Surrender of a Siren (The Wanton Dairymaid Trilogy #2)

“Miss Grayson, please promise me one thing. After tomorrow, promise me you will sit down with Gray and tell him …” Sophia stopped. She had meant to say, tell him honestly what you’ve told me, tell him all yourhopes and dreams. And then listen to him, allow him to explain hisdreams for you, for the family.

But really, there was only one thing Gray needed to hear—and then the rest would fall into place. The same words that could have changed everything for her.

“Tell him you love him,” she said. “He needs to hear it.”

“Of course I will.”

“You must promise me.”

Bel smiled. “I promise you.”

“Good.” Sophia squeezed Bel’s arm before releasing it. Good. A sense of relief descended on her as evening turned tonight. With that promise, she felt a certainty that tomorrow everything would be set right. So long as Gray knew he had his sister’s unconditional love.

Now, Sophia just needed to do her part: making sure he lived to hear it. By the break of dawn, Gray knew he was a dead man. One way or another.

He’d paced the cell’s perimeter all night, his thoughts circling like his feet. She was gone, he knew it. He felt it. It was still within his power to trace her, with ships and men and gold at his disposal. But dead men typically didn’t have those resources.

What was he going to do? He could argue his case, make a defense.

Morally and legally, Gray knew he was in the right. But if Fitzhugh was truly determined to make him an example, the facts mattered little. His fate would already be sealed. And Gray’s fate was not just his, but Bel’s, and Jacob’s, and Joss’s. Could he gamble his entire family’s future on an attempt at freedom, on this slim hope of finding her?

Crouching to the floor, he nudged his brother awake. “Joss. Joss.”

Joss stirred and rubbed his eyes. “What do you want, Gray?”

“I want you to listen to me. I’ve been thinking about this all night. When we

’re in this hearing today, I want you to let me do the talking.”

“Do I ever have a choice?” Joss stretched. “I don’t expect either one of us will be offered much opportunity for speech-making. Don’t count on charming your way out of this one.”

“I’m not planning to charm my way out of anything. It’s your skin I’m trying to save. I mean it Joss, not a word. There are papers, already drawn up in England. The business, the ships—if I die, my will leaves it all to you. There are trusts for Bel and Jacob.” Gray let his head fall back against the stone wall and rubbed his temples. “Had it drawn up the same time as the partnership papers. I was hoping you’d sign them this year.”

“Now I’m awake.” Joss’s eyebrows lifted. “What are you on about? Don’t turn martyr on me, Gray.”

“I can’t risk both of us dying, Joss. Don’t you understand? Where would that leave Bel and Jacob?” Gray rose and began to pace the cell with agitation. “One of us needs to walk out of here alive, for them. I’ve decided to plead guilty in exchange for your freedom, and that of the crew. I’ll say you objected, but I coerced you into engaging the ship. Beyond that … you never boarded the Kestrel, Joss. They’ve got no evidence against you. So just keep quiet and play along.”

“You mean play dumb. You mean play the ignorant Negro incapable of thinking for himself.” He drew his knees to his chest and stacked his arms atop them. “Is that what you mean, Gray?”

“No.” Gray stopped pacing. He looked his brother in the eye. “Yes, Joss. That’s exactly what I mean.”

Joss stared at the floor for a moment. Then he shook his head slowly.

“No.”

“What do you mean, no? You can’t possibly say no.”

“I assure you, I can. And I believe I just did.” Joss stood, brushing his trousers clean as he rose to his feet. “Here, let me demonstrate the possibility again. No.”

“You’d rather hang?” Gray crossed the small cell in two paces, coming toe-to-toe with his brother. “Joss, you have a child who needs you. A sister who needs you. Hell, I’m your brother—and I need you, too. I need you to take care of them for me.”

“I won’t do it, Gray.”

“Damn it. I’d never have dreamed you could be this selfish, to sacrifice your own son’s security for the sake of your pride.”

“It’s not just my pride you’re asking me to sacrifice. It’s my dignity. My humanity, for God’s sake. I’d rather Jacob grow up a pirate’s orphan than the son of a slave.”

“You were never a slave.”

“You know what I mean. I want my son to make his own way in the world, with his own wits and courage. What example do I give him if I swear before God and England that I can’t be held responsible for my own actions?”

Gray turned on his heel and strode to the far corner of the cell. He braced one arm against the wall and covered his face with the other hand, trying to concentrate.