Sarah Westleigh - Seafire.pdf - Sarah Westleigh - SilverWitch

seafire[070-3.8]

By: sarah west leigh

Synopsis:

"How dare you?" Miranda snapped.

"You ... you ... abominable creature!

dare you suggest that I?

How

"I suggested no such thing," retorted Adam, all innocence. "I merely

remarked--'

"I know what you said! You have no need to repeat your insulting

remark! I could do many things--I could become a nanny, or a

companion, or ... or..."

"Has your invention run out?" enquired Adam kindly. "You could, I

suppose, find work in a laundry, or a shop, or even in a tavern... Have

you ever done a day's work in your life, Miss Dawson?"

Sarah Westleigh has enjoyed a varied life. Working as a local

government officer in London, she qualified as a chartered quantity

surveyor. She assisted her husband in his chartered accountancy

practice, at the same time managing an employment agency. Moving to

Devon, she finally found time to write, publishing short stories and

articles, before discovering historical novels.

Recent titles by the same author:.

THE OUTRAGEOUS DOWAGER FELON'S FANCY ~

CHEVALIER'S PAWN

A LADY OF INDEPENDENT MEANS ESCAPE TO DESTINY ~

A MOST EXCEPTIONAL QUEST HERITAGE OF LOVE

LOYAL HEARTS

SET FREE MY HEART

THE INHERITED BRIDE

SEAFIRE

Sarah Westleigh

DID YOU PURCHASE THIS BOOK WITHOUT A COVER? if you did, you should be

aware It is stolen property as It was reported unsold and destroyed by

a retailer. Neither the Author nor the publisher has received any

payment for this book.

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the

imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone

bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired

by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents

are pure invention.

pan in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with

Harlequin Enterprises H B. V. The text of this publication or any part

thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,

storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the

written permission of the publisher.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of

trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated

without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or

cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar

condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent

purchaser.

MILLS & BOON, the Rose Device and

LEGACY OF LOVE are trademarks of the publisher. Harlequin Mills & Boon

Limited,.

Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 ISR

ISBN 0 263 79761 9

Set in 10 on 12 pt Linotron Times

04-96O9-78217

Typeset in Great Britain by CentraCet, Cambridge Printed in Great

Britain by

BPC Paperbackz Lul

CHAPTER ONE

MIRANDA gazed dolefully after His Majesty's' ship Othello as she heeled

with the wind, ploughing her way across a heaving Atlantic lit by the

red glow of the setting sun and diminishing in size with every moment

that passed. Soon, despite her age, the damage she'd suffered and the

long tendrils of weed growing on her bottom to slow her down, only her

depleted pyramid of sails would be visible as she rose on the crest of

a wave. Then they, too, would sink completely out of sight, taking

with them her last link with home, family and everything familiar.

The raised voice of the second lieutenant brought her attention back to

the great cabin of the American frigate Seafire, where the surviving

officers of the Othello were, like herself, confined. ~

"Stop snivelling, Mr. Welland!" snapped Mr. Piper. "You are in no

worse case than the rest of us! The Americans probably treat their

prisoners of war better than the French!"

Miranda rose from the cushions covering the locker beneath the ship's

stern lights and moved over to the youngest of the Othello's

midshipmen, a skinny lad of only twelve, making his first voyage. His

eyes were fixed on the streaks of blood drying on his white duck

trousers and she felt sympathy rise up in her on a tide of

indignation.

"He is only a child!" she protested to the grim-vis aged officer who

had spoken.

"As a young gentleman he is training to be a King's officer! He must

learn never to show fear! He should take his example from Mr. Keeper,"

retorted the lieutenant, indicating the other midshipman present, at

fourteen an insensitive boy and a bit of a bully, who smirked.

Miranda put her hand on Will's shoulder. "The worst is over now," she

consoled him softly, ignoring the lieutenant's exasperated grunt of

"Women!" "We have been fed. The captain will not ill-treat us, I

think."

He 'had a hard face," the captain of the Seafire, cold, slate-grey eyes

and a square, uncompromising chin. Despite the lines of experience

etched on his weathered face he looked young to be in command of a

frigate.

He had ignored them since sending them across in a ship's boat under

marine guard. Apart from his servant, a tall, broad-shouldered black

man who had brought them their food, crouching to avoid the low beams

overhead, the scarlet-coated marine sentries at the door were the only

persons they had seen since being thrust into the cabin.

"But Tom Bright was killed," gulped Will, trying to stifle his sobs. "I

was standing right by him when he fell." He sniffed before adding in a

barely audible voice, "Captain Blackmore and Mr. Stannard are gone,

too."

Will had been carrying a message up from the lower gun deck to the

quarterdeck. Otherwise he would have been below when disaster had

struck, when the heavy balls of the frigate's broadside had smashed

their way, one after another, through the back of the Othello and

along its length, to cause chaos on the two gun decks and to wreck the

quarterdeck.

Their own guns had scarcely been fired; only the two aimed astern had

caught the agile enemy in their sights. Mr. Piper, the second

lieutenant, the most senior officer left alive and therefore in

command, had surrendered almost immediately.

The American, she thought angrily, was an inferior warship. The

Othello, with her two decks of guns, should have been able to defeat a

mere frigate. But for that unlucky shot which had killed Captain

Blackmore, the arrogant Captain York--for that was the Seafire's

'captain's name--might now have been the one to be confined, aboard the

Othello.

The thoughts raced through her mind as she squeezed Will's shoulder. "I

know they are," she told him sadly, setting the frightening memories

Sarah Westleigh - Seafire.pdf

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