Elizabeth Powell by The Traitors Daughter Page A

Miss Tremayne. We have a great deal to discuss.”
    Amanda ignored the hand Captain Everly offered her, avoided looking at him as she climbed into the coach. As much as she tried, she couldn’t fathom his mood. One moment he seemed perfectly agreeable, the next hard and wooden, almost angry. She peeked at him from beneath her lashes. At the moment, sitting across from her in his uniformed splendor, he was unreadable. Impassive. She sighed.
    The soft sound caught his attention; Amanda found herself the focus of the captain’s intense blue eyes. Shefought the urge to squirm in her seat. Suddenly the view from the carriage window was very appealing.
    “I realize now why you were so shocked to learn my name, Miss Tremayne,” he said, breaking the awkward silence. His rich baritone sent tiny shivers across her skin. “And why you ran away from me.”
    She spared him a curt nod, disturbed by his nearness in these close confines. She was reminded too much of the alcove.
    “Although what puzzles me most,” continued Everly, “is what you were doing at Locke’s ball in the first place, and under an assumed name.”
    Amanda wrapped her arms close to her body and clamped her mouth shut. This man helped convict her father on false charges. She did not owe him an answer or an explanation.
    He persisted. “Did it have anything to do with your father?”
    Amanda could not help herself; her head twitched in Everly’s direction. The captain noted her reaction and relaxed back into the padded squabs.
    “It does, doesn’t it?” he asked.
    “Even if your guess is correct, Captain, my affairs are none of your concern.” Amanda concentrated on the scenery passing outside the windows, for the look in Captain Everly’s eyes, blue as the Aegean Sea, made thinking difficult. Botheration. She was mooning over this man like a lovestruck widgeon. He was the enemy. He was dangerous. She must remember that.
    “Your affairs do concern me,” Everly countered, “especially where traitors are involved.”
    That got Amanda’s full attention. “Are you accusing me of treason, sirrah? The apple does not fall far from the tree, is that it?”
    The captain smiled a small, infuriating smile. Amanda uttered a little gasp of indignation, then shut her mouth with an audible snap. The man seemed to know just how to provoke her.
    “I admire your pluck, Miss Tremayne,” he chuckled. “Your outrage rings true.”
    Amanda forced her reply through clenched teeth. “From what I know of you, Captain, you do not know truth when you see it.” The captain took her meaning exactly as she’d intended; she was gratified to see his amusement evaporate.
    His eyes narrowed. “I can understand our reluctance to confide in me, but I was sincere when I told you that you might be able to help me.”
    She slid a sidelong glance at him. Once more, his face was unreadable. “And how is that, Captain? Why would you need help from a traitor’s daughter?”
    “There is treason afoot in the Admiralty, and I have been commanded to expose the traitor.”
    Amanda sat in stunned silence for a moment. “You work for the Crown?”
    “Just so. And Admiral Locke may be the key, and I suspect he is connected to your father’s conviction, as well. Now you know why I am so interested in your presence at his party.” Everly leaned forward and propped his hands on his knees. “What were you doing there, Miss Tremayne? Why were you in Locke’s study?”
    She bit her lip, consumed by silent speculation. A traitor in the Admiralty. So Locke wasn’t working alone. That would explain why there was no record of her father’s mission. Whoever the traitor was, he and Locke had conspired to eliminate her father. What confused her most was that Captain Everly was working against Locke, not for him. Had she been mistaken in her estimate of his character?
    “Miss Tremayne!” Everly snapped.
    Amanda jumped. “I—I was not attending.”
    Everly sighed and shook his head. “I