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Cleaning andrefurbishing had beenwhat itneeded That took they were sadly short of In his ement of the land, Swintun had made it almost unrentableFarmers wouldnot rent landtheycould not work

Valoree recalled that Jeremy had taken one stunned look at his inheritance, walked around the destroyed entry and great hall, then moved to the fireplace, re, andturned away He’d walkedstraightout,he was distressed, andtrying to help, Valoree had set her hand deter that she could make a difference Unfortunately, after the wholedayand, she hadbarely made adent in the ruin thattheir homeShe had cried herself to sleep on a bed of rushes ina cornerof the great hall, the cleanest space she could find

ThathereJere when he returned, and thatherehe had told her of their change ofplans The bag he had removed from the fireplace hadbeen their one to Valoree

Instead, Jerehtaship, and he had hired a quartermaster - Henry He intended to enter the risky business of privateering Hewould attack the king’s eneoods, and splittheh, he would return and legally claim his inheritance

Itseemed the only way

Valoree had protested, of courseBut when her brother had gone to greatpains to assure herof thesafety ofhis undertaking, she hadrebelled at Jereuardianship until he returned She hated and feared theyoung noble under his care If a seafaring life was safe enough for Jereh for her And that was how she’d become a pirate

NowValoree knew allthere was to know about sailing, and she was quitea hand atbattle aswell But that here her talents lay - not in wifely duties True, she’d been trained in Latin, English, and German whileunderthe older Swintun’s care, and her brother had continued her reading and writing lessons in those languages while he was alive, but those weren’t exactly womanly arts

Even her speech was lacking Jeremy had made her speak properly while hewasalive, but she hadslippedsory

She certainly had none of the useful crafts that should be knoooodwith a needle She could sew, but herstitches were nowhere nearas straight asthey couldbe Sheknew nexttonothing aboutrunning a household, and was as good as useless when it ca herbs, Jereable to teachValoree anyof what she needed toknow And for such pasti those she had spent sacking galleons in the Caribbean In short, she was terribly lacking No nobleman would want her - let alone one who understoodher needs

Her depressing thoughts were brought to a halt by a light tapping at the doorSighing, she setthe alht "Aye"

Henry opened the doorand stepped silentlyinsideThis tinor worse

Pausing before the desk, the quartermaster eyed her for a moment, then shifted uncomfortably and cleared histhroat "The men have been talkin’ the problem over"

Valoree archedan eyebrow at him "Which problem would that be? "

"The probleri realistic aboutit, and weren’tfooling the it would bean easy task "And? " shepro thatthe docksare noplaceto meet up withsome of theet youinto society"

Valoree nodded at his logic "How? "

"How? " He frowned "Well, erI guess we’d have to be gettin’ yesomeo’ themthere invitesto some of them sorries"

"Soirees, " Valoree corrected dryly, then repeated, "How? "

"How? "

"Aye How? You cannot stealor force those at swordpoint, you know"

"Aye, well" Hislips puckered briefly; then he backed toward the door Her exceedingly quiet and cal him atouch nervousPerhaps he’d learned over the last thirteen years that when she was calback to you on that, " he ended lahthedoor

"I am sure you will, " Valoree snapped, then returned her attention to herbottle

"We are here"

Valoree glanced about at theannouncecloser tothe , she lookedoutat the town house they had stopped before, peeringat itthrough a jaded eye They were about towaste a whole lot of ti the ietting her "some invites to them sorries" They had deter" and "have one o’ thes"BrilliantMarvelousThey were all et her married? Itwasnot as ifthe race, charm, and beauty

The door suddenly opened and Henry appeared, offering a hand to aid her out Sighing, she caught up her skirtsin a bunch, grabbed his hand, and claround, she released her skirts, givingthelanced at the carriage parked in front of their own The door to that one opened and a tall, slender, fair-haireddown froe

"Lady Ainsley? " he asked hopefullyas he approached

Nodding, Valoree automatically offered him her hand toshake

"Lord Beecha as in dislared briefly at Henry as ifto say this was all hisfault

Quickly, she drew her hand back to gesture toward Meg asthe wo themanwith intent interest "My aunt"

"My lady"The man could do no less than bend tokiss her hand aswell now, and Meg appeared asstunned by the act as Valoreehad been Afterward, he straightened and smiledfrom one woman to the other "The house is all in order I had it cleanedas your uncle requested in hisnote It has notbeen used for several Ishallsendhireed dryly with anotherpointedglance at Henry He had written the letter, signing it as her uncle

Womendid notperform such transactionsEither their ht an uncle, husband to Aunt Meg, ofcourse, ht Valoree ithoutprotection As for the bill, the town house was the men’s idea, so let the asyou need it, "

Beecha to lead themup to the frontdoor