Her troubled eyes fell upon his. “Sir! You do not know this Logan. I have seen the man.”
“Have you?”
“On the island of New Providence.”
“Hmmph! That den of iniquity will soon be no more. There will be proper government there, and soon, I swear it!” He handed her a cup of tea and winked. “There’s a touch of honey and whiskey in the brew, Skye. Steadies the hands, on an occasion such as this. So you know Logan.”
“Yes!”
“As fierce a man as the Silver Hawk?”
Skye lowered her eyes, shaking her head. “A far, far different man than the Silver Hawk! Logan is cruel and horrid and the Hawk—”
“Yes, my dear, tell me. I am boundlessly interested in these rogues!”
“Logan is cruel,” she repeated simply. “The Hawk is not.”
“They say that Logan is sailing the islands and shoals of the inland waters just south of our own colony, in North Carolina. It might take one rogue to find another.” He came close to her suddenly, coming down upon one knee and looking past her shoulder to the hallway. He was anxious, Skye realized, that her husband not return.
“They say that your Silver Hawk is in Virginia.”
She gasped, winding her fingers into her shirt. “So—why—why haven’t you seized him, arrested him. Surely, you plan on hanging the man!”
“Too slippery, my dear. I cannot come near him, not as yet. I haven’t the force, or the power. He could well disappear into the night, and that would be that. But I have heard rumors that there is a tavern near Jamestown way, but on the peninsula, by the waterfront. All manner of rogues congregate there, milady! I have heard that the Silver Hawk is among them, just arrived last night.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Skye whispered. Suddenly, like Spotswood, she was looking over her shoulder, lest her husband should return. Her heart began to beat quickly. A startling new hope began to build within her.
Lord Cameron was a worthy seaman.
The Silver Hawk was…indomitable.
“You were his captive for many days?” Spotswood said.
She nodded, feeling that the blood was drained from her face.
“And he was gentle with you?”
“Er—yes,” she murmured.
“Then perhaps you could pay the one rogue to go after the other! Let him help us first, then he can hang in his own time!”
“Sir—”
“Shush! Your husband is returning.”
He is not my husband! she longed to shout, but he had once told her that she could not change truth by denying it.
And she was also shivering and trembling within, besieged by a tremendous guilt. He had been honorable in all things. Perhaps not. There had been last night. Last night he had not been so honorable; he had been a man, and the man who claimed to be her husband. He had touched her and awakened her, and maybe it hadn’t been his fault that she had dreamed of another, and that their images had combined.
She could not go to the Silver Hawk. She was Lord Cameron’s wife. She could not seek out a rogue.…
But her heart was beating frantically. When Roc Cameron left her, she knew that she would ride herself, and try to find the pirate king. Her father’s life was at stake.
Roc Cameron’s long strides beat against the hardwood floor. Spotswood called to a servant and asked that a meal be served to them there. Roc came behind Skye. “I have sent Peter homeward. I will find your father, Skye. I swear it. I will bring him home safely, no matter what the trial and cost. Believe in me.”
Skye thought that Spotswood watched them with a curious light to his eyes. She flushed, for Roc’s declaration had been passionate, and his touch upon her was tender. She didn’t know quite what Spotswood knew about their relationship, but she found herself looking uneasily to her lap. She meant to betray her husband.
“When will you leave, Petroc?” Spotswood asked him.
