Free Gallant Rogue (Reluctant Heroes Book 3) by Lily Silver Page A

hair and his stark black clothing. Elizabeth stood beside him with her brilliant red hair peeking out beneath a wide brimmed straw bonnet, her arm linked in her husband’s as she waved to Chloe. The three oldest children accompanied them but had been ordered to stay on the wharf as their parents went aboard to say their private goodbyes. Shawn and Sebastian, the twins, resembled little sticks with flaming red head tips. They were tall, gangly boys, full of mischief and adventure. Cherie left her brothers. The child was sobbing. She pressed against her father’s leg, hugging him about the waist, seeking comfort. It pained Chloe to see the child so distraught by her departure. Count Rochembeau crouched down and embraced his darling, attempting to console her with a hug and soft words.
    Memories of her own papa emerged as she watched the count try to comfort his little girl. How sweet Papa’s comforting embrace had been when she was Cherie’s age; how solid his arms were. Chloe had always felt safe within his strong embrace and nothing could trouble her when he was near. She hoped Cherie’s childhood would never be ripped asunder by loss of her papa. Without a father’s protection, the world could be a cruel place for little girls.
    Beyond the Beaumonts, the tropical landscape of lush emerald green foliage hung heavy with grey mist. The white plantation house was nestled on the hill like a jewel in a crown. Chloe had never left the island, save for brief visits to the main island of St. Kitts with Elizabeth to shop. Now, she was about to sail across the sea to a new land.
    For an instant she wished she could call a halt to these mad proceedings she set in motion. She wished she could shout to the captain to stop hauling anchor and spreading the sails, as she had changed her mind and wished to stay where she was safe and dearly loved.
    It was not the right course to back down now. If she stayed she would always wish she had clutched at her courage and made the journey to her father’s homeland. She would always long for the distant shore. At least in going she would know she tried to change her destiny, tried to grasp at life and wring from it a small measure of happiness.
    The die was cast. She was for Spain.
     
     
    Jack spent close to an hour watching the lovely woman on the deck stare wistfully toward the disappearing horizon and her home. He decided it was best to stop gawking at her and returned to his cabin to study his charts and write in his log.
    He removed his blue seaman’s jacket and loosened his collar as the weight of responsibility closed in upon him. His ship sailed under English colors. Jack was taking a great risk by traveling to a land allied with France. The French and the English were always at odds over something, even before Napoleon arrived on the scene. The English navy had taken the offensive, attacking the French at Algeciras in 1801 and at Trafalgar in 1805.
    The English fleet engaged the French several times in the past decade, each time striking them along the Spanish coast and forming blockades to keep the French from gaining the sea through Gibraltar and preventing them, in theory, from being able to send forces to attack English shores. The French responded by setting up encampments at Calais, across the channel from Kent. Their bold maneuver forced the English to set up watch-towers and dig trenches along the coast in the event the French launched an invasion through eastern shores.
    On the surface, it seemed a simple task his friend had entrusted him with: drop the woman off at Cadiz, Spain and wave her merrily on her way to a bright future with her new family. Nothing was ever be as simple and uncomplicated as one planned.
    Mrs. O’Donovan had not had contact with her father’s family since her father died, some twenty years ago. The wealthy uncle could be dead. He may have gone abroad. He might have a passel of children and resent his niece arriving on his doorstep and expecting a