Sons of Liberty (11 page)

“
I need to take a walk,” she said, as the dinner came to an end. “Would you care to accompany me?”

“
It would be my pleasure,” Fredrick said. He held out a hand and Raechel took it, feeling oddly guilty. “Shall we walk the deck?”

Darkness was falling over the convoy as they walked onto the deck, broken only by lights mounted at each end of the vessel. Overhead, the stars were starting to come out, twinkling merrily in the dark sky. Fredrick had told her that sailors could navigate by the stars, but Raechel found it hard to believe. She’d never been encouraged to study astronomy when she’d been a little girl.

She looked at Fredrick, standing next to her, and felt another pang of guilt. But she knew what she had to do. “I’m not looking forward to New York,” she said, as a conversational opener. “It’s nothing like London, is it?”

“
It’s very different in many ways,” Fredrick said. He hadn't let go of her hand. “What do you want to do when you’re there?”

“
I’ll probably be kept in the house,” Raechel said. “Lady Irene took me as a favour to my family, but she doesn't have any obligations beyond escorting me to New York. I don’t know anyone there.”

“
You know me,” Fredrick said. “I should be around.”

Raechel looked at him. “I thought the convoy was going back to Britain,” she said. “Isn't it?”

“
The freighters will be, once the next set of escorts is assembled,” Fredrick said. They reached the railing and stared into the darkness. Faint lights bobbled in the distance, marking the position of the other ships. “I’m not so sure about the warships, or the troopships. We were told to assume that we would be spending a year on station.”

Raechel glanced at him. “Is that normal?”

“
I spent two years in the West Indies, once I was commissioned,” Fredrick said. “There weren't any steamships on station, not back then. We sailed around the Caribbean, chasing pirates and smugglers while keeping a sharp eye on the French. One of my commanding officers even insisted on surveying the waters around Cuba, in preparation for the war.”

“That must have been grim,” Raechel said.

“
It was,” Fredrick said. “The weather was hot and moist, disease spread rapidly ... going on shore leave was a good way to wind up on medical leave. And most of the planters wouldn’t give us the time of day. I think they were deeply involved with the smuggling trade.”

Raechel frowned, unsure how to proceed. “What do you think will happen in New York?”

Fredrick smiled. “I don’t know for sure,” he said. He wrapped an arm around her, very gently. “We could die tomorrow, you know.”

“
I hope not,” Raechel said. She leaned into his arm as cold air blew across the water. “What do you think will happen?”

“
The real problem with moving troops and supplies around America is the sheer size of the territory,” Fredrick said. “There’s a railway between New York and Amherst, but it isn’t large enough to cope with military supplies. I think we’ll be moving the troopships south, after we’ve had a chance to rest and exercise the horses. Amherst isn’t the closest place to the French, but it has the best seaport.”

He paused, his arm tightening slightly. “Unless Colonel Jackson wants to try to land near New Orleans,” he added. “The French must have similar problems of their own.”

“I see,” Raechel said.

She looked up at him and found him looking back at her. He was learning forward, very slightly ... it would have been easy to draw back, but instead she allowed him to bring his lips to hers and kiss her. Irene had been right, she realised, as the kiss deepened. Once she’d grown used to male company, it was easy to let herself kiss other men. His breathing quickened, deep in his throat, as he pulled her into a tight embrace, his hands running down her back. He was inexperienced, part of her mind noted. His touch was rougher than it needed to be.

And how far, she asked herself, does he expect to go?

She felt ... cold. There was none of the thrill of doing something she knew would horrify her aunt, there was none of the delight of doing something that would upset society ... even the prospect of being caught by a wandering sailor didn't excite her. She could feel his excitement, pressed against her body, but ...

Fredrick let go of her and jumped backwards. “My Lady ...”

Raechel turned sharply, then felt a wave of Déjà Vu. Gwen was standing there, looking ... shocked.

“
Return to your duties,” Gwen ordered, coolly. It wasn't her job to issue orders onboard ship, but Fredrick didn't look as though he wanted to dispute it with her. “Raechel, come with me.”

Chapter Nine

Gwen fought hard to keep her anger under control, but it was difficult. She’d expected better, somehow, after Raechel had matured in Russia. She wasn't the girl Gwen had plucked from the arms of Captain Parker, her dress around her waist and his hands on her breasts, not any longer. And yet, Gwen had caught her with the First Mate! Didn’t Raechel have a lick of sense?

“
Tell me,” she said, once they were in her cabin with the door firmly closed. “What were you thinking?”

Raechel met her eyes. “I was thinking that I was doing as I was told!”

Gwen blinked. “By Irene?”

“
Yes,” Raechel said. “She wanted me to see what I could coax Fredrick into telling me.”

“
I see,” Gwen said, finally. Unfortunately, she believed Raechel. Seducing someone to learn his secrets was precisely what Irene did, among other things. “And did she tell you the dangers?”

“
I’m not going to get pregnant,” Raechel protested. “You warned me about that, didn't you?”

“
Your reputation will also be dented,” Gwen pointed out. “And that could harm you in the future.”

Raechel glared at her. “And what if I decide I don’t care?”

“
You do not have the luxury of putting your reputation aside,” Gwen said. She could do it, if she had any ladylike reputation left after dressing as a man and doing a man’s job. Raechel, without magic and the ward of a powerful family, had far less freedom. “And what would it do to him?”

She sighed, feeling her head start to pound. “What will you say to him when he asks you to marry him? Or when his family goes to your uncle and asks for your hand in marriage?”

“
I will say no,” Raechel said. “Does it matter what we do together?”

“
It might,” Gwen said. “What happens if he tells everyone what you did together?”

