Ramage's Challenge (40 page)

“I guessed it was not a good idea to say I was your wife, so I called myself Miss Mary Smith. Anyway, I was taken to Toulon where there were many women
détenues,
as the French call civilians who are caught in France and regarded as prisoners.

“Unfortunately, one of these
détenues
recognized me, and told the French who I was. Who I was before I was married, I mean.

“Anyway, two weeks later the French told me that I was in a special category, an
‘otage,'
and at the emperor's order I was to be taken to join others in this category. So I was taken along the coast to Italy … what a journey! But I continued calling myself ‘Mary Smith,' so none of the other women hostages at the new prison knew who I was. That was why, incidentally, Sir Henry had no idea that his wife was sharing a room with Captain Ramage's wife.”

“But you've told them now?”

“No. Aitken recognized me but, bless him, he saw me shake my head, and said nothing. He made sure I was on board first, and your Mr Kenton caught on very quickly and got me down here before any of the other women came on board. Sir Henry and the other hostages were so anxious to see if their wives had been saved that—well, they did not notice me.”

She turned and, holding Ramage's face in her hands, gave him another kiss. “That's for saving me from those wretched pirates at Isla Trinidada.” She kissed him again. “That's for marrying me.” She kissed him a third time. “And that's for rescuing me this time. Can we go home to England now—in the
Calypso?
I remember your cot is just big enough to be
uno letto matrimoniale.
You see, I've learned some Italian!”

“Yes,” he said, “I'll teach you some more.”

1. No Quarter

In 1799, the young U.S. Navy faces France in an undeclared Quasi-War for the Caribbean. Midshipman Matty Graves is caught up in escalating violence as he serves aboard the
Rattle-Snake
under his drunken cousin, Billy. Matty already knows how to handle the sails and fi ght a ship. Now, with the sarcastic Lieutenant Peter Wickett as his mentor and nemesis, he faces the ironies of a war where telling friend from foe is no mean trick.

ISBN 978-1-59013-139-8 • Trade Paperback • $16.95

“[Campbell's] characters are sharp, genuine and fascinating, his plotting fast-paced and authentic.”

—James L. Nelson
author of
The Only Life That Mattered

2. The War of Knives

Matty Graves, acting lieutenant in the newly formed U.S. Navy, becomes a spy in the French colony of Saint-Dómingue and plunges headlong into a brutal world of betrayal. At fi rst the bloody civil war between former slaves and their mixed-race overseers simply offers a way to test himself, but soon Matty is drawn into the heart of the confl ict when he meets the fl amboyant Juge and the mysterious Grandfather Chatterbox—and faces an interrogation by the brutal colonel known as “The Whip.”

ISBN 978-1-59013-104-6 • Hardcover • $23.95

“Entertaining … a colorful cast of shady characters … an elaborate swashbuckling tale.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Don't start this one at bedtime; you'll be up all night!”

—William H. White
author of the Oliver Baldwin Novels

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