And it had obviously looked like she was doing fine at that dinner that Richard was brought up to join; she hadn’t told him differently that night. But it was just as well her friends hadn’t tried to escape, since it looked like they weren’t going to be carted off to a dungeon after all.
“Where is Ohr?”
“Right here,” Ohr said at her back.
She swung around with a glad cry and threw her arms around him. “I was so worried! And I was afraid to ask about you. I didn’t want to bring you to Drew’s attention.”
Richard chuckled at her. “I don’t think we were far from his thoughts, Gabby. He even brought us up on deck one day, determined to find out who had bruised his cheek late one night.”
She went still, hearing that. “He did? And what did he find out?”
“Nothing,” Richard replied. “Told him I was sworn to secrecy.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you’d done it,” she allowed, recalling her own curiosity. “I’d wondered about that bruise myself.”
“He’s treated you honorably?” Ohr asked, looking too serious by half. She didn’t doubt for a minute that if she gave him the wrong answer, he’d go right for Drew’s jugular the moment he saw him, and he might not even wait that long.
So she said, “Very much so, after we figured out that what he did in England wasn’t intentional. He even offered me marriage.”
She really shouldn’t have added that, since both men were now staring at her, waiting for her to elaborate with the response she’d given Drew. And since she still wasn’t sure about the results of that unexpected conversation with the captain, she ought to just tell them that she’d refused him. Of course, if Drew ended up mentioning it to one of them, that they were engaged…
But she couldn’t go far wrong with the truth, so she continued, “I refused him. He didn’t like that answer and probably considers us engaged.” And then she shrugged. “Imightreconsider, but I would rather not decide until after Papa is free.”
“Nice to know I still have the option to run like hell.”
Gabrielle winced at the sound of Drew’s voice. Was everyone going to sneak up on her today?
Drew sounded as if he was joking, but he probably wasn’t. He’d made that offer, for whatever reason, without much conviction, and got adamant about it only when she’d given him answers he wasn’t expecting.
She turned around to see his grin, and before she could make a reply, his arm slipped about her waist. That was a clear indication to her friends that they were more to each other than she’d been letting on.
But before she could correct that impression, Drew added, “Shall we adjourn to the inn to formulate our plans? I already have a perfect one in mind, but I’d like to hear what you think of it.”
And just like that, he took full command of the rescue and had Richard and Ohr’s support. And later, when they heard his plan, those two were all for leaving her behind and out of Pierre’s grasp. Which probably would have been just what happened—if James Malory hadn’t shown up.
Chapter 45
“IS THIS EVEN ACCURATE?”James asked, looking over the drawing Bixley had scribbled to give them an idea of what Pierre’s stronghold looked like.
No one answered him for a few moments. They were all in shock that he was even there, and James hadn’t offered any explanation for his presence yet. Looking rather dashing and even piratical with a flowing cravat tied loosely over his full-sleeved lawn shirt, high black boots, and no jacket, he made Gabrielle remember the time the Anderson brothers had let it slip that James was an ex-pirate. Seeing him now with his darker tan from the ocean crossing, his hair windblown, she no longer doubted it.
Drew finally exclaimed, “What the devil are you doing here, James!?”
The look James turned on Drew was quite intimidating. It certainly had Richard slumping lower in his chair to try to avoid James’s notice. Gabrielle cringed as well.
“I’m here at your sister’s behest,” James said in a calm tone. “She worries about you. Bloody well can’t imagine why, but she does.” And then he tapped the drawing on the table again and repeated his question, “Is this accurate?” And they guessed, at least Gabrielle did, that he must have overheard them discussing some of their plan before he joined them.
Bixley hesitated in answering the question, but then nodded. “The fort was recently refurbished.”
There were many more questions. Having James Malory asking them was making Bixley think long and hard about every word out of his mouth before he gave any response. Malory seemed to have that effect on people—including Gabrielle. This was the James Malory she’d first met, the one who’d so frightened her, not the one she’d ended up liking toward the end of her stay in London.
She would have been biting her nails if she wasn’t trying very hard not to look guilty. She was dreading the moment when his questioning turned to her, and it would. She was sure of it.
But so far he hadn’t asked her a thing. He’d merely looked at her hard, then looked just as hard at Drew sitting next to her on the sofa in the gathering room at the inn, and obviously came to his own conclusions about why they were there together.
Unfortunately, James hadn’t come alone. Georgina walked in only a few minutes after him. She was hatless, her brown hair braided down her back. And she was wearing a skirt and a loose comfortable shirt that was belted on the outside and was so big on her it might well have been one of James’s shirts. She looked marvelous, as if she had thoroughly enjoyed the sea voyage.
She took one look at the couple on the sofa and said, “Well, this is a relief. Both present and accounted for. So there weren’t any pirates involved after all?”
