Captain Kent Carlton eased the bottle of rum back onto the table and eyed the man who sat across from him. All he'd wanted was to be left alonealone with his rum and his misery until he could down enough of the pungent liquid to dull the ache in his heart left by the graceful Lady Isabel Ashton.

Rising, he pushed his chair back, its legs scraping across the wooden planks of the tavern floor. He gripped the hilt of his cutlass, and a hush fell over the unruly crowd. "Do you ...