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.“No, please!” Joseph jerked as the first lash struck his bare skin, causing several welts to appear.Nathaniel cringed at the sight, trying to block the other man’s cries from his mind, but they seemed to echo off the sky.Most of the prisoners watched with disinterest, as though a flogging were such a common occurrence as to warrant little or no attention, but others seemed to enjoy the spectacle.Some even encouraged the guard to continue when he finally stopped.Only the chaplain showed any empathy for Joseph’s suffering.He stood with a pained expression on his face throughout the ordeal.When it was over, Sampson took hold of the whip to administer Nathaniel’s blows himself.“This will teach you some respect, Cripple,” he said.“You think I haven’t noticed your haughty attitude? It certainly won’t last long around here.”A guard began to remove Nathaniel’s shirt, but Nathaniel jerked away and took it off himself.A bewhiskered man tied his arm and both feet to the triangle as Sampson shook out the nine thongs of the whip.Pain exploded across Nathaniel’s back as the clerk dealt him a hearty blow.But he was ready.He gritted his teeth and focused his thoughts on other things, imagining Alexandra standing beside him, looking on.He would not want her to see them break him.For her, he would not cry out.or beg for mercy.He would endure his punishment like a man, and when it was all over, she would comfort him by kissing his eyelids closed and pressing her small, cool hands to his burning cheeks.Alexandra could ease the pain.Oh God, where was she?Soon something trickled down Nathaniel’s back, and he knew it must be blood.Only the thought of Alexandra watching gave him the strength to stand, the will to endure until silence replaced the roar of the crowd.Finally Sampson stopped and threw down the whip, and Nathaniel slumped, letting himself dangle, at last, from the ropes that held him.“It’s time for work,” Sampson announced.“Get these animals ashore and stacking shot at the arsenal before they think this man’s some kind of hero.And put One-Arm here in solitary confinement.”The clerk stomped away, and Nathaniel felt a small sense of victory.Alexandra would have been proud of him.The flogging hadn’t given Sampson the satisfaction he’d been looking for—and he and the clerk both knew it.* * *On the surface, Alexandra’s second day went very much the same as her first, except that the duke was about the house.Fear that he would soon discover the broken lock on his metal box left Alexandra edgy.So did her apprehension that the milkman would not deliver her message to Trenton, as he had agreed.What if Mr.Donaldson read her words, or didn’t bother to keep his bargain? Worse, what if he betrayed her to the duke?She hauled water, beat rugs, blackened the stove, and cut vegetables for Cook before sitting down to a light dinner, but her thoughts were always on Greystone—and Nathaniel.She remembered the pirate captain standing on the deck of his ship, the wind whipping his hair, the smell of his clothes, the warmth of him sleeping beside her, the rich sound of his voice.and feared she’d go mad with worry and longing if she didn’t find him soon.She’d had to break the lock, and she’d had to trust the milkman.For Nathaniel, she’d take the same risks again.After dinner Alexandra began to scrub the kitchen floor, only to be interrupted by the robust form of Mrs.Wright.“His Grace and Lord Clifton would like to see you,” the housekeeper said, a slight frown on her face.“They’re in the study.”Alexandra’s heart felt as though it came to a sudden, skidding stop.The box! Had he discovered her tampering? “Lady Anne mentioned me to them?” she asked hopefully.“Must have.A new hire doesn’t warrant much of their attention.They usually leave that sort of thing to me.”Alexandra rushed up to the attic to improve her appearance as best she could, then headed to the second floor.The memory of snooping in the duke’s study made her cheeks burn, but she paused to collect herself before knocking timidly at the door.“Come in.” The voice belonged to the duke, but it was Lord Clifton who stood and came toward her when she entered.“Alexandra.” He gave her a congenial smile.“You’re looking fit, my lord,” she replied.Greystone sat at his desk, scratching something into a thick black book.He looked up at their exchange, put his pen in its well, and leaned back in his chair.His eyes traveled slowly from her feet to her white mobcap.“What are you doing here?” he asked.Alexandra blinked in surprise.“You sent for me, Your Grace.”“I mean, what are you doing in my house?”“I—I’m working off the dress I took from your daughter, Your Grace.”His eyes narrowed.“My son tells me you have some connection to Nathaniel.”“No connection, Your Grace.I was abducted against my will.The pirate mistook me for your daughter, Lady Anne.”Now that they were face-to-face, the duke’s gaze proved more unsettling than Alexandra had anticipated
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