OUTLAW in the Tudor Court: Ransom Bride / The Pirate's Willing Captive

‘You called him Lord Mountfitchet then—is he not your uncle?’

‘We are not blood relations,’ Kathryn said. ‘My father and Uncle Charles are lifelong friends and I would have married Richard Mountfitchet if…’She shook her head sadly. ‘This man is not the one I loved. I would have known it—besides, his eyes are too pale a blue. Dickon had eyes like…’ She looked up and found herself gazing into eyes so blue that they took her breath. ‘He had your eyes, Lorenzo. If I did not know it was impossible, I would say that you were more likely to be Richard Mountfitchet than that poor creature.’

‘I am not the man you seek!’ Lorenzo’s tone was harsh, even angry.

‘I know that. Forgive me,’ she apologised. ‘How could you be a poor galley slave? You have too much pride, too much arrogance.’

To her surprise, Lorenzo threw back his head and laughed. She had not expected him to be amused and was at a loss for words.

‘Nay, Madonna, do not look so bewildered. Should I be angry when you pay me a compliment?’

‘It was not meant as one,’ she came back swiftly.

‘Perhaps not, but I take it as one,’ he said. ‘You think me a Venetian prince, perhaps, born to the life I lead?’

‘Is that not the case?’ she asked and for a moment as she looked deep into his eyes her heart raced. Something in his eyes made her think that he would take her in his arms and kiss her, and her heart leapt with sudden excitement. Her breath caught, her eyes opening wider as she looked up into his face.

‘It might be—and then again it might not,’ Lorenzo told her, a smile of mockery in his eyes now. His laughter had been genuine, but this was meant to put her in her place. ‘You will not gain my secret so easily, Kathryn.’

‘Why should I wish to know it?’ she asked and turned on her heel, walking into the house, her back stiff with a mixture of anger and pride.

‘Why indeed?’ he called after her, and then, in a softer tone that she could not hear, ‘Better that you should not know the devil you would rouse, sweet Kathryn. Better for you…and for me.’

Kathryn did not look back, but she was shivering with some strange emotion that she did not understand. When he had looked at her a moment or so earlier she had felt that she was drowning in the ocean of those blue eyes, and she had wanted him to kiss her.

‘You will take him with us, won’t you, sir?’ Kathryn asked when her uncle came in from his business later that day. ‘I know that I should have asked you before I gave my promise, but he looked so…desperate.’

‘It was in my mind to ask Santorini what he wanted as a ransom,’ Charles told her with a smile. ‘I am not sorry that you do not think he is Dickon, for to see my son like that…’ He drew a deep breath, a look of sadness in his eyes. ‘The search for Dickon will go on, but I have room enough in my household for this poor wretch. He may never be able to do much for his keep, but I dare say we shall find him something to keep him out of mischief.’

‘Oh, thank you, dearest Uncle,’ Kathryn said and hugged him. She did not know whether to laugh or cry, but her smile won through. ‘Lorenzo thought you might refuse to take him and then I should not have known what to do.’

‘You might have taken him as your own servant,’ her uncle said. ‘Your father has provided money for anything you might need. This man may be your servant if you choose. If he knows how to write, he may be of some use as a scribe. We shall have to see how he goes on as he recovers his strength.’

‘He speaks English and understands it, though he is hesitant,’ Kathryn said. ‘But he will learn once he is living with us.’

‘I am certain that he will,’ Charles said. ‘And I am proud of your tender heart, my dear. I wish that we might find Dickon safe and well, but I would not have you live your life in expectation of it. If you should find yourself able to love another, I would rejoice in your happiness.’

‘You are so good to me,’ Kathryn said with a smile that lit up her whole face. ‘But as yet I have not met anyone I would wish to marry.’

There was someone who could make her heart beat faster, but he could also rouse her to anger and despair and he was not at all the kind of man she would wish to marry. Nor, indeed, did she flatter herself that he would ever think of her as a woman he might take as a wife.

‘My business here should be done within another week,’ Charles told her. ‘I advise you to make the most of your stay here, Kathryn, for I imagine the life on Cyprus will be very different. I do not believe you will find merchants there of the kind that are here, and we shall be reliant on ships that call at the island for much of our provisions, though I believe we may be self-sufficient for the food we eat and such things. However, any luxuries you need should be bought before we go.’

‘Lady Mary has already suggested another shopping expedition,’ she said. ‘Perhaps you could send some of your servants with us, sir. I do not like to ask Signor Santorini for his escort again.’

‘Yes, of course, my dear. I shall arrange it myself and there is no need for Santorini to know. He has been a considerate host and we should not take up more of his time.’

Kathryn tossed and turned restlessly. Her dream had been pleasant at the start for she had been walking in a beautiful garden and she had been happy. Someone was with her—a man. The man was Lorenzo Santorini, but not as she knew him. This man laughed and teased her, looking at her with eyes of love. He had taken her into his arms and kissed her, telling her that she was everything to him.

And then, just as she was about to answer him, a great tide of water had come rolling towards them, sweeping her up and carrying her away from him. She woke suddenly, shivering and frightened.

Why was she having these dreams? It was not as if she even liked Signor Santorini, and yet…when she was torn from his arms she had felt as if her heart was breaking.

