Page 27 of A Rake's Revenge


Font Size:

“Stop blaming yourself for something that did not happen,” Brice said from beside him.

Stephan opened his eyes. “I keep seeing theLady’s bow cutting—”

“That did not happen,” Brice replied.

“If Caroline had not run—”

“But shedid,” Brice finished his sentence for him. “For once, keeping an eye out for a particular female paid off.”

Stephan couldn’t deny he had been looking for Caroline amongst the crowd of ladies whose gowns, bonnets, and parasols made them look like a field of multicolored flowers swaying in the wind. He furrowed his brows. Maybe if he hadn’t been so intent on looking for her he might have seen the tiny craft approaching.

“You are doing it again,” Brice said.

Stephan blinked. “Doing what?”

“Chastising yourself.”

“I am not…” Stephan let his voice trail off. “Well, maybe I am. As captain of my ship, I should have seen any obstacles in its way.”

“There were not any obstacles when I checked. The small flotilla of boys was close to shore,” Brice answered. “With the wind behind us, we had the jibs out wing-to-wing which obscured most of the forward view. Besides that, the other two crew members were looking to port to keep tabs onSea Master. No one saw the skiff on our starboard side because no one was expecting those boys to break away.”

“Thank God for Caroline,” Stephan said. “She was an angel sent from heaven.”

Brice gave him a wry grin. “I doubt anyone has ever attributed angelic qualities to Caroline Nash before. Insubordinate, recalcitrant, rebellious, unruly—”

Stephan scowled. “I thought you viewed Caroline as your friend.”

“I do.” Brice held his hands up in surrender. “Those are her father’s words.”

Stephan’s scowl deepened. “Sir Reginald is an arse.”

“You might want to rethink those words if he is going to be your father-in-law.”

“Father-in-law or not, I will make himeatthose words if he ever uses them around me,” Stephan growled. “Caroline saved the lives of those lads.”

“And all is well that ends well, to quote Shakespeare,” Brice replied. “No harm was done, although I daresay after your little lecture those two rascals will not be venturing far from shore any time soon.”

After his initial shock at seeing the boys so close to theLady, Stephan had reacted as any shipman would by hauling the lads in. Once they’d landed on the deck, all smiles at what they thought was a grand adventure, he’d resisted the urge to apply the bitter end of a coiled line to their backsides. That wasn’t necessary once they heard the string of curses being levied in their direction by the two crew members. Both boys’ faces had gone white, and one wanted to know if they had to walk the plank.

Stephan shook his head. “All I said was that no man should think he can conquer the sea and that it was not wise to tempt Neptune by taking such a risk.”

“It was a bit more than that,” Brice said drily. “You had the lads convinced the kelpies were waiting in the waves to pull them into the murky, dark depths and they’d be stuffed in Davy Jones’s locker after the beasts of the deep finished with them.”

“I wanted to impress upon the boys that the sea brooks no fools.”

“I think you accomplished that,” Brice replied.

“Lesson learned then,” Stephan said.

“More than a lesson, I think. From the way they clung to you when coming ashore, you are their hero.”

Stephan scowled again. “I nearly killed them. I am no hero.”

“Others may feel differently.”

“Caroline is the hero,” Stephan replied. “Not me.”

“Well, you may have some convincing to do,” Brice said.