AN: I would be remiss if I posted today without some mention of what has been happening with Austen Authors over the past week. I have left AuAu, as have many of my fellow authors. I'm not sure that I need to say more here - if you're reading this work, you already know what I've been endeavouring to do with this series, and you'll have a chance to see it still more in future chapters. If you have not been following and want to understand more of what happened and read Bella Breen's post (which I recommend), go to the Austen Readers group in Facebook. Last thing I'll note is that the Austen Authors admins removed all of my blog posts with them, but I saved the content before I submitted my resignation and will be working to populate it on my author blog in the future.

Chapter 21

It was a strange little idyll, that the Stantons and Ramseys had at Stanton Hall. The Caroline would not sail until after Lord Stretford had everything arranged in town for his extended absence, and so while the ship was almost fully victualled, Matthew had been able to spend most of his nights at his own home, entrusting the ship to one of her lieutenants: Rigby, Egerton, or Grant. They were all of them excellent seamen, young men who had trained under Matthew for many years and could easily be given responsibility of a frigate in her home port for a night.

The naval captains kept naval hours, and thus it was that Georgiana rang for Moll with the sounds of an active sword fight occurring in the park behind the house. They did this every morning, and while Georgiana had readily gotten the sense that neither was as fit as he had been during his last command, she also understood that Matthew was by far the more frustrated by this. He had regained most of the weight he had lost after the Icarus, but to regain weight and to be in the fighting shape he expected of himself were two very different things. Georgiana strode to the window and watched them as she waited. She wondered if it would be strange for Andrew, to sail as the passenger of a man who equalled him in rank so far as the navy was concerned. Knowing the two men, she thought it more likely that there would be some awkwardness on Matthew's part, that he would feel the pressure of having a knowledgeable observer. He had not complained of it, though, when Georgiana had proposed that the Ramseys should travel with them. It was possible he had thought of it, but he was not the sort of man to make a protest over such a thing, and perhaps it had actually made him feel more confident in this journey, for the Caroline was stocked with far more thorough-going seamen than any frigate truly had a right to.

The door to Georgiana's dressing-room clapped open, and then came Moll's lilting accent: "Mornin', milady. If ye've time, I've got the trunks all packed, an' I just want to talk over with ye about what dresses I've put in, to make sure they're what ye want."

"I am sure they're fine, Moll, but I would be happy to meet with you later, if you wish," said Georgiana. "In truth I'm most concerned about whether you will be accompanying us on this journey. If it is too much before you and Taylor take up the lease on the inn, I would understand if you wish to leave your position sooner than expected. I believe Mrs. Ramsey and I could assist each other as needed."

"Aw, no, milady, I want to go. I don't think there's any doubt of our being back well before Lady Day, and there ain't much Taylor and I can do for the inn before then, 'cept save up as much as we can."

"And you do not mind being parted from him again?"

"Well, I'd not say I like it, bein' parted from me 'usband an' all, but Taylor and me, we got our plans, an' I'll earn the salary of a lady's maid so long as I can, milady."

"I understand," said Georgiana, "and I would ask you to aid Mrs. Ramsey, as well, while we are at sea, for I do not believe she has a lady's maid. I am sure she will be generous with her vails."

"Aye, milady," said Moll, her countenance taking on a shrewd look. "I mean, I'd assist a female guest of yours no matter what, but I'm right glad to look after Mrs. Ramsey even aside from the vails, 'cause she's good people. Then again, I guess it's good people as give good vails."

"I believe you are right," replied Georgiana. She took William up to the nursery and there found Catherine and Caroline playing with dolls upon the floor. Upon noticing her mother, Caroline stood up and ran over to her, so she could be kissed upon the top of her head.

Catherine rose and walked over to the window to observe some of the sword fight as Georgiana placed William in his cradle. "Sometimes I wish we got to participate in such pursuits," she said. "I don't even know if I would like to fight with swords, but it would be fun to try it, at least."

"I cannot promise you sword fighting," replied Georgiana, "but I can have them put out a target and you can have a go with pistols, if you'd like."

Catherine turned and gave her an incredulous look. "Pistols? Truly? You shoot pistols?"

"Yes, Matthew taught me."

"Oh, then let us go – what fun!"

Georgiana asked Norton to have the target and pistols set out, and led Catherine out to the table on which the latter had been set. The pistols were a very pretty duelling set Matthew had purchased in France, and although he still used them from time to time, when the Stantons were separated, they always remained in the possession of his wife. Matthew had taught Georgiana everything about their maintenance and she had become quite adept at loading them; as she was doing so, she noticed they had gained an audience of two heavily perspiring men.

"Would you prefer to do the honours of teaching your wife to shoot, Captain Ramsey?" she asked.

"Nay, nay, I'll enjoy this far more, I believe," was his response.

As Matthew had once done for her, Georgiana directed Catherine in where to stand and how she should hold the pistol, and then carefully handed it to her and stepped back. "Don't worry about hitting the target the first time," she said. "Just get a sense for how it feels."

