Pirate of My Heart: A Novel by Jamie Carie Read Free Book Online

any case.
    Kendra tried to remember everything her father had told her about her aunt and uncle. It wasn’t much, she decided, plopping back on the bed and staring at the ceiling. Why had her relatives left their homeland to travel to a new world? She knew that some of the aristocracy had been appointed posts in America when they were England’s colonies and many had stayed on after the war. Maybe that was it. She contemplated appealing to her grandmother for help, but soon realized the folly of that plan. Her grandmother only had eyes for Andrew and was sure to agree with him.
    Dear Lord, please help me make the right decision. The image of Lord Barrymore popped into her head. She thought of the marriage bed, what would happen if she married him, and knew her answer. She would leave her home and take her chances in a strange new land.

    When dawn finally peaked its head above the horizon it found Kendra dressed and ready for her future. She wanted as much of the time she had left to see her favorite places around the estate. There were the tenants to say good-bye to and the wooded creek she had played beside as a child that had been her secret haven. Her uncle was inclined to rise late, so she would have time to spare before the dreaded confrontation.
    Just before noon Kendra strolled into the hall. The butler, Hobbs, seemed nervous as he said with a shaky voice, his hands twisting together, “Oh, thank goodness it’s you, Lady Kendra. The earl has had us searching high and low for you. I believe he thought you had run off.”
    “Ran off?” If only she had somewhere to run off to. She made her way down the corridor to the library and knocked.
    A gruff voice answered. “Yes, what is it?” Kendra recognized her uncle’s black mood and sighed.
    She entered the room to a thundering lecture as to the fright she had caused everyone. Patience! She repeated the reminder to herself, remembering her father’s teachings. Finally, Andrew paused for a breath and she was able to make her announcement. “I have made a decision, Andrew.”
    He stopped and stared at her. “I hope you’ve come to your senses.”
    “I’m going to America.”
    For the first time ever, her uncle’s face blanched with genuine shock. “You would rather leave your country than marry Lord Barrymore?”
    “Yes.” Kendra stared hard into his eyes.
    “Well, in that case, be prepared to leave within a fortnight. I will write a letter of introduction for you to take to your aunt. They will be forced to do their duty by you with you on their doorstep, all the way from England.”
    Kendra’s heart sank. He was really going to send her away. She bolted for the door as fresh tears sprang to her eyes. Love. Love your enemies. She heard the words but couldn’t imagine how to do that when all she wanted was to have her father back.
    Chapter Four
    K endra stepped out onto the stone terrace and blinked back tears. The dawn of a beautiful day, a most perfect day, and her last day in Arundel. The sky was turning blue as the pale pink shades of a sunrise seemed to dissolve in a million tiny faded particles, leaving the world bathed in a warm yellow glow. The lush greens and brilliant colors of the garden with its white daisies, lavender, rows of primroses, and dotted clumps of red and pink carnations that she had painstakingly tended bloomed and waved at her with the early summer breeze. Pots of purple pansies were scattered along a stone path that led to a row of hedges and a low bench where she had spent many a summer’s day reading or just daydreaming while sitting in her garden.
    Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the fairy king Oberon leapt to her mind and made her smile. Furious with his queen over a baby, the king laid crushed pansy petals on his wife’s eyelids while she slept as he believed the special properties from the pansies would make Titania fall in love with the first thing she saw upon waking. In this case he planned that she see