Into His Arms (25 page)

Geoff felt the blood drain from his face. He knew, without a doubt, which woman to whom the Spaniard referred. “How do you know her?” he asked.

“Do you not remember? I am Capitán Diego Montoya Fernandez de Madrid y Delgado Cortes. The name Fernandez means nothing to you?”

Geoff’s thoughts flashed back to the deck of the carrack where he had first met this man. The name had struck a chord then, but he hadn’t been able to place it. Now, he remembered. “Fernandez.”

“Faith Cooper’s aunt and uncle. Her uncle, Miguel, is my father’s brother.”

“She was not a part of any of it, I swear. She was but an innocent stowaway on my ship.”

“
Sí
, I know this already.” Diego paused again, uncertain whether or not he truly wanted to ask the question he must. Then he sighed. Better to know. “Tell me, did you care for her?”

“You said you were not a cruel man.”

“I spoke truly. I would only know whether or not her fate troubles you. If she means nothing, I will not waste my time or yours.”

Squeezing his eyes closed against another suspicious stinging spell, his voice rougher than it had been, Geoff replied, “Tell me.”

“She was hurt. Was it by you?”

Eyes still closed, Geoff nodded.

“Did you rape her?”

Geoff didn’t miss the tight anger in Diego’s voice. The answer mattered to him beyond the interest of any mere gentleman in a lady’s welfare. “Nay, I did not.”

“Did you compromise her?”

“Would it matter?”

Diego pondered that but an instant. “It seems it is forever my soul’s fate to be bound to fallen women. Nay, it does not matter. I mean to take her to wife. If she was yours first, ‘tis of no consequence. She will be mine in the end, and I will love her as you did not.”

Geoff finally opened his eyes, and could almost feel relieved to see the proud honor that stamped his counterpart’s face. “You will, won’t you? Love her, that is?”

“I do already.”

Geoff shook his head, a dark scowl on his face. “‘Tis not enough to merely want her. You must be willing to die for her. To give up any foolish ideas you may have about being weak because she somehow makes life worth living. There must be nothing at all you would not give to make her happy.”

Pity clouded Diego’s dark eyes. “This sounds like wisdom you obtained too late.”

“And at great price.”

“What is to become of you is not pleasant, but you may die knowing that she is well cared for. I give you my word on this, Captain Hampton. You see, I learned long ago what you have only just discovered. Love and honor mean placing the needs of others before your own selfish desires. I think that for most of your life, you have taken what you want, but in the end, what do you have?”

Geoff said leaned his head back against the beam, studying the raw wooden planks of the deck above him. “So, the final victory is yours.”

Diego had enough compassion to keep from smiling. Though he felt no remorse at clearing the way for him and Faith, he could well imagine the other man’s pain at having lost her, and all else, as well.

“And Captain,” Geoff added, “don’t tell her about this conversation. Let her believe that you are the only man who ever loved her.”

“You know, Captain Hampton, I think I could have liked you. You are more noble than you know.”

A bitter sound caught in Geoff’s throat. “Tell that to the judge, will you?”

Chapter 22

Faith and Elizabeth sat in the shade of an arbor. Embroidery hoops reposed in their laps with their still white hands. The sea and an exquisite hummingbird feeding upon a bird of paradise proved too distracting, and so the stitchery was forgotten. Faith could not help but think that Eden must have looked very like this place, yet she had come to understand why Adam and Eve might have sacrificed it for knowledge. In the three weeks since Diego’s departure, Faith had carefully examined her relationship with Geoff and her future without him.

He had told her that making love with her was not the same as it was with other women, and it seemed unlikely that she would ever know such tempestuous passion with any other man, but perhaps that was best. The memory was sweet, but in the end, it had wrought her nothing but pain. Better to know that now than to encounter such temptation later, when it could threaten any commitment she might have made.

And she needed a partner who could share in the sense of wholeness that consumed her here in this lush land with its verdant mountains, gentle rivers, musical waterfalls, and mysterious coastal caves and cliffs. She cared not whether he was Catholic or Protestant, Jew or Mohammedan, he had to be strong enough to face his soul and consider his place in the universe.

