Chapter 17

T HOSE TWO FOREBODING WORDS for now rang through Agatha's head all the way back to the cabin. She needed a minute to collect her thoughts.

Jude and his ship had not only taken her for the ride of her life—despite it being only one day—and now she needed to focus on what she wanted. She needed experiences exactly like this if she was going to make her writing more realistic. And…possibly more to the point…she needed experiences like that if she was going to feel her heart and soul come alive. Everything back in England felt stuffy. She was desperate for fresh air, new things, wild things.

All of which Jude embodied.

Once in their cabin, she sat at his desk looking for paper. Anything to write some notes on. She didn't want to forget her thoughts or get lost in them. As she shuffled through the items on his desk, one sheet of paper slipped to the ground.

Upon picking it up, her eyes skimmed the words and stalled on the address: My Lord Duke. And then she saw his title: Duke of Sutherton .

Jude was a duke? The realization struck her hard in the chest. Of all the truths to uncover. This one was harsh. He was actually just a stuffy duke? No. He was wild and free. Dangerous. Living his life on his own terms.

What was going on?

But this could be the best of both worlds, couldn't it?

Agatha's heart hammered in her chest. Afraid the sweat of her hands would transfer to the paper, she laid it to rest buried under other sheets.

He was a duke. She was supposed to marry someone from the peerage. But Jude lived life with abandon and could give her all the experiences she dreamed of. She thought back to how he had worshiped her body and immediately she grew hot. But being married to him, a duke and a privateer. Wasn't that just better than perfect?

It would be a marriage of…convenience…for both of them. And if she grew tired of life on a ship, she could still return home, a duchess of all things. And they would have their marriage in name only.

Surely she could persuade him to agree to these terms.

No, she knew she couldn't. He would never agree to such a thing. But…

His honor.

Now that was something she could use against him.

And at this time, in this place, she was ready and willing to use whatever tools she could to secure her future happiness.

Agatha raced up to the deck, and as calmly as she could muster, searched for Jude. She had a plan and only hoped it would work.

If she could find one of the men that she formed a connection with, she was quite sure she could trust them to assist her. They had all been incredibly respectful toward her thus far. And they were the most loyal band of privateers to their captain. First she needed to be directed to the captain to make sure he was onboard with her plan.

"Sprat," she called out, seeing him on deck. To her own ears she sounded breathless and only hoped she had disguised it enough.

"Over here," he called back, waving his arm.

She walked over, telling her feet not to run. It would do no good for her to look overeager. "If I ask you a favor, would you help me out?"

"Anything for you. You're the Captain's guest, aren't you?"

"I am." She smiled at him. "And if I ask you to keep a secret, would you?"

He scratched his jaw. "Will it bring anyone any harm?"

"None at all. Just the opposite in fact. If you can keep my secret, it could bring great joy to the Captain." Eventually , she added under her breath.

"If keeping a secret for you would bring the Captain more joy, I'll keep it until you bury me six feet deep or throw me out into the deep ocean depths."

That was…dark. But helpful.

"In that case, have you seen Jude?"

"He's on the pier—"

Agatha flicked her eyes to the gangplank and took off.

"You can't—"

But she didn't listen. Tearing down the wooden bridge connecting her to land, she dashed over to an astonished Jude.

He seemed to be in the middle of a business negotiation when she interrupted him.

"France. Can't. Leave." she huffed. Then she tried again, "We can't leave yet. "

He held up a hand to her in the universal gesture symbolizing wait. And though that was quite rude and she was affronted by his dismissal, she could actually use the moment to catch her breath.

When Jude finally shook hands with the man and turned his attention to her, she didn't even give him a chance to speak.

"You owe me an experience," she demanded with her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me?"

"I said that you owe me an experience."

"I heard you," a crease formed between his eyes, "I'm just not sure I understand what you mean. You want more? Now?" He tilted his head and asked, "Are you actually saying you want an experience here and now?" A small smirk played at his lips.

"Yes."

His eyes darted around, "I'm not sure where—"

"I want to try some food."

"Food?" He looked dumbfounded.

Hadn't she just said that she wanted an experience? Wasn't food at the top of everyone's list when it came to trying new things? He couldn't be that daft. But in case he was, she decided to lay it out for him.

"I've never been abroad, and now that I've made it all this way, I'm not leaving without some experience."

"Ahhh… experience ."

Why was he saying that word in such a ridiculous tone?

"Yes. Now," she said as she took his arm in her hand. "Do whatever you need to do to buy us two hours. That should be plenty of time to get the experiences I want."

Jude chuckled. "I'm not sure that it is. "

"You want to return to England by tomorrow morning at the latest, don't you?"

"It's a bit of a requirement."

"Because of the princess?" He nodded. "Then we should not delay." She tugged on his arm. "Let's go. Oh wait—" and this was the crucial part of her plan —"grab Sprat, please. I need his help with something while we go on our adventure."

"You need Sprat?"

"We've grown close over our time together."

"Your time together being one day?"

"Yes. And he said he would do this for me."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you that."

Damn it. Jude wasn't going to give in. She could see it in his skepticism. But this was the part of her plan that she needed to work—

"Give me one second." Untangling her fingers from his arm, he walked over to the ship and called out a few instructions before returning to her. After a few minutes, Sprat came ambling down the gangplank toward them.

He was doing his best to not raise a quizzical brow at the two of them, so Agatha intercepted him first out of earshot from Jude. He had to help her. And obviously she was grossly exaggerating the connection she had made with him, but she hoped she wasn't wrong about him. Surely if she just explained everything he would see the benefit to everyone involved. Surely he would help her out. Surely, surely, surely he was a good man.

So she took her chance. Giving him her instructions, he nodded and smirked. After a small laugh, he nodded to her first then turned to Jude.

"Good luck, you two." Then he tipped his head and was off .

"What was that about?" Jude asked.

"I told you that I can't say."

"You realize how conspicuously you're acting right now, don't you?"

With a long blink, she gave him what she hoped was a whimsical shrug. "It's a surprise for later."

"Not sure I like surprises."

And you won't like this one. "Well, we'll just have to see how you feel about this one."

With a grunt, he let the topic go. "Are there any foods in particular that you want to try?"

Hmm…this seemed like it was going to be easier than she thought. Except that she didn't really know what French foods to try, having never been there. "I don't know what there is to try. Only what I've had back home. It might be interesting to see if it tastes different here, but I'd really like to try some new things."

"I'll show you."

And then, despite the fact that she was about to trick this man, she grinned like a delighted idiot at the prospect of their upcoming adventure.