His breathing was easier now and she thought that he seemed more comfortable than before. She settled down on a blanket beside the bed and after a little fell asleep.
When a sound awoke her light was beginning to creep into the room. She started up, giving a little moan as she felt the stiffness in her back from lying on the floor. Getting to her feet, she looked at her patient and saw that he was now awake and staring at her.
‘That was foolish of you, Maribel,’ he said, looking stern. ‘You should have gone to your own bed—or had someone else watch me. Where is Anna?’
‘Anna has enough to do. She helped the surgeon when he tended you—and she stopped the bleeding when you were brought back. It did not hurt me to watch over you for a while.’ She reached out to touch his forehead, but he caught her wrist. ‘You were hot last night. I thought you might have a fever.’
‘I have a damnable soreness in my thigh and left shoulder.’ His gaze narrowed. ‘I remember fighting the rogues off, but then something hit me from the side.’ He scowled. ‘There were too many of them. It is impossible to guard against such a cowardly blow. What happened after that—how did I get here?’
‘Fortunately, Higgins and some of your men arrived to drive the wretches off. You were unconscious when they brought you home. Anna tended you first and then the surgeon came.’
His eyes were on her face. ‘You know what is being said of you?’
‘That the attack was because of me. Do you believe that? Do you think I would want that to happen?
‘I know you would not. That it was your father’s ships is not in question. However, it may have been chance that brought them here—unless Hendry revealed the secret of the island and how to enter its waters. One reason this island was chosen from so many others is that there is chain of rocks guarding it. Only those that have visited know how to navigate the channel. If your father’s ships got close enough to inflict so much damage, they must have known the secret—but if they came for you, why was there no attempt to rescue you?’
‘I do not know—perhaps I was not important.’
Justin frowned and was silent for a moment. He knew, but would not tell her that her father cared so little for her that he had been willing to give her up for the return of his map. Sabatini was evil and it made him wonder if the man was truly her father. ‘I think he came to show me what could happen to me if I do not return his map.’
‘You think the attack was planned merely for revenge? Because you refused to give up the map?’ She was silent for a moment. ‘What will you do? Shall you send it to him?’
‘The way he so callously destroyed property and life here tells me that he should never have that map. With it he will become even more powerful and I cannot condone what he did. He is an evil man.’
‘But if you keep the map he may attack you again.’
‘Do you think I should be safe from his vengeful spite if I sent him his map? He would see it as a sign of weakness.’ Justin looked thoughtful. ‘I had considered trying to find the silver mine myself, but it has cost too many lives already. I think it is cursed and I shall destroy the map. Better it is never found again than it should cost more lives.’
‘My father will always be your enemy.’
‘You need not worry yourself over my safety. In two or three days I shall be able to get up. As soon as the Defiance returns she will be provisioned and we shall sail to England. Once you are with your family you will be safe.’
‘The surgeon said you need to rest.’ Maribel felt that he was dismissing her once more and her eyes stung with tears she would not shed.
‘I shall be well enough to leave when the Defiance is ready to sail.’
‘What will you do next? Will you return to the island? You’ve built a fine house and furnished it—but you have lost one of your ships and people may turn against you because of what happened.’
‘It can be of little interest to you what I do. I promised to keep you safe until you are with your family. After that you should forget me.’
How could he speak to her so? Was he deliberately trying to drive a wedge between them?
‘I think you must be thirsty. I shall draw some fresh water from the well.’
She walked away from him, her throat closing with choking emotion. He was still determined to take her to her family and leave her. Did he blame her for the loss of his ships and the destruction here? She blinked away her tears. Maribel had wept when she believed he might die, but she would not weep now!
‘If your father saw you now he would not know you,’ Anna said as Maribel was drawing water from the well three days later. ‘Your skin used to be a pale olive and was much admired, but now…you are as brown as a gypsy.’
‘I cannot stay in the shade all the time here. There has been more work to do since Justin was injured. It would not be fair to expect you to do everything. You chopped the wood so that we can cook, so I draw the water and help with the washing and other chores.’
Anna stared at her in silence for a moment, then smiled a little reluctantly. ‘You have learned to make yourself useful. Sometimes I almost forget that you are a lady and I am your servant.’
‘You are my friend, Anna. The old ways are forgotten here.’
‘But when you go to England you will be a lady again, and if I came with you I should be a servant.’ She shook her head as Maribel was silent. ‘No, do not deny it. That is the way of your world, the way it has always been. You cannot change it if you would, which is why I shall not stay in England.’
Anna was right, but Maribel did not want to admit it. Here on the island she had found a measure of freedom and she did not want to return to her old life—but what else could she do?
‘Where will you go if you cannot return to the island?’
‘Higgins thinks he shall go to the New World and I shall go with him. There is plenty of land there for settlement. If you have money for sufficient supplies to get you through the first year or two until the land begins to grow enough crops, it could be a good place to live.’
‘The New World…’ Maribel wrinkled her brow. ‘I have heard it said that it is a land of savages. My father and men like him take silver from the mines, but to live there…I am not sure…’
‘At first our people, men like your father, sought to conquer and take only silver and gold, but other people have begun to settle further to the north. Higgins has heard from men who have taken settlers to the New World. The savages are called Red Indians, because of the colour of their skins, and it is thought that there are many tribes. Some of them are thought to be friendly to the white man.’
‘It sounds dangerous and the living will be primitive at first,’ Maribel said, but she felt a tingle of excitement at the nape of her neck. ‘Even here on the island there are often shortages of food, which is why Justin sent the Defiance to bring pigs and chickens here from one of the larger islands.’
‘In the New World they say there is an abundance of game. Ships taking settlers to a new life will carry seed corn and other supplies to tide them over. A ship bringing in fresh supplies to be sold at a trading station could do well.’
‘Yes, I see.’ Maribel nodded. ‘You would set up your trading station there instead of on the island as you planned, but—’ She had questions concerning such trading, but she broke off as she saw a man coming towards them. Chills ran down her spine as she saw the look of hatred on his face. ‘Go inside, Anna.’
‘And leave you alone with that pig? I shall stay with you.’
Maribel faced the pirate. One hand moved to the place in her skirts where she had created a pouch to keep the knife that