The Duchess's eyes were hard. "I shall take care of Mademoiselle Groliere. In my own way. But you, Ian, if you ever hear anyone repeat such a rumor, you will insure his silence. You will take every means necessary to keep this secret secure."
Sir Ian bowed but did not reply.
"I think we all understand each other, then. Do I have your word, gentlemen, that you will do as I have bidden you?"
"Naturally."
"Of course, Your Grace." Jeremy tried to match the composure of the others.
"Thank you. Of course there will be no mention to anyone of any of the incidents that have apparently kept too many people awake for too much of this night." She hesitated for a second, and when she spoke again her voice was warmer. "We will say no more. Sir Ian, I bid you good night. Milord, be good enough to accompany me to my stateroom, for I wish a few more words with you before I retire."
Without waiting for a reply she started out of the door and down the passageway. Jeremy had no choice but to follow her, and as he did so he had to crowd past Sir Ian. The Scotsman did not budge, and Jeremy squeezed between him and the table. But neither man glanced at the other, and neither spoke.
The Duchess was speeding down the narrow passage, and before Jeremy could catch up with her she had entered her stateroom. When he came in she was seated on the edge of her bed. "Shut the door, please," she directed, and Jeremy complied, then waited, not knowing what to say or do next.
Only two candles were lighted, and it was not easy to read her expression as she studied him. Both were silent, and there was no sound but the creaking of the ship's ropes as they strained against the wind. Caroline brought the brief period of uncomfortable waiting to an abrupt end. "You are a fool— milord," she said.
"It is plain that I have displeased you, Your Grace." Jeremy was feeling his way cautiously, and he flinched whenever she referred to him as a lord. "But it was in your interests that I tried to prevent murder "
"I have requested you never to mention that topic again!" she declared imperiously. "And I call you a fool because you serve neither your interests nor mine. It was only a short time ago, in this very chamber, that I tested you before others. You behaved commendably, so I tried to help you. Knowing you were not Terence Bartlett, I did what I could in a subtle way to indicate that you must be wary. I have known from the very start that you are not Bartlett. I had investigated him thoroughly, and you neither resembled him nor acted as I had been assured he would act. Yet you have persisted in blundering tonight, and either you or my valued chamberlain would now be dead if I had not intervened."
"It would have been he, not I, Your Grace."
"Don't interrupt. You may speak when I give you leave, but only then." The flickering beams of candlelight showed enough to indicate that her blue eyes were cold. "You are apparently not one to whom subtleties can be entrusted. That is most unfortunate—for you. Your very life depends on the cunning you will demonstrate when we arrive in Jamaica.
"I do nothing without purpose. And realizing that you are an adventurer, I permitted you to accompany me aboard this ship, for I thought you might serve me more faithfully than the intoxicated oaf who happens to be nephew to the governor general at Port Royal. Do you follow me? You may speak now."
"I—after a manner of speaking I understand you, Your Grace. But you've been calling me 'milord'—and you told Sir Ian that I'm a noble who is traveling incognito, and
Caroline's high, trilling laugh was startling in the pre-dawn silence. "You are even less intelligent than I suspected. Master Whoever-you-may-be! Naturally I was forced to dissemble, for Sir Ian would have demanded that you be punished as an impudent, fraudulent mountebank had he realized that your true identity is unknown to me—and that you are, as I suspect, an ambitious and incautious person of no significance."
"You do my ancestors and my personal background an injustice. Your Grace." It seemed increasingly likely that Caroline was not going to have him imprisoned, and Jeremy was beginning to breathe more freely, to think more rapidly. "It so happens that I am the son of "
"Never mind. I have no interest in your antecedents." The Duchess waved a slim hand airily. "All that concerns me is your future. And that future belongs—to me." She stopped and permitted the full meaning of her words to sink in. "You will continue to masquerade as Terence Bartlett. You will serve me faithfully and well; you will follow my every command to the letter; you will be loyal and steadfast. On pain of death."
Chapter Five
WITH EACH passing day the weather grew balmier as the Bonnie Maid plowed through the open seas of the Atlantic into the comparatively sheltered waters of the placid Caribbean. And with each passing day Jeremy knew—with increasing certainty—that he was helpless, that he had played into the hands of the Duchess Caroline, and that a refusal to do her bidding in any matter large or small might well result in his execution. He cursed himself for the impulse that had led him to assume the identity of Terence Bartlett and cursed Caroline for being so astute and clever. It was at best a distinctly uncomfortable sensation to know that he was a mere pawn in the hands of a woman as beautiful as she was powerful and that she could use him as she pleased, then reject him, even crush him, if he failed to obey or if he gave too little satisfaction in whatever tasks might await him.
It was no consolation either to learn that Janine Groliere had been rewarded for her perfidy in having denounced him to Sir Ian MacGregor; the red-haired wench had been made lady in waiting to the Duchess, and when he saw her at Caroline's daily levees, calmly accepting the flirtatious advances of the gentlemen, yet carefully remaining in the background in order not to detract from her mistress, he wanted to slap her pretty mouth.
Thinking now about Janine Groliere as he stood on the deck and watched the sea in the cool of the late afternoon, he began to grow angry again, and his leather heels clicked vigorously on the pine boards. Though he vaguely realized his attitude was somewhat unfair, he nevertheless placed full blame on Janine for the untenable spot in which he found himself. Although the Duchess had known from the start that he was an impostor, she had not openly recognized the fact until Janine had disclosed the secret to her dour chamberlain. That she had chosen to impart her news to Sir Ian was doubly galling, for his hatred of the Scotsman grew as his feelings of impotence expanded.
"Master Bartlett." A soft, slightly husky feminine voice sounded directly behind him.
He turned quickly and found himself facing the very person of whom he had been thinking with such intensity, Janine Groliere. There were no combs in her gleaming red hair, which hung in loose curls, and she was wearing a muslin dress of delicate green, cut low at the neck, with a tight bodice and full, calf-length skirt. Obviously she had done considerable needlework since her appointment as lady in waiting in order to make her clothes conform to the Duchess's fashionable attire.
Jeremy allowed a frozen, polite smile to touch his lips. "Your servant, mademoiselle," he said curtly.
"I—I've been hoping for an opportunity to speak to you privately." The color was high on her cheeks. "Finding none, I have had to make one." She paused, watching him anxiously for some faint sign of encouragement.
But the young gunsmith did not unbend. "Very well. Now you have found me. There is some message Her Grace wishes you to deliver to me?"
"/ wish to see you, Master Bartlett. This is no concern of the Duchess, I assure you."
"Say your piece, then, mademoiselle. I was enjoying my solitude and you have disturbed it."
"For that, I humbly beg your pardon." Janine's eyes were pleading with him, though she managed to control her voice. "But I—I cannot talk here, in full view of all who may appear. I—this is most embarrassing for me to say, and I hope you will not misunderstand me. But I—I would be most grateful to you if you would join me in my cabin in a few moments' time. If you are a gentleman, if there is within you any feeling of kindness or pity or sympathy for others, you will heed my request."