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Prologue

London, 1814

Matilda Winslo a fallen lock of her hair from her eyes and then crawled under Captain Ford’s bed to retrieve an ite his sheets She stretched to reach a strap that appeared to be wedged behind the headboard

When tugging froain, frustrated The captain was leaving very early the next day, returning to his ship and co insisted the bedding be changed before he returned to the house

She wasn’t supposed to be in his rooms at this hour No one was The captain, when he was ashore, ran his home under a firm set of rules that no one dared cross

Matilda considered her options She couldn’t leave it there in case it was important to the captain The bed was too heavy for her to h she could call for help, she hated to do so The other servants didn’t like her verytoout to the, so she had no choice but to cli she could reach the ’s work entirely

It was dark behind the headboard, and she thrust her hand into the narrow space

She touched cold metal and jerked her hand back in surprise Matilda peered into the gap and discovered the straps attached to a buckle Puzzled by their presence, Matilda grabbed the iteht It was not what she’d expected to find

It was a horse’s harness, but a very strange design indeed if it was intended for a normal-sized horse The straps were ht silver and definitely too delicate for any beast of burden On further exploration, she retrieved a leather mask, not unlike a satin one she’d seen the captain wear to a raved with swirls and s to define the eyes and was sized to fit the full way around the head, almost like a cap that laced at the back with more red silk ribbons

Intrigued, she searched again and brought out a riding crop and cat-o’-nine-tails that appeared new The latter gave her gooseflesh just to look at it, but the strands were so soft that she wasn’t sure it could be used for punishment of any member of the captain’s crew

She sat back on her heels, flexing the crop between her hands, puzzled Why would the captain keep such ite rooh some of theain and studied the iteertips over the smooth sections where his cheeks would rest Beautifully made, and the leather was supple as if it orn often

Matilda scurried off the bed and moved to the mirror to find out, but when she saw her appearance she nearly died of mortification Her hair looked dreadful She appeared a ho had run backward through a briar patch

Matilda quickly released her hair from the few pins she owned, sain into a neat andbetter about herself at last, she lifted the captain’s mask into place

The leather was soft against her skin, and wearing it er was in the room with her It hid her identity so well she was curious to knowit out the door on his way to a society entertainment She probably should not pay so much attention to the handsos were none of her business Nevertheless, she had long ago ad He was quiet, he never yelled, but soed to terrify each and every servant soto please him

He was dangerous in a way Matilda could never quite pin down He ht not be the scandal her upbringing told her it should be

Through the eyes of the asped as she realized her employer had returned

Matilda dropped theto hide what she’d been doing from Captain William Ford

His dark eyes bored into hers, flickered to the bed where her discoveries were still on display, and then back to her Hi