Gregory, Lisa (49 page)

Matthew
stepped inside the door and closed it. He leaned back against it for support;
his head was spinning and he felt weak; every breath hurt.

"So
you recognized me," he said.

"Not
at first," William said, "but later I remembered."

"Are
you going to kill me?"

"Not
unless you force me to. I plan to take you to the authorities. You are an
escaped prisoner and a spy."

"Saboteur,"
Matthew corrected, calmly wiping the blood from his forehead with one arm.

"Then
that explosion I heard was your doing?"

Matthew
smiled faintly. "Your new ironclad."

"Captain
Hampton, please unbuckle your gunbelt and drop it. And your knife, too; I have
heard you carry a knife."

"I
am afraid I left my knife behind; I was rather in a hurry." Matthew
dropped his gunbelt as he studied the lieutenant's grim face. No chance of
mercy from that one. His only hope was to shake him up and make him drop his
guard. He curled his lip in contempt. "You are a fool not to kill me. I
would if the situation were reversed."

"I
am sure you would." Perkins rose. "However, I plan to take you to
headquarters."

Matthew
shrugged. "Have you seen Katherine today?"

For
an instant fear flickered in Perkins's eyes and Matthew smiled. "No, of
course you haven't. She is not at home, you see." Casually he crossed the
room and sat down at the table.

"What
are you saying?" Perkins said grimly.

"Just
that she is someplace else, waiting for me. I imagine she will get rather
impatient when I don't return, especially since she is tied to the bed."

Matthew
saw the hand holding the gun tremble a little. Good; he was hitting home. If he
could just manage not to pass out before his chance came.

"Damn
you, Hampton, if you have touched her, I will kill you."

"But
then how would you know where to find her?" Matthew grinned mockingly.
"I suggest a more reasonable approach to the problem: an exchange. I give
you the girl, and you give me my freedom."

William
was silent, studying him.

"Of
course, I shall be sorry not to have her on my trip home," Matthew
prodded. "She was an amusing little chit. Always gave you a nice little
romp in bed."

"Shut
up."

"Ah,
but I forgot; you wouldn't know about that, would you? You were always too much
the gentleman, weren't you? Shall I tell you what it is like?"

"Shut
your filthy mouth, you son of a bitch!"

Matthew
shrugged. He was afraid he could not even stand up, let alone overcome a man
with a gun. His vision kept blurring and he felt on the verge of losing
consciousness.

"All
right," Perkins said, more quietly. "Take me to her and I will let
you go."

Suddenly
the door burst open and Katherine pelted into the room, crying, "Matthew,
are you—"

She
stopped dead at the sight of Perkins holding a gun on Matthew. "Oh, my
God!"

"Katherine!"
William looked at her. Normally Matthew would have seized the opportunity and
gone for Perkins's gun, but he had barely staggered to his feet before
Perkins's gaze was back on him.

"Matthew,
what happened to your head? Are you all right?"

Hampton
slumped back into his chair. "You chose a damned inopportune moment to
show up, Katherine. I had just told your friend here that I had you tied up
somewhere."

"Katherine,
you are all right?" William asked anxiously.

"Of
course I am. Why shouldn't I be?"

"He
said—"

"Oh,
he was lying to you; he is very good at that. William, what are you
doing?"

"I
am about to take him back to headquarters. Hampton, get up and turn around.
Katherine, can you tie him up?"

"Well,
of course I can, but I am not going to. William, you cannot do this. They will
hang him."

"It
is better than what he deserves."

"Your
friend has a refined sense of honor, my dear. He plans to let the government
wreak his revenge for him," Matthew sneered, and Perkins glared at him,
stiff with rage.

Katherine
could feel the animal hatred stretching between the two men, the tension
palpable in the air.

"Matthew!"
she snapped. He seemed to be goading Perkins, as if he wanted to drive him to
violence. "You are in a pretty poor position to be hurling insults. William,
please listen to me. Please, don't send him to his death. Please. He saved me
once—more than once. He brought our ship through a terrible storm and then
another time he rescued me from a brothel."

"Katherine!"

"I
couldn't tell you, William; I am embarrassed. But it is true. If it weren't for
him, I would be dead by now, probably."

"If
it weren't for him, you would not have been in danger in the first place,"
Perkins retorted. "Katherine, you are too softhearted. Why should you care
what happens to him? He kidnapped and raped you. Why do you want to save
him?"

"Because
I love him!" she flared. She swallowed hard at the stricken look in his
eyes. Softly, she continued, "I am sorry, William, but it's true. That is
why I could not marry you; I had fallen in love with him."

William
stared at her in shocked disbelief, and her voice dropped to a whisper:
"Please, I know how awful you must think me, but if you ever had any love
for me, please don't kill him. I would die if they hanged him."

