The Pirate Lord Read Free Page B

Quite the contrary. He’d spent her first season quelling the untoward advances of her more eager suitors.
    It wasn’t that she was especially pretty, though her looks were certainly presentable. She drew men to her with her intelligent manner and her frank kindness toward everyone, regardless of their station. A sour, pinch-faced spinster teacher might have nothing to fear from the sailors aboard the Chastity , but that wouldn’t be true of Sara. How could he let her go off on that ship with no protection whatsoever?
    He couldn’t. And since forbidding her to go was useless, he had only one alternative. He must make other arrangements for her protection.
    As soon as Sara was out of earshot, he faced Hargraves. “Do you know any sailors?”
    “Aye, my lord.” The middle-aged servant took his great coat and beaver hat, his face carefully expressionless. “My youngest brother, Peter, is a sailor.”
    A plan was forming in Jordan’s mind. “Is he capable of defending himself? Or defending someone else?”
    Hargraves shot him a shrewd glance. “He served in the navy for six years before he signed on with a merchant ship. He’s good in a fight, as I recall. I don’t see him much, you realize, since he’s at sea most of the time.”
    “Is he at sea now?”
    “As it happens, my lord, he sailed into port a fortnight ago.”
    “Excellent. Do you think he’d be willing to go to sea again in a few days’ time? There’s a handsome sum of money in it for him.”
    The servant nodded. “I’m sure he’ll be willing. He’s got no wife to worry about. Besides, he owes me a favor or two.”
    “Have him come here tomorrow at ten. And be sure Sara doesn’t see him. Do you understand?”
    “Indeed I do,” Hargraves said with a conspiratorial air. “And may I say, my lord, that I’m sure Peter will suit your purpose.”
    “I hope so.” With a smile, Jordan dismissed Hargraves, pleased to have found a way to keep an eye on Sara while she was on that dreadful ship. He would reserve judgment until he met Peter Hargraves, but if the man proved suitable, Sara would have a companion on the Chastity . Whether she wanted one or not.

Chapter 2
    Nobody should trust their virtue with necessity, the force of which is never known till it is felt, and it is therefore one of the first duties to avoid the temptation of it .
    —L ADY M ARY W ORTLEY M ONTAGU
E NGLISH SOCIETY FIGURE, LETTER , 22 J UNE 1752
    A week after Sara’s discussion with her stepbrother, she stood on the decks of the Chastity . It was early morning, when the ocean looked like a fluid carpet. It was such a marvel. She’d never even glimpsed it until two days ago when they’d passed out of the Thames into open water, but already she loved its changeable nature.
    The first day it had been like a spirited dragon carrying ships on its sharply undulating back. Its breath had sprayed mist over the rails into their faces, and its watery claws had slapped furiously against the hull, forcing the three-masted frigate to roll and pitch on each fresh swell.
    Today, however, it was gentler, more like a rocking horse thumping the ship along in a pleasing motion. She breathed in the salt-drenched air, so different from the cloying stench in London. Thank goodness she’d escaped the seasickness that plagued some of the convicts. It was as if she’d been meant to sail.
    “’Tis a lovely day, ain’t it, miss?” said a voice at her side.
    She whirled to find one of the sailors standing beside her at the rail. She’d noticed him before, looking at her as if trying to make her out. Something about him struck her as familiar, but she couldn’t figure out why. He looked like nobody she knew. A wiry man of about thirty years, with big ears and skinny limbs, the only thing he resembled was an organ grinder’s monkey. Though he seemed harmless enough, the intensity of his interest disturbed her.
    And he was standing far too close. “Yes,” she murmured, edging away from him