The Care & Feeding of Pirates Read online

Christopher gave the Starcross to Manda, and she sailed off in it to find a place where she could marry her Mr. Henderson. Henderson had shaken Christopher's hand in genuine friendliness, given Honoria a good-bye kiss on the cheek, then slid his arm around Manda's waist and walked away with her.

  Christopher watched them go with some sorrow, but he was glad that his sister had found a taste of the happiness that Christopher had. And she'd be back. She and Christopher still shared a bond that nothing could break.

  Christopher took Honoria to a coastal Carolina town not far from Charleston and bought her a fancy house, a fancy carriage, and fancy gowns.

  They lived near an isolated beach and took endless walks up and down the warm sand--and used the stretch of sun-warmed sand for other activities as well. At last Christopher did get to see his wife run, leaving her dress behind, while he pursued her down the wide beach.

  The first child they had was a little girl, followed by a boy, and then another girl. Christopher taught them how to sail a pirate ship, how to find and board a prize, and how to sell the booty. He held them on his knees while he told them tales of his adventures, and they clamored for him to take them to sea, so they could have adventures of their own.

  They took the children to Charleston for holidays, where they became close friends with their cousins--Isabeau, growing into a charming young lady, and toddling Paul. Grayson and Alexandra and their growing family--two more girls added to Maggie, the twins, and the youngest boy, came to visit often.

  Manda and Henderson joined them whenever they were in port. After the first couple of years, they brought with them a lovely boy and girl with Manda's black skin and Henderson's straight bearing.

  Christopher loved the chaos and warmth, and he also liked that he, James, Grayson, and Henderson could sit on the veranda in whatever house they chose to meet, and tell stories of their youth--without rancor, without battle.

  The four of them had seen much, and now they were ready to let themselves relax with the love of their wives and family to bolster them. Ardmore, in particular, had softened in an amazing way.

  Honoria wrote a book about her adventures with Christopher--in it she explained to young ladies what they could expect from a pirate with whom they might find themselves involved.

  She recorded what pirates liked and disliked, how they behaved, the words they used and what they meant, what kind of ships they sailed, and the kinds of treasure they preferred. She described what pirates expected from their wives, and why their orders should not always be obeyed.

  Honoria had conferred with Christopher on the title, and they decided to call it The Care and Feeding of Pirates.

  The little book sold thousands of copies up and down the coast and as far away as England. It was read by the ladies in London who enjoyed Alexandra's soirees, and smuggled into young ladies' finishing schools in Charleston. Diana and Alexandra each made sure to acquire a copy.

  Christopher read bits out to Honoria one evening as they lazed on the beach, their children playing in the sand not far away. Then Christopher held the book out of Honoria's reach and told her he'd give it back for a kiss.

  "That's how all this started," Honoria said, smiling her pretty smile.

  "I know," Christopher said. He studied the sheen of her dark hair, the lovely softness of her green eyes, the tiny lines around her mouth now much given to laughter. "I'm smart enough to know a good plan when I see it."

  Honoria laughed then, and kissed him, his fine Southern lady, and he fell in love with her all over again.

  End

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  of

  Jennifer Ashley's

  Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries

  written as Ashley Gardner

  * * * * *

  The Hanover Square Affair

  by Ashley Gardner

  Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries

  Book One

  *****

  Chapter One

  London, April 1816

  Sharp as a whip-crack, a shot echoed through the mists in Hanover Square.

  The mob in the square boiled apart, flinging sticks and pieces of brick as they fled the line of cavalrymen who'd entered the far side of the square. I hugged a rain-soaked wall as people poured past me, bumping and shoving in their panic as though I weren't six feet tall and plenty solid.

  The square and the streets that led to it had been bottled with traffic all afternoon: carts, carriages, horses, wagons, and those on foot who'd been running errands or passing through, as well as street vendors crying their wares. The mob had stopped traffic in all directions, trapping inside the square those now desperate to get out. They scrambled to get away from the cavalry and their deadly guns, and bystanders scrambled to flee the mob.

  I scraped my way along the wall, rough stone tearing my cheap gloves, going against the stream of bodies that tried to carry me along. Inside the square, in the eye of the storm, the cavalrymen waited, the blues and reds and canary yellows of their uniforms stark against the fog.

