The Captain's Lady Page 28

  “He has a great deal to do with it,” Cloud said, watching his words take their toll. Her mouth sagged slightly, emitting a short gasp, and she closed her eyes briefly as if she were trying not to see fully what she knew she had to.

  “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

  “I had not planned to tell you at all. I hoped to persuade the senator to see things differently. I haven’t given up entirely.”

  Alexis heard the statement but none of the hope he spoke about was evident in his tone. “What is it they expect?”

  “For you to convince Lafitte to come to Washington and offer his help in the Caribbean, guarding New Orleans.”

  “I can’t do that. Not to him. Not after everything he’s done for me.”

  “Now do you understand what I said about him reaping the rewards?”

  Alexis nodded. “But that’s only a part of it, Cloud. Don’t the President and the others realize Lafitte will help them when it benefits him to do so? He has nothing to gain by British involvement in New Orleans. I know he would offer his help but not if they use the same tactics they used on me. He would laugh at a show of force. No pardon would mean anything to him at the price of the freedom he now enjoys.” She caught her breath and walked over to Cloud. Kneeling on the cushion beside him, she took his hand and held it to her face. “I can’t say yes to all that, Cloud. There is nothing that will make me seek Lafitte for them.”

  “Are you still willing to meet with them tomorrow?” he asked, pulling her across his lap and laying her head on his chest.

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Only the one that has been open to you from the beginning. You could try to get away.” His breath forced wisps of golden tendrils to fly across her lowered face. He brushed them aside with the tips of his fingers, pausing when he felt wetness on her cheeks. He said nothing, but he knew she was thinking the man who professed to love her so dearly would do everything in his power to prevent her from realizing that choice.

  After a long silence Alexis lifted her head, making no attempt to hide her tears or her anxieties from him. “I will meet with them tomorrow. Only to be with you a few hours longer. After I give them my refusal I don’t suppose they’ll allow me to stay here.”

  “No, I don’t suppose they will.” Cloud rested his chin on her head, stroking her hair gently. When her even breathing confirmed she was sleeping, he took her to her room and placed her in bed. Assured she was resting comfortably he returned to the study, wondering if he had been right to prepare her for what was most likely to take place.

  It was late morning when Alexis woke. When she went downstairs she found Landis sitting alone in the kitchen, his feet propped on a chair he had pulled close to him. He was lost in thought, sipping from a cup of coffee, and did not seem to notice her entrance.

  “Where are the others?” she asked, after observing him for some time.

  Landis tipped his cup slightly at the sound of her voice, pouring the dark liquid over his fingers. He wiped them off on his trousers before he put down his mug and looked up at her. “The captain’s gone to town, and Harry and Mike were sent back to the Concord for word of any…” His voice dropped off.

  “Word of what?”

  Landis shrugged. “You probably suspected. Word of any of your ships. The captain is still expecting your crew to show up.”

  “Do you think they will come?”

  “I can’t give up hoping—as well as dreading—they will.” He rose, offering her a chair, and set about making a cup of coffee for her. “Are you familiar with the legend of King Arthur?”

  Alexis laughed. “Wot English lass ain’t, Oi’d loike ta know? Really, John. Is that where your mind was when I came in? Medieval fairy tales?” She paused, thinking over the legend. “Oh, I see. It’s an interesting comparison.”

  “Then you know to what I refer.”

  “I gather you mean the part of the tale when Lady Guinevere was sentenced to death by King Arthur. He hoped her lover, Sir Lancelot, would rescue her even though he knew he would have to do battle with his finest liege afterward.”

  “Yes, that’s it.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t make comparisons with myths that have such horrible endings,” she said, frowning. “Arthur and Lancelot were both killed on a battlefield outside of Camelot. That is not what I want for the Concord and my ship, which is precisely why I ordered my crew to stay away. And as for me being Lady Guinevere—well, the idea does not set well with me.”

  “Why not? You could join a convent, as she did, when everything was lost to her.”

  They both laughed at their foolishness.

  “That would indeed be a prison for me, John.” She fell silent, reflecting she might have no choice but to accept prison. She would not cooperate with the demands placed on her. “There is a way out of the legend,” she said, peering over the rim of her mug. “You could always give me a plan for escape.” She leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes when he just stared at her blankly. “It’s all right, John. I didn’t expect an answer. I keep forgetting you are one of Arthur’s men.”

  “To the last,” he said quietly, solemnly.

  Alexis stood over him and dropped a light kiss on his forehead. “I’m glad.”

  Discussion ended, she prepared herself a light breakfast while Landis amused her with stories bearing no relationship to their present problem.

  After the meal she retired to the study. It was some hours later that Cloud found her curled on the window seat, face pressed against a pane of glass, looking at some vision only she could see.

  He stared at her for several minutes, etching this particular moment deep within him. He memorized the tilt of her head, the lift of her shoulders, her slim fingers as they drummed lightly on the sill, providing the only sound in the room. That sound seemed to pound mercilessly in his head until he realized it was not her fingers he heard, but the beat of his heart, in perfect time to the rhythm she created. He knew a moment of some fear, thinking if she ceased her gentle tapping his heart would also stop. He spoke to break the power she held over him in that moment.

