Pirate's Bride (Liberty's Ladies) by Lynette Vinet Page A

not.”
    “Fine,” Jeremy murmured, not really convinced. “Don’t contemplate any of this further.”
    “Of course not,” Bethlyn demurred.
    Jeremy continued eating, watching her guileless demeanor, and changed the subject. “Captain Montgomery told me yesterday that we’ve been quite lucky on this voyage not to have encountered any American privateers. Just last month one of the Briston fleet was captured near the Delaware coast by a notorious blackguard called Hawk who sails a ship called the Black Falcon .”
    “I had no idea our ships were being confiscated. Thomas Eversley never mentioned it to me. Then again, Eversley has forgotten to mention a great deal.”
    Jeremy nodded. “The Black Falcon is painted a deep ebony. Hawk only attacks under the subterfuge of darkness. He seems to materialize from nowhere.”
    “How very enterprising of him,” Bethlyn absently noted, and stirred her peas around her plate. She found she wasn’t concentrating on Jeremy’s tale about this Captain Hawk. In fact, this news didn’t bother her at all. She doubted Nightingale would run into the infamous privateer since barely two weeks were left in the crossing. Nightingale had made good time, and she expected to see her wayward husband quite soon. The thought still plagued her that he might have engineered the scheme to transport the doxies to Philadelphia, or at the very least was aware of it. For nearly seven years the man had ignored her. She wanted a husband and a normal family life. However, she also wanted to extract a tiny taste of revenge against him for his callous treatment of her. What better way than to foil his scheme before it came to fruition?
    Jeremy sensed Bethlyn wasn’t listening to him when she yawned widely. “I’m rather tired, dear Jeremy. Please excuse me, but I do so wish to retire for the night.”
    “Certainly,” Jeremy said, an ounce of suspicion in his voice. He kissed her upon her forehead like a dutiful brother and took to his cabin, grateful to find that the first mate and the doxy were gone. He undressed and went to sleep immediately, putting his earlier conversation with Bethlyn from his mind.
    However, Bethlyn hadn’t forgotten. She sat on the bunk and glanced out at the star-filled sky. “Mavis, what must it be like to be one of those women?”
    Mavis glanced up, a strange expression on her face. She pulled Bethlyn’s nightrail from a small chest. “I don’t think you should be thinking about people like that. You’re the daughter of an earl, Bethlyn. You should never forget that you’re different.”
    “You sound exactly like Miss Grosvenor. But sometimes I get tired of being ‘different,’ as you say. Do you think they enjoy it?”
    “Enjoy what?”
    “You know, pleasuring a man, having a man touch them. That sort of thing.”
    “I couldn’t say.”
    “Has a man ever … touched you, Mavis? Have you ever let a man make love to you? Is it wonderful?”
    Bethlyn watched high spots of color appear on Mavis’s pretty face, and she realized that Mavis probably had. Mavis had been in Bethlyn’s service for years now, but Bethlyn didn’t know what her friend did on her afternoons off, or in whose company she might have been.
    Mavis sat next to her on the bunk. Her eyes held a faraway look. When she spoke her voice was shaky and full of wonder. “To have a man love you is the most beautiful thing in the world. I can’t explain the feelings to you.” She faced Bethlyn directly. “I really can’t tell you how it feels.”
    “Who was he?” Bethlyn gently probed.
    “Dan Cunningham.”
    “Aunt Penny’s groom? But, Mavis, he was killed by a runaway horse. When…”
    “We fell in love a few months before — the accident and we were to be married. I loved him a great deal. We’d have been happy together.”
    “I had no idea. I’m so sorry.” Bethlyn embraced her friend, aware that wet tears streamed down Mavis’s cheeks. “You should have told me.”
    Mavis shook