wouldn’t send her into a swoon. The Angelina and her men were going to need a long recovery time.
Moments later John entered the cabin with two seamen. “Captain, you’ve captured one of them?” John’s face was white with tension lines standing out on either side of his mouth.
Dorian stood, equally grim. “So I thought. It seems I’ve hit him too hard.” He looked down at the inert body. “He’s gone and died on us.”
Kendra gasped, pressing her hand against her mouth.
John shook his head.
“Well, throw him overboard. We’ll have to investigate this matter on our own once we get to Yorktown.”
“Aye, Captain.” The two seamen lifted the pirate by the arms and legs and carried him from the room.
Chapter Eight
Yorktown, VA—Summer 1798
L and!” The shout came from above.
Kendra glanced up from the book she had been reading, and then, as the word sank in, she sat up, gripping the book to her chest. Had someone really said land?
“Land ho!”
They had! She tossed the book aside and leapt from the bed. Taking up her cloak, she dashed out the door and down the narrow corridor, shivers of excitement racing through her.
“Land ho!” she heard again. She fairly flew up to the deck where several of the sailors had gathered at the western rail, gazing out at the dark line of coast just visible on the horizon. Kendra joined them, a mixture of excitement and anxiety battling in her stomach. What if her aunt and uncle didn’t want her? What would she do then?
Dorian saw her the minute she came up on deck, a sunny spot of yellow against the gray-green water. He started toward her, grinning at the way she clapped down another monstrous hat, this time a wide-brimmed yellow straw trimmed in black ribbons with some kind of enormous bunch of yellow feathers in the front and a single, long black feather sticking out in the back. The feathers looked ready to make use of their original design and give the hat flight in the stiff wind. Once he reached her side he asked on a cheerful note, “Are you happy to see the end of our voyage is in sight, Lady Kendra?”
“Oh, yes,” she breathed, looking at up him with excited eyes. “I will be most happy to plant my feet upon solid ground.”
Dorian took in the sparkle in her violet-hued eyes as he jested, “I’m afraid you will have to endure another day or two of my company as I am bound to escort you to your new home.”
Her eyes widened and a hint of surprise flashed across her face. “You are personally seeing me to my aunt’s?”
“Would you rather John saw to it? He is the one who assured your uncle that he would see you safely home.”
“Oh. Whatever is most convenient, of course.” She worried her lower lip between her teeth for a moment and turned toward the spot of land in the distant. In a voice almost too low to hear she admitted, “I should welcome your company, though. I am a bit nervous as to my reception when I first meet my aunt and uncle.”
“You have never met these relatives before?” His regard for Lord Townsend slipped another notch.
“No, they left for America soon after they were married. I hadn’t been born.”
“I see.” But he didn’t really. The protective urge he felt for her surged to the fore. “What else do you know of this aunt and uncle of yours?”
“Not much,” Kendra replied with a shrug. “Aunt Amelia was my mother’s younger sister. She married Lord Rutherford and they soon left for America.” Kendra looked up at him with such innocent eyes. The thought of dropping her off at a stranger’s house made his stomach churn. He tried to focus on her speculations as she continued. “I thought perhaps he had been assigned there by the king, before the war, or some circumstance like that.”
“Hmmm.” Dorian didn’t want to upset Kendra with his reservations so he merely nodded. If this aunt and uncle were unsuitable he would take her to his home.
His home? The thought, so strong and sudden, gave
Moments later John entered the cabin with two seamen. “Captain, you’ve captured one of them?” John’s face was white with tension lines standing out on either side of his mouth.
Dorian stood, equally grim. “So I thought. It seems I’ve hit him too hard.” He looked down at the inert body. “He’s gone and died on us.”
Kendra gasped, pressing her hand against her mouth.
John shook his head.
“Well, throw him overboard. We’ll have to investigate this matter on our own once we get to Yorktown.”
“Aye, Captain.” The two seamen lifted the pirate by the arms and legs and carried him from the room.
Chapter Eight
Yorktown, VA—Summer 1798
L and!” The shout came from above.
Kendra glanced up from the book she had been reading, and then, as the word sank in, she sat up, gripping the book to her chest. Had someone really said land?
“Land ho!”
They had! She tossed the book aside and leapt from the bed. Taking up her cloak, she dashed out the door and down the narrow corridor, shivers of excitement racing through her.
“Land ho!” she heard again. She fairly flew up to the deck where several of the sailors had gathered at the western rail, gazing out at the dark line of coast just visible on the horizon. Kendra joined them, a mixture of excitement and anxiety battling in her stomach. What if her aunt and uncle didn’t want her? What would she do then?
Dorian saw her the minute she came up on deck, a sunny spot of yellow against the gray-green water. He started toward her, grinning at the way she clapped down another monstrous hat, this time a wide-brimmed yellow straw trimmed in black ribbons with some kind of enormous bunch of yellow feathers in the front and a single, long black feather sticking out in the back. The feathers looked ready to make use of their original design and give the hat flight in the stiff wind. Once he reached her side he asked on a cheerful note, “Are you happy to see the end of our voyage is in sight, Lady Kendra?”
“Oh, yes,” she breathed, looking at up him with excited eyes. “I will be most happy to plant my feet upon solid ground.”
Dorian took in the sparkle in her violet-hued eyes as he jested, “I’m afraid you will have to endure another day or two of my company as I am bound to escort you to your new home.”
Her eyes widened and a hint of surprise flashed across her face. “You are personally seeing me to my aunt’s?”
“Would you rather John saw to it? He is the one who assured your uncle that he would see you safely home.”
“Oh. Whatever is most convenient, of course.” She worried her lower lip between her teeth for a moment and turned toward the spot of land in the distant. In a voice almost too low to hear she admitted, “I should welcome your company, though. I am a bit nervous as to my reception when I first meet my aunt and uncle.”
“You have never met these relatives before?” His regard for Lord Townsend slipped another notch.
“No, they left for America soon after they were married. I hadn’t been born.”
“I see.” But he didn’t really. The protective urge he felt for her surged to the fore. “What else do you know of this aunt and uncle of yours?”
“Not much,” Kendra replied with a shrug. “Aunt Amelia was my mother’s younger sister. She married Lord Rutherford and they soon left for America.” Kendra looked up at him with such innocent eyes. The thought of dropping her off at a stranger’s house made his stomach churn. He tried to focus on her speculations as she continued. “I thought perhaps he had been assigned there by the king, before the war, or some circumstance like that.”
“Hmmm.” Dorian didn’t want to upset Kendra with his reservations so he merely nodded. If this aunt and uncle were unsuitable he would take her to his home.
His home? The thought, so strong and sudden, gave
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