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  MEETING AGAIN

  Before Jacinda could say a word, Ben opened the door to reveal Captain Morrow.

  Her heart seemed to skip a beat at the sight of him. He looked handsome in his blue jacket, blue and white stripped waistcoat, and tan breeches with Hessians.

  The captain stood for a moment in the doorway. He couldn’t quite fathom that the beauty before him was once young Jack. Her golden hair had been styled into fashionable curls with a ribbon run through them. She looked elegant in a pale green traveling gown that showed her slender figure to perfection. The gown was trimmed with gold military-style frogging at the bodice, a ruff of gold lace inset at her collar. Tiny black leaves had been embroidered along the hem and at the ends of her sleeves. A straw casquet bonnet with small green flowers along the brim lay on the table beside her.

  He took her hand and pressed a kiss on her glove. “My dear, you are too lovely for words.”

  THE CAPTAIN

  LYNN COLLUM

  ZEBRA BOOKS

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  MEETING AGAIN

  Title Page

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  Copyright Page

  PROLOGUE

  Westbury, Somerset 1806

  “What are you doin’ here alone, Miss Jacinda?” The butler’s snow-white brows drew together like a caterpillar who’d lost its way as he spied his young mistress sitting alone in the great hall.

  “Cousin Millie is speaking with Papa, Stritch. He requested I wait here.” The twelve-year-old gazed back at the old man with guileless innocence, never letting on that she’d just had her ear pressed to the library door for the mysterious meeting within. Something important was about to happen and Jacinda, like most children her age, had been curious. It was all about her.

  The servant cocked his head as if he meant to question her but the front knocker sounded, staying his questions. Stritch opened the oversized door to find Baron Rowland and his heir, the Honorable Andrew Morrow, awaiting entry. It was rare that the local gentry visited Chettwood Manor due to Mr. Blanchett’s unfortunate ties to trade, but the butler behaved in his normal, competent way.

  His lordship strolled in with the confidence of a gentleman of title—no matter his straitened circumstances. At a glance one could see that a dissipated lifestyle had taken a toll on his once athletic physique and good looks. Thinning brown hair shot with gray was revealed when he handed his high crown beaver hat to Stritch. Heavy lines etched his eyes and mouth. His nose had grown red and bulbous from years of excess brandy and, more recently, the cheaper Blue Ruin. There was nothing stylish about him. His attire comprised a worn lawn shirt and a limp cravat, an unfashionable brown coat over a stripped green waistcoat sporting several stains, and battered brown buckskins long past their prime that met mud-caked boots with an obvious hole in one toe.

  Pale gray eyes surveyed the interior of the great hall of Chettwood Manor with bored scrutiny, but within minutes of inspecting the opulent interior, there was a glimmer of interest in their cool depths. It was evident to the gentleman that Jacob Blanchett of B & B Foundry lived well—in truth, far better than Lord Rowland, a determined gamester.

  For Jacinda, there was little awe at seeing the baron in her father’s hallway. She was naively unaware of the power of such a man in light of his financial embarrassment. After one quick glance at him, she dismissed the baron as unimpressive. Of more interest was the son, a scant four years older than she.

  The son, however, was different. Andrew Morrow’s reputation preceded him. Jacinda owned a lively interest in the young man who’d wreaked havoc on the neighborhood for much of his life. He’d been a lively topic for gossip below stairs at most of the houses in the neighborhood, both grand and small. At Chettwood, Cook proclaimed that his wild ways were from boredom and Trudy vowed the cause must be neglect since the baron was often away, but Mr. Stritch had declared the young man a bad seed from a line of like gentlemen.

  To Jacinda’s youthful eyes, he seemed quite ordinary as he stood on their threshold. In no way did the young man resemble the devilish villain of gossip.

  He hesitated a moment, staring at the butler, clearly reluctant to enter Chettwood’s great hall. He lingered as if crossing the threshold would take him down a road from which there could be no return. Only after his father snapped at him to stop dawdling did he move to the gentleman’s side where he stood as stiff as a fence post.

