The blindfold was cutting into Faith’s eyes painfully by the time she was released. When she stumbled, she realised it was as much due to the fact the flooring was unstable as that she was disoriented.
The cry of seagulls and the smell of brine and tar made it clear that she was on board a boat.
Or something larger, for the room was commodious with a large porthole that looked over the ocean. Dawn had broken, and the fact that her head hurt unconscionably compounded the realisation that she’d been drugged.
She swung around to confront her captors, and was not surprised to see Lord Harkom’s golden hair lit by the late-afternoon sun that shone through the glass and, seated upon a chair at his side, the hunched, crow-like form of Lady Vernon.
“My, my, Lady Vernon; it’s been a long night for you,” Faith remarked drily. “You’re not usually an early riser, so I’m sorry to put you through such discomfort.”
Lady Vernon grimaced which Faith took to be a smile. “I was not going to be denied the pleasure of seeing you go where you deserved. My goodness, but you’ve caused us a great deal of trouble, Faith. Finally, you’ll be getting your just desserts.”
Faith looked towards the porthole where the choppy sea was partly obscured by the crew in striped jerseys leaping from the rigging onto the deck. She could hear voices. Shouts that at first she thought were in French, before she realised some of them spoke a language she didn’t recognise. “You won’t get away with this, Lady Vernon. Nor you, Lord Harkom. Your activities have been exposed.”
“On what evidence, my dear Faith?” He looked satisfied as he paced back and forth across the room. “Whatever correspondence you found is now back in my possession. Besides, who might you have told who would actually believe you? A liar and a whore.”
Faith shivered as she imagined the groping that must have been involved when she was unconscious. She swallowed, her fear obviously showing before Lord Harkom said, “I haven’t violated you, if that’s what you’re worried about. There’d be little pleasure for either of us in doing that if you were not awake to enjoy it.” With a glance at Lady Vernon, he added, “All good things must wait, and I have a special parting gift for you before the boat sets sail. I’d have liked to have kept you, my dear, in the style you could have enjoyed, had you been a little cleverer. In fact, I had thought you came to my residence to negotiate a special agreement with me.” He sighed. “However, your quick mind and ab
ility to master the politics of a situation will stand you in good stead when it comes to learning a new language. Turkish, in fact. Yes, you have an eager patron a few hundred miles north of Constantinople waiting for you. He’s paid a king’s ransom for a girl fitting just your description, and since I have decided you’re more trouble than you’re worth, I’m taking you there, myself.”
“Or face capture, yourself, in England!” Faith shot back.
“Oh, the passage of time and the fact there is nothing to connect me with any wrongdoing will stand me in good stead.”
She’d managed to keep her fear under control when she was speaking, but having to listen to him spout his evil, unleashed the shivering she’d kept in check until now. She clasped her arms about herself for she had no opera cloak or other means of warmth, and her evening dress was very bare about her bodice.
“So, Faith, have you anything to say for yourself?”
The light from the porthole spilled in a luminous circle in the centre of the room, and into this Lord Harkom stepped, as if he were a golden prince rather than the Prince of Darkness she now knew him to be.
“She’s not going with you, Harkom.”
Faith turned with a start; the familiar voice so unexpected and so welcome. A tall, dark-haired gentleman in evening clothes, with tired eyes, high cheekbones, and a sensitive mouth, locked eyes with her.
Crispin.
She’d thought of him so often during these past twelve months. Too often, in her imaginings, their welcome was curt and full of recrimination at the way each had failed the other. But now, as he stepped into the full beam of light to stand face to face with Lord Harkom, he looked every bit the handsome hero of her dreams.
“It’s over, Harkom.” He turned to Lady Vernon with an exaggerated bow, following a brief smile of encouragement for Faith before he went on, “Your activities have been revealed. Thanks to Lady Vernon's correspondence, we've been apprised of your involvement in the trade of friendless young women from English shores to the Ottomans. You will shortly be in custody, and Miss Montague will be leaving with me.”
He took a step forward and, with hope and happiness flooding through her, Faith moved towards the hand he offered.
“A little peremptory, I think, Mr Westaway.” As Lord Harkom spoke, the boat gave a shudder and a jolt which sent Faith stumbling briefly into Crispin’s arms, before her nemesis snatched her against him, pressing her face against his shoulder with one cupped hand. “Well, well, this is unexpected. It would appear we’ve already set sail for foreign shores. Sorry, Lady Vernon; just a minor disturbance to our plans. I’m sure you’ll find your sea legs soon enough.”
Faith, after a brief struggle, realised it might not be a good time to vent her outrage. Lady Vernon, for her part, seemed equally outraged, for she drew her bony frame to its full height and sent a querulous look towards the door.
“I have hardly prepared for sea travel, Lord Harkom. Go and see what’s happened! We can’t have set sail yet.”
“Oh, I very much fear we have, Lady Vernon.” Lord Harkom shook his head with a look of feigned regret. “I didn’t think it would come to this. I’d very much hoped it wouldn’t. But I’m not a man to leave anything to chance.”
“Except that your stupidity invited this whole debacle.” Lady Vernon pointed at Faith. “Lord only knows what you were doing when you invited this conniving creature into your bedchamber, and with an unlocked chest, too! That’s what’s behind all this.” She began to shake as her fury mounted. “We have the letter back. The two letters back. Originals, and the only evidence of our involvement. We’ve been so careful. I’ve been so careful. This was not necessary. I want to go home now. Give the orders that we are to turn back.” Her arm trembled as she pointed at the sea through the porthole.
Lord Harkom gave Faith a squeeze and lowered his face to put his cheek against hers. “All in good time, Lady Vernon; all in good time.” He dropped a kiss upon Faith’s brow. “I want to enjoy this one first. I want Westaway to feel the pain I felt when his father married the woman I loved.”
“What do you want from me to guarantee that no harm comes to Faith? That she is granted her freedom.” Crispin spoke softly but clearly, and Lord Harkom barked out a laugh.
“It’s a bit late for that, don’t you think? You’ve been resting on your laurels a whole year, and you clearly didn’t give poor Faith here a second thought.”
“Faith is very good at hiding her tracks,” Crispin said pointedly. “I searched for you, you know.” The fact he spoke directly to her made Faith’s heart beat wildly as she held her breath and kept eye contact with the striking man before her. “I’ll admit that after we were parted, I was angry and disappointed. My father told me it was what I deserved. What I should have expected.”