"Goddam
it, Kathy, don't beg him for me," Matthew said harshly.

"Then
you went with him willingly?" William forced out the words, his voice
tortured.

"Never!
She never came to my bed willingly. I forced her every time." Matthew
pulled himself out of the chair.

"Matthew,
for God's sake, would you be quiet!"

"No,
I will not. I won't have you debase yourself to this—"

"Matthew,
you are out of your head. Please sit down and keep your mouth shut before you
get yourself killed. William, please, please, for my sake."

"All
right," William said tiredly. Katherine felt tears start at seeing the
pain and contempt in his eyes. "I will leave you to him. I won't tell
anyone who he is. My ship leaves tomorrow, so you need not worry that I will
change my mind. I wish you luck, Katherine."

He
left the room and Katherine turned to Matthew, tears streaming down her face.

"He
is a fool," Matthew rasped. "I would have killed me in his
place."

"Oh,
shut up!" Katherine snapped. "Not everyone is as primitive as you. He
is a fine gentleman."

"Then
why didn't you go with him if you admire him so much?"

"Because
I love
you,
damn it," she shouted.

He
smiled weakly. "Kathy, my love, come here. I am afraid I cannot—" He
sat down heavily.

"Matthew!"
She flew to his side.

He
had fainted, and his face was ashen. She grabbed a cloth and poured water on it
and cleaned his wound, a narrow furrow along the left side of his head. Now
what? She could not let him remain here. Soon they would be bound to suspect
Commander Forrest, especially when he did not show up at work the next day, and
then they would come here looking for him. But even when he came to, he would
be in no condition to travel. She had to find someplace where he could
recuperate. Certainly she could not take him to a hotel looking like this. The
only thing she could see to do was to take him back to her room.

"Matthew,
wake up." She shook him and dabbed at his face with the cold, wet cloth.
"Matthew, please."

His
eyelids fluttered open. "Kathy," he said thickly. "So damned
noble, I could kill him."

"Matthew,
please, I know it is hard, but you must get up and come with me. We have to
leave; you must not black out again or we are both ruined. Do you
understand?"

He
nodded and his eyes grew clearer. "I understand. I am sorry, Kathy. Help
me up."

She
pulled him to his feet and put her arm around him to support him. He winced at
her touch.

"Side
hurts," he explained. "I think I broke something. I fell several
feet. Maybe I have a concussion, too. God, my legs feel like rubber."

"Lean
on me; I'll try not to hurt your side. And please don't pass out."

It
seemed to take hours to get home. Matthew was sometimes alert and able to walk,
at other times he slumped against her so that she had to lean against a wall to
keep them upright. But the people they passed seemed to assume that he was
drunk and left them alone. When they reached the Van der Vries house, she
stopped, nonplussed. How on earth was she to get him up to her room? If they
went in through the house, they would surely awaken the entire household—but
neither was he fit to climb the tree.

"Matthew,"
she whispered.

He
mumbled incoherently against her neck. "Shot him. No, not really. If you
asked for him, I'd have given him to you."

"Matthew,
please listen. Please wake up."

He
smiled at her glassily. "Only I'd-a kept you—bargain, you see. 'Cause I'm
not noble."

"I
know that. Listen to me, Matthew. Can you climb that tree? We either have go to
in the front and not make a sound—or climb that tree. Do you understand?"

"Yes."
He struggled to clear the fog in his brain. "I can climb it."

"Are
you sure? Perhaps we should hide you in the gardener's shed."

"I
can climb it." He looked at her, his gaze clear and sharp.

"All
right. Then quick, before you pass out again."

He
pulled himself up, smothering a cry at the sharp stab in his side. She hiked up
her skirts and followed him. He climbed quickly and surely and crawled out the
limb to her window. For a moment the world began to swim before his eyes and he
clung to the branch, but then it passed and he swung onto her windowsill.
Katherine scrambled in after him. Matthew looked at her bared legs and smiled.

"How
very improper, Miss Devereaux."

"Well,
I can see you are all right," she snapped.

"But
of course," he said, smiling, and then quietly fainted.

Katherine
caught him before he fell and eased him onto the bed. She tore a petticoat into
strips and bandaged his head, then cautiously felt his ribs. It seemed to her
that some were broken, but she did not quite know what to do about it. So she
just took off his shoes and pulled the covers over him. Then her knees gave way
and she sat down quickly in a chair.

She
was awakened by Pegeen's horrified whisper, "Oh, Miss Katherine, whatever
is going on?"

Katherine
blinked at her, trying to collect her scattered wits. Pegeen locked the door
behind her and hurried over to the chair where Katherine had fallen asleep.

"Oh,
God, I forgot to lock the door," Katherine groaned, and repressed the
hysterical laughter trying to bubble out.