  Her few memories of the young man were of a sullen figure in the back of the Morrow family pew. At present, he stood tall and lean, with an angular face that looked as if it had been chiseled from granite. It might have been deemed a handsome face if not for the grim set of his mouth. Sandy brown hair curled about his head in youthful disarray as if he’d failed to comb it that morning. There was a world-weary aspect to his dark green eyes, and a hint of sulkiness. Jacinda wondered just how much he knew of the plan that was being plotted at their expense—the plan she’d just overheard her father telling her governess.

  As the young man turned to face his father, the full light of the hall’s tall windows fell on him. Jacinda spied a small scar that ran from the edge of his right eye and arched down towards his cheek. Curiosity about the unusual mark grew. It was a strange, half-moon shape. On the face of a young man barely old enough to shave, it wasn’t disfiguring or distracting, just something her sharp eyes noticed.

  Then a strange thought entered her head. When she looked at him a peculiar feeling began in her stomach and it wasn’t unpleasant. Would it really be so very bad to marry ... someday? To be a baroness? To be mistress of her own establishment, like her dearly departed Mama had been. Then she remembered that her mother had always warned her never to marry without love: “He must love you as you love him or there will be no wedded bliss.” Jacinda was certain that all Papa’s lady friends had made her mother very unhappy, though she didn’t fully understand why.

  Lord Rowland’s gaze lit on Jacinda at that moment. “Is this the child?” There was shock in his voice but whether it was from her youth or from her frail appearance was unclear. She was well aware that the yellow gown Nurse had chosen made her pale cheeks look ghastly.

  Stritch frowned and stiffly said, “This is Miss Blanchett, my lord.” Jacinda rose and curtsied, but all the baron did was stare in his rude manner. Only Andrew Morrow acknowledged her with a stiff bow.

  “I shall inform my master you have arrived, my lord.” The butler hurried to the library to see whether Mr. Blanchett would receive visitors.

  Jacinda sat down and tugged her ugly black shawl tighter round her frail shoulders as the young man’s proud gaze rested on her. Outrage registered on his face and he moved closer to his father to whisper, but anger made his voice carry in the large room. “I tell you, Father, a marriage contract with a compete stranger is monstrously unfair, sir. She’s little more than a baby. Besides, you have always said Blanchett smells of the shop.”

  Lowering his own voice, the baron shushed the boy. “You’ll do your duty.” He, too, stared at the Jacinda. “Why, only look at her. It ain’t likely the chit will see her eighteenth birthday. Why should we not take advantage of the cit’s offer? Besides, the mother was quality. Viscount Devere is her uncle, though there’s little enough money there—which is why the woman was married off to Blanchett. He’s made it plain that we get part of the funds up front and a guarantee that if she don’
t survive we still get the remainder of the settlement. The man’s even promised there will be no need for restitution if the marriage don’t take place due to death or her refusal once she’s of age. All we need do is trust time and bitter winters will rescue you from having to fulfill the pledge.”

  A bubble of hysterical laughter welled up in Jacinda. Her father and Lord Rowland each thought they had the upper hand in this dreadful arrangement. Yet neither cared about her feelings. She was no better than one of the little marble pawns on Papa’s chess table.

  Before any sound escaped her lips, she was able to tamp down the outburst when she saw the flash of pity in Andrew’s eyes as they raked her a second time. It was the one thing she hated most and saw it too often in the faces of the Quality in the neighborhood. She lifted her chin and stared back at him defiantly. Everyone thought her weak and unworthy, but she would show them all one day.

  Unswayed by the baron’s argument, Andrew Morrow protested, “Father, I have loved Miss Amberly since making her acquaintance two years ago. I warn you, if you enter this betrothal on my behalf, I shall do something drastic.” His voice broke and dropped lower. A red stain flushed his cheeks, causing the white scar to stand out.

  The baron grabbed his son’s lapels and pulled him close. “You’ll do as you’re told, boy. Squire Amberly knows he has a diamond of the first water. He won’t squander her beauty on a penniless peer’s son. Remember, Rowland Park is mortgaged to the hilt and if you want to have a home, I must pay off some of the mortgages.”