She ground her teeth in irritation. A man could have a dozen lovers, if he wished; he could go to a brothel, lure the maid into bed or even keep a mistress. No one would care, even if he had a whole secret family of bastard children. But a woman? A woman had to guard her chastity - and then her virtue - with care, knowing that one slip would mean disgrace and utter ruination. Fredrick Hauser would be believed, she was sure, because Lord Standish’s enemies would want to believe him. And Raechel’s life would come to an end.

“I don’t think he would,” Raechel said.

“
Men have done stupid things before,” Gwen pointed out. How many problems had she had to solve, as Royal Sorceress, that started with one of her magicians doing something stupid that involved a woman? “If he wound up so angry, so hurt, he might lash out at you without thinking about the consequences to himself.”

If indeed there were any consequences, she added, silently.

“Captain Parker understood,” Raechel said, sullenly.

“
Captain Parker was at least a decade older than you,” Gwen said, remembering the airship captain. She had no idea what had happened to him, after they returned from Russia. “I don’t think the First Mate is more than a year or two older than you.”

She shook her head. “It’s madness.”

“
Irene told me to do it,” Raechel said. “And I did learn something useful ...”

Gwen snorted. “Useful to whom?”

Raechel glared. “And you have been talking to Colonel Jackson!”

It took all of the mental discipline Gwen had mastered, over a year of dealing with men who thought she was too young or too female for her job, to keep from slapping Raechel as hard as she could. How dare she? She liked talking to Jackson, but she wasn't inclined to see him as a potential husband.

“
Colonel Jackson and I,” she said with icy calm, “have not been alone together. I have not been to his cabin and he has not been to mine. We have never put ourselves in a compromising position. You, on the other hand, were seen leaving with Fredrick by everyone at the dinner table! They will believe, I am sure, that you and he did compromise yourselves.”

“
I’m going to have a word with Irene,” she added, before Raechel could think of a cutting response. “And you are going to stay here until I do.”

Raechel nodded, shortly. Gwen eyed her for a long moment, hoping that Raechel would have the common sense to do as she was told, then turned and stalked out of the cabin. It wasn't a long walk to the cabin Irene and Raechel shared, but she dawdled, deliberately, to get her temper under control. Irene could probably sense her anger from the other side of the ship, if she happened to be letting her talent run wild. She’d probably want to keep an eye on Raechel and Fredrick from a distance.

She tapped sharply on the door, then opened it. Irene was sitting at her desk, reading one of the innumerable files Gwen had passed to her. She looked up as Gwen entered, her eyebrows rising in silent inquiry. Gwen felt a touch on the outskirts of her mental defences, a questing tendril trying to sneak into her mind. She pushed back, tightening her defences, as she closed the door. Irene should know better than to try to read her mind.

“
She was kissing Fredrick when I found her,” she said, without preamble. Irene would know what she was talking about. “Did you put her up to it?”

“
She needed to practice,” Irene said, flatly. There was no hint of guilt in her voice. “Did you have a few words with the young man?”

“
I told him to go back to his duties,” Gwen said. She kept her anger firmly under control, knowing that it would damage her shields if she allowed it to run free. “What were you thinking?”

“
I was thinking that Raechel needed to practice,” Irene said. She rose, slowly. “Or did you imagine that she would be able to remain ... unsoiled by the gritty realities of the job?”

Gwen glared at her. “And her reputation?”

“
Doomed,” Irene said. “I imagine it won’t be long before her reputation is tainted, no matter what happens. She can either marry and live a blameless life or work for the Crown. If the latter, people will start to question her sooner rather than later.”

“
You were tainted from the start,” Gwen snapped. It wasn't fair, but she was past caring. “I don’t think she’s tainted ...”

“
She surrendered her virginity two years ago, shortly after she entered the care of her aunt and uncle,” Irene said, coolly. “Since then, she has had sex with five other men, all members of her outlandish club. She has also gone very close to crossing the line with a number of other men and two women. Her reputation has only survived, I suspect, because of her uncle’s power. Very few people would dare to whisper about his family without real proof.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Or do you feel that lower-class women are tainted from birth?”

Gwen recoiled, honestly shocked. She’d known that Raechel had a taste for male company - it had been obvious from the first day they’d met - but she hadn’t realised just how far Raechel had gone. She had to have been mad. A pregnancy would have been utterly disastrous, proof that she’d jumped well over the line. Even if she’d been raped, after being beaten into submission, she would have been blamed. Far too many men believed it was impossible to rape a virtuous woman.

“I didn't know,” she stammered, finally.

“
Of course not,” Irene said. “You didn't want to know.”

She cleared her throat. “I repeat my earlier question,” she said. “Do you feel that lower-class women are tainted from birth?”

“
No,” Gwen said. She wasn't entirely sure where Irene came from, but she rather doubted Irene had been born an aristocrat. Singing on the stage was a profession that was firmly closed to anyone above the middle classes. “But Raechel ...”

“
Needs to understand just what she’s getting into before it’s too late,” Irene said, firmly. “Or what’s getting into her, for that matter.”

Gwen blushed. “You are not to order her to have sex with anyone. Or to use her wiles to manipulate people.”

Irene quirked her eyebrows. “You mean, not to do what women have been doing since time out of mind?”

“Explain,” Gwen ordered.

“
You know as well as I do that men have all the power in the family,” Irene said. She shrugged, meaningfully. “What little power women have is only theirs as long as the men are prepared to allow it. There are very few legal protections for women - and if they don’t have powerful families who are prepared to back them up, they’re in trouble. Women have been learning to manipulate men since Adam and Eve. It’s the only way to protect themselves.”

“Perhaps, if women weren't so vindictive to their fellow women, they would find it easier,” Gwen snarled.

“
But a woman who stands outside convention is a threat to her fellow women,” Irene said, tartly. Her face shadowed for a long moment. “You know what happened in Bohemia, Lady Gwen.”