If she’d had to sacrifice the paradise she had known in Geoff’s bed for this new knowledge, so be it. Physical passion was not enough. She wanted something deeper. God gave man free will, but what was free will without knowledge? Perhaps Eve had sensed this. Perhaps in the sin that she had committed when she ate of the forbidden fruit, she had only deepened her love of God, loving Him not out of ignorance, but out of true choice. Never again would she blush to call herself a daughter of Eve!

Elizabeth sat quietly, watching her niece. “Lost in thought, I see,” she said. “The island can do that to you, weave you into its magic spell. Have you found any peace, Faith?”

“I think I am coming to find some acceptance, even forgiveness, Aunt Elizabeth.” She turned her head back to the sea and raised her hand to point to the vessel that sailed into view. “Who is that?” she asked.

Elizabeth shrugged and ran into the house to fetch a spyglass. Raising it to her eye, she said, “
Magdalena
. It looks like our Diego has come back.”

For all her philosophizing, Faith’s heart leapt into her throat. If Diego had returned so soon, then surely he had found Geoff. His desertion she could bear, but his death was another matter!

Presently, the handsome and decidedly happy Capitán Diego Montoya Fernandez de Madrid y Delgado Cortes waved to them as he hiked up the road that led from the beach. “
¡Buenas tardes!
” he called.

“Diego!” she cried as she rose, her embroidery falling, forgotten, beneath the arbor. “You are back so soon!”

“
Sí
, the expedition did not go exactly as I had hoped, but I think my employer was satisfied with what I could present. In any case, he has agreed to take over the matter for himself, and I may resume my position. I told him there was a personal affair I wished to attend to, so he is permitting me to take some time before I return to his employ.”

He took Faith’s cold hand in his and kissed her fingertips. “Ah, you are even more beautiful than I remembered. I thought of nothing but you the whole time.”

“What did you give him? Did you find information on Captain Hampton’s whereabouts?”

Diego’s smile never faltered. “
Sí
, he knows where the man was last seen. I think it is fairly certain he has not wandered far. I wash my hands of the whole thing. Are you all right,
querida
?”

“I’m fine. It is only, as I told you, he boarded your ship to protect me.” Her pale face belied her words.

Nodding sympathetically, he replied, “You feel somewhat responsible, I am aware of this. But we both know, mine is not the only Spanish ship he has captured.”

“Aye, I realize that.” Belatedly she realized that she must appear overly worried. “Where did you find him?” she asked more calmly.

Diego hesitated, then looked back toward the sea and his retreating ship. “He was at a tavern. He and his first mate were upstairs with two
prostitutas
.”

She straightened her back and blinked hard. “I see. But you did not wait for him and take him?”

“He was with his friend, and then he set back toward his ship. I am so sorry,
querida
. I know that this is hard for you. He was not unkind to you, and it is understandable that you are concerned for his welfare. If it eases your mind to believe he may yet escape Spanish justice, I will not argue. I only ask you to consider this: what befalls him in the future is his own affair. You ceased to have any responsibility for each other when he left you in Port Royal.”

Faith tried to smile, but instead she nearly crumbled. “I need to be alone, if you don’t mind,” she murmured. At her aunt’s understanding nod, they parted company, and Faith ran, down the path and toward the sea.

*

Elizabeth gave Diego a studied, serious look. “You lied,” she said.

Diego winced and raked a hand through his dark hair. “I skirted around a few things.”

“And are you willing to live with those lies between you? If you get what you want, and she chooses you, will you be able to live with the things you ‘skirted around’?”

“What would you have me tell her? Shall I tell her that he loved her? That he died loving her? That they could have been together, but I destroyed any chance they may have had? Or should I have let him go?
Sí
. Maybe I should have ruined my career so that your niece could spend her life with a pirate, one who would surely be caught by someone, somewhere. You know that he would have been executed or killed in battle, maybe after he had given Faith a few children to feed and care for. This is what you want for your niece?”

“Of course not,” Elizabeth replied. “Still, there must be some way to tell her the truth so that she will understand.”

