“Faith!”
It was Crispin. She turned, her hands shaking as they gripped the railing before Crispin covered them with his own.
“I am so sorry for putting you through this.” His voice tickled her ear and sent tendrils of warmth through her.
“You aren’t responsible,” she returned, shocked he should even think it. “I was given the mission of breaking your heart. I accepted.”
“Did you have a choice?”
Seaspray weighed down her eyelashes and dripped onto her cheeks as she raised her eyes to look at him.
“Oh Faith, you were young. A child, when you were taken by Mrs Gedge. You were slotted into a life for which you were completely unprepared, but you used everything you had to survive. Look at you!” There was admiration in his eyes. “Your beauty was an advantage. Of course, it was. But you had a mind that was agile, a clever wit, and a love of knowledge that was fed; however extraordinary those circumstances were.”
“And now you are a captive at the hands of your father’s arch nemesis; a man who is clearly mad, and who thinks that destroying you will punish your father in the way he wants to.” Faith squeezed Crispin’s hand. “You’re here because of me, and for that I’m truly sorry.”
Crispin smiled down at her. “I’m just as responsible for being here. I’m culpable for not having been able to better look after the woman I love. Don’t think I haven’t thought about that all these many hours I’ve had to suffer the rocking of this boat, and know that soon a time will come when Harkom exerts his vile power and makes us both suffer.”
He glanced towards the doorway where Lady Vernon was sheltering. Perhaps she wasn’t planning to intervene because of the discomfort and the cold. Perhaps it was under Lord Harkom’s orders. After all, the greater the bond forged between Faith and Crispin now, the more they would suffer later, when Lord Harkom decided it was time.
“I’m afraid,” Faith whispered, nestling against him. “I’ve only ever been with a man I love. When I saw Lord Harkom earlier this evening, I was fired up with zealous rage because I thought I had nothing to lose. I drugged him, and I succeeded in my mission. But now he has triumphed.”
“Because I have failed you.”
“Not you!” Faith twisted in the circle of his arms and raised her own to cup his face. “Why would you have behaved otherwise? Miss Eaves printed a story that looked very credible. So credible that she believed it because, as we know, she is a young woman who is driven by principle—on the surface, at any rate. The photograph told a compelling story. The villains were people of standing in high society. I was revealed for what I am. And people like me are never believed above people like Lord Harkom and Lady Vernon and Mrs Gedge.”
Crispin wrapped her more closely in his arms. “You know I will fight to the death to protect you from Harkom when he comes to you, this evening.”
“Oh, don’t waste a good life when I am what I am,” Faith said, trying to smile. “It’s what I was trained for. It’s what Charity endures numerous times every day. I’ve been living in a cloud. Don’t be foolish on my account, Crispin. We are very effectively Lord Harkom’s prisoners, and I would be happier if you saved your energies for a surprise attack rather than when he is expecting it. For you know that is his plan.”
“Lord, but you do know how to read a man.”
“I’ve been trained in the science for years. I applied it very skilfully to you.” She couldn’t help smiling. “If I made you love me, though, it was at my expense. That was where I failed in my mission.”
“Oh no, it wasn’t. That was where Lady Vernon and Mrs Gedge must be congratulating themselves. They were able to destroy you at the same time as my reputation. A double win. Mrs Gedge couldn’t bear the thought that her beautiful Constancia should be dead while you, a worthless creature in her eyes, should only grow more beautiful; accomplished. Everything she’d have wished for her daughter.” He stopped, gripping her forearms as he asked, “But Faith, do you still love me? After all this time, and all the hours you must have run over in your mind how I’d failed you. Forsaken you.”
“I thought about you every day, Crispin. I wondered how I could still love a man I knew thought the very worst of me. Because you did, didn’t you?
He nodded. “There was no piece of evidence I could find to exonerate you. Not until yesterday and…” he looked up at the tall mast and rigging, the sails
flapping loudly in the wind, “a lot has happened since then.”
They were aware of Lady Vernon coming towards them.
“I suppose Lord Harkom would want you apart, now.” She sounded distinctly out of sorts. “I wish to go to my cabin and I can’t leave you here.”
“Where is Lord Harkom? Not retching his guts out, I trust?”
Lady Harkom’s nose twitched. “I gather that’s exactly what he’s doing, but I’m sure he’ll recover soon enough. He has grand plans for you, Faith.” Her mouth twisted.
“I never liked you, Lady Vernon, but I had no idea I had such good reason to trust my instincts.” Faith stared her down. “Your evil knows no bounds, does it?”
“We all do what we must to survive. A title is no guarantee of a comfortable life. I’ve not wished for much, and I’m hardly extravagant. Not like his good lordship.” She indicated the innards of the boat, and presumably, Lord Harkom, with a jerk of her head. “Without supplementing my meagre allowance, I too would have been placed in your situation, Faith. Only…I don’t have quite your assets. So don’t play the moral high ground with me.”
“You and Lord Harkom make strange bedfellows,” Faith countered. “I hope he makes this line of business worth your while. You do know what awaits you when you return to England.”
Lady Vernon shrugged. “Don’t threaten me, girl. You’ll be long gone, and I intend to be safely returned to England before too long. I hadn’t factored in this trip across the channel, it’s true, but Lord Harkom and I can come to some agreement over that. So, don’t worry yourself over my future, Faith. Enjoy your nabob in the delightful harem seven hours’ camel ride from Constantinople, or wherever Lord Harkom has arranged for you to go. There were several options. He may be planning to auction you, for all I know. And I don’t care a jot. You were always more trouble than you were worth. I never understood Mrs Gedge’s need to play so fairly by you.”
“Indeed, I admire your trust in Lord Harkom,” Crispin remarked. “He’s hardly renowned for dealing honestly with anyone.”