could manage. At the entrance to the great hall, she halted, suddenly aware of the pounding of her heart. When her eyes focused on Captain Fitzgerald standing near the door, staring out on to the veranda, everyone else faded into the background. An odd, melting sensation came over her, a sensation that somehow made breathing difficult and made her heart race as if she had been running.
Attired in elegant evening dress and buckled shoes, with his height and sun-bronzed complexion, Captain Fitzgerald appeared highly conspicuous, standing there breathing vigour and vitality. He affected the company like a fresh wind. His curling hair, drawn back and held at his nape by a thin black ribbon, gleamed a deep burnished brown above a pristine white neckcloth and ivory brocade waistcoat, while his powerful shoulders filled his olive-green coat to perfection.
A rugged pirate in gentleman’s garb, Shona reflected.
His chiselled profile was touched by the warm light of the candles and the growing ache in her breast attested to the degree of his handsomeness. She observed him reach up to tug at his neckcloth as if it might be too confining and wondered if he might feel ill at ease in his formal attire. But he must have known how to conduct himself at social functions—or at least how to charm the female sex. As soon as they began to gather, he was surrounded by half a dozen ladies who were eager to make his acquaintance. Captain Fitzgerald greeted them all with an ease that could not fail to set their feminine hearts aflutter.
In an attempt to regain her serenity, Shona let out a slow steadying breath and entered the hall, bringing him about to face her as the heels of her blue slippers tapped against the oak floor. He wore an expression of utter boredom on his face, an expression that altered dramatically when his eyes met hers.
Excusing himself, a smile tugging at his lips, he moved across the hall with the grace and speed of a jungle cat. She could not take her eyes off the way he moved—his easy grace, the suppleness of his limbs and the oiled machinery of his body.
The way he carried himself made it easy to believe that all that was said about him was true. Power, danger and bold vitality emanated from every line of his towering physique. When he halted before her he bowed with a grand sweeping gesture. Then Shona met his eyes. At that precise moment she became convinced that there were no eyes in all the world that shone brighter than those which now smiled at her. As she stared into those translucent depths, it was easy for her to imagine a woman being swept away by admiration for him without a single word being uttered.
What the devil was the matter with her? What was it about this man that he should have this effect on her, she who had held in scorn all the gentlemen who had done their best to ingratiate themselves into her good graces?
Mentally casting off the spell he unwittingly cast, she scolded herself for acting as addled as a dazzled schoolgirl.
Smiling, he looked down at her while his eyes plumbed the depths of her beauty.
‘Welcome to Melrose Hill, Captain Fitzgerald. I hope you enjoy your evening.’
‘I am enjoying it already,’ he murmured for her ears alone.
Shona was used to the admiration of young men and though she liked it well enough—what girl wouldn’t?—Captain Fitzgerald was the first to stir her senses and capture her imagination. ‘What is your opinion of Santamaria? Is it to your liking?’
‘Very much so—from what I’ve seen of it.’
‘And how does it compare with Virginia?’
‘Very well. I do have some basic common knowledge of the colonies, but I’m from England, not Virginia, as you seem to have surmised.’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I know, but you do have connections there.’
Zack folded his hands behind his back and appeared to look thoughtful. ‘I do have a shipyard and warehouses in Virginia—indeed, it would be difficult for me to conduct my business without them, but my home is in London.’
‘And after Martinique, London is your next port of call?’
He nodded, having suddenly become fascinated with the advantage his height gave him. Standing a full head above Miss McKenzie, he had a very pleasurable view of what lay beneath her demure bodice whenever he chanced to look that way, which was rather often. The high swell of her creamy breasts was a tantalising sight for any man and Zack most certainly enjoyed this treat.
While he was speaking, other guests began to arrive—thirty all told, some officers of the vessels in the harbour and merchants who had made their home on Santamaria. One of the footmen announced dinner.
Carmelita turned to her husband. ‘We’d better go in. Captain Fitzgerald, will you bring my sister-in-law along?’ she urged as she took her husband’s arm and moved towards the dining room.
‘It will be my pleasure.’ Zack gallantly presented his arm to the golden-haired beauty, at the same time catching her hand and pulling it through the crook of his elbow, not giving her a chance to deny him.
Shona yielded rather than make a scene, but behind Carmelita’s back she glared up at him and hissed, ‘You are quite outrageous, Captain.’
‘Has anyone told you,’ he breathed, blithely ignoring her irritation as he bent his head near hers, ‘how beautiful you are?’
She lifted her slim nose to a higher elevation, avoiding any reply. Still, she could not quell the stirring of pleasure his words aroused. At the table, he held her chair as she slipped into it. Thoughtfully she watched him walk around the table to take a place opposite her. That was the moment she realised a solution to her future course of action might be staring her in the face, a solution that would enable her to cast off the shackles her brother had placed on her that bound her to the island. But could she bolster the courage to carry out the wild plan she had suddenly conceived?
* * *
With eyes cold and unrevealing, Carmelita observed the pair and the looks that passed between them. She was suddenly inspired. Of course, Captain Fitzgerald was the critical factor. If the two of them should form an attachment, the combination could be explosive. Her mind was racing. An expression of calculating scheming was pasted on her face and she was feeling a little breathless with excitement.
* * *
The dinner was a relaxed affair and extremely civilised, and at times seemed quite unreal. On the one hand the table appointments were elegant, the English fare Zack favoured excellent, the service of the footmen everything that could be desired—and the delectable Miss Shona McKenzie in his line of vision at all times.
Reflecting on her proposal that she intended to put to Captain Fitzgerald, Shona glanced at him. The decision made, her resolution seemed a fantasy, dreamed up by someone other than herself. But he was magnificent, exuding the kind of strength and masculinity that women found extremely appealing. He didn’t appear to be entirely at ease with Antony. His manner towards him was civil, but stiff, wary. However, he looked as if he had perfected the knack of making a woman feel special—he was bending close to Mrs Frobisher seated next to him, listening attentively and watching the elderly lady with those silver-grey eyes. The same eyes that had looked her over appreciatively earlier.
The conversation was about what was happening in Europe and America, combined with the usual supper-party trivia, leisurely and varied and well marked with ship owners’ diverse opinions on the interests of their profession, while the ladies discussed the various society magazines and fripperies that had been brought on one of the vessels. Shona was in animated conversation with the foppish John Filligrew, a boyishly handsome youth of twenty-one with high colour in his smooth cheeks and a tangle of coppery curls. But every now and then she could feel a pair of silver-grey eyes watching her with a predatory stare and her head would turn and her eyes would meet those of Captain Fitzgerald.
‘In a domain such as this,’ Antony said in answer to a question Captain Fitzgerald had just posed about the early days of the island, ‘my father established a great many duties. Bringing slaves and bondsmen to the island, he supervised the clearing of the forests, sold the timber and prepared the fields for cultivation. We