Free Rake Beyond Redemption by Anne O'Brien Page B

to the beach, tacking against the push of the wind. Zan leapt down into the shallows, turning to lift Marie-Claude, lifting her high to set her down on the dry shingle.
    ‘Go on. I’ll help George to pull the Spectre up. Then I’ll come to you.’ Zan pushed her gently in the direction of the harbour wall. ‘I’ll join you. You were a magnificent sailor.’
    He watched her plod determinedly up the shingle.
    He turned back to his cutter, only to find George looking askance at him—and cursed himself silently for allowing his inexplicable feelings to be quite so transparent.
    ‘Well?’
    ‘Hope you know what you’re doing, y’r honour.’
    Zan tensed at the implied criticism, but refused to be drawn. ‘By God, I hope I do. When did I ever not? I’m no victim of blind chance, as you well know, George.’
    ‘As you’d like to have some of us believe, sir.’
    ‘What am I supposed to understand from that masterly statement?’ Zan asked, not entirely pleased.
    ‘Nothin’, y’r honour. Just that you might think as you can pull the wool over the eyes of them as knows you best, and has an affection for you. But you can’t. Some of us is too old to be fooled. Some of us would say you don’t deserve the reputation you’ve chosen to carry on your shoulders—’
    ‘No! Enough!’ Zan snapped, suddenly aware of the direction the old fisherman’s accusation was heading.
    But George Gadie was in full flow and fierce scowl.‘Some of us’d say you should come clean and put the blame where it lies. No one who knows you could possibly think you’ve sold your soul to the devil, no matter what you told Miss Harriette and her Earl. And some of us—’
    Zan’s hand flashed to grip George’s wrist. ‘And some of us should keep their mouths shut,’ he snarled. ‘D’you understand me?’
    ‘Aye. I understand right enough. But it’s not right…’
    ‘I don’t care, George. You’ll say nothing at this moment. I don’t want to hear even a hint of what you’re thinking. If I do—you’ll have me to deal with.’
    ‘As you say, Mr Ellerdine.’ George was in no way put out by the threat. ‘But Mistress Marie-Claude…I just think she deserves—’
    ‘I know what you think. Don’t say it.’
    George sniffed. ‘Not my place, sir. It’ll all end badly if you keep it secret. Mark my words.’
    ‘I will. But I’ve set out my path and I’ll tread it to the bitter end.’
    ‘And pray God we all comes out of it in one piece, sir!’
    They beached the Spectre in sullen silence. Zan felt the weight of George’s warning, but he would not think of it. He would hold to the false promise of the future for just a little while. And at least pretend that Marie-Claude had a place in it.
    The cutter firmly beached at last, Zan made his way over the shingle to where Marie-Claude sat on the seawall. Seeing her smile as he approached, he thrust all doubts aside. Although he bowed formally, a deliberately elegant and courteous little gesture entirely out of place between two windswept figures on a seawall,his eyes spoke his feelings. His mouth on her proffered fingers sent a thrill through her veins.
    ‘George Gadie has just warned me off,’ he announced.
    ‘Mr Gadie disapproves of me spending time with you,’ she agreed.
    ‘I can imagine.’ Zan pushed himself up on to the wall beside her.
    ‘Will you tell me why?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘You might run away from me. How would I live, how would I breathe and my heart continue to beat when I have only just found you?’ Keeping a charade of light flirtation, he set himself to preserve the pleasure of the afternoon.
    ‘I think you would live very well. I dare say you have a score of pretty women laying their hearts at your feet.’
    ‘Only a score? I think you underestimate my attractions.’
    ‘No. I do not. Do I not see them before me?’
    His eyes lifted to hers, their focus suddenly sharp.
    ‘There’s only one heart I’m interested in owning,’ he