Catherine screwed up her face and pointed the pistol at the target, then pulled the trigger with far more gumption than Georgiana had done her first time. The pistol fired, and Catherine chirped – that was the only word Georgiana could think of to describe such a noise – as the smoke billowed about her hand. Andrew Ramsey found his wife's reaction entirely hilarious, and he bowed his head and guffawed for some time before finally saying, "Good God, Catherine, I had no idea you could make such a noise."

His humour was infectious, and Catherine turned bright red as she giggled with the rest of them. It was with her eyes still dancing that she was encouraged by Georgiana to take another shot. She was silent this time, and although once again the target remained unscathed, Georgiana reassured her that with a little more practise Catherine would soon enough hit it.

Georgiana asked the gentlemen if they wished to take a turn; they did, but encouraged her to go first, and so she reloaded the pistols and took up her stance with the first. She had not fired a pistol since Malta, and it was strange to think back to that time, to recall the hot, bright sun on her back, the scent of the sea air, the happiness of life before the Icarus. The pistol was the same, though, and she knew it well. Georgiana aimed and pulled the trigger, and as the smoke cleared, she saw she was near the centre of the target.

Andrew began laughing again, and said, "If this is the result of allowing one's wife pistol practise, perhaps we ought to stop now."

Georgiana smiled and felt her face flush a little. She took up the second pistol, adjusted her aim just slightly and fired again, hitting the centre this time. The Ramseys both clapped for her, while Matthew looked amused; he knew his wife's capabilities and knew she had enjoyed mastering this just as she had those other accomplishments she enjoyed.

"I'm not so sure I wish to follow that," said Andrew, but he did anyway. Matthew and Andrew both hit the target, but only one of Matthew's shots overlapped Georgiana's in the very centre.

They all continued until they were hungry for breakfast, Catherine finally hitting the target twice in her last turn. As they were walking back to the house, Andrew said, "And now that you know how deadly these Stantons can be, are you still certain you wish to travel with them to America, Catherine?"

Catherine laughed and said, "Oh, I am quite certain, particularly if it means we get to do this again!"

Thus began a morning tradition, although it did not last for very many mornings before Lord Stretford's post-chaise came down the drive to Stanton Hall, signalling to all that they must make their final preparations to go to sea. Georgiana was largely ready, and she had advised Catherine as to what to take, but Caroline was another matter entirely. She did not want to see any of her toys packed away in a trunk, and no sooner had a doll or a ball gone into her trunk than she was removing it and clutching to her chest. "No," was all she would say when Georgiana, Catherine, or Mrs. McClare attempted to coax her to give it back to them to pack away, and even what Georgiana had thought to be a significant threat – that she would have nothing to play with if they were not allowed to pack her things – did not move the child.

Late that night, therefore, Georgiana snuck into the nursery and helped Mrs. McClare furtively pack the trunk and lock it. Georgiana set aside Caroline's favourite doll, and when the child woke and ventured upon the inevitable tantrum the next morning, she was readily appeased by the reappearance of the doll, holding it in her arms during the carriage ride down to Portsmouth. As Catherine had predicted, the wondrous new world of a naval ship proved exceedingly interesting to the child. She was made to ride in the bosun's chair with aunt Catty, clutching her doll tight in her hands as they were raised up and set down upon the deck. The two of them were helped out of the chair by Lieutenant Rigby, and then the doll was dropped upon the deck, forgotten, as Caroline and Catherine strode off to explore. Georgiana followed with William strapped to her chest, and was handed the doll by an amused Lieutenant Rigby. With her arm around both William and the doll, she went down to the captain's cabins, pausing in the doorway to the sleeping cabin. In these rooms she had passed some of the happiest years of her life, and some of the most awful days and nights. She was glad to be back, to have her journey on this ship rather than any other, and grateful to Lord Stretford for whatever manoeuvring had been required to make it possible.

Her reverie was broken by Mrs. McClare, who entered and said, "Oh, I'll take that, ma'am," retrieving the doll. She proceeded to check William's cradle, which had been handed down from Caroline and built specifically by Moll's husband for use on board a ship. It had a rounded bottom and could be set upon the deck and rocked if the seas were calm, but at present it was hanging from the ceiling as the adults' cots did, and Georgiana thought it best to try putting him in it whilst it was hanging but before the ship was in motion, so he could become accustomed to it. Caroline, of course, had had no such opportunities to adjust, and she was the one Georgiana was more worried about – it was one thing to be placed in a hanging cradle as an infant of William's size, and quite another to be expected to sleep in a hanging cot as a two year old child. Georgiana hoped that the sense of adventure that had overtaken Caroline upon reaching the ship would extend to a change in the place where she slept. Even the arrangement of the nursery would require Caroline's cooperation, for Georgiana and Matthew had decided that the children would use the sleeping cabin during the day, but be moved to the great cabin – along with Rebecca McClare and Moll Taylor – to sleep during the night. This would allow all of the adults use of the great cabin while they were awake, but would mean the children had no fixed room of their own. So long as he was content in his hanging cradle, William would have little notion of what room he was in, but Caroline – yet again it came down to whether Caroline would be bothered by the arrangement, the child who had been born not far from where Georgiana stood.

