Captive Pride Read Free Page B

business to conduct.”
    â€œThe fact that you don’t know me is irrelevant,” he said cryptically. “The business we have to conduct concerns your ship the Sea Pride, my lord.”
    â€œThe Pride ? What have you to do with the Pride ?” Noah demanded, his eyes narrowing in anticipation of new trouble. What did this man want? Was there to be another claim laid against the already ravaged remains of the estate?
    â€œNothing, my lord. At least not yet, and that’s what I need to talk with you about.” There seemed an underlying urgency to his words.
    Noah was relieved that his first suspicion had proved wrong, and since the man’s manner was nonthreatening, he waved him into the opposite chair.
    â€œWhat is it? What do you want?”
    â€œI don’t want anything. I’m here to make you an offer.” At the sound of the taproom’s door opening, the stranger glanced sharply in that direction, relaxing again only when he’d noted who’d entered the establishment.
    â€œThe Sea Pride is not for sale,” Noah said firmly.
    â€œIt’s not the ship we’re interested in.” He met Noah’s gaze across the table. “I’ve heard through certain reliable sources that you’ll be shipping arms to the colonies aboard the Sea Pride . If that is true, then I’m prepared to make you an offer for that shipment.”
    Noah stiffened, irritated that his private business should be so widely known, and he asked imperiously, “Who are you, sir?”
    â€œI’m an Englishman who’s angered with the unfair treatment the colonies are receiving from the Crown,” the stranger answered.
    â€œYou’re approaching me with an offer to purchase my shipment of war materials for possible use against England? Are you mad? Do you think I’m a traitor to my country?”
    â€œI think you’re a smart businessman, or at least I had hoped you were,” the other shrugged. “It’s not a matter of loyalties. It’s a matter of money. Our offer would be considerably higher than any others you’re likely to receive.” The man gazed levelly across the table at Noah, trying to read his response, but Noah was careful to disguise his true feelings as he wrestled with the unexpected proposal. “There’s no need for you to decide now. Think about it.” Reaching into the pocket of his coat, he withdrew a folded piece of paper. “You’ll be docking in Boston. This note contains the name of the person to contact if you decide to take up my offer.”
    He shoved the paper slowly across the surface of the table and then stood up. “Good night, Lord Kincade.”
    Noah sat immobile, staring at the note. That single folded piece of paper represented to him the final proof of the magnitude of his losses, yet he could not stop himself from reaching out for it. The memory of his friends’ rejection and the forfeiture of Kincade Hall was too real…too consuming. He would do whatever he had to do to survive. As his hand closed around the note, he looked up, but to his surprise, the stranger had gone.
    Â 
    Cecelia Demorest sat sedately with the group of women, listening idly to their chatter about the upcoming ball at the Spencer household on Saturday night.
    â€œSpencer’s party Saturday night should be marvelous,” Marianna Lord twittered as she sipped delicately from her cup of tea. A plump, happily married lady in her early thirties, Marianna always enjoyed these afternoons when the ladies of her social set met for tea and gossip. “I understand that several of the local dignitaries will be there, and Lord Radcliffe and Lord Townley.”
    It was all CC, as Cecelia’s friends called her, could do to contain her feelings and not grimace at Marianna’s breathless mention of the aristocrats. Though CC’s father was an important agent for the British government in Boston and