Free Capturing the Pirate's Heart (The Emerald Quest Book 1) by Annie Seaton

yawn to show his
disinterest in her physical attributes. “Then perhaps you could begin by
telling me your name and why you felt the need to hide yourself in my cabin. It
appears to have been a matter of some urgency?”
    She folded her arms and he
avoided looking down at her breasts. “I was not hiding in your cabin. I was
running away from my Uncle Titus.”
    “Why? Was he cruel to you?” Or
God forbid, worse than that .
    She shook her head. “No. Not by
his hand, but I do not agree with his actions over the past six months, so you
could perhaps call that cruelty.”
    Sébastien stood and walked to
the side of the cabin to lean on the side of the hull, his hands laced behind
his back and his head bowed. Her words echoed those of Lisette ten years ago.
    Lisette had bowed her pretty
blond head while she had told him of the cruelty of her father in not bowing to
her will when he refused to approve their marriage. He would not let her have
her own way and she too had rebelled. But her father had been right and if they
had not been so young and foolish, they would have heeded his words, and
Lisette would still be alive.
    Perhaps they may have married,
perhaps not. They had been far too young to make a decision about their future. Lisette had
been naïve, and he had been a cocky and randy young man. A pretty face and a
soft body had tempted him and she had died because of him.
    Sébastien didn’t think of
Lisette often now and that realization brought a rush of fresh guilt to his
chest. He had loved her in his own way, but it had been an immature love which
would surely have blown itself out like a storm at sea. He now had the opportunity
to assuage that guilt. This young woman, who looked across at him, her eyes
beseeching him, would be kept safe from harm by the lessons Sébastien had
learned in the past.
    “So, Madame, can you at least
tell me your name?”
    “I am Madeleine Bellerose of Bellerose
Hall in Derbyshire in England.”
    Yes, wealthy and spoiled, just
like Lisette.
    “And why are you are travelling
with your uncle on a ramshackle old British frigate?”
    Madeleine relaxed her shoulders
and let out a soft sigh. “My uncle is a member of some anti-slavery or
missionary society, or some such, and we are travelling to the West Indies. We
had free passage because he took the position of chaplain on the frigate.”
    “Yet, I am none the wiser as to
why you are with him?” Sébastien’s resolve was firming. Even if he had
witnessed her uncle beating the young cabin boy, it was understandable. This
young woman had been in the man’s care and he thought he had lost her.
Sébastien could fully understand, and sympathized with the man’s predicament.
    “My family was killed in a
carriage accident. My father, my mother, and my only brother are gone. Uncle
Titus took over the family estate and dismissed the staff and made me accompany
him to the West Indies.”
    “I cannot see what is wrong with
that and why you felt you must escape. Surely someone must take care of you?”
    Madeleine slipped her bare feet
over the side of the bed and stood straight, her hands placed on her hips, as
if to emphasize her words. “Why? I am quite capable of taking care of myself
and running the family estate. You think because I am a woman, I cannot do
that?” Twin spots of color rose on her cheeks and her voice rose higher. “And
he has had the temerity to organize a marriage for me! I had to escape.” She
sniffed and wiped the back of her hand over her nose and Sébastien smothered a
grin. A mannerism he would not have expected from a lady, more from a young
child. Sympathy tugged at him and he pushed it away. Her presence on his vessel
was problematic for him and he would not be taken in by her feminine wiles.
    “If Uncle Titus wanted to travel
to some godforsaken part of the world and minister to heathens and save slaves,
he did not have to drag me along. I am more than capable of looking after
myself.”
    Sébastien’s