  Before the young man could respond, Stritch quietly returned and cleared his throat. Rowland released his son at the sound. “My lord, Mr. Blanchett will see you in the library.”

  The baron pointed at a chair on the opposite side of the occasional table from where Jacinda sat. “Stay here. I won’t allow you to ruin this opportunity. I’ll summon you if you are needed.”

  Son glared at father for a moment as if he meant to defy him, then with a shrug he stalked to the chair and threw himself into the seat so hard that the legs scraped the marble floor. He slumped dejectedly, his gaze riveted on the black and white tiles. The baron marched down the hall and passed into the library without a backward glance. The butler closed the door and departed after giving a warning glance to the young mistress.

  Jacinda surveyed the young man with curiosity from hooded eyes. It was rather like watching a pot slowly come to a boil. He began to wring his hands and shift his feet as a muscle twitched in his jaw. Realizing he was under scrutiny, he turned his gaze on her as if she were some vile thing that had slithered in from the lake.

  “It’s rude to stare, girl.”

  “I’m not staring and my name is Jacinda, not girl.” Angry at his tone, she stuck her tongue out.

  He rolled his eyes. “Brat!”

  “Toad!”

  “Baby!”

  “Bad seed!”

  With another roll of his eyes, he turned his head and hunched lower in the seat, his gaze locked straight ahead. A footman came from below stairs carrying a bottle of brandy. He entered the library and soon returned, but before the door closed the sound of the baron’s laughter penetrated the hall.

  On hearing his father, Andrew Morrow darted to his feet and muttered, “I’ll kill him before I’ll give up Mariah.”

  Without another word, he crossed the hall, jerked open the front door, and left.

  It was apparent her future husband had taken her in aversion. Who could blame him? She was decidedly plain. Her hair was that indeterminate color between brown and blonde and hung in lank waves to her waist. Her hazel eyes were perhaps the only flattering feature on her ordinary face. The delicate little mole at the corner of her mouth, which her mother had called a beauty mark, was the cause of the degrading nickname, “Spot,” that her cousin, Giles, had given her. His sister, Prudence, never used it but always laughed when her brother used the horrid name.

  Still glumly contemplating Andrew Morrow’s abrupt departure, she started when the front door opened and her resident tormentors, fresh from their morning ride, came noisily into the great hall. Jacinda sat back in her chair in the silent hope her cousins would pass through into the breakfast parlor without seeing her. But clearly her luck was out that morning.

  Giles Devere dropped his crop and gloves on a table near the door, then swept off his hat and tossed it upon a chair. At one-and-twenty he was already showing signs of the plumpness that had plagued his late father. His golden blond hair had been brushed into a neat Brutus and his beaver hat had done little to crush the elegance of the creation. “I tell you it was Andrew Morrow who almost ran us down. He always was one to ride as if the devil were on his heels.”

  Prudence Devere, six years her brother’s junior and as thin as her brother was plump, followed suit and tossed her gear beside his. A grin split her lightly freckled face, the unfortunate result of too much sun on a redhead’s fair skin. “Guess he found out that Mariah Amberly drove out with Chesterfield’s heir yesterday.” A girlish giggle punctuated the remark.

  Giles caught sight of Jacinda and frowned. “What are you doing out of your cotton wool, Spot? You are determined to make us your father’s heirs by your reckless behavior—or so your governess would have the world believe.”

  Jacinda realized he was being facetious; the Deveres were, in fact, her Mama’s relatives. Her father had allowed his wife to invite them to stay after a tearful plea from Mrs. Devere that they were destitute and Viscount Devere had offered them no help.

  “I’m not sick. There is no reason I cannot come down to the hall.” Jacinda resisted the urge to again stick out her tongue at Giles. He did seem to bring out the worst in her.

  Prudence sighed, “Nonsense, you are always sick. Miss Markham just hasn’t determined what it is yet ... but take heart, I’m sure she will pronounce you ailing with something by the end of the day.”

