him put her up on her horse. There was something about Lord Roberts’s cousin that made her distrust him; he had a sly, lascivious gleam in his eyes that made her uncomfortable and she would not have him touch her.

      She saw him frown as he turned away. Her maid, Anna, who was to accompany her to England, was taken up behind the groom. They had both chosen to accompany her to her new home for they loved her dearly. It was Anna who had held her when she wept after Juanita’s death, and Rodrigo who had taught her to ride as a child. Knowing that they were with her gave Maribel courage. She was not completely alone. She had people who cared for her—and perhaps in time she would learn to love the man she was to marry.

      It was but a short ride to the cove where the ship had anchored. Maribel knew that her father had received bad news about one of his ships recently. The Juanita, which was his flagship, had been attacked and robbed of its cargo by pirates. Having sustained damage, it was in port being repaired. She was to travel on an English ship belonging to Samuel Hynes and understood that the Mistress Susanna was not as large or as well armed as the Juanita.

      ‘Welcome aboard my ship,’ Samuel Hynes said as he helped her step on deck. ‘I am honoured to have you as a passenger, Donna Maribel. My cousin is a fortunate man. Had I been in his shoes, I would have made the journey myself.’

      ‘I dare say Lord Roberts has much to concern him with the welfare of his estate and people.’

      ‘Yes, perhaps. He is often at court. Yet I believe I should have spared the time for a bride as lovely as you, Madonna.’

      Maribel lifted her head proudly, her eyes conveying her feeling of scorn. She would not accept his compliments for she did not like or trust him.

      ‘I believe I shall go to my cabin, sir.’

      ‘As you wish. I have given up my own so that you may be comfortable, Donna Maribel.’

      ‘You will address me as Donna Sanchez, if you please.’ Maribel said coldly. ‘I have not yet married Lord Roberts and am still the widow of Don Pablo Sanchez.’

      ‘Indeed you are, lady.’ Samuel inclined his head respectfully, but there was a glitter of anger in his eyes. ‘Forgive me. One of my men will show you the way.’

      He signalled to a cabin boy, who came at a run. He grinned at Maribel and beckoned to her.

      ‘Come, lady, I will take you to your cabin.’ He hesitated as Maribel did not immediately follow. ‘I don’t speak Spanish, señorita…but you must come or he will be angry…’

      Maribel smiled at him, because she sensed his concern. ‘I understand English very well. My mother was English and Juanita thought it right I should speak it as well as my father’s language. As a child I had an English nurse.’

      The lad looked at her, but said nothing, glancing back at Captain Hynes as if he feared him. Only when they were in the cabin did he speak again.

      ‘He would punish me if he heard me say it, lady—but be careful of the captain. I don’t trust him. If what I’ve heard is true, he has tricked you and your father…’

      ‘What do you mean? How hath he tricked us?’

      ‘I heard as Lord Roberts lay close to death when this voyage was begun. If ’tis true, Captain Hynes will inherit the estate from his cousin—and you mayhap?’

      Maribel turned pale, her head swimming for one terrible moment as she realised what this might mean. She had seen the look of lust in Samuel Hynes’s eyes and felt sick, because she knew that she would be alone in England, apart from her servants, and at the mercy of an unscrupulous man. Hearing the sounds on deck, she understood that they had already begun to cast off. It was too late to go back, and even if she were to return to her home she was not sure that her father would believe her.

      As the cabin boy left, Maribel fell to her knees. She began to pull her rosary through her hands, her lips moving in prayer.

      ‘Save me from this wicked man,’ she whispered. ‘Please God, do not allow me to fall into the hands of such a man—for I believe I should prefer to lie in my grave…’

      ‘She is an English ship,’ Justin said as they saw the flag flying proudly. ‘We do not attack English ships.’

      ‘The Mistress Susanna belongs to Samuel Hynes.’ Higgins growled. ‘I’ve served him and he was a worse devil than Captain Smythe knew how to be. He is a merchant and fair game. We’ve seen no Spanish ships for three days and the men are restless. I think we should take this prize. Besides—look at the second flag. That is Sabatini’s pennant…’

      ‘Why would an English ship fly the pennant of a Spanish Don?’ Justin’s gaze narrowed. Since discovering what kind of a man Don Sabatini was, he had determined to single his ships out whenever possible. ‘There is something odd here. Mayhap Sabatini thinks to fool us into believing it is an English ship. Put a shot across their bows and run up the skull and crossbones. I would discover what kind of trick the Spaniard plays here.’

      Justin was thoughtful as his men sprang into action. He knew they were restless and eager to return to their island to turn some of the booty they had taken into gold so they could spend it in the taverns and with the whores that plied their trade on the waterfront. His instincts had been to let the ship pass, but seeing Sabatini’s pennant had changed his mind. The Spaniard was obviously trying to sneak one of his ships through under an English flag, and was possibly carrying a rich prize.

      The men he commanded were loyal to a point, but wild and reckless. If he denied them such a prize, they might turn against him as easily as they had Smythe. Justin did not intend to continue

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