  “Good afternoon, Alex.”

  “Oh!” Her fingers stopped and she drew away from the window. “I didn’t know you had returned. Good afternoon.”

  He walked toward her and kissed the top of her head. He sat down on the seat beside her. “I didn’t expect to find you here.”

  “I said I would stay.”

  “I meant I did not expect to find you in this room. I thought you would be in your room, preparing for this evening.”

  “There’s time,” she said carelessly. “I am not especially anxious for the day to hurry on.”

  “Have you thought of what you would wear tonight?” He knew her answer but he wanted to hear her say it. He enjoyed hearing words from her lips that would come from no other woman.

  “I haven’t thought about it at all. But now that you bring it up, I don’t give a damn what I wear.”

  Cloud laughed amiably at her fierceness. “That is why I have taken care of the details for you, unless you prefer to attend in your trousers and boots.”

  “Would that be so terrible? To give them the hardened Captain Danty they expect?”

  “No, but you would be giving them something that doesn’t really exist. Captain Danty is not a woman taking refuge in men’s clothing. She is a woman using them to merely suit her goals, isn’t she?”

  “You know that better than anyone,” she said quietly. She lowered her eyes to hide the longing she felt for him. She spoke then, not to him, but to herself. “And my goal tonight?” Neither answered, both knowing her intention: escape. She looked up to see a small smile forming on his lips. His smile offered a partial reality to her hope. It said she could try to do it. “May I see what manner of clothing you think will serve me this evening?”

  “Later. Don’t worry, it’s not sackcloth and ashes. I won’t have them feeling sorry for you.” His green eyes hardened for an instant. When
the hardness vanished, Alexis felt the skin of her wrists tightening around her bones. She looked down and saw his hands gripping her firmly. “Alex, whatever use you put the gown to tonight, you must remember I will be the one to recognize it. I will be the one to stop you.”

  “Who are you trying to convince, Cloud?”

  He dropped his hold abruptly, realizing he was speaking aloud the doubts he had from the beginning concerning his ability to keep her.

  Alexis slid closer to him. “Hold me now. Yes, your arms around me. I want to feel your strength.” She pressed her mouth to his neck. And no matter what happens, I will still love you. It was sometime later when she realized she had not actually said those last words, that they were only a thought as she held her lips against his warm flesh. But he responded to the thought as if he had heard it. He gathered her close, eyes closed, mouth buried in soft strands of yellow hair, silently acknowledging himself as both her jailer and prisoner.

  A soft but insistent tapping at the door acted like a wedge between them, driving them apart. Reluctantly they separated and Cloud walked to the study entrance.

  “What is it?” he called through the door.

  Landis answered. “Alexis’s bath is ready, Tanner. It’s late. You both should be preparing to go.”

  “All right. I’ll send her on her way.” He turned to Alexis. “You heard him. It’s time to get ready.”

  “My clothes?” she asked, standing.

  “John will have already laid everything out for you.”

  She nodded and walked to the door. Her hand lingered on the handle, as if she were fighting a desire to remain. He saw her draw in her breath. It was this action, rather than her hand on the knob, that seemed to open the door.

  Alexis quickly went up the stairs. When she reached her room she discovered it took no effort at all to open the door. Her eyes went first to the steaming tub of water, then to the fresh towels placed on the floor at the tub’s side. Her glance continued to her bed. The object she saw lying there made her gasp. She approached the gown slowly, as though her movement might cause it to float away. She reached down to touch the airy folds of blue, then stopped, touching the filmy undergarments instead. They would seem real beneath her fingers. She thought the sky blue gown would not.

  She undressed, folding her clothes neatly to prolong the anticipation of putting on the gown. She stepped into the tub, unaware it was still too hot to be comfortable. She washed herself lazily, never taking her eyes from the azure confection on her bed.

  What had he thought when he bought it? she wondered. She touched her face with water to erase the smile that came to her lips. He had thought of no one but himself. The notion pleased her. He had known how she would look in that gown and the fact that he knew made her shiver helplessly.

  What would the others see? Would they see Captain Danty? Could they be misled by the appearance of her in a film of blue? If there was another purpose to the dress besides Cloud’s pleasure, it was deception. How the deception would take form she wasn’t sure. She only knew the gown could be used as a weapon, possibly more dangerous than if she had carried her dagger. She would know how to wield that weapon when the time came.

  She rose from the tub and dried herself briskly. She slipped on the undergarments, taking care not to disturb the gown. Sitting in front of the mirror, she arranged her hair, requiring a long time to complete a task that was new to her. When she was satisfied, she shook her head to make sure every curl stayed where she had positioned it.

  In the mirror she caught sight of the gown behind her and she could not put off wearing it a moment longer. Cloud would be coming for her soon. She knew what he wanted to see.

  She stepped into the blue slippers before she gently lifted the gown and slid it over her head. It seemed to her the dress required no further assistance from her hands as it floated over her, hugging her breasts but only caressing her hips and thighs.

