The Bartered Bride (Bride Trilogy) Read online

  Gavin exhaled roughly. “I hadn’t thought of this from a woman’s point of view.”

  She remembered that ethereal girl with the shimmering smile. Helena had been born to love, and she’d given herself willingly. She’d chosen well, too. Alex wished that Edmund had loved as deeply as Gavin, and been as true to his marriage vows.

  She shivered a little, thinking the wind was getting cooler. “Your Scottish vicar grandfather deserves credit for instilling integrity and honesty, but you’re not responsible for all the world’s ills, Gavin.”

  “The captain of a ship is responsible for all that happens aboard. It’s a hard habit to break, but…I’ll try.”

  “Remember Helena happy. That was the truth of your marriage.”

  There was a long silence while the ship rose and fell, occasional sprays of water spattering them, until he said quietly, “Thank you, Alexandra. Are you always so wise?”

  She was glad she’d been able to help, but honesty compelled her to say, “When I think of Katie, I’m not wise at all. Do you think we’ll find her?”

  “It’s hard to say. Kasan said she was sent to the harem of the Rajah of Sukau. If she’s still there, we’re in luck. Suryo investigated, and the rajah is elderly and well respected.” Gavin glanced at her. “Rajah Fahad is also the father of Kasan’s chief wife.”

  “You mean Katie might have been sent as a gift to Kasan’s father-in-law?” Alex said, appalled.

  “Probably. It suggests that Kasan is more involved with the pirates than he would admit publicly.”

  She swore under her breath. “The man is a monster. I wish you could have broken his neck.”

  “He certainly made our lives difficult, but as Oriental despots go, Kasan is relatively enlightened. There are lurid stories of his personal life, some of which are probably true, and his people don’t have the rights that Englishmen or Americans do. Still, he doesn’t usually slaughter his own people out of hand, and he doesn’t tax them into starvation. Maduri is strong and independent and likely to stay that way.”

  She remembered the strange, tense bond between the men. “You admire him.”

  “Some,” Gavin admitted. “But I surely don’t want to work for him. He has too much power, and that makes him dangerous. Rather like my idea of a mad English duke.”

  Alex thought of the English dukes she knew, who were actually a civilized lot, but she was willing to grant Gavin his republican principles. Power could indeed corrupt. “As long as the Rajah of Sukau isn’t cruel or mad. How long until we reach Java?”

  “Three or four days, if the winds hold.”

  “Then what? How does one approach an Oriental despot and beg for a favor?”

  “After we clear Sukau customs, I’ll send Suryo to the palace with the fanciest gift on the Helena. I have a French clock that looks as if it were stolen from Versailles. Very impressive, and it should demonstrate we’re rich enough to be worthy of the rajah’s notice. Suryo will ask for an audience. Then we wait.”

  “I’m not good at waiting, but I suppose I’ll manage.” She closed her eyes and prayed. A miracle had brought her out of slavery. Now she needed another.

  Chapter 12

  Sukau on Java

  “HIS MOST Gracious Majesty, the Rajah of Sukau will see you now.” The chamberlain gestured for Gavin and Alex to come with him.

  As they followed the chamberlain down a breezy passageway, Gavin studied his companion from the corner of his eye. Recurring seasickness had made her even thinner than on Maduri, and three days of waiting in Sukau harbor had her vibrating with tension. Yet her weight loss emphasized the elegance of her bones, and she glided through the palace with the grace and dignity of a queen.

  During the passage from Maduri she’d sewed industriously and now wore a European style gown. With her dark hair pinned up, she looked every inch an English lady. Very different from Alex in sarong and gilded chains, which made it easier for him to suppress the carnal thoughts that had haunted him ever since their forced intercourse. Hot, vivid memories shamed him—but he was unable to banish them from his mind or his restless, haunting dreams.

  He wrenched his mind away from that, thinking it would be more appropriate to pray they’d find Katie here. Failure would crush Alex.

  No, nothing could crush Alex. She’d continue her search until she succeeded or died trying. She was worthy of her warrior ancestors.

