Surrender of a Siren (The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy #2)(109)

Just not quite all of it.

“As I told you, my name is Sophia Jane Hathaway, though the men in this room know me as Jane Turner. My father, Mr. Elias Hathaway, is a gentleman of considerable wealth and modest consequence. I traveled under an assumed name because I left England without his permission. Or knowledge.” Guilt pricked at her heart. The anxiety her family must have endured. Perhaps by now they believed her dead.

Fitzhugh squinted at her through his spectacles. “You were running away?”

She nodded. “I was to be married, you see. To a man I did not love.”

It was clear in the judge’s expression that he did not see. “You were to be married against your wishes. So—logically—you absconded, unescorted, with the aid of these brigands, to the West Indies.” He glared at Gray.

“Perhaps I shall add kidnapping to the charges.”

“Oh, no! You misunderstand.” Sophia chewed her lip. Why was telling the truth so much more complicated than lying? She hardly knew how to explain the reasoning that had taken her from “I cannot marry Toby” to “I must board a ship bound for Tortola.” At the time, it had made some sense to her, in her desperation. Now she saw what anyone in his right mind could see: that she should have simply broken her engagement.

But then, as now, the truth had been so much more difficult than a lie.

“I assure you, neither Captain nor Mr. Grayson knew my true identity. I led them to believe I was a governess, en route to a new post.” Sophia took a step closer to the bench, placed one gloved hand upon the lip of wood and leaned toward him in confidence. Fitzhugh fidgeted with his wig, clearly both unnerved and flattered by her nearness. Very good.

She made her voice breathy and reverent. “Your honor, I sense that you are a man of principle, and ambition. I believe you can understand this, that I sought some greater purpose to my existence. I wanted to experience real life, find my true passion.”

“And did you?” He swallowed. “Find your … er, passion?”

“Oh, yes.” She smiled beatifically. “Mr. Grayson showed it to me.”

A low murmur rippled through the courtroom. Sophia ventured a quick glance at Gray. Gone were the accusations and questions in his gaze; all that remained to him was blank confusion. Well, that and his roguish good looks. But to her, everything was finally clear. She’d wanted to experience real life—but how could she, until she ceased running away from it? This was her life, and no one else’s. This was her story to tell, her picture to paint.

“Mr. Fitzhugh,” she said, “may I tell you about the seizure of the Kestrel? I watched it all from the deck of the Aphrodite that day.” At his nod, Sophia continued. “There was a terrible gale. The clouds were churning and green as the sea, and just as the two ships approached, the sky cracked with lightning. It struck the Kestrel’s mainmast, setting the tip afire. With no regard for their own safety, Mr. Grayson and a few of his bravest men boarded the ship to help. Their aim was to aid the Kestrel’s stunned crew in cutting away the mast before the flames reached the deck. But there was no time, and with a hold full of smuggled rum, the ship was certain to explode.”

Mr. Fitzhugh hung on her words, though his eyes seemed fixed to her bosom. “And … ?”

“Mr. Grayson sent all able men away in the boat, save Mr. Linnet.” She searched out Davy’s smooth face in the crowd. “And together they shot down the mast with the Kestrel’s own cannon, dousing the fire in the sea.”

“Remarkable,” the judge whispered.

“Is it not?” Pride brought a smile to her face. “It was the truest act of valor I have ever witnessed. Mr. Grayson saved many lives that day. Including the life of Captain Mallory, who now has the malicious cowardice to accuse innocent men of piracy rather than lose his own ship as salvage.”

Sophia leaned closer. “Do you know, Mr. Fitzhugh, that Captain Mallory would have denied his injured crewmen medical attention, when a port was only a few days’ sail away? This is why Mr. Grayson seized the Kestrel, sending his own ship ahead with the wounded. If that be an act of piracy, then he is the most honorable pirate to ever live. And as I also joined the crew that seized the Kestrel, I am proud to declare myself a pirate, too.”

“You joined the crew?”

“Yes, I became ship’s cook. They were undermanned, you see.” Sophia loosened one glove and removed it, revealing her calloused, knife-scored hand. “Your honor, I am a gentlewoman. I have never performed such labor in my life, but I was glad to do it to help these men. My life changed the day of that storm. I shall never be the same again.” In more ways than youwould suspect, she thought with some amusement. But the statement was the truth.

She turned to Gray, who wore a half-smile of his own. It was a comfort to know they still shared something, if only a private joke.

“Even now, this innocent man would sacrifice himself to save his brother and crewmen from the hangman’s noose. Mr. Grayson’s courage and fortitude are an example to me,” she said, dabbing at her eyes with the handkerchief. “They should be an example to us all.”

Oh come now, Gray’s smirk chided her. Don’t take it too far.

“An example …” Fitzhugh spoke in a slow tone of discovery. “Of honor?”

“She’s a liar!” Mr. Brackett pushed to the front of the room, carving his way through the assembly with his blade-thin nose and sharp elbows. “She’s a liar and a whore. They’re lovers, she and Grayson. Her whole story is a falsehood, fabricated to save his miserable neck.”