“We’ll need more men,” she pointed out.

“I’ll see to it,” Ohr replied.

“Where are you going to find men on such short notice who would be willing to steal a ship?” He laughed. “There’s a whole other side to this town that a young lady of your breeding wouldn’t know about. Leave it to me, I’ll find all the men we need.” Only Richard guessed that she might have misgivings. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied, and even offered him a grin. “It’s not every day one becomes a pirate.” He laughed. Of course he would find it funny, he was already a pirate. But he wasn’t finished dealing with her reservations.

“You don’t really need to come along, you know,” he told her. “We could find someone who looks like

you. As long as Pierrethinks it’s you—”

“No,” she cut in. “If for some reason he needs to talk to me before he allows your ship to approach his fort, I’ll need to be there. I’m not going to take any chances with my father’s life. My presence will give us more options as we figure out a plan to rescue my father.”

“And our captain,” Richard said, his expression turning serious. “You’ve certainly proved your loyalty to him by ordering us to steal this American’s ship.”

“I didn’t order you,” Gabrielle corrected him. “I merely suggested.” He grinned to show he’d been teasing. “I know, and it is a perfect solution. We can even give the man back his ship when we’re done with it. Actually, I’d as soon not get Malory on our trail if he takes our theft of his brother-in-law’s ship personally. Are you sure you don’t want to ask for his help instead?” She hesitated before answering. Both Malorys had been very kind and generous to her. As far as she was concerned, James had repaid his debt to her father in full. It wasn’t his fault that she didn’t succeed in her mission to find a husband. That was Drew’s fault.

“No, James Malory has already done enough for me. I’m not about to ask him for more help.”

“I meant Anderson.”

She snorted. “Not a chance. He’d refuse anyway. He doesn’t like me and I despise him.” She’d said it too quickly, causing Richard to raise a brow. “How did that come about?”

“His aversion to pirates, I suppose. He actually made sure that it became common knowledge that Nathan is a pirate.”

Richard drew in his breath sharply. Gabrielle was more certain than ever that he was English, whether he would admit it or not, because he seemed to understand exactly what that meant. Ohr preferred clarification and asked, “Is that the scandal you mentioned? The man wrecked your chances for a good match here?”

“Indeed. And then he was going to sail away without giving it another thought.”

“Butwhy ?” Richard exclaimed.

“Because he hates pirates, and he got it into his head that I’m one, too. He didn’t bother to ask, he just assumed, and embroiled me in a scandal as a result. So it’s going to be a pleasure to see him surrounded by pirates on his very own ship!”

“You know that will just reinforce his opinion—”

“Exactly,” she cut in. “By the time I’m done with him, he’ll wish he was wrong, but he’ll never learn the truth that he was mistaken.”

Gabrielle went back to the Malorys’ for the rest of the day, but stayed in her room. If she were to see Drew before she stole his ship, she was sure she’d tear his eyes out; then his ship wouldn’t be sailing at all. So it was better that she hide in her room.

Margery was incredulous when Gabrielle told her what had happened. “Don’t you worry about your papa. Those are good men he picked to accompany us here. You know they’ll get him out of this mess.”

“Yes, I know. We’ll have the voyage back to the Caribbean to figure out just what to do.”

“I’ll help if I’m needed,” Margery assured her. “It’s just such a shame that you’ll have to miss the last of the Season here. It was going so well.”

“Actually…I didn’t have a chance to tell you last night, but Drew Anderson made sure that I would be missing the rest of the Season and any other Seasons here as well. He showed up at the ball last night, quite foxed, and said in front of Wilbur and Lady Dunstan that Nathan is a pirate.”

“Why would he do that!?” Margery gasped.

“I suppose protecting the innocent from the bloodthirsty could have been his drunken reasoning, but who knows. However, Wilbur took that information and spread it far and wide this morning. Having been on the brink of proposing to me, he’s probably deeply disappointed after Drew’s disclosure that I no longer meet his standards.”

“Good God, they’ve ruined you!” Margery gasped.

“Oh, yes, I’m definitely ruined—thanks to Drew,” Gabrielle said with a catch in her throat.

She felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She turned aside before Margery noticed. She wanted to feel angry again. Anger was her salvation right now. But Margery knew her well. She didn’t have to see the tears to know they were there.

Her friend put an arm around her waist. “Never you mind, girl. We’ll find you a husband somewhere else.”

She and Margery sneaked out of the house in the early evening. Gabrielle left Georgina a note, explaining her father was in trouble and she was leaving to help him. The lady might not believe that after she heard of the scandal, but Gabrielle wouldn’t be around to be questioned either way. And there was only one tense moment when Miss Carla whistled as they were hurrying down the back stairs, to let them know she wasn’t asleep under the cover on her cage, but no one came to investigate.

They’d packed only enough clothes that they could carry themselves in carpetbags. She’d mentioned in her note to Georgina that she could contact her solicitor about having the rest of their belongings shipped to St. Kitts. Ohr was waiting down the street with a carriage to take them to the docks. He’d already purchased her two cabins for the voyage under a false name, one for herself and Margery to share, and one for the three male “servants” who were accompanying her. Getting her friends a cabin, too, meant three fewer men would have to climb over the railing tonight to hide in the hold.

It was a bold plan they were enacting. If she weren’t so furious with Drew, she’d probably change her mind and disappoint them all. She just wished she didn’t feel so guilty about the way she was leaving.

After everything the Malorys had done for her, this was a shoddy way to repay them. But she knew James would insist upon helping if he knew, and she couldn’t let him do that. He’d done enough.

Glancing back at the townhouse, Gabrielle realized she was going to miss the Malorys. God, she’d had such high hopes when she came to London of finding the man of her dreams. Oddly enough, she’d found

him. It was too bad he had to be a blackguard and turn her dreams into a nightmare instead.

