Blackhearts (Blackhearts, #1)(77)

marry her. If I can leave before that happens, I will.”

He knew it would do him no good to argue with her, but

he couldn’t help himself. She was his only source of pleasure at the moment, and it frightened him how much he depended on her to achieve his happiness. “Don’t do it, Anne.”

Their gazes caught and held. Her blue eyes, usually so

bright, were now bleak.

“Don’t do anything rash,” he said.

“I have no other choice.”

“Yes, you do. Come away with me. I’m no longer a wanted

man. We could leave, just the two of us.”

“And then what? I won’t be a kept woman like my mother





2 7 5


was. And where could we possibly go where people won’t look at me and immediately assume that’s what I am? Or worse.”

“Marry me, then. We’ll leave England and find a place.

We’ll make a place.” Teach watched her intently, hoping for a sign of consent. But she took another step back, her shoulders straight, her lips set.

“You might want to leave now, but in time you would come

to resent me. You would be giving up your inheritance and this

lifestyle. I won’t have you blame me for losing everything.”

“I would never resent you. Or blame you. I just spent a year

at sea. I’ve seen what it’s like to be without.”

“Yes, but it was an adventure. You always knew you would

come back. I’ve experienced what it’s like to truly be without, and I would not wish that on anyone. Least of all you.”

“That’s my choice to make, not yours.”

“I’m sorry,” Anne said. “But when I leave, I will go alone.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

Anne stepped around him, heading for the door.

Desperation caused his voice to rise. “I’ll tell my father

about us. I’ll tell him I wish to marry you.”

She stopped with her hand on the knob and turned, her

blue eyes flashing. “If you do that, he will not hesitate to throw me out. He tolerates me now, but if he believed I came between you and Miss Patience, he would not be kind. Or merciful. You

should not wish his wrath on anyone. Least of all me.”





2 76


Sitting in the darkened captain’s cabin of the Deliverance, Teach toyed with an open bottle. It had been several hours since he’d left the estate. After the disastrous evening meal, he hadn’t

trusted himself to stay under the same roof as the others.

Despite his request, Anne had retired to her room and

stayed there. Teach had been forced to share a tense supper with Patience, Lord Hervey, and his father.

“Remind me, if I’m ever in trouble, your father would be a

handy one to have in a pinch,” John said.

Teach had told him the outcome of the inquiry.

“Yes, well, my father might have cleared up that problem,

but he’s the reason for another, even greater problem. He and

Lord Hervey set the date for the wedding. In two weeks, they

say I am to wed, the day after the launch of the Deliverance.”

John studied Teach’s expression, a sympathetic look in his

eyes. “You fancy her, don’t you?” John said. “This Anne you’ve

mentioned. The one who tossed the bucket on me.”

Teach trusted his friend well enough to tell him the truth.

“Lord help me, but I do.”

“I could tell. You haven’t stopped talking about her since

you arrived.”

Teach took another sip from the bottle.

“And yet your father expects you to marry a fancy peacock

with a pea brain.”

Perhaps Teach had been a bit harsh in his criticism of

Patience, but she offered little in comparison to Anne. “I can’t 2 7 7

do it, John. I can’t go through with it,” Teach muttered. “My father has already lived his life. Mine has just begun, and yet he would sentence me to death, for my every breath shall be stifled if I am forced to spend the rest of my days with that girl.”

It was John’s turn to take a sip from the bottle. “Have you

told your father you don’t want to marry Patience?”

“Yes.”





“And what did he say?”

Teach scowled, his anger stirring at the memory. “He said it

wasn’t my decision to make.”

John gave a low whistle. “What other options do you have?”

Teach held up the bottle.

“Sorry, mate, but that won’t solve anything.”

Taking a large swig, Teach shrugged. “Perhaps not, but it

can make me forget for a while.”

“What does Anne have to say about any of this?”

“What can she say? She’s living in my father’s house, as his

guest. How can she go against his wishes?”

“Does she love you?”

“I know she does.”

“Well, then. You’re your father’s son. Let’s see you do something about it.”