“No!” she gasped in horror, staring at him.
“Skye—” he murmured.
“Ail right, my dear young friends,” Spotswood said, coming toward them. “I’m afraid I must interrupt you now—”
“No! No!” Skye cried. She held her husband tightly. “You don’t understand! You mustn’t take him—”
“But, my dear, I must—”
“No!” she cried.
“Skye…” Roc murmured.
But it was suddenly too much for her. She fought for reason; she fought for light. Darkness was overwhelming her. She clung to her husband, and his arms came around her. But it was not enough. She fell into his arms, and the world closed in darkness around her.
“My God, what’s happened to her!” Theo demanded, pushing forward.
“Nothing, Theo, nothing. And it seems that the lad has her well in hand. She’s fainted, Theo, and that’s all. And for the night that the poor thing has endured, it seems little enough!”
“I will take her to bed,” Roc said softly.
“But—” Theo sputtered.
“They’re married, Theo!”
Theo tried with dignity to adjust his ragged clothing. “Quite right, Alexander, quite right. It’s just that…”
“Quite right, and that’s that!” Alexander said. “Lord Cameron! I need a word with you as soon as she’s settled.”
When she woke up, it was light. The sun streamed in upon her and she rose up, amazed to discover that she was home.
Home. Cameron Hall.
She was dressed in a soft blue nightgown with lace at the collar and the cuffs and hem. Her hair was dried and soft and she was comfortable. She had been out a very long time.
She lay upon her husband’s bed, and the very sight of it brought her up, amazed. “Roc!” she cried out his name, but he was not with her, and she had known that he would not be. Spotswood would have arrested him for piracy by now. They would take him to the jail in Williamsburg, and as soon as the court met, they would try him.
And hang him.
“Oh, no!” She leaped out of the bed, and she was amazed that she could have been out so long, and so completely. It was the liquor they had made her drink, she thought. Her head was still pounding. She pushed up from the bed, and she stared about the room. How ironic! Now, at long last, she slept in her husband’s handsome bed. But he was not with her. The sun streamed into this place that he loved so much, and she was alone with it. She let her hand fall to her abdomen, and she thought of all the time that had passed since she had first encountered the Hawk, and she trembled. He had wanted an heir. Perhaps that was what she had left. Perhaps she could live to give him that which he had so desired, the son to carry on his name in this all-important land. “Please God, let it be that it is so!” she whispered.
Then she spun around, determined. She would not let the father hang so quickly, she could not! Her father would help her. Theo would testify that the Hawk had saved his life during the fire. There would be enough men to stand for the Hawk, oh surely.
She had to find her father, or the governor, or Peter, or someone. Ignoring her state of undress, she tore out of the bedroom and along the hallway with the portraits of the Cameron lords and ladies. She paused, and her heart beat fiercely. “I shall not let you down, I swear it! I will save him, I promise. I did not want to come here, that is true, but it’s my blood, too, now, you see. I think I’m to have his child, and besides, you see…I love him. With all my heart. He is my life, and this land is his passion, and therefore, it is mine.”
She was talking to portraits, she realized. But the Camerons looked down upon her, and she thought that they smiled their encouragement. The men with their silver eyes, the women with their knowing warmth and soft beauty.
She turned away from the portraits and ran down the elegant stairway. From the grand hallway she burst into the office.
Spotswood and her father were there. They were seated quite comfortably, lighting pipes, sipping coffee—out of fine Cameron cups.
Skye strode to the desk, facing Spotswood. “Where is he? I demand to know.” She spun around. “Father, you make him tell me where my husband is! I want to see him now. You may arrest him, but you’ll not hang him. I’ll fight you. I’ll fight you both tooth and nail until we are all nothing but blood. Father! He saved your life!”
“I know that, daughter—”
“And Alexander! You were all willing and eager for the Hawk to do your dirty work. The government of Virginia cannot interfere with the government of North Carolina, and so you didn’t mind seeing him attack other pirates in Carolina waters. Now I’m telling you, I demand to know where he is.”
Theo looked at Alexander, and Alexander looked at Theo.The lieutenant governor shrugged. “By the river, I believe. He mentioned a certain spot. It’s quite lovely and private. Down past the docks, beyond the graveyard. You’ll not see him if you don’t run down the slope by the old oaks.”
