LITMIR.BIZ

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You was having trouble enough getting food for yourself, much less me, so I had no other choice except to run away, all right?”

      She slumped. “I would have starved before you went without. Surely you must know that.”

      “Why do you think I left? I wanted you to have enough.”

      “Oh, Peter.” She threw her arms around him and prayed for a kind response.

      He finally hugged her.

      Diana’s sorrow broke free, tears rolling down her cheeks. He’d suffered cruel beatings, most likely starved, and God knew what else because he’d looked out for her. “I had Father’s old room rented a week after you left, and then I had tenants in the others. There was enough for both of us, even some money left to educate you properly. I kept telling you I’d see to your welfare.”

      He released her and squirmed away. “I can take care of meself.”

      “No, you can’t and it’s myself.” She swiped away tears. “You’re with me now so you don’t have to pretend to be uneducated like the crew. Once we return to England, everything will be better than it had been. I promise.”

      “I ain’t going. I have to stay with me captain.”

      She resisted shaking him. “Are you mad? He beat you.”

      “Did not. He never laid a finger on me.”

      “Then who did? One of his filthy crew?”

      “None of them touched me, neither. It was just a whipping. If me captain can take it, I can too.” He pushed to his feet and crossed the room.

      Diana followed. “Are you saying your captain was also whipped? You can’t possibly believe it. The man put your life at risk. He abducted you.”

      “Did not. He ain’t never been mean to me excepting for when it comes to his books.”

      She recalled Homer’s Iliad on Tristan’s lap. A large volume and a gentleman’s read, or a brute’s weapon. “He beat you with his books?”

      Peter laughed.

      She kept herself from shouting. “Stop that at once. If he beat you, I want to know.”

      “I’ve been trying to tell you. He forces me to learn Latin, Spanish, history, and no end of boring things even when I told him I have no use for it.”

      Good heavens, Peter was more deluded about Tristan than she’d guessed or he’d become a superb liar during their separation. “He educates you, yet doesn’t notice how poorly you speak?”

      Peter rolled his eyes. “He’s just like you, always telling me to talk properly. I learned not to around the other men. When I spoke like you, they pushed and punched me asking if I thought I was better than them.” He shoved both hands through his hair, dragging the locks off his shoulders. “I even told the Captain what they said, but did he listen? No. He still gives me lessons to do every day and helps me with them unless he’s with Canela.”

      “Canela? A crew member?”

      “Of course not. She’s a beautiful island woman he fancies.”

      Diana’s belly twisted.

      Before she could recover her indifference or dislike for Tristan, Peter took in the cabin. “Where’d you get this vessel? Are you having to pay for its use?”

      Once they were in Mozambique, she would. She lowered her face. “No.”

      “Because you intend to get me friends hanged?”

      “They are not your friends. And no, I’m not going to get them hanged. They did it on their own by committing piracy without my help. The Lady Lark belongs to Benedict Bishop. If it weren’t for his kind assistance, I wouldn’t have had the means to come here and rescue you. Once we’re home, he’s promised to pay for your schooling as he worries about your safety and future.”

      Peter stared. “That makes no sense at all.”

      “What doesn’t?”

      “Mr. Bishop told you he wanted to help? Why? What does he get out of the bargain? Oh my God.” He put up his hands. “You haven’t promised to wed him, have you?”

      To hide her shame, she focused on smoothing her clothes. “No. The man’s old enough to be our father. He knew how worried I was about you, so he helped willingly as he’s also concerned for your safety.”

      “What makes you so sure he ain’t the one who put me in harm’s way?”

      She frowned. “What do you mean?”

      “I’ve heard things about him from me shipmates.”

      “They’re pirates, Peter. Crude, vicious beasts without courage. Listen to them now.”

      Several wailed below from where her men had taken them. One made a coarse noise. Something crashed.

      Another man cried out. “Captain, help us!”

      “My men are having difficulty negotiating the ladder.” Tristan spoke as a noble born to a manor rather than a pirate in a ship’s hold. “They need time to get down the steps. Especially Cook. He’s missing a limb. Allow me to assist him.”

      She rubbed her temple, not knowing how to react to such thoughtfulness, from a pirate no less. One who fancied a beautiful island girl and had claimed Diana wanted the same as him.

      Not likely. She needed him to hang.

      * * * *

      Tristan found the accommodations abominable but expected no better since Diana believed he and his men were going to die, anyway. Her crew had pushed them inside the hold unconcerned as to the stuffy air and stifling heat. Or where they might land. He was lucky, his book safely beneath his arm, even after he’d stumbled over a small cage and came to rest against a barrel holding something solid but slightly fetid.

      Given the splashing sounds and his men’s snarls or curses, Tristan guessed their beds weren’t as nice. He had no way to know, the space so dark he might have been blind.

      The others panicked, the new situation pushing them toward quick sobriety. One even prayed.

      Tristan kicked the barrel for their attention. “Quiet.”

      They grew still. The hull’s groans and slapping sea filled the silence.

      “Captain.” Henry Wells kept his voice low. “What do you want us to do?”

      A curious question. Although Tristan was in charge, his power wasn’t absolute. True rule lay with his men. Each had a voice and vote on what action to take. If they didn’t like the outcome or anything he suggested, they could easily replace or kill him.

      The prospect of facing Newgate and the gallows made them eager to leave him with this mess. He used his shoulder to wipe sweat from his face. “I don’t intend to sail to England, nor do I intend to hang.” He spoke as quietly as Wells had. “Are you men with me?”

      Whispered “ayes” filled the space.

      “Then keep quiet.”

      When they were relatively still, he lifted his face. Diana’s light footsteps sounded in the cabin overhead. She was either dressing for bed or undressing. He preferred the latter and having her clothed in nothing more than what he desired.

      Right now, he had to be patient and wait.

      Above, someone cried out briefly and softly, followed by a thud.

      One of her men had fallen to James’s forceful blows.

      * * * *

      Diana craved a bath, clean clothes, cool air, and conversation, needing to talk the most. Peter still hadn’t rewarded her for his rescue. If anything, his behavior had gotten worse. He laid on his mattress, his scarred back to her, and feigned sleep.

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