“I do not think so.
Sí
, Elizabeth, I can live with these lies.”

*

Faith did not spare a thought for her gown when she kicked off her shoes and stepped into the warm Caribbean waters. Her skirts floated around her as she knelt into the sea’s embrace. The delicate silk was buoyed by air pockets, then slowly sank as it became saturated. Tears fell unheeded into the saltwater that tenderly clasped her waist. She sobbed without restraint, with all the passion she had thrown into her every joining with the man she had loved so fiercely.

Just as passionately, she wanted to hate Diego. He had, in effect, sealed the fate of the man she loved with all her heart. At the same time, she knew him to be gentle, a man of honor. What Diego had done had not been from spite. And of course, Geoff had known the risks he was taking. If it had not been Diego that pursued him for Spain, it would surely have been another.

Oh, Geoff! She could not imagine him gone. For months she had looked at the sea and known that he was out there, somewhere. He may have been lost to her, but there was comfort in knowing he sailed upon the very waters that lapped the edge of Winston Hall’s beach. Now, he was doubtless in some dark cell, and soon he would be gone forever. The thought caused an ache so deep in her chest she could hardly draw breath for the pain.

This was where Diego found her, in the waning rays of the sun that sparkled on the crystalline surface of the tide. He pulled the boots and stockings from his feet, leaving his legs bare below his knee-length breeches, and waded out to her, helping her rise against the pull of her sodden dress.

On shore, he brushed away the flaxen hair that the breeze had loosed from its pins and wiped her tears. “I, too, have washed my sorrows in the sea. It can soothe a troubled spirit.”

“Aye,” she sniffed, “it can.”

“I would help you soothe your hurts, as well, if you would allow me.”

“Diego, I like you very much.
Yo te quiero mucho
.” He smiled at her efforts. “But, right now, can we just be friends?
Amigos?
”

Diego sighed but offered her a warm smile. “I would be honored. We will be friends.”

He took her by the hand and led her back to the carriage that had brought him there. They lit the lanterns that hung by the driver and slowly journeyed through the gathering darkness to the house. Diego held her hand, but other than that, he left her alone with her thoughts. The two alighted, and Elizabeth and Miguel rushed forward with worried faces, but they took in her ruined gown and the way she kept her hand trustingly in Diego’s, and retreated into the shadows. It was enough that she was safe and unhurt.

They walked straight into the house and up the stairs, pausing outside the door to her room. Diego lifted her chin and looked deeply into her eyes. “I will not ask more than you would give, but I would tell you this. You English have two words, like and love. In Spain, we have one,
querer
.
Te quiero
, Faith. It is my dearest hope that someday you will say it to me as I say it to you, because right now, it is not the same for us I think.”

She had been right earlier. Diego was a good man, one who deserved to know everything about her ere he declared himself any more. “Diego, I have to tell you something. I have to tell you why I was crying.”

He nodded somberly. “It is your captain.”

She toyed with her wet, salt-stained skirt. “Aye, that, but there’s more. You should know it ere you place too much of your heart in my care.” She took a deep breath. “This is so hard. I wish I could say I regret it, but I don’t. Neither am I proud, but I would not have a lie between us. I’m not—that is—if we were to wed...”

Diego held up his hand and shook his head. “
No es nada
.”

“You have a right to know.”

“
No importa
. The past is over and done with. If you would pledge to me your future, I would treasure it as much as any gift a bride would give to her husband. It is the only gift that truly matters, is it not?” Tears shimmered again in her magnificent eyes, and he allowed himself to drown in their depths. “No more tears,
querida
. Sleep well. Perhaps you will find room for Diego in your dreams tonight.”

Surprisingly, there was no room, even for Geoff, in her exhausted and dreamless slumber.

*

West of the little Caribbean island, in the city of Cartagena, Geoff reclined on the floor of his cell in the Fuerte de San Felipe de Barajas, an imposing Spanish fortress. His was a small room with a heavy oak door, a tiny window that let in little air and less light, and a filthy pallet on the stone floor. He had long ago become accustomed to the smell of his own unwashed body, but he still wished for a fresh breeze.