The Captain's Pearl (26 page)

“That he truly believed that you were his daughter?” asked a voice deeper than Mr. Simmons's.

“Bryce!” She took one step toward where he stood in the doorway. Her voice rose to a scream when she was tugged back against Mr. Simmons.

“Don't, Simmons!” Bryce shouted, as something cold and hard pressed to her temple.

Lianne strained her eyes and moaned when she saw that Mr. Simmons held a long-barreled pistol to her head.

“Get out of here, Trevarian!” he growled.

“Do you think I would leave my wife here with you so you can kill her?” He closed the door and stepped out of the shadows beside it.

“What do you care if she lives or dies? You have the Shadow Line.”

“Lianne is my wife.” He glanced over his shoulder, and Lianne wondered what he had heard.

Did Mr. Simmons have an ally, or was someone else coming to the mill? If Mr. Bergen arrived now, Mr. Simmons might panic and shoot her.

Mr. Simmons released another of his insane laughs. “Soon to be your late wife. Just as my command of the
China Shadow
died along with you.”

“You are making no sense.” Bryce edged closer, but froze when the hammer clicked on the gun. “Simmons, you have frightened Lianne nearly to death. Let her go. She isn't whom you hate. You hate me.”

“You are wrong! I hate both of you.” Mr. Simmons's voice lowered from a shriek as he chuckled again. “But don't you see, Trevarian? You stole the command of the
China Shadow
from me. The command that should have come to me after I made sure Catherwood could no longer sail.”

“It wasn't an accident?” Lianne cried, hearing a soft gasp from Bryce. That surprised her, because his face was set in its hardest lines, and she expected curses from him.

“No.” Mr. Simmons laughed. “No one suspected. Not any of the crew. Not even your stupid father. When he told me I would not get a command because he was jealous I had your mother first, I made sure he would not command again. The crew was too upset over him falling to do more than a cursory look at the ropes.” He pressed the gun closer to her head as he snarled, “Trevarian, you stole the thing I wanted more than anything else in the world. Now I will steal from you the thing you want more than anything else. Your wife.”

“Before you shoot her, you might want to listen to this.”

He screeched, “You can't say anything I want to hear, Trevarian!”

“But you might want to listen to me.” The soft voice came from the shadows.

Not turning his head, Bryce reached into the shadows and drew forward a small form in a
ch 'eÅ­ng shaam
.

“Mother!” Lianne cried. This was not possible! Had Mr. Simmons choked her to death so that she now stood at the door to the next world?

“Mei?” cried Mr. Simmons at the same moment. The gun shook.

With a shout, Lianne twisted away from him at the same moment Bryce jumped forward to knock the gun away. As he grappled the old man to the floor, Lianne ran to get the pistol. She handed it to Bryce, who gave her a smile.

“Go ahead, blue eyes,” he said softly. “She has been waiting patiently for you to return home.” He pulled Mr. Simmons to his feet, holding the old man's gun on him. “When she could wait no longer, we came out here looking for you.”

Lianne wobbled as she went to where her mother was leaning against the wall. With her bound feet, Mother could have managed only with Bryce's help to get this far.

“Mother?” she whispered, unable to believe what her eyes showed her. “Mother!” With a cry, she ran forward and embraced her mother, careful not to squeeze her fragile bones too tightly.

Stepping back, she looked at her mother. As time had not stopped in Stormhaven, so had it continued in Canton, for her mother now had gray streaks in her ebony hair. Habit, which once had been so much a part of her life, reminded her to put a hand under Mother's arm when she released her.

Dropping to her knees, she bowed as she would have in China. She heard a chuckle behind her and glanced back to see Bryce holding Mr. Simmons by the collar as if he were a naughty puppy. Bryce's smile matched the joy inside her.

“Lian,” murmured Mother in the Cantonese which was a gentle caress on her ears, “stand up, so I might look at you as I have longed to since Younger Brother took you from me.”

Lianne came to her feet and almost collapsed. She put her hand on the wall to steady herself.

Her mother cupped Lianne's chin. “How beautiful you have become! No wonder Captain Trevarian loves you so deeply that he sought all these years for me.”

