Hart's Passion (Pirates & Petticoats Book 2) Read Free

Keelan’s maid paused and sat on a bench near the far edge of the cemetery to wait. Daniel, her father’s valet, joined her.
    Daniel had been Papa’s valet when he was home, and her tutor when Papa was at sea. He taught her not only to read, write and mathematics, but also how to defend herself. She was quite proud of her skills with a blade. She had Daniel to thank for that.
    They’d arrived yesterday from Twin Pines. After making a trip to the pier and back, Daniel had informed her Landon Hart’s ship, the Desire , was flying the blue flag signaling it was ready to depart.  
    He was waiting for her.
    Daniel stood and held out a hand for the maid, Slaney, who took it, allowing him to help her rise to her feet.
    “It’s hard to believe he’s gone.”
    “Yes, mistress. I know you’ll miss him. As will I,” Daniel said in a low voice.
    “We all will,” Slaney added, blotting beneath her eyes with a handkerchief.
    “What will you both do now?” Keelan asked. Slaney and Daniel had been like family to her since she was small. With Papa at sea most of the time and her mother in Chatham, England, running their shop, Daniel and Slaney had practically raised her.  
    “We’ll fulfill our obligation to the commodore and accompany you safely back to the country cottage in England, as promised,” Daniel said. “Unless you have decided to remain here, instead.”  
      “No,” she interrupted. “I have no wish to remain on the plantation. You heard what Papa said. He’s left me nothing. His entire estate has gone to Uncle Jared. I no longer have Twin Pines as my dowry.” She wasn’t angry or upset at this sudden turn of events. In fact it was a relief.  
    She had other plans involving Captain Hart, a wedding and a ship.
    “By removing you from his will, the commodore thought he was forcing you to act on his request to find your real father,” Daniel said gently.
      Although truly, it was unnecessary; her curiosity and longing to find out who she was and where she came from would have driven her to search for the man anyway. But Papa hadn’t known that. He hadn’t known her well at all.
    “I made a promise to find him, and I will.”  
    “Then Daniel and I will be ready to join ye,” Slaney said. “Yer like a daughter to us both. We’ll not leave ye unless ye wish it.” She looped her arm through Keelan’s and gave her a secret smile.
    The words tugged her heart. “Thank you, Slaney. I can only hope the contents in the trunk Papa told us about will help my cause and not hinder it.” She looked up at the valet. “You heard what he said. My mother and that man…”
    Daniel’s eyes softened.“Yes, I heard. But the commodore said the man, your real father, would want to know about you.”
    She sighed, her heart and head in turmoil. It’s rare a bastard child is ever welcomed into a household. The scorn of her sire’s wife might be more than she could take.  
    Slaney peered at her closely. “But what about Captain Hart? Ye fancy the man. Will ye leave him behind?”
    She chewed her lip. How much should she tell them? It wasn’t that she didn’t trust them. Her life was in such tumult now.
    “What about Dr. Garrison?” Daniel looked back and forth between Slaney and her.
    She might as well tell them everything. “I don’t plan to marry Dr. Garrison. Without Twin Pines as a dowry, I’m sure the doctor’s interest in me will drop drastically, even if I wasn’t born on the other side of the blanket.”  
    Daniel’s voice carried a note of relief. “Begging your pardon, Mistress but I’ve never cared much for the man. He has a dark air about him sometimes; makes me wonder if he’s hiding something.”
    She gave him a quick glance, thinking about the doctor’s uncharacteristic behavior toward her the night the commodore died. “I have had the same concerns, especially recently. And sometimes I wonder…” A thick foreboding seeped into her thoughts.  
    “I remember your mother’s