  She stood, facing the door, waiting for him to come. She never glanced at the mirror. Her mirror would walk into the room and she would see herself reflected more vibrantly in sea green eyes than in the finest glass.

  She forgot, until she saw him standing before her, that her own eyes and face were also a mirror. She took in the hard, minimal leanness of his body accentuated by his dark blue trousers and high, glossy boots. His chest was hidden by white, starched ruffles, fresh and crisp. His jacket, the same dark color as his trousers, emphasized the firmness of his shoulders and arms. But what caught her attention and held it was the gold braid. It was meant to outline his jacket and declare his rank, but she could only think it outlined the man, surrounding him with a golden light.

  She started to cross the distance between them but he stopped her with a glance that told her he had not completed his silent critique. She remained motionless, her arms at her side, while she watched his eyes remove every piece of clothing she had just put on.

  Cloud, when he entered her room, knew only that his mind had conjured up an image once more. It took him several moments to realize this was not a vision he was seeing, but reality. He saw in her all the things that made her Captain Danty: the firm tilt of her chin, raised slightly under his scrutiny; the tautness of her smooth arms, even while they seemed to hang freely at her sides; eyes, bright with determination.

  Her feet were planted some distance apart and he saw the legs that made it possible for her to stand firmly on a pitching deck.

  He smiled. When she approached him he stopped her because he wanted to look at her again and know how the others would see her. This time he saw the tilt of her chin not as defiance, but as a beckoning call. Her arms were no longer taut, but soft, pliant flesh with no purpose except to encircle a man. The amber eyes he had first seen as determined now seemed openly hungry to him, and he was no longer aware of her legs, only the interval between them.

  He felt as if two unseen hands were twisting his gut. He would be the only man tonight to know her as Captain Danty. In the blue haze that enveloped her slender body they would see only feminine purpose. If she had gone in black, her blood red sash around her waist, they would have seen only the pirate, never suspecting the woman. But he knew both, and his two visions melted into one as he stepped forward and took her hand, placing his lips in her palm.

  “You are very beautiful. Both of you,” he added in a whisper.

  Alexis withdrew her hand. “How will you address me this evening?” she asked, the hand holding his kiss closed tightly at her side.

  “As Captain Danty.”

  “Good.” She started to go but something held her back. There seemed to be some hesitation on his part. “Is there something wrong?”

  He reached inside his jacket and withdrew the velvet case. “I brought you something else to wear tonight. After I purchased it, I realized that the decision to wear it is yours alone.” Offering no more explanation he handed her the case.

  Now Alexis hesitated. She looked to him for a sign that she should either open it or set it aside. When he said nothing, she opened it. Her lips parted in surprise and she drew in her breath. She traced the slender line of the silver chain with her finger. She looked up at him.

  “And I thought the shirt made me yours.” She gave him the necklace and turned her back to him. She felt a tightening in her chest as he brought it around her throat. She could see their figures reflected in the mirror across the room but she was only conscious of a bright silver flash at her neck and the hands that fastened it. His hands dropped to her waist.

  She spoke to his image in the mirror. “Why did you think I would not wear it?”

  “I didn’t know that you wouldn’t.” He stared at the slender linkage which held her immobile. “I only knew that I could not force you if you chose not to.”

  She turned to him, her hand went to her throat. “I have been wearing this chain long before you understood it existed.”

  He nodded, knowing it was true. “I also know it will not stop you from doing what you have to do.
”

  Bright tears formed in her eyes. “You have just set me free.”

  “Have I really?”

  Then Alexis knew his admission of her right to be free had bound her more surely to him than the circle of his arms around her waist or his lips in her hair. But to be with him later meant leaving him now. It was this she found so difficult to accept.

  He pulled away from her, sensing her torment. After he brushed aside her tears he led her downstairs.

  Harry and Mike watched Alexis descend the steps with a reverent gaze. They looked to Landis, who had once described her as an avenging angel, and thought they would never doubt anything the man had to say. Landis was smiling, recalling the young woman with angry eyes and fierce promises. If he could have dressed her then he would have chosen no differently than his captain did now.

  The three men stood silent, taking great pride in knowing the woman was Captain Alex Danty.

  “Captain Danty, you’re lovely.” It was Harry Young who found his voice first. He spoke as if he had never been more sure of anything in his life.

  “Thank you, Harry.” Only Cloud knew she was thanking him for calling her Captain.

  “Your carriage is outside, sir,” Mike said when he could think of nothing to add to Harry’s statement. He saw the slim hand that gripped the banister and he remembered the time he had taught that hand to grip a pistol. It did not seem incongruous to him now that the hand should be part of the woman who stood before him. He would not have understood how anyone could look at that hand and not also see a weapon or the wheel of a ship as a natural extension of it.

  Landis followed them out to the carriage and helped Alexis in. When Cloud was ready to snap the reins, Landis turned to Alexis suddenly and asked, “Lady Guinevere?”

  “Never!” Before she could say any more Cloud had started the horses and Landis was left behind, with the memory of her earnest expression as she had answered him.