  The man who stood in their gun sights had led the mob the better part of the afternoon: shouting, cursing, flinging stones and pieces of brick at the unfortunate house that was number 22, Hanover Square. Now he faced the cavalrymen, his back straight, his gray hair dark with rain.

  I recognized the lieutenant in charge, Lord Arthur Gale of the Twenty-Fourth Light Dragoons. A few years before, on a Portuguese battlefield, I'd dragged young Gale out from under a dead horse and sent him on his way. That incident, however, had not formed any camaraderie between us. Gale was the son of a marquis and already a social success, and I, the only son of an impoverished gentleman, mattered little to the Gale family.

  I did not trust Gale's judgment one whit. He had once led a charge so hard that he'd broken through a solid line of French infantry but then found himself and his men behind enemy lines and too winded to get back. Gale had been one of the few who'd returned from that charge, leaving most of the others, horses and men alike, dead.

  "Gentlemen," the old man said to the cavalrymen. "I thank you for coming. We must have him out. He must pay for what he's done."

  He pointed at the house--number 22, ground-floor windows smashed, front door's black paint gouged.

  Gale sneered down at him. "Get along, man, or we'll take you to a magistrate."

  "Not I, gentlemen. He should face justice. Take him from his house. Bring him out to me. I beg of you."

  I studied the house in some surprise. Any man who could afford to own, or lease, a house in Hanover Square must be wealthy and powerful. I assumed he was some peer in the House of Lords, or at least a rich MP, who had proposed some unpopular bill or movement, inspiring a riot against him. The rising price of bread, as well as the horde of soldiers pouring back into England after Waterloo, had created a smoldering rage in those who suddenly found themselves with nothing. The anger flared every now and then into a riot. It was not difficult these days to turn a crowd into a violent mob in the space of an instant.

  I had no idea who lived in number 22 or what were his political leanings. I had simply been trying to pass through Hanover Square on my way to Brook Street, deeper into Mayfair. But the elderly man's quiet despair and incongruous air of respectability drew me to him. I always, Louisa Brandon had once told me, had a soft spot for the desperate.

  Gale's eyes were dark and hard. "If you do not move along, I will have to arrest you for breach of the King's peace."

  "Breach of the King's peace?" the man shouted. "When a man sins against another, is that not a breach of the King's peace? Shall we let them take our daughters while we weep? Shall I let him sit in his fine house while mine is ruined with grief?"

  Gale made a sharp gesture to the cavalryman next to him. The man obediently dismounted and strode toward the gray-haired rioter.

  The older man watched him come with more astonishment than fear. "Is it justice that I pay for his sins?"

  "I advise you to go home, sir," Gale repeated.


  "No, I tell you, you must have him out! He must face you and confess what he's done."

  His desperation reached me as white mists moved to swallow the scene. The blue and red of the cavalry uniforms, the black of the man's suit, the bays and browns of the horses began to dull against the smudge of white.

  "What has he done?" I asked.

  The man swung around. Strands of hair matted to his face, and thin lines of dried blood caked his skin as though he'd scratched himself in his fury. "You would listen to me? You would help me?"

  "Get out of it, Captain," Gale said, his mouth a grim line.

  I regretted speaking, unsure I wanted to engage myself in what might be a political affair, but the man's anger and despair seemed more than mob fury over the price of food. Gale would no doubt arrest him and drag him off to wait in a cold cell for the magistrate's pleasure. Perhaps one person should hear him speak.

  "What has the man in number 22 done to you?" I repeated.

  The old man took a step toward me, eyes burning. "He has sinned. He has stolen from me the most precious thing I own. He has killed me!"

  I watched madness well up in his eyes. With a fierce cry, he turned and launched himself at the door of number 22.

  End of Excerpt

  *****

  About the Author

  New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jennifer Ashley has written 45 published novels and a dozen novellas in romance, urban fantasy, and mystery under the names Jennifer Ashley, Allyson James, and Ashley Gardner. Her books have been nominated for and won Romance Writers of America's RITA (given for the best romance novels and novellas of the year), several RT BookReviews Reviewers Choice awards (including Best Urban Fantasy, Best Historical Mystery, and Career Achievement in Historical Romance), and Prism awards for her paranormal romances. Jennifer's books have been translated into more than a dozen languages and have earned starred reviews in Booklist.

  More about her books and series can be found at

  www.jennifersromances.com

  Or email Jennifer at [email protected]