“It was necessary, Petroc.”
“Alexander, did it occur to you that you might have warned me?”
Spotswood shrugged, a twinkle in his eye. “Petroc, I didn’t think that a mere wisp of a girl could take you by such complete surprise. I was most interested in the results myself. When I remembered how you fought the marriage vows—to that poor cross-eyed lass!—I thought that surely, the man will be strong against this, his despised baggage of responsibility. Then lo and behold, the great Lord Cameron of the Camerons of Tidewater Virginia falls prey to a trick older than time.”
“Hmm.” Roc crossed his arms over his chest and nodded laconically to Alexander’s amusement. Perhaps he did deserve the man’s laughter.
Skye deserved a lot more.
And she was going to get it.
“You’ve put me in a horrible position, you know.”
“Alas, Petroc, this has been in the works these four years now!”
“I should have told her the truth,” Roc murmured.
“You can’t. Not yet. Not until you return safely to these shores. Not until you can make her understand. You promised me to uphold the secret, Petroc. I need you! I need the Silver Hawk. It is my only way of knowing what goes on in the Caribbean, and down in North Carolina, beneath my own nose. You cannot tell her yet.”
“I didn’t intend to tell her—not yet,” Roc murmured. What role was she going to play herself this time? The Silver Hawk was longing to touch her again. Touch her…as she touched and seduced him this night.
Lord Cameron was dying to throttle his beautiful bride, the lady willing to trick and seduce him to seek assistance from another.
“You need to hurry,” Spotswood said. “I let her slip away just as I came. She’ll take some time to question some of the men in the town taverns, then they’ll send her down to the river’s edge, and to the Blackhorse.”
“The Blackhorse? Why, ’tis full of river rats!”
“Umm. And a place where the Silver Hawk has been seen before, and may appear again. I’ll send down. Peter should be below with the Silver Hawk’s apparel.” He paused, looking back. “It really was necessary, Petroc. You do know as well as I that the Silver Hawk will command the respect of the rogues in the area. They will not come together against him, while they might pool all their resources to send Lord Cameron down to the bottom of the sea.”
“Yes, it was necessary.” He touched his temple and winced. “I’m not sure about the headache, though, sir. Perhaps you could have warned me, and she could have just slipped out unnoticed.”
Spotswood lowered his head, a subtle smile playing on his lips. “I don’t know. Maybe the way she left was necessary, too.”
He turned around and left.
Roc crossed his arms over his chest, pensively awaiting Peter’s arrival with the things he would need.
Maybe her departure had not been necessary, but perhaps it had been well worth the price of a headache. She had come to him, and she had given the promise of a sweet tomorrow.…
Right before she had clunked him on the head to leave him.
Maybe it really wasn’t such a bad thing that she was going to see the Silver Hawk again after all. They had a bit of reckoning to do, all three of them: the Silver Hawk, Lord Cameron—and Skye, Lord Cameron’s lady.
***
“He’s going to catch up with you any minute, young woman. Any minute!” Mattie moaned. She looked over her shoulder, past the lamplit main street and toward the palace green. Mattie was absolutely convinced that Skye had dragged her on a fool’s mission. Any minute indeed her young mistress’s husband—enraged husband, now, surely—would come tearing out of that house and down the street, seeking his wayward bride. Mattie did not want to be in the path of his anger, nor did she think that Skye really wanted to meet his fury, either.
“Mattie, that’s why we need to hurry!” Skye said. “Now come along.”
Mattie groaned and hurried along beside her Skye. It had been her choice to come. She wasn’t happy about Lord Cameron lying on the floor in a pool of rum, but she hadn’t been able to endure the idea of Skye running off alone. She had practically raised the girl, and Skye’s years in London hadn’t lessened the affection they shared.
Skye was heading on toward the next tavern on the street. This one wasn’t as reputable as the others where they had gone to seek information, but Mattie still felt as if they were safe. This was Williamsburg. It was Lieutenant Governor Spotswood’s city, and there would surely be some good men about to know that Lady Skye Kinsdale had been married to Lord Petroc Cameron—and that to touch her or cause her harm could well mean death at that man’s able hands.
Mattie hurried along beside Skye against the quiet of the night. As they approached the tavern, a shadow stepped out from the trees by the side of it. Mattie gasped, pulling Skye back against her side. “Lady Cameron!” a voice called softly.
“Sh! Don’t give no stranger in the shadows your name!” Mattie warned her.
“Yes!” Skye said, stepping closer.