  The chamberlain led them through a small chamber with doors on each end. They stepped through the second door into an immense aviary. Gavin caught his breath in amazement. The aviary had been designed as a woodland glade, with a stream running across one corner. Waterfowl splashed happily while brilliantly colored parrots and songbirds squawked and fluttered from tree to tree. The French gift clock stood on a mahogany pillar, a bird of paradise perched on top, preening its gaudy feathers.

  The sight was so dazzling it took him a moment to focus on the elderly turbaned man who sat in a tall, lacquered throne in the center of the room. A canopy protected the chair. From its peak a drab bird sang a hauntingly beautiful song.

  Certain the elderly man was Rajah Fahad, Gavin bowed deeply. “Your Majesty, we are honored to be admitted to your presence.”

  The rajah made a dismissive gesture. In his hands he held a small white dove that was almost invisible against his white beard. “You interest me, Captain Elliott,” he said in heavily accented but fluent English. “Your gift was magnificent. What magnificent favor do you want in return?”

  The rajah’s directness was surprising but welcome. “My companion, Mrs. Warren, is an English widow of high birth. While sailing from Sydney to London, her ship was attacked by pirates. She and her daughter were captured, and the child taken away from her.”

  The rajah turned his gaze to Alex. “The lady was enslaved?”

  They’d discussed whether or not she should speak for herself. The fact that the rajah was acknowledging her presence gave Alex leave to plead directly. “Yes, Your Majesty. I was freed by the intervention of Captain Elliott, and now I seek my daughter. We were informed that she was sent to you as a gift.”

  She dropped to her knees and bent to touch her forehead to the marble floor in a Chinese kowtow of absolute submission. Looking up again, she said beseechingly, “Please, Your Majesty, if you can help me find her, you shall have my gratitude forever.”

  He studied her face, his bony fingers stroking the white feathers of the dove. “There are many children in my women’s quarters. What does your daughter look like?”

  “Katie is almost nine years old, with long blond hair and blue eyes like mine,” Alex replied. “She was taken from me half a year ago.”

  The rajah gestured for her to stand and beckoned his chamberlain forward. After a low-voiced exchange, the chamberlain left.

  Languidly Fahad raised the dove, which took flight from his palm. On its breast was a scarlet circle the color of blood. “My sacred doves are said to be very rare. Do you have them in your country, Captain?”

  “Not that I know of, Your Majesty.” Gavin indicated the aviary. “Nor have I seen a sight to match this. Surely paradise can hold no greater beauty.” A small bird landed on his shoulder and pecked on a gold braided epaulet, pausing occasionally to regard Gavin with bright eyes.

  Amused, Gavin fell into a discussion of birds and natural history with the rajah. Alex waited quietly, outwardly calm but hands knotted at her sides. A sacred dove approached and pecked at the hem of her gown. She flinched, startling the bird. Gavin worried that she might shatter during this last, excruciating wait. Or perhaps she might explode and shatter Sukau. Hell hath no fury like a frantic mother.

  Behind them came the sound of an opening door. Gavin glanced back and saw that the chamberlain had returned with a heavily veiled woman and child. Gavin’s heart sank when he saw the girl. She was about the right age, but surely that demure, submissive figure couldn’t be the daughter of a woman like Alex.

  Alerted by instinct, Alex whirled, her face light
ing with joy. “Katie!”

  “Mama!” Demureness vanished as the girl shrieked and raced across the aviary, startling birds into whirling clouds. As she ran, her veil and headdress fell away, revealing shining blond hair and an exquisite, miniature version of Alex’s face.

  They met in the middle of the aviary. Alex dropped to her knees to catch her daughter close, crying, “Katie, Katie, my love,” as tears streamed down her face.

  Gavin’s throat tightened as he watched the reunion. His daughter Anna would be of similar age and coloring, but the thought didn’t sting as it used to. In his mind was an image of Helena and Anna laughing together in a heavenly meadow, the child grown to the size she would be if she had lived. Alex’s words the night they left Maduri had given him that peaceful vision.

