Free The Diamond King by PATRICIA POTTER Page A

going to their deaths. Captain Talbot stared at his ship.
    Alex’s gaze lingered on Miss Campbell, who sat next to her companion, eyes fixed on the ship they were leaving. For the first time, he saw uncertainty in her face, even as she sat primly, her hands clasped in front of her.
    Still, she reached over and patted her companion and whispered something to her. Something, he was sure, reassuring.
    Bloody hell, he didn’t want to admire her, but he did. Not a word of complaint, not like the others.
    Just outrage.
    She wasn’t afraid of him. Nor had she looked away from his face.
    Those two facts intrigued him. Far more than they should.

Chapter Five

    Her skirts soaked and leaden and her hair coming loose from the knot she’d forced it into before donning a bonnet, Jenna climbed up onto the
Ami
without help.
    The
Ami
. What a deceptive name for a ship with so many guns and fierce-looking seamen. One offered her a hand, but she refused it.
    She’d tried to hide her fear in anger. She was certainly not going to let the pirate captain think she feared him, even when she did. She did take satisfaction in the fact she’d sewn her finest jewels in the hem of her dress just before the ship was boarded.
    He looked like the devil with the scar across his face, and the smile that was no smile at all but a permanent twist of his lips, and dark blue eyes that seemed to burn all the way through a person. She struggled to hide the chill that danced down her spine despite the late afternoon sun.
    Her captor’s speech was that of a gentleman even as his actions were that of a bully and brigand and thief and only God knew what else.
    His scar itself did not repel her. Surface appearances had nothing to do with character. But his ruthless and contemptuous manner along with his actions definitely marked him as a very dangerous man.
    A dangerous man was often an unpredictable man.
    She waited until poor Celia climbed the rope and held her hand out to her. Her maid’s face was even paler than it had been this morning. The faces of the other passengers ascending were the same. Despite the pirate’s words, none of them really believed he meant them no harm. He had fired on a peaceful merchant ship. They had been fortunate that no one had been wounded.
    She watched as the others clambored aboard, the pirate captain being among the last of them.
    She didn’t see any of the seamen from the
Charlotte
. They must have all been taken below. Captain Talbot stood near her, as if offering what protection he could.
    As the privateer captain gained the deck, his gaze bored into hers as if he were looking into her soul and finding every piece of it. She shivered in the warmth of the day, aware of how she must look with her wet clothes and flying hair and probably a hat as crooked as Mr. Turvey’s wig.
    It wasn’t that she cared about impressing the villain, but neither did she want to be at a disadvantage. It was more than a little difficult to maintain dignity when one looked like a half-drowned chicken.
    But she tried. She drew herself up to her full height, the top of her head barely coming to his chin. She held on to Celia’s hand, ready to do battle for her if needed.
    She glanced around the deck. It was badly splintered near the hatchway. Splotches of blood darkened the wood. Someone on the ship had been hurt in the exchange of fire. What would that mean for Captain Talbot?
    The pirate captain was talking to a member of his crew. Suddenly, he turned back to the small huddle of passengers, his gaze colliding with hers as if her thoughts had summoned his attention. Just as abruptly, he turned away, seeming to dismiss her as unimportant.
    “We do not have space for females,” he said. “The three ladies will share my mate’s room. The other passengers can sleep in the same quarters as the crew. The
Charlotte’s
crewmen will be quartered in the brig.”
    “I object to those arrangements. I want my wife with me,” the plantation owner