The Wedding Ring Quest by Carla Kelly

Author:Carla Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-09-11T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

‘Miss Rennie? Miss Rennie? Oh, please!’

Mary opened her eyes, happy enough to wake up from a dream where people were shouting and banging about, and swearing in a most ungentlemanly fashion.

‘Miss Rennie?’ The voice sounded so young and she heard tears. It was Nathan.

She leaped out of bed and yanked away the chair she had propped against the door. When she opened it, Nathan stood there, his hands out, pleading.

He was in her arms in a moment. She held him close as she looked around the parlour, where chairs had been turned over, a tablecloth ripped away and pictures tilted. A vase lay on its side as water dripped to the floor.

‘What in the world...? Where is the captain?’

Nathan sobbed into her shoulder. ‘A man in uniform hauled him away! Miss Rennie, he’s in his nightshirt and it’s cold out. And look there.’

She looked where he pointed and saw the captain’s peg-leg, looking small and discarded without the man attached. ‘They just dragged him away without giving him a chance to put on his leg?’ she asked, aghast. ‘He’s a frigate captain! A hero, most likely.’

‘Not for long, I fear.’

Mary looked at the open door, where Mr Clarke stood, impeccable and smug. She stared at him open-mouthed, then understood precisely what he had done. Her hand went to Nathan’s head and then her lips as she kissed the shivering boy. ‘It will be all right, Son,’ she told him, deciding immediately on the best tactic. ‘Get your clothes on and gather together your father’s effects. I’ll take his leg.’ She gave him a gentle swat. ‘Go on now. Get dressed.’

To her relief, he did not question their sudden change of relationship. She turned her attention to the owner of the Bloody Swash, where the brown bread was magic, even if the proprietor was spiteful. She had spent her life in calm and quiet and it came to an end at midnight. Clad in just her nightgown and her hair in a tangle, she stalked right up to the man and had the infinite satisfaction of making him back up into the hallway.

‘You have done a mean thing, sir!’ she raged, as doors opened all along the narrow hall, then closed again just as quickly. ‘You knew what he would say, when in his cups! You’ve...you’ve contacted someone—’

‘Our Justice of the Peace, Sir Henry Pontifract.’

‘—and told him there is a spy at the Bloody Swash.’

He smiled at her, but did not try to re-enter the parlour.

‘Someone should have shot you with a firing squad!’ she sputtered.

The supercilious grin left his face. ‘He fair ruined me!’

‘Him and others, I suspect,’ she shot back. ‘How were you ruined, sir, how? Ross told me you served no gaol time in the fleet, even though you should have. You spirited away your embezzlement from Navy funds and bought an inn with the money that should have purchased clothing and better food for the men of the fleet. Shame on you!’

She stopped for breath, amazed at herself, as he began to laugh.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.