  Speaking through her tears to the rajah, Alex said, “The lost has been found, Your Majesty. I am penniless now, but if you will trust me, I shall send a ransom fit for a princess if you will let me take my daughter home to England.”

  “There is no need for that, Mrs. Warren. It is not right for mother to be separated from child. Go with my blessing.”

  As Gavin bowed and thanked the rajah, he thought with stunned disbelief that it couldn’t be this easy. Granted, he’d sent a lavish present and the rajah had a reputation for fairness and decency, but could recovering Katie Warren really be so simple?

  It was.

  Alex accompanied her daughter and the veiled escort back to the women’s quarters so Katie could collect her few possessions and say good-bye. She was bemused to hear Katie chattering in fluent Malay. From the hugs and flowing tears of the rajah’s women, Katie had been a favorite, and clearly well treated. Gavin had been right that her daughter could have lived here happily. But, thank the Lord, that wasn’t necessary.

  As they left with their guide, Alex carried a bag of Katie’s possessions in one hand while Katie clung to the other. Though Katie had chattered nonstop since their reunion, she fell silent after they left the women’s quarters. Concerned, Alex said, “Are you all right, Katybird? It must be hard to leave the friends you made here.”

  Katie nodded. “I won’t ever see them again, will I?”

  Alex winced at the sadness in her daughter’s voice. Less than a year ago she’d lost her Australian friends, too. “Probably not, sweetheart. Home is on the other side of the world.”

  “Can England be home when I’ve never been there?”

  It was a good question. Alex thought before answering. “Home begins with family. When you meet your grandparents and cousins, England will begin to feel like home. You’ll make new friends, and this time they can be friends for a lifetime.”

  “I’d like to have forever friends,” Katie said wistfully.

  Alex tightened their handclasp, vowing that her daughter would never have to suffer such drastic losses again. “It’s hard to lose people you care about. I was terrified when the pirates took you away.”

  Her daughter looked suddenly older. “I was frightened, too, Mama. I…I thought I’d never see you again.”

  How long had Katie lived in terror before being put into friendly hands? Swallowing the lump in her throat, Alex said, “That might have happened, if not for Captain Elliott.”

  “The man who was with you in the bird garden?”

  “Yes, he’s a sea captain. He found me on the island of Maduri and obtained my freedom.” Which was all Katie ever needed to know about her mother’s enslavement. “He’ll take us on his ship all the way to England.”

  When they reentered the aviary, Alex gave Gavin a nod to say that all was well. He turned to the rajah, who now had a scarlet parrot on his shoulder. After more bows and flowery thanks and farewells, the foreigners took their leave.

  As they walked through the palace, Alex introduced Gavin to her daughter. Katie said gravely, “Are you a Dutch sea captain?”

  “No, I’m American,” he replied with equal gravity.

  “Good. I don’t like Dutch sea captains.”

  The comment was another mark of the fear Katie had experienced in the pirate raid, because she had liked the Amstel captain well enough at the time. On the voyage home, Alex must draw her daughter into discussing what had happened. She was young; with luck she’d soon forget the worst parts.

  A pity adults didn’t forget so easily.

  Katie loved their cabin. Excited by the drama of the day, she bounced around the room, admiring the books and furnishings. “This is ever so much nicer than the Amstel.”

  “That’s because Captain Elliott gave us his own cabin.” Alex relaxed in a chair, her gaze following her daughter’s movements around the cabin. She’d grown noticeably in the last months. She wasn’t such a little girl anymore, but Alex was so happy that it was easy to swallow her regrets for the time together they’d lost.

  Katie ran her fingertips over the leather bindings of a shelf of books. “The captain likes you.”

  Alex felt a flutter of nerves, as if Gavin had made an advance. The thought was both alarming and…gratifying. Reminding herself not to read too much into a child’s casual comment, she said, “I’m very fond of him, too. He has been all that is kind.” Wanting to forestall more comments about Gavin, she continued, “We’ll start your lessons again tomorrow morning. I hope you’ve not forgotten everything you ever knew about French and numbers and globes.”

  Katie stared at her, appalled. “Lessons again so soon?”

