One Fine Fireman (19 page)

Her friend’s eyes grew round, and tea sloshed on the tablecloth as she set her cup down. “The
plank
? Your husband really—”

“By all accounts, pirates regularly send people to the briny deep, not to mention plundering jewels and the like.”

Amelia swallowed, and Phoebe could tell that she was rapidly rethinking the romantic aspects of having a pirate within the immediate family. Amelia was a dear little matron, with a rosebud mouth and brown fly-away curls. Mr. Howell-Barth was an eminent goldsmith in Bath, and likely wouldn’t permit Amelia to pay any more visits once he learned how Sir Griffin was amusing himself abroad.

“Mind you,” Phoebe added, “we haven’t spoken in years, but that is my understanding. His man of business offers me patent untruths.”

“Such as?”

“The last time I saw him, he told me that Sir Griffin was exporting timber from the Americas.”

Amelia brightened. “Perhaps he is! Mr. Howell-Barth told me just this morning that men shipping lumber from Canada are making a fortune. Why on earth do you think your husband is a pirate, if he hasn’t told you so himself?”

“Several years ago, he wrote his father, who took it upon himself to inform me. I gather he is considered quite fearsome on the high seas.”

“Goodness me, Phoebe. I thought your husband simply chose to live abroad.”

“Well, he does choose it. Can you imagine the scandal if I had informed people that Sir Griffin was a pirate? I think the viscount rather expected that his son would die at sea.”

“I suppose it could be worse,” Amelia offered.

“How could it
possibly
be worse?”

“You could be married to a highwayman.”

“Is there a significant difference?” Phoebe shrugged inelegantly. “Either way, I am married to a criminal who stands to be hanged. Hanged, Amelia. Or thrown into prison.”

“His father will never allow that. You know how powerful the viscount is, Phoebe. There’s talk that Lord Moncrieff might be awarded an earldom.”

“Not after it is revealed that his son is a pirate.”

“But Sir Griffin is a baronet in his own right! They don’t hang people with titles.”

“Yes, they do.”

“Actually, I think they behead them.”

Phoebe shuddered. “That’s a terrible fate.”

“Come to think of it, why is your husband a baronet, if his father is a viscount and still living?” Amelia asked, knitting her brow. Being a goldsmith’s wife, she had never been schooled in the intricacies of this sort of thing.

“It’s a courtesy title,” Phoebe explained. “Viscount Moncrieff inherited the title of baronet as well as that of viscount, so his heir claims the title of baronet during the current viscount’s life.”

Amelia digested that. Then, “Mrs. Crimp would be mad with glee if she found out.”

“She
will
be mad with glee,” Phoebe said, nausea returning.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s back,” Phoebe said helplessly. “Oh, Amelia, he’s back in England.”

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Excerpt from
The Fireman Who Loved Me
copyright © 2012 by Jennifer Bernard.

Excerpt from
Hot for Fireman
copyright © 2012 by Jennifer Bernard.

Excerpt from
Sex and the Single Fireman
copyright © 2013 by Jennifer Bernard.

Excerpt from
Three Schemes and a Scandal
copyright © 2012 by Maya Rodale.

Excerpt from
Skies of Steel
copyright © 2012 by Zoë Archer.

Excerpt from
Further Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman
copyright © 2012 by JB Lynn.

Excerpt from
The Second Seduction of a Lady
copyright © 2012 by Miranda Neville.

Excerpt from
To Hell and Back
copyright © 2012 by Juliana Stone.

Excerpt from
Midnight in Your Arms
copyright © 2012 by McKinley Hellenes.

Excerpt from
Seduced by a Pirate
copyright © 2012 by Eloisa James.

ONE FINE FIREMAN
. Copyright © 2012 by Jennifer Bernard. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition NOVEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780062257956

Print Edition ISBN: 9780072257963

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