Maggie batted her eyelashes. “I thought Duncan was your friend,” she said innocently. “Don’t you trust him?”

“I’d sooner leave you in the care of a band of drunken pirates,” Reeve replied. “You’re going to Sydney Town, and that’s the end of it.”

Though Maggie argued and even resorted to tears on at least one more occasion, Reeve’s decision stood. After three days of hectic preparation, they set out for Brisbane by way of the coach, Cora and Elisabeth accompanying them.

The journey was uneventful, if exhausting, and Maggie was in a sullen mood as she got ready for bed at the hotel. The room she and Reeve shared had been theirs once before, on their wedding night.

Maggie tried to turn away from Reeve when he touched her, so great was her anger and her fear, but his caresses, as always, set her afire. After a fevered blaze of loving, she lay still in his arms, wondering at the power he wielded over her. It seemed there was no way to defy him and thus retain some pitiful semblance of self-respect.

Reeve’s ship was to sail early, and he was up and dressed when Maggie awakened. She sat up in bed, yawning.

“How long will you be away?” she asked casually, averting her eyes so that Reeve wouldn’t see the plot of rebellion brewing there.

“Long enough to find Jamie and work out why he’s stayed away these twenty years,” Reeve replied, his voice quiet. Firm. His aquamarine eyes transmitted a warning when Maggie finally dared to look into them. “Don’t even think of trying to stow away on board that ship,” he told her.

Maggie’s last splendid hope was dashed, and her disappointment must have shown in her face because Reeve chuckled and shook his head.

Maggie hurled back the covers and scrambled awkwardly out of bed. Although the baby would not be born for months, she was already losing the agility that came with being slender. “I can tell you why Jamie didn’t want to face you,” she volunteered desperately, “and then there’ll be no need to go!”

Reeve looked at her with something disturbingly like contempt. “Only now, when it serves your purpose?”

Maggie wanted to weep at his coldness and the distance she saw in his eyes. She thought she knew then how Loretta had felt when she’d been sent packing, and she wondered if the time was coming when Reeve would send her away too. She drew herself up. “Very well, then, I won’t tell you.”

She started to turn away, but Reeve grasped her by the arm and wrenched her around to face him. “I told you that the day would come when I’d ask what you know about my brother, Maggie. That time is here.”