Evelyn woke up rather late and quietly headed down to the kitchen for some breakfast to find her father waiting for her.

"Details," he commanded, looking at you sternly.

"Father, you sound like Miss Alexandra down the road," Evelyn said with a laugh.

"I don't want gossip, I just wanted to know why you looked so happy when you came home. Did he propose?"

Evelyn shook her head and sat down at the table. "He said he wasn't ready. I don't blame him. But he did admit that I'm the reason he's stayed in Port Bryant."

Her father scoffed, but smiled. "Well, that was obvious."

"Only to you and your sober mind, Father," Evelyn said, trying not to grin at him. He merely shrugged and nodded, taking a sip of the milk Monica had brought.

"He asked me to lunch," Evelyn said absently, watching Monica bustle around the kitchen for supplies and ingredients to start breakfast.

"Did he?" asked her father, setting his milk down on the table. "Did you say yes?"

"Of course I did," she replied, turning her focus back to him. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Ahh, so you do like him," said her father with a smirk.

"Wasn't that obvious to you?" Evelyn returned, matching his smug smirk.

Her father laughed and looked down at his pocket watch. "You'd better eat fast. You slept in quite late this morning."

"Perhaps I was having a nice dream," Evelyn said vaguely, standing up from the table and waltzing out of the kitchen.

After choosing a plain royal blue dress to wear to lunch, Evelyn returned downstairs and ate breakfast. She then headed back up to her room to change into the dress, wearing her hair in simple loose curls. She heard a knock on the door almost as soon as she made it to the bottom of the staircase.

"I'll see you later, Father," Evelyn said, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Try to stay away from the wine while I'm gone!" she called with a laugh, walking to the door. She opened it herself and James smiled down at her from under his magnificent Commodore's hat.

"Hello stranger," he said with a smirk. He looked past her to her father. "Governor," he said with a slight bow.

Evelyn's father nodded and smiled, then winked at her as they walked out the door.

"Is he alright?" James asked quietly as he walked her to his carriage.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"He looked a bit pale." Evelyn turned back to look at the house worriedly as she climbed into the carriage. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to alarm you. I'm sure he's fine." James smiled warmly as he climbed in behind her and closed the door. Surveying the still-apprehensive look on her face, he changed the subject. "We're going to the restaurant you mentioned. I managed to find it last night."

"That's fortunate," Evelyn replied, feeling better. "I'm hungry for some decent food."

"I thought the picnic was more than decent."

"Well, the food at the restaurant in question is better than more than decent."

James nodded. "I see," he says, raising an eyebrow at her word choice. Evelyn snorted with laughter and looked out the window of the carriage. "I know what you mean," said James slowly, and she tried not to giggle as he took her hand in his.

After a while of riding in the carriage they arrived at the restaurant. James helped Evelyn out and looked up toward the sky. "It's clouding, and the wind is picking up. We might be getting some rain later." He put a protective arm around Evelyn and guided her into the restaurant.

"I'm afraid I didn't have the time to make reservations," said James in a resentful voice.

"Don't worry, it's only lunch. This place is packed during dinner, but it's not so bad earlier in the day."

After the two of them were seated, Evelyn heard the unmistakable rumble of thunder and the pelting of rain on the roof overhead. She smirked at James. "Quite the weather predictor, I see," she remarked after requesting red wine and a salad. James shrugged when the waiter left with his order of a steak.

"You notice these things when you sail as much as I do."

Evelyn smiled weakly at him, remembering that his real home was in Port Royal and knowing he must return soon. She pushed these thoughts out of her head and continued the conversation. "I don't suppose you can tell when the really big storms are coming? The ones that can take lives, I mean."

James sighed. "Unfortunately, I cannot. Usually the men with that kind of talent are pirates."

"Pirates?" Evelyn repeated, staring at him in disbelief.

"They live their lives on the water. You'd be surprised at the amount of knowledge they actually possess about the sea."

"But you said that the pirates who captured me were relatively dimwitted. Thank you," she said to the waiter who had delivered her salad.

James smirked. "I said they possess knowledge of the sea, not common sense."

Evelyn grinned at him and took a bite of the salad. "How is it?" James asked.

"Delicious. It always is here."

"Good. Now if they would just hurry up with my steak..."

Evelyn was able to finish her salad before the steak arrived. James took it with an irritated grunt and Evelyn hid her smile behind her napkin. He looked over at her. "What are you smiling at?"

"I'm not!" she said indignantly. He scoffed.

"I can see it in your eyes, Evelyn. Put down that silly napkin."

She slowly lowered the napkin, trying not to laugh at his commanding voice and expression. He started to eat his steak, grumbling.

"I'm sure they treat you better in Port Royal."

James glanced at her. "Perhaps they do," he said distantly, and returned to his steak. Evelyn hurriedly turned the conversation to books and seemed to bring him back from his memories. Eventually he finished his steak. "Would you like to return home now?"

Evelyn thought for a moment. "Do you think we could make a short stop at the gardens?"

"It's still raining."

She gave him puppy eyes. "Do you think we could? Please?"

James rolled his eyes. "You are so childish," he mumbled, standing. Evelyn followed suit.

"Is that a yes, then?"

"Yes."

She gave him a big smile. "Thank you, James."

He smiled down at her and lead her out of the restaurant and into the carriage. Evelyn noticed that the rain had slowed quite a bit. They rode in silence, a little sleepy after their meal. Soon they reached the gardens.

"All right, we're here. What--"

But Evelyn had already let herself out of the carriage. She ran onto the green field of the garden, feeling the rain beat down harder on her already soaking body. She laughed and spun in circles, then turned back to see James walking toward her slowly, his hands behind his back.

"I'm sorry," she said with a laugh. "I just felt like doing that."

James smiled at her, then cupped her face with his hands and kissed her on the lips.

Evelyn nearly jerked back in surprise, her knees felt too weak. James pulled away and looked down into her eyes. "And I felt like doing that." He smiled. "Come on. We need to get you home." He took her hand and walked back to the carriage. Evelyn climbed inside, still feeling weak from the kiss. He entered and closed the door behind him, still holding her hand. They rode for a few minutes before reaching her home. James got out of the carriage, helped her out, and the two of them hurried to the doorstep to get out of the rain.

"Thank you for joining me at lunch," James said breathlessly.

"Thank you for taking me," Evelyn replied quietly. They stood there gazing into each other's eyes for a long while before James slowly leaned in and kissed her again. He broke away, smiled at her, and returned to his carriage.

Evelyn watched the carriage ride off into the rain, and couldn't help but sigh. Without haste she turned and walked inside her home.

Monica rushed into the living room as Evelyn closed the door behind her, wearing a terrified expression on her face.

"Miss Evelyn! It's your father. He's sick."