"Pirate or not," Percy said to the captain, obviously troubled, "there will be ramifications for taking this man prisoner. Are you aware Mr. Sabine has any number of connections to the Crown? Including several island governors as well as the commander of the Caribbean fleet?"
The captain scowled. "His connections are all that stopped me from hanging him out of hand. But I doubt that will save him. When Admiral Foley learns of his crimes, I'm certain the order will be given to execute him." Grimly Captain Gerrod looked down at Aurora. "My lady, you would do best to keep away. He is a dangerous man."
She suspected the American was indeed dangerous, but that hardly justified the guards' vicious brutality.
"Oh, indeed," she said scornfully, rising to face the captain from her full height. "So dangerous your crew must beat him senseless, even with him trussed up like a Christmas goose. I quite fear for my life."
Gerrod's lips tightened in anger, but Percy quickly intervened.
"What do you intend to do with him, Captain?"
"He'll be turned over to the garrison commander and imprisoned in the fortress until he can be executed."
Aurora felt her heart clench at the thought of this vital man losing his life. "Percy…" she implored, gazing at him.
"I'll thank you, excellency," Gerrod said darkly, "not to interfere with the performance of my duty. Get to your feet, pirate."
Sabine's lip curled, his simmering hatred of the captain evident in the blistering heat of his dark eyes. But his fury remained tightly controlled as he struggled to his knees.
Aurora helped him stand, lending support when he swayed, and felt her pulse quicken as his hard body momentarily leaned against her. Even bruised and bloodied, the overwhelming maleness of him affected her.
Her cousin must have been reminded of the impropriety, for Percy gently grasped her arm and drew her away. "Come, my dear."
Obviously stiff with pain, Sabine moved toward the wagon. Aurora flinched when she saw the bloody lacerations marring his broad shoulders and muscular back, and again when one of the burly guards grasped his arm and urged him into the wagon.
Helpless, Aurora bit her lip to keep from crying out in protest.
Captain Gerrod gave her a stern glance as both guards climbed in after the prisoner, but he addressed her cousin. "I hadn't planned on escorting the prisoner to the fortress- I should be preparing my frigate to sail for the American seacoast to join the naval blockade. But I see I must, to ensure my orders are carried out to the letter."
"I intend to visit the fortress myself," Aurora threatened rashly, fearing what they would do to their prisoner once they were alone. "If you dare beat him further, I promise you will regret it."
She felt her cousin's fingers tighten on her arm in warning and barely refrained from shaking off his grasp.
The captain gave a stiff, angry bow, and then climbed into the front passenger seat and ordered the elderly black driver to drive on. Aurora and Percy watched as the pair of draft horses drew the wagon away.
"You will not involve yourself further, Aurora," Percy muttered under his breath.
Stubbornly she freed her arm from his tight grip. "You don't condone such vicious treatment, I'm sure of it. If Mr. Sabine were an English prisoner in American hands, you would expect him to be dealt with humanely."
"Of course I would."
"What will happen to him?" she asked, her voice suddenly hoarse.
Percy didn't respond at once, which confirmed her worst fears.
"Surely there will be a trial," Aurora protested. "They wouldn't hang someone of his consequence at once, would they?"
"It may not come to hanging," her cousin answered grimly. "The admiral might very well show leniency."
"And if not? Can you intervene?"
"I have the authority to overrule an admiral's commands, but doing so would perhaps mean the end of my political career. My views on the war are frowned upon as it is. And setting free a condemned prisoner would likely be considered treason. Piracy and murder are grave charges, my dear."
Aurora gazed back at Percy bleakly. "You must at least send a doctor to see to his injuries."
"Of course. I'll speak to the garrison commander myself and see that Sabine receives proper medical care."
She stared into his blue eyes that were so much like her own and could read the concern there-as well as the comment he didn't voice.
What did it matter if Nicholas Sabine's wounds were treated if he shortly was to hang?
Percy's wife was alarmed by the bloody condition of Aurora's gown, but less appalled by the reason than might be expected.
"I don't know that I would have had the courage to intervene," Jane said thoughtfully when she'd heard the tale.
The two women were alone in Aurora's bedchamber. After Percy had escorted her to his plantation home and then left to fulfill his promise regarding the prisoner's medical treatment, Aurora's maid had helped her change her gown and then took it away for cleaning. Lady Osborne remained to get a more detailed, private accounting of the morning's events.
"I don't think it particularly courageous to stop a man from being beaten to death," Aurora retorted, still outraged by the morning's incident. "And my intervention seems to have done little to change his fate."
"Mr. Sabine has prominent family in England," Jane said more soothingly. "The Earl of Wycliff is his second cousin. Besides possessing enormous wealth, Wycliff has always commanded a great deal of power in government circles. He could very well intercede on his cousin's behalf."
"They may hang him long before news of his imprisonment reaches England," Aurora replied darkly.
"Aurora, you haven't developed a tendre for Sabine, have you?"
She felt herself flush. "How could I? I met the man only this morning, and just for a moment. We were not even formally introduced."
"Good. Because frankly he isn't at all a proper sort of gentleman, despite his connections. Indeed, I suspect he is rather dangerous."
"Dangerous?"
"To our sex, I mean. He's an adventurer and something of a rake-and an American, besides."
"Percy called him a hero."
"I suppose he is. He saved the lives of some two hundred planters during a slave revolt on St. Lucia a few years ago. But that hardly makes him acceptable. Common gossip says he is the black sheep of his family who spent his adulthood traveling alien lands and engaging in any manner of wild exploits. Only after his father died did he become the least respectable-and only because he inherited a fortune and took over the family business interests."
"You haven't accused him of being much worse than half the wild young bucks in England."
"He is indisputably worse, I assure you. Otherwise he would never have been accorded membership in the notorious Hellfire League, despite being sponsored by his cousin, Lord Wycliff."
The Hellfire League, Aurora knew, was an exclusive club of the premier rakes in England, dedicated to pleasure and debauchery. If Sabine was a member of that licentious association, he was indeed wicked.
"And you cannot dismiss the fact," Jane added pointedly, "that he is a condemned pirate, with blood on his hands."
Aurora looked down at her own hands. One of her dearest friends, Jane was both attentive and shrewd enough to evaluate a situation objectively – attributes that made her an ideal politician's wife. Percy quite rightly adored her, a sentiment that was wholly reciprocated.
"Aurora," Jane said, "is it possible you've become absorbed with this man to escape your own concerns? Perhaps you are trying to ignore your own plight by involving yourself with a stranger's fate."