Ok, I'm going to put the Disclaimer in the last chapter...

Summary: In 1760's England, three daring sisters defy the conventions of their day-by boldly taking to the sea to champion noble causes. Each will meet a man who embraces both her beauty and her proud spirit. And each will find a love more precious than any pirate's treasure... THE HEART NEVER FORGETS Kagome Higurashi's turbulant childhood had made her certain of one thing: she would wed for security, even if it meant a loveless marriage to a wealthy Boston merchant. But her plans quickly went awry when the ship carrying her to her intended was raided by pirates-led by the only man she ever loved. Five years had passes since their swahbuckling days together, when Sesshomaru Tashio had treated her as little more than a younger sister. Now he's smuggling goods for the rebels of the American Revolution-and inspiring a shared passion as intense as the war that rages all around them. Still, Kagome has been promised to another-and she knows that her beloved Sesshomaru can never give her the security she yearns for. If only her heart would believe it...

Okay, on with it then...

Prologue

1774

Stone-hard pews, nearly filled to capacity, lined the majestic nave like soldiers ready for battle. Not a soul dared speak: not here. The air rumbled with a sound that was not quite a sound, like the hum of a thousand hushed voices all whispering prayers. Tall, paned windows, twenty feet above the marble floor, lined each side of the imposing room, allowing misty English light to filter in. Colorful banners hung below the windows, one to represent each family present, and the daughter they'd come to see.

Waiting in the hallway, Kagome Higurashi spotted her flag, a fierce lion on a field of red, his paw raised in defense, and felt her heart flip against her chest. Not her flag exactly, but one she could claim because of her sister's marriage. Gripping her hands at her waist to keep them from shaking, she took her place in line, the last of the thirty-two women, all years younger than her. She tried to ignore the hurt she felt at the sight. Being last does not mean I'm the least important.

But, however much she wanted to ignore it, she knew an effort when faced with one-she should, she thought, straightening a perfect pleat in her soft black wool gown, identical to the ones the other girls wore. She'd had four years of experience of being spurned. She's quickly learned that Wilmouth School for Girls wasn't for the faint of heart. It hadn't mattered that she'd surpassed the other students in their lessons, perfecting her French, excelling at writing and numbers, even though those skills hadn't been encouraged. The harder she'd tried to fit in, the more of an outcast she'd become.

Kagome shut the disparaging thoughts away. Her schoolmates hadn't meant to be cruel. They simply didn't know any better. One glance at the row of women ahead of her, with their delicate hand and perfect skin, women who knew nothing of struggling to survive, and she knew her achievements weren't the reason she'd been ostracized. It was because of who she was, and what she was, that had kept her from ever belonging. Her blood wasn't noble, but common-worse than common-with the smell of a fisherman's daughter and the taint of a pirate.

She touched the hated Sea Queen dagger she secretly wore strapped to her thigh and inwardly cringed. She felt the gold-wrought hilt, the embedded thumb-size gems that shimmered like fire when held to the light. If she'd had her way the dagger would be lying at the bottom of the ocean where it belonged. She only wore it now because of Sango's infernal nagging, blast her sister. If her classmates learned if it she'd be ruined, this time forever.

Shuddering, she straightened her shoulders and forced her thoughts to brighten. Against all odds, she'd persevered-surviving poverty, near starvation, a possible hanging, years of arduous study. Finally, today was her graduation.

She allowed a smile that felt good on her lips. The future she'd hoped for was finally within her reach. After today, she would be a real lady. Not only one her sisters, Kikyo and Sango, could be proud of, but a lady any man would covet as his wife. The rest of her dream would follow soon after: a home full of children she would love, and security-two things no one could take from her or tear apart.

"What are your plans after reception, Kagome?" Kanna Kori whispered. The petite young woman smoothed her hand over white-blonde hair that was arranged in perfect curls.

Smiling at the girl she'd once believed to be her friend, she said, "I'm returning to my sister's town house in London."

Kagura Akurei glanced over her narrow shoulder and arched a brow the color of dull wood, the same as the hair she ruthlessly braided and coiled around her head. She had sharp-boned cheeks and a full, pouty mouth that wasn't prone to smile. If not for her large, Almond-shaped brown eyes she would have been plain. "I daresay you're not going to town for the season."

