"Because I don't want him to have too much of a head start."
Surprise flickered in his expression. "Would you care to elaborate?"
"I wanted him to go to Maui, but he wouldn't do it. He sailed for Boston at midnight. From there he'll make his way to France."
"Indeed," he murmured. "Now, why did he do that?"
"Raoul Cambre."
His expression hardened. "Ah, yes, like to like. He went running to beg help from his fellow conspirator."
"He's not like that man," she said fiercely. "And he didn't go for help. He went to see if he was wrong in his judgment of Cambre. He wanted to know if-" She broke off as she saw his skeptical expression. She would never be able to convince him of anything he didn't want to believe. "What difference does it make why he went? You don't care."
"But I do care where he's hiding. Where in France?"
"I don't know."
"But you have an idea."
"Perhaps." She had pitifully few scraps of information garnered from that long-ago encounter with Cambre, and only one name-Jacques-Louis David. She was not even sure the artist was still alive. "Perhaps not."
"Now the pertinent question. Why tell me anything at all?"
"Because I couldn't afford to have you waste time here when we could be on our way to France."
He didn't speak for a moment. "We?"
She took a deep breath and then said in a rush, "I'm going with you."
His expression remained impassive. "I don't believe you were invited. Why should I be interested in taking you with me?"
She had known he would ask that question and was prepared. "For the same reason you were keeping me prisoner here. I'd be a hostage to draw my father into your net."
"My, how accommodating you've become. You're now willing to be bait for the trap?"
"No, I'll escape at the earliest opportunity. I'm merely telling you what advantage you'd see in taking me. I didn't say that it would be a true advantage."
He looked taken aback, and then the faintest smile quirked his lips. "I see. You wish to use me and then flee."
She nodded. "Few ships stop here, and it might be months before I'd be able to follow my father to France."
"And why would you want to follow him?"
"I don't want my father destroyed. I don't trust Cambre."
"Nor me."
"Of course not."
"So you intend to save him from both of us." He shook his head. "You won't succeed."
"I will."
"Shall I let you try?" He tilted his head as if to consider it. "Untie me and we'll discuss it."
She shook her head.
"Why not?" he asked softly. "If your father has really left the island, then you have nothing to fear."
"Not until dawn. I want to make sure he's well away before I let you go."
The answer clearly did not please him. "I dislike intensely being bound like this," he said through his teeth. "I have no fondness for feeling helpless."
She could see he didn't. A man of his control would hate being robbed of it, but it was the strength of his response that she found most unusual. He appeared to resent the ropes more than the drugging. "At dawn."
"No, by God. Now. I won't-" He broke off as he saw her stubborn expression. "I could cry out and bring the guards from the garden."
"And I could put your pillow over your face and smother any sound." She added desperately, "I wouldn't want to do it, but you would force me."
"I seem to be the complete villain. I force you to poison me and then to smother me."
"Not you, only any sound, and I did not poison- But you are a villain."
"I certainly can be." He leaned back on the pillow. "You have no idea of the scope of my villainy. But I believe you may have the opportunity to learn."
Her heart gave a leap. "You'll take me with you?"
"Oh, yes." His blue eyes glinted recklessly in the moonlight. "If Deville is on his way to France, then I definitely need a hostage."
"I've told you the truth."
"Or you could be leading me away from him the way you did on the mountain."
She sighed resignedly. "You're going to waste time questioning the islanders."
"Forgive my suspicious nature, but I'd be a bit foolish to trust a woman who has deceived me, drugged me, and threatened to smother me."
She frowned. "I suppose you're right."
He gazed at her in astonishment, then started to laugh. "Suppose?" He looked down at his bound wrists, and his smile faded. "I'm going to remember this, you know. I'm a man who believes in revenge."
She moistened her lips. "I'd be a fool not to realize that fact by now."
"I'm going to sit here and look at these ropes…" He raised his eyes to her face. "And I'm going to think of all the ways a man can make a woman helpless. I know a great many, Cassie. Shall I mention a few?"
She felt heat burn her cheeks. "No."
"You prefer to be surprised?"
She didn't answer.
"It's very unwise of you to go with me. I have no intention of treating you with honor. Do you understand?"
"I have no choice. I have to go with you."
"Do you understand?" he persisted.
"I'm not stupid. You mean you intend to rut with me."
"At the earliest opportunity."
"Because you wish to punish me."
"Partly." His gaze roamed from her face to her breasts. "And partly because I've wondered how tight you'd feel around me since the moment I saw you on the beach."
She felt the muscles of her stomach clench, and for a moment she was robbed of speech.
He looked down at the cords around his wrists. "It would go easier for you when we come together, if you'd take these off. They make me angry and I'll remember, Cassie." His gaze lifted and he said softly, "I'll remember how helpless I feel and the frustration and the rage. Believe me, you don't want that."
"It's not going to happen. I won't let you-" She met his gaze and shook her head. "And I won't take off the ropes. Not until dawn."
"As you like." He closed his eyes. "But I believe you'll regret it."
Silence. No sound but the night birds in the trees. It seemed impossible, but she thought he had actually fallen back asleep. How could he relax when she was so tense she felt as if she would break apart with every breath?
"He's not worth it, you know."
She jumped, her gaze flying to his face.
His lids had lifted to reveal those cold eyes. How foolish to believe he might have been asleep. He had only been trying to subdue his frustration and gathering strength for another foray. He added roughly, "He's a coward and a murderer. Forget him. Stay here in this tropical Eden and raise your goddamn horses."
"He's not a murderer. He couldn't do anything like that."
"Not by his own hand. I told you he was a coward. Judas. How many pieces of silver did he receive, Cassie?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"I mean Danjuet. What else could I mean? Why did he-" He broke off as he saw her expression. "My God, you don't know. He didn't tell you."
"I'm sure there was nothing to tell."
"Christ, he didn't tell you." He laughed incredulously. "He let you risk your life on that mountain, and he didn't bother to tell you why."
"He would have told me," she defended. "There wasn't time."
"Fourteen years."
"He wanted to put everything in France behind him." She added quickly, "But not because he did anything wrong."
"You don't believe that."
God's will.
She tried to block out her father's words. She could not believe him capable of any real sin. "It's not possible. He's kind and gentle."
"Judas."
"No!"
"I saw him." His tone was relentless. "I know it."
"You're mistaken."
"How can you judge when you don't know anything about Danjuet. Shall I tell you?"
"I wouldn't believe you. It would be lies."
"I don't lie." He smiled crookedly. "And unlike your dear father, I think it only fair you know the man for whom you're staking so much."
Is he a just man? her father had asked her.