Kathryn shook her head, clearing it of the troubling images that had caused her so much distress. She was being very foolish. She was confusing Dickon with the proud Venetian in her dreams, for it was her dearest friend who had been torn away from her. She must put all this nonsense from her mind and get ready for the shopping expedition later that day.

‘Well, my dear, I think we have spent our time and our money profitably,’ Lady Mary said as they turned their steps towards the gondola that was to take them back to the Santorini Palace. ‘When our stores are delivered to Charles’s ship we shall be ready to leave. I do not think we shall go short of anything we require for the next six months, and before then we may order what we need.’

‘I am glad to have so many beautiful embroidery silks and such fine cloth—I dare say we shall find the life a little quiet after our time in Venice, Aunt Mary. At home I had my father’s library whenever I needed something to fill my time, but Uncle Charles was unable to bring everything he might have wished for and I believe many of his books were left behind.’

‘I shall mention it to him this evening at supper,’ Lady Mary promised. ‘It may well be that he has already thought to order books for himself and might do the same for us.’

They had reached the steps leading down to the lagoon where their gondola was waiting. Kathryn was a little ahead of Lady Mary and the two servants who had accompanied them. She ran down the steps, accepting the hand of a man who came forward to help her. As she stepped on board, she glanced back at the steps, expecting to see Lady Mary follow, but to her surprise she saw that she was being restrained by one man, while the servants were engaged in a battle with several burly rogues armed with cudgels.

‘It is a trap, Kathryn,’ Lady Mary cried. ‘Come back!’

Kathryn gave a cry of alarm, trying to jump back to the steps, but it was too late. Already the gondolier was pushing off from the steps and someone grabbed her from behind, clasping her in a strong hold as she struggled to get free. She watched as the shore receded, seeing that her aunt seemed to have been released and was standing on the steps staring after her. She sensed Lady Mary’s distress, realising too late that it was not her friend who had been in danger, but herself. Lady Mary and the servants, who had now joined her on the steps, had been diverted for long enough for the abduction to be carried out.

‘Stop struggling, girl, and you will not be harmed,’ a voice said and all at once she felt herself released. Turning, she saw a man of middle years. Heavily built, he had a small pointed beard in the Spanish fashion, his hair cut short and thinning at the temples.

‘I beg your pardon for this inconvenience,’ he said, speaking in English, but in an odd accent that told her he was unused to the language. ‘Please believe me when I say that I mean you no harm. You are simply the means to an end, Mistress Rowlands.’

‘Who are you?’ Kathryn demanded. Her heart was racing, for she could not help but be afraid despite the words that were meant to calm her. ‘And why have you abducted me?’

‘My name is Don Pablo Dominicus,’ he said. ‘And you are my guest. I mean you no harm, mistress. Providing you are sensible and do not try anything foolish, you will be made comfortable aboard my ship.’

‘Your ship?’ Kathryn stared at him in horror. ‘Where are you taking me?’ It was like something out of one of her nightmares! She was being taken from her friends, just as in her dream.

‘To my home in the hills of Granada,’ he replied. ‘It is a temporary arrangement, Mistress Rowlands. You are to be held until you can restore my younger daughter Maria to me.’

‘But I do not understand,’ Kathryn said. ‘How can I help your daughter? I do not know her.’

‘Maria is being held by a man called Rachid,’ Don Pablo said, a look of anger in his eyes. ‘His price for her release was that I should deliver his enemy to him—dead or alive. He would prefer to have him alive, for I believe he has a score to settle with Lorenzo Santorini.’ He smiled cruelly as Kathryn gave a little gasp. ‘Yes, I see that you begin to understand. I asked Signor Santorini for his help, but he would not give it, therefore I have taken you. We shall see what he is prepared to offer in exchange for you.’

Kathryn’s head went up proudly. ‘Why should he offer anything? Signor Santorini is merely a business acquaintance of my uncle. My father might be prepared to ransom me, but Signor Santorini will not be interested in your proposition. You have made a mistake if you believe that he will give into your blackmail on my behalf.’

‘Then I shall offer you to Rachid in exchange for my daughter,’ Don Pablo said. ‘If Santorini will not come for you himself, you may be my only chance of regaining my daughter.’

A thrill of horror went through her. He could not mean it!

‘Surely you would not…that man is a pirate of the worst kind…’

‘I see that you have heard of him, from Santorini, I dare say.’ An unpleasant smile curved Don Pablo’s mouth. ‘No, Mistress Rowlands, I do not believe that I have made a mistake. I think that Santorini will come for you and when he does…’

‘You mean to trap him! It is his life for mine, is that not what you are saying?’ Kathryn felt icy shivers all over her body. It was worse than any of her nightmares. This man was desperate for the return of his daughter. He would stop at nothing to get her back—and that meant he would kill Lorenzo if he could. No, she could not bear it if he were to sacrifice his life for hers. Lifting her head, her eyes glittering with angry pride, she said, ‘You are a fool if you think he will come. I mean nothing to Lorenzo—nothing at all.’ Yet, she was beginning to realise, it seemed that he meant something to her.

‘How could she have been so foolish as to go without the proper escort?’ Lorenzo’s anger was fearful to see and Lady Mary felt quite faint. ‘God only knows where she is now or who has taken her!’

‘But we had our servants to protect us…’