A pang cut through Lianne, but she did not want to correct her mother. Bryce was her husband and desired her in his bed, but he had not spoken of the love she longed for. That special place in his heart belonged to the sea and the
China Shadow
. “I am called Lianne now, Mother. It was Father's wish.”

“Your father …” The smile fled from her face, which was lined with the hardships of the years since she lost her daughter. Looking past Lianne, she motioned for Lianne to help her across the mill. “This man is not your father. The lies he wishes to spread add to his shame.”

“She could be my daughter,” Mr. Simmons growled, refusing to be silenced even when Bryce muttered for him to say nothing. “You shared my bed, Mei. She could be mine.”

“No.” Mother shook her head. “The spirits of my ancestors guarded my future daughter when you abducted me from my father. My father brought me to meet the daughter of an English captain. He warned me that I should not leave the safety of Canton's walls, that I was a little fool.”

Lianne saw Bryce's mouth quiver at the words her mother chose.

“And I was a fool,” Mei continued, “because I saw a man during that journey who touched my heart.” Her face twisted with fury. “That man was not you, Chester Simmons. It was Samuel Catherwood. When you stole me from my father and dishonored me, I knew only one man who might protect me from your brutality and help me get back to my father.”

Mr. Simmons spat, “Instead Catherwood raped you himself.”

“
You
did that!” Mother shuddered so harshly that Lianne feared for her, but her voice remained strong. “Samuel took me in and nursed me back to health. His gentleness won my heart.”

“As you won his,” Lianne whispered. “He never forgot you, Mother.”

“If he had loved you,” Mr. Simmons snarled, “he would not have abandoned you in Canton.”

“He loved me enough to let me go back to my father,” Mother said with quiet dignity. “The
Pacific Shadow
had sailed by the time I realized I would give him a child. I chose to remain outside the walls of Canton so I could be with my child until Samuel returned. But he did not.”

“Something that you arranged for, Simmons,” Bryce said coldly. “Although everyone accepted that it was an accident, you arranged for Captain Catherwood's fall from the sheets, the fall that left him in that chair. Just as you tried to kill Lianne by locking her in the hold of the
China Shadow
.”

Lianne gasped, but swallowed her retort, as her mother said, “Samuel did not return, and I feared telling anyone of my daughter until I had hoped enough time had passed so you would be dead, Chester Simmons. When Younger Brother insisted on my finding Lianne's father or he would sell her to get his opium, I knew I could wait no longer.” She bowed to Bryce. “I saw the way this honorable man looked at my daughter and knew he would protect my daughter, even if you still lived, Chester Simmons. And my daughter's husband has protected her from your evil.”

Bryce tugged Mr. Simmons toward the door. “Lianne, the carriage is outside. Will you take your mother back to the house while I turn Simmons over to the authorities?”

“Yes.” She started to step toward him, then remembered that she must not release her mother.

Her mother smoothed back Lianne's tangled hair. “Lianne, dear child, there is much to be said between us, but it can wait until you have said what you must to your husband.” Mother smiled. “Take me home, Lianne, so you may await your husband's return.”

For the next hour, as she waited for Bryce to return to the house, Lianne enjoyed introducing her mother to Great-Aunt Tildy, who had been napping when Bryce brought Mother from
The Pearl
. Her great-aunt could not hide her shock when she motioned for them to join her in the back parlor. Her eyes widened so far Lianne feared they would pop from her skull as Mother bowed.

“My mother, Ch'en Mei,” Lianne said correctly, knowing how odd the words sounded in English, “requests that you accept the burden of her humble presence in your home, Great-Aunt Tildy.”

“Lianne, she is welcome,” said Great-Aunt Tildy, unsettled. “Tell her that we do not bow like that in Stormhaven. I doubt if I could bend these old bones to bow back to her correctly.”

“My mother understands English.”

Leaning on her cane, Great-Aunt Tildy held out her hand. “Come, Ch'en Mei. You must be tired. I shall ring for some tea.”

“Just Mei,” explained Lianne. “‘Ch'en' is her family name as Catherwood is yours.”