  Alex almost laughed at her daughter’s dismay. “Well—perhaps we’ll take a day or two of holiday. Don’t look ill-used—you’ve always enjoyed your schooling.”

  “One can’t admit that,” Katie said, voice prim but eyes dancing.

  “Did you have lessons in the palace?”

  “Yes, but not numbers or French or books. Yasmeen, who looked after me, taught me Malay. All of us girls had lessons in dancing and singing and how to behave like Island ladies.” Gracefully Katie began the precise, delicate movements of a Sukaun dance. “I liked the dancing. They said I was good.”

  “I’m sure you were.” Alex watched, impressed and a little uneasy at more proof of how adaptable children were. How many years would it have taken Katie to become a Sukaun girl, her English heritage almost forgotten? Hugging her daughter, she said, “I’ve missed you so much, Katybird. So terribly, terribly much.”

  “I missed you too, Mama,” Katie whispered. “I told myself I must be brave and not cry, but sometimes I couldn’t help it.”

  “Neither could I.” Alex found tears in her eyes again, and didn’t even bother to feel guilty over her lack of control.

  Despite her joy, that night Alex was jerked from sleep by nightmares, as she was most nights. She awakened sweaty and gasping and nauseated. Though her mind knew she was free, that didn’t stop panic from flooding every particle of her being. Fear of captivity. Fear of losing the world she knew.

  Fear of rape.

  Careful not to wake her sleeping daughter, she slid from the bed and went to one of the windows that overlooked the wake of the ship. Opening it brought her fresh air, and she’d found that watching the horizon helped control seasickness.

  The night air and the horizon that divided the ocean from sky helped settle her churning stomach, while repeating fiercely that she was safe and free gradually slowed her hammering heart. Wearily she wondered how long the nightmares would last. She was only a week out of slavery. Surely time would diminish the night terrors.

  Quietly she returned to the bed. Katie, at least, suffered no nightmares. The innocent curve of her cheek and the soft rhythm of her breath soothed Alex as nothing else on earth could have. She was so lucky. So incredibly lucky. So full of love she had no words to describe it. She brushed a kiss on Katie’s forehead. “Rest well, my darling.”

  Then she lay back on her pillow and forced herself to relax until she drifted once more into restless sleep.

  Despite nightmares, the next days were the happiest time Alex had known since she’d married and left her parents’
home. As Gavin had promised, the crew enjoyed having a child on board, and Katie was the ship’s pet. She and Gavin became particularly good friends, for he always listened to her with the attention he gave adults.

  At first, Alex worried that Gavin would find it painful to be around a child the age of his lost daughter. Instead, she sensed that he found it healing. He and Katie had an easy relationship very different from the one Katie had had with her father. Though Edmund had loved his daughter, he’d never known quite what to do with a lively little girl.

  After two days of holiday, Alex fulfilled her threat to resume teaching. Gavin’s books and maps were good sources for reading and arithmetic and geography, and Katie ate her lessons up like a hungry puppy. She’d always been a good student, and her sojourn in another culture had increased her appetite for learning.

  One daily assignment was for Katie to start a journal of her Indies experiences. Besides offering writing practice, the entries gave Alex the details of her daughter’s life in captivity. (“Sukau has many ways of cooking rice. I like peanut sauce and nasi goreng.”)

  It was a relief to read confirmation that after the first wrenching shocks, Katie had settled down comfortably in her new world. There should be no future nightmares, other than the fear of losing her mother, which kept Katie close now. Alex didn’t mind—they both needed that closeness. By the time they reached England, they should be capable of a more normal existence.

  She was ready for that. Lord, was she ready!

  Chapter 13

  AS THEY anchored in the harbor of a small island to provision before crossing the wide expanse of the Indian Ocean, Gavin saw Alex and Katie hanging on the railing, watching raptly as praus skimmed around the Helena with islanders offering food and other wares. He smiled at the sight. Alex was like a girl herself these days. Though still too thin from captivity and not yet in full possession of her sea legs, there was a radiance about her that was irresistible. Katie had some of that same glowing quality. When she grew up, she’d be a stunner.