Conrad and James flinched. “He got help quickly enough, Regan, fast enough to land me in jail within the hour.”
“What’s this?” Anthony cried.
“Oh, the story should delight you, Tony,” Reggie said crossly. “It seems you’re not the only one who wants my husband’s blood.”
Anthony frowned. “I thought you were done defending that blackguard?”
“I am,” she replied stiffly. “But he’s mine to deal with,not yours. I don’t need my uncles interfering when I am perfectly capable of making Nicholas Eden regret returning to England, if he ever does.”
“That sounds ominous enough,” Anthony agreed.
“Doesn’t it though?” James smiled. “I almost wish he would return to her.”
“Famous!” Reggie snapped. “I’m so glad you two have something in common again.”
“Don’t get your hopes up, puss,” Anthony warned her. “I don’t associate with pirates who abscond with children.”
“Oh, bother, Tony,” Reggie said irritably. “That was years ago. Let go of it, do.”
“Who are you calling a pirate?” Jeremy demanded belligerently.
“Your father is a pirate,” Anthony said reasonably.
“He’s not! Not anymore!”
Anthony looked to James for clarification, but James stubbornly refused to explain himself. It was Conrad who said, “TheMaiden Anneretired soon after Jeremy joined the crew. We couldn’t very well raise the lad on board a ship, could we? The only voyages she makes now, aside from a few voyages back here to the homeland, are to take our crops to market. We’ve become planters in the islands.”
“Is it true, James?” a quiet voice spoke behind them in the doorway.
“Uncle Jason!” Reggie cried, seeing her oldest uncle. Jason looked distinctly menacing in a great-tiered Garrick, and his scowl matched his costume.
“Ah, I’m sorry, James,” Anthony offered. “Forgot to tell you the elders were close behind me.”
“Not close enough,” Edward puffed breathlessly as he appeared in the doorway next to Jason. “And you didn’t have to rush off ahead of us, Anthony. Nice place you found here, James. What’s it costing you?”
“Still the businessman first and last, eh, Edward?” James grinned. Then he said, “Would you mind telling me how the devil you found me? Let alone how you knew I was in England.”
“Anthony’s doing,” Edward replied. “Saw a sketch Reggie drew. Stopped by when he got back to London this morning to let me know how she was getting on, and it came to him then where he had seen one of the fellows in the sketch. One of your crew when you first bought theMaiden Anne, he remembered. Jason had just come in from Haverston, and he figured out the rest.”
“But how did you know to look here?”
“Easy,” Edward answered. “This is the nearest port. I thought just maybe you were brazen enough to bring your ship into harbor here.”
“Not that brazen,” James replied, stung. “She’s waiting off the coast.”
“Then that’s why we couldn’t find her. Of course, Anthony isn’t one to give up easily. We spent the rest of the afternoon making inquiries from one end of town to the other. Finally lucked onto a gent who had seen you coming and going from this renter.”
“And now what?” James inquired, looking directly at Jason. “Am I to receive a measure from each of you again?”
“Of course not, Uncle James,” Reggie answered quickly. “I’m sure they are willing to forget the past if you are. After all, you have given up pirating. You’ve settled down, and you have a fine son. I know they will want to welcome him into our family.”
“A son!”
“Me,” Jeremy said proudly, looking at Jason and Edward from across the room.
Reggie continued before her older uncles could recover, “I really don’t think I can manage any more excitement today. Why, I could very well lose my baby if—”
“Baby!”