  The two siblings laughed and headed for their breakfast without inviting their young cousin to join them. Jacinda sighed. They were right. Cousin Millie, who acted as her governess, saw danger for her charge everywhere. It was unfortunate that Jacinda’s young brother had not survived his birth. She would then have not been the entire focus of Millie’s attention. Jacinda slumped back in her chair and stared out the window. She wondered what was happening behind the library door. What was to be her fate?

  The green baize door to the servants’ hall swung open some five minutes later and her father’s new steward, Mr. Weems, strode into the great hall from below stairs. Welsh, his auburn good looks always set the maids to chattering about him when he came to speak with Mr. Blanchett. He’d been at Chettwood a scant three months, but already he’d improved the estate, or so Mr. Blanchett had claimed when several of the tenants complained about the changes the young steward had instituted.

  “Good morning, is Miss Markham about? She asked to have a word with me this morning.”

  “She is engaged with Papa at the moment but—”

  Before she could finish, the lady in question marched out of the library, her gaunt face flushed an angry red and her lace cap askew. “Come, Jacinda. ’Tis time you had your rest. It seems my wishes will be ignored and you must go with your father to Rowland Park this evening.” She grabbed her young relative’s arm and started for the stairs when her gaze fell on the steward, who stood unobtrusively against the wall. “Oh, Weems, forgive me, but I am too distracted with all this talk of Jacinda’s betrothal to plan the enclosing of the summer house beside the lake.”

  “Marriage for the little one?” Shock reflected on the steward’s handsome face as he looked to Jacinda.

  “Appalling, is it not?” Millicent said over her shoulder as she pulled her young charge up the stairs.

  Jacinda looked back at Weems, who appeared perplexed for a moment as he watched them. Then he turned to the open library door to stare at the two gentlemen huddled over her father’s desk. It seemed every adult but her father and the baron deemed this betrothal improper.

/>   Cousin Millie led Jacinda up to her rooms and left her with Nurse. She gave instructions for the child to be dressed and ready in her best gown by six o’clock sharp. After the lady departed, the servant bustled about, turning back the covers on the large four-post bed. “What’s got Miss Millie in such a takin’, miss?”

  Jacinda wasn’t sleepy in the least, but she dutifully allowed Nurse to undo the ties to her gown, then she kicked off her slippers and climbed in. With complete childhood innocence, she announced to the woman, who was scarcely ten years older than she, “It seems I’m betrothed, Trudy.”

  Nurse’s hand froze in the act of covering the young girl she had taken to her heart after the death of the child’s mother. “What nonsense, miss! Ye is still a babe.”

  “It shall be a long betrothal. Papa has arranged it with Lord Rowland.”

  The servant tucked her in, then settled into a nearby chair, shaking her head. “I’ll never understand the ways of Quality. Pledging children to wed, upon my word.”

  Jacinda nestled down into the pillows and stared up at the angels Cousin Millie had had painted on the ceiling to watch over her. “His lordship’s son doesn’t want to marry me.”

  Trudy’s brows drew together as she picked up her darning. “Why, he’d be lucky to have the likes of ye, Miss Jacinda. A future baron he may be, but it’s well known throughout the county that there’s bad blood there. His lordship is a loose screw for certain. But never ye mind his slight, his son’s just a lad and don’t know what he wants, child.”

  Jacinda chuckled at how incensed Nurse sounded. “Oh, I’m not the least offended he doesn’t wish to marry me. He’s in love with Miss Mariah Amberly.”

  A dawning look settled on Nurse’s plain features. “He and the rest of the neighborhood sprigs. Close those eyes, child, and get some rest.”

  Jacinda tried to sleep, but her mind was too full of Nurse’s words. Bad blood in the Morrows. What could Papa be thinking? Then she remembered Andrew’s last utterance. He’d threatened to kill someone. Who did he mean? She knew him so little and wondered if he had such wickedness within. Nurse seemed to think so and, in Jacinda’s opinion, who knew better about such things than Trudy, whose own brother was a bloodthirsty villain. Well, actually he was just a highwayman, but still, she would know about such things, would she not?