Free Natalya by Cynthia Wright Page B

adjusting the sails, he called in French, "I'll take the rudder and direct our course."
    Drawing a ragged breath, Natalya found that she could scarcely speak. "How...?"
    "I bribed him, naturally," Grey told her, with a thin smile. Borrowing her hat, he rose to a crouch and turned the rudder, his eyes fixed on a distant schooner that flew the Union Jack. "I told him that I'd come ashore to fetch my French wife, and now I had to get you safely back to my ship. It was a plausible enough lie, and considering that I was asking him to break the law, it at least allowed him to accept my proposition in exchange for a generous sum of money. Obviously, M'sieur Oiseau's boat is about to sink, taking with it his livelihood, so he has decided that God sent me as his salvation."
    In a state of crazed exhaustion, Natalya almost began to laugh. "I cannot believe this is happening! Dear Lord, if Uncle Nicky could see me now—"
    "I'd rather not think about him at the moment, if you don't mind," Grey replied, with exaggerated irony. "He'd have my head if he had any idea what transpired at the inn."
    "You mustn't blame yourself," she protested. "Just the opposite, in fact. You saved my life."
    Grey stared at her with intense silver-gray eyes. "My dear, it was my fault that your life and your honor were in jeopardy at all. That cursed monster should never have gotten close enough to touch your sleeve, let alone—"
    "I suggest that we forget about it," Natalya broke in firmly. "In fact, I insist. I'm far too ravenous to argue about something that is already a memory."
    M'sieur Oiseau appeared before them and held out a pottery jug.
    "Water!" she exclaimed. "How thirsty I am!"
    "Let me be your taster," Grey said. Lifting the jug, he swallowed, drank more, then handed it to Natalya with a grimace. "It's calvados. Or, the cheap equivalent. It's bad, but it is wet."
    Laughing, she drank deeply and felt the strong cider spirit spread its warmth through her tired body. Almost instantly she was swept by a wave of giddiness. Before Grey could stop her, she had turned and risen on her knees to look over the stern, back at the shore. On the verge of waving, she froze at the sight of Auteuil, his auburn hair a banner at the forefront of the crowd. Grey turned to pull her back down, but not before he, too, beheld the narrowed eyes of his nemesis. Could Auteuil really have spotted him? he wondered.
    Natalya was startled by the fleeting look that crossed Grey's face. Was it fear? "We're safe now, I'm certain of it," she said impulsively, covering his big hand with her own. "He can't pursue you any longer."
    St. James nodded slowly. "Is that possible?"
    * * *
    "Good God, it's Captain St. James!" The first lieutenant of the Essex leaned over the quarterdeck rail and stared in disbelief at the dilapidated fishing boat. "Is that you, sir?"
    "Yes, Harrington, it is I," Grey shouted.
    The young man turned around, calling, "Captain, come immediately! It's Captain St. James!"
    Moments later the plump face of Grey's old friend George Bumblethorpe appeared high above the water. Resplendent in his red and white uniform, Bumblethorpe gaped at the sight of his fellow captain in the Royal Navy. He could smell the old fishing boat from the quarterdeck, and a pale, shabby-looking St. James stood in the middle of that dubious vessel flanked by a grimy old man and a girl in baggy breeches. After a moment Bumblethorpe regained his voice and exclaimed, "God's eyes, man, let's bring you aboard!"
    Grey laughed. "Old boy, I thought you'd never ask!"
    Before he and Natalya were transferred into a longboat that could be hoisted up, Grey turned and gave the old fisherman a handful of coins. "You have my sincere gratitude, m'sieur."
    Oiseau grinned, revealing a gap in front where several of his teeth were missing. "I was glad to help." He held out a folded pamphlet and said enigmatically, "Chateaubriand speaks for me as well."
    Natalya was feeling exceedingly dazed, thanks to Oiseau's