Mother wagged her finger at Lianne. “Do not correct your elders, child.”

Bryce's laugh from the doorway propelled Lianne from her and into his arms. He enfolded her to him, then tilted her face back with his thumbs.

“Thank you,” she whispered, “for having Mother brought here. She told me of the reward you offered to anyone who found her.”

“A reward that Captain Burroughs was determined to get right away.” He stroked her face. “That is why I left so suddenly. I wanted to pay him his reward and buy his silence, so I could surprise you with your mother's arrival. I knew our crews would be silent, but …”

She laughed. “So that is why they wouldn't speak to me when I went down to the wharf?”

“They are loyal crews, blue eyes.”

“Except for Mr. Simmons.” She shivered.

“Don't worry about him. He will get what is coming to him. And I like playing hero, blue eyes. Like one of the stories in your box.”

“My box …” She started to turn back to her mother, needing to explain why the thousand stories box had been destroyed, but froze when Bryce swept her up into his arms. “What are you doing?”

“I thought by now you would know, blue eyes.” He did not give her a chance to answer as he called, “Great-Aunt Tildy, Mei, excuse us a moment.”

Lianne heard laughter behind them as Bryce carried her up the stairs, not answering a single question. He set her on her feet in front of her father's bedchamber door. Unlocking it quickly, he took her hand and led her to the bed. He smiled as he whipped away his cloak.

She stared in disbelief at the box that had been hidden under it. Her box or Father's? Looking at the mantel, she saw Father's box was gone. Her fingers trembled as she picked up the thousand stories box.

“I am sorry,” Bryce whispered. “I wanted to tell you that I would never destroy your beloved box, but Simmons needed to think I had. For that, you and this household needed to think that I would be that cruel. I hid your box under my cloak and tossed the captain's onto the fire.” He turned her to face him. “Blue eyes, if I had guessed how Simmons might have hurt you, I would have thought of another way to force his hand.”

Reaching up, she brought his lips to hers. So much easier and so much more delightful it was to thank him without words. As his fingers wove through her hair, the surges of longing pulsed through her. He chuckled when he pulled her closer and the thousand stories box banged into his chest.

“Maybe I should have gotten rid of it,” he said with a gentle smile.

“I should have trusted you enough to realize you would not burn this.” She blinked back tears and whispered, “I went down to the harbor and to the mill to let you know that I forgave you for doing what you had to protect Trevarian Enterprises and me.”

“You have that in the wrong order. You are the most important thing in my life, not the ships.” He laughed with the desire that thrilled her. “I would have admitted that long ago if I had not been so afraid of you.”

“You were afraid of me?” That must be the most preposterous thing he had ever said.

His hands framed her face, taking care not to touch the red spots left by Mr. Simmons' hand. “Blue eyes, I was afraid of the way you made me feel from the moment I saw you in that Canton tavern. I wanted to protect you, even as I lured you into surrendering to our passion. The first time I touched you I was afraid of how your innocent blue eyes dared me to love you as I had no other woman.”

“I never guessed. I thought you hated me.”

“I wanted to.”

She laughed at his rueful expression. Setting the thousand stories box back on the bed, she said, “But you could not resist having the Shadow Line.”

“And its mistress.” He drew her into her room and shut the door behind them. Leaning her back on the bed, he reached for the buttons on the front of her blouse. “Blue eyes,
ngoi oy nee.
”

“You love me?”

“I think I have since I first saw you.” He smiled as he bent to kiss her neck. “Come with me on the
China Shadow
when she sails back to China. I don't want to be away from you again.”

“You want me to sail with you?”

“I can imagine nothing more wonderful, blue eyes.” As he stretched out beside her, gathering her into his arms, he whispered, “I shall take you into Canton where the
Yang Kueit-tzÅ­
are now welcome. Finally you will see the city of your ancestors. Shall we call on your uncle and teach him the lesson which is too many years overdue?”

“Let him learn from others how futile his attempt to ruin my life was.” She caressed his strong back. “When he discovers that I have a powerful husband, he will be so jealous, he will be as green as a demon's eyes.”