Chapter 22

GABRIELLE PACED THE SMALL CONFINESof one of the cabins on Drew’s ship. Her nerves were acting up. She couldn’t believe she was stealing a ship, let aloneDrew Anderson’s ship. She’d give it back, of course. She was really only borrowing it, or at least she tried to convince herself of that to alleviate some of the guilt that had begun to plague her. But it didn’t help much.

She’d come aboard last night after they made sure the captain wasn’t around. She hadn’t expectedThe Triton to be such a fine vessel. With three tall masts, it was a lot bigger than her father’s two-masted merchantman. Drew and most of his crew were off enjoying their last night in port, which had made it easy for the men Ohr had hired to sneak aboard and hide themselves in the hold.

She didn’t get much sleep last night, though, and finally gave up trying at dawn, so her anxieties had built up until the slightest little sound was making her jump. She’d chewed each of her nails down to the quick.

It was too quiet as the ship left the harbor and sailed out into the channel, indicating nothing was happening yet, but the wait was nerve-wracking. Her tension was very similar to what she’d felt three years ago when her ship had been threatened by pirates, when she’d waited for the sounds of cannons to warn if there would be a fight. There wouldn’t be any cannons fired this morning, but she was anticipating shouts, even pistol shots as command of the ship changed hands.

The sharp knock on her door startled the breath out of her and got an annoyed squawk from Miss Carla. That in turn woke Margery, who’d still been sleeping in her bunk.

It was Richard at the door. He poked his head inside to tell them, “She’s ours. You can come out now.”

“I didn’t hear any shots,” Margery said, then asked Gabrielle, “Or did I sleep through the noise?” Gabrielle smiled. “No, there were no shots, but like you, I was expecting some.” She raised a brow at Richard. “How’d you manage such a peaceful transition?” He came inside and closed the door with a grin. “We’re good.” But then he laughed. “Actually, we’ve had practice before. Took over a ship one night right in harbor, though it was just a joke among friends.

We gave it back. But it showed us how easy it could be when you have the element of surprise on your side.”

“And you couldn’t have told me about that yesterday?” she huffed.

“Nothing is guaranteed. But surprise tipped the odds in our favor—Captain.” She made a rude sound over his calling her that. Though they’d agreed that all major decisions would be hers, she was taking on the role of captain only to shoulder the responsibility for their theft, in case they were caught. She certainly wasn’t going to try to captain the ship, even though she was an experienced sailor now and had watched her father at the helm enough times. But Ohr was more suited to the task.

“So you had no trouble a’tall?”

“Not much. Well, it wasn’t easy subduing the captain. You could have warned us he was that giant you

ran into on the docks that day we arrived in London. It took four of us to bring him down. He’s damn good with his fists.”

“You didn’t hurt him, did you?” She asked it too quickly, and with too much concern in her tone. She immediately amended, “Not that I care, but no one was supposed to get hurt.”

“He’s fine. Had to knock his first mate out, though, when he noticed us putting some of the crew in the hold and demanded to know what was going on. He laid into us when he figured it out for himself.

Damned near as big as the captain is. But he’s secured as well, locked in his cabin.” Gabrielle nodded and smiled to herself as she left the cabin. She’d already decided what she was going to do with Drew now that she had him at her mercy. She was going to make him think she really was a pirate.

As soon as the idea occurred to Gabrielle, she liked it. Not that Drew didn’t already think that she was one, but just in case he had any doubts, it would be easy enough to put them to rest. And then she’d make him want her anyway. It was the perfect revenge, in her mind. He hated pirates, so much that he’d tried to ruin her in her own backyard, as it were, because of it. It wasn’t evenhis bloody backyard! So she was going to make him want her so much, it would drive him crazy. Andthen she’d make sure he knew he could never have her.

She went to find out where Ohr had put him. He was in the captain’s cabin. And so was Drew, tied to a chair in the back of the room and gagged. She wished he’d been blindfolded as well, but he wasn’t and he was staring at her with murder in his eyes. Of course he would be. That didn’t surprise her at all. Even if he didn’t already have a grudge against her, he’d despise the people who’d taken his ship from him.

She moved to the table where Ohr stood bent over the charts and tried to ignore that those black eyes were following her every step. “Why wasn’t he put in the hold?” she asked in a low voice.

She was only pretending that she didn’t want the captain to overhear the question. The ship was very quiet at the moment. He’d have to be deaf to not hear her.

Ohr glanced aside at her and said cheekily, “Figured you might want a little revenge, considering how rude he was to you.”

Perfect! She couldn’t have asked for a better answer if she’d told him what to say. A few days in the hold was part of that revenge.

But there was more. “Besides,” he continued, “the hold is filled with his crew, and the last thing you want to do is put a captain together with his crew.”

“Why not?”

“It would give them the incentive to quickly plot an escape with him there to make sure of it. Separated, while he’ll no doubt be plotting, there isn’t much he can do about it on his own.” She nodded. She supposed he was right. And she shouldn’t be asking him questions like that, things she should have known, if she really was his captain. And shedid want Drew to think she was their captain.

She was curious, though, and wondered aloud, “Was it necessary to gag him?”

“It seemed a good idea, since he wouldn’t shut up,” he replied.

She rolled her eyes. She could just imagine what the giant had had to say. And she’d said more than she should have. She realized that now. So she mustered a brisk, captainlike tone and asked Ohr to step outside with her so they could discuss where to put the captain. Her carpetbags arrived first, though.

It had already been decided that she would occupy the captain’s cabin, since it was the biggest room and the most suitable place for them to gather to discuss any decisions that needed to be made. But that was before they’d decided to leave the real captain in it.