"Well..."

"Don't be silly, Kagura," Kanna interjected, stifling a giggle. "Kagome is twenty-four."

Sucking in a breath, Kagome stiffened her back, and then silently chided herself for reacting at all. They aren't trying to be unkind. They're only stating a truth.

The women-both eighteen and in their prime for marriage-exchanged amused glances before Kanna said, "Perhaps I'll find time to visit you, Kagome. I'll be in London as well. Not finding a husband, of course."

"I can't believe you're marrying an earl. I'm so envious," Kagura confided, her pale cheeks flushing red.

"Your day will come, and sooner than you might imagine," Kanna declared, sparing Kagome a pity glance. "Kagura, if you aren't engaged to an earl either a month, I'll set mama to the task. Just name the Aristocrat you want and she'll see you have him."

"What about you, Kagome?" Kagura's brown eye's flickered like broken glass. "Do you have any prospects? Your brother-in-law is in shipping, is he not? Perhaps he knows a merchant who is looking for a wife."

A merchant, not a nobleman. Kagura was the daughter of a lowly baron, but she was still a thousand steps above Kagome. She gripped her hands together until her fingers ached. Was it wrong of her to want a titled husband? One with land and income that would secure her future, protect her from whatever crisis might surround them? Give me the kind of home I had as a child before everything was ripped away?

"I haven't been as lucky as Kanna," Kagome Conceded.

The brown-haired woman sniffed. "I won't need Kanna's mothers help me find a husband. I'll undoubtedly snatch one up long before you."

Kagome said a silent prayer of thanks that Sango hadn't heard Kagura's venomous tone. If she had, the young woman would have found herself face-first on the ground with Sango's knee in her back, digging in until Kagura Apologized. But Kagome had never been so bold: confrontations made her stomach ache.

Smiling when she really wanted to turn away, she murmured, "I'm sure you'll find a wonderful husband."

A mischievous light glimmered in Kanna's leaf-green eyes. "What say you to a wager? Whichever one of you becomes engaged first wins."

"Wins what?" Kagura asked.

Kanna giggled, a shrill, childish sound that made Kagome wince. "Her position in society, of course."

Kagome wanted to tell them they were being foolish. Once society learned of the wager, the loser would be humiliated. Besides, ladies did not gamble, and certainly not on finding a husband!

"Do we have a wager?" Kanna asked.

"It's scandalous." Kagura's mouth twitched with an excited grin.

"You can't be serious." Kagome tried to laugh but failed.

"Can't I?" Kanna drew her shoulders back. "To prove how serious I am, I'll have my mama host a ball to present whichever one of you gets engaged first. And you know everyone attends my mama's balls."

Kagura's eyes glowed as if envisioning herself a bride-to-be, with every nobleman within a hundred miles wishing to be her felicitations.

The ball doesn't matter. Unless . . . unless it secures the things I want most-a home of my own, and children.

She didn't add love to her list. She'd loved a man once, for all her life it sometimes seemed, but he'd never returned her affections. And if he had, he couldn't, or perhaps wouldn't, give her the security she needed.

But security isn't everything, a voice in the back of her mind insisted. I want to belong. For eight years, ever since her sister Kikyo had married Hojo Shinzo, the earl of Leighton, Kagome had stood on the outer rim of society, flirting along the edge, without ever being a true part.

If she could find a man she cared for, one who was respected by England's elite, then the ruling class would have to accept her. She shook her head. There were no "ifs" about finding the man of her dreams. He was out there, waiting for her. She was certain about it.

The head mistress bustled in, shushing the girls and straightening their line. It was time for the ceremony to begin.

"Kanna," Kagome whispered as her classmates began their final walk down the nave, leaving their school years behind, in hopes of finding something better and new.

"Are you going to show the white feather?" the girl taunted. Kagura choked on a laugh.

"No." Kagome touched the Sea Queen blade through her skirt. With a determination she hardly recognized, she vowed, "I'm going to win."