She went back up the companion ladder to see if she could find where Caroline and Catherine had gone off to, but did not see them when she emerged on deck. The first person she did see was Lieutenant Egerton, who was holding what appeared to be a letter and looking very distracted – so distracted it took him a long time to return her curtsey.

"Lieutenant Egerton, it is good to see you again," Georgiana said, when finally he acknowledged her.

"It – it appears it is now Lieutenant Lord Huntston," he said shakily, waving the letter. "This just came by express. There was an outbreak of the putrid sore throat in Sussex, and both my cousin and his son succumbed. I – I am a viscount."

"My God."

"The title, the estate, it's all mine – I never wanted it. This was always meant to be my career," he said, swinging the letter in an arc before him. "I'll have to resign the navy."

"Could you not stay, if that is your choice?"

"There will be matters to handle with the estate and my cousin's will, and I must ensure his widow is attended. I – I cannot sail to America at such a time."

Georgiana looked about her until she saw Hawke, and motioned that he should come over. "Hawke, please take Lieutenant Lord Huntston down to the great cabin and give him a glass of brandy, then have Captain Stanton go to speak with him." Hawke stared at her, perplexed, and Georgiana motioned with her hand that she meant the man he had known as Lieutenant Egerton.

"Thank you, Lady Stanton – I fear I am overcome by this news. I never thought my life could change so completely with a mere letter."

"Lieutenant, you are a good man, and I am sure you will do well in this new role, just as you have in your present one," said Georgiana. "Where in Sussex is the estate?"

"About ten miles west of Chichester."

"Then I hope we shall see each other again, once Captain Stanton and I are returned to England. We are not exactly neighbours, but our estates are not terribly far apart."

"I'd like that very much, my lady."

She watched him follow Hawke down the companion-ladder, his shoulders slumping and his gait slow. He had been one of those men like Matthew, she thought, determined to become the best he could be at one thing, likely because of his family connexions to make post captain someday, even in a time of peace. Now that had all been upended, and the new Viscount Huntston would face a whole new set of responsibilities, ones his prior life had ill prepared him for. Unlike Matthew, he had no wife who had inhabited the world he would now occupy, and Georgiana wracked her mind for any young lady near him in age who might serve the office, for she thought him a worthy young man, and he was now an exceedingly eligible one. She had not thought long before she had alighted on Miss Gillingham, and she resolved to see them introduced once the young lady was out in society. Georgiana suspected that once he came out of mourning, the new Lord Huntston would be beset by any number of avaricious young ladies seeking a title, an estate, and no more, and if she could give two genuinely good-hearted people of that sphere at least a chance to meet and fall in love, she would be glad to do so.

Georgiana was lost in the very pleasant vision of Lord Huntston and Miss Gillingham waltzing together at Almack's when a thought cut through her and ruined all of her equanimity: as a lieutenant, he would need to be replaced. Everything about the Caroline's journey to America had been settled so as to ease Matthew's transition back to sea, but now some new, unknown man was likely to be placed on the ship.

With the Caroline sailing so soon, Lieutenant Lord Huntston tendered his resignation to the port admiral, who might not have ever had such an application made to him before, but understood well enough the natural order of things: if a man had just become a viscount by death and not through naval action, he must be allowed to take up his place as a viscount. The Caroline was therefore assigned a new lieutenant, who was named Osborne. He was a surprise to Georgiana, although he should not have been; she knew there were older lieutenants in the service, but whenever possible Matthew endeavoured to get his followers assigned to posts on his ship, and most of them had served under him as midshipmen. Lieutenant Osborne was surely no younger than forty years of age, and judging by the amount of grey peppering his hair and his weather-beaten countenance, it was entirely possible that he had reached his fiftieth year.

He was not as friendly as the other lieutenants, but upon early acquaintance Georgiana could not be sure whether this was because he was more mature than the amiable young men, or of a more serious personality. It was surely strange, on their second night of sailing, to dine with him and Lord Stretford as the elder men of the table, when it was Matthew who was the host – and Lieutenant Osborne's superior officer.

She did not form any opinions as to his mettle as an officer until the next morning. Caroline had taken quite happily to her cot, for she had found that not only was it a unique sleeping place, but it could also be made to swing to and fro in her waking hours, which she found tremendously entertaining. So that she was not too disruptive to William, Georgiana had plucked her up that morning and taken her up on deck, which she also loved, although it was not quite her favourite part of the ship: that was the manger, where the animals were kept and there was always a sheep, goat, or pig willing to be petted.

Caroline loved the deck because there was always something to watch, and because all of the seamen had decided that the proper way to give deference to the captain's daughter was to pass her, salute, and acknowledge her as "Little Miss." She returned each of their salutes with one of her own, which resulted in amusement for everyone involved in this new ritual. She enjoyed other things, too – standing at the railing (closely held by whatever adult minded her) and looking out over the water, kicking one of her balls along the freshly cleaned deck, or discovering one of the little treasures that had been hidden for her by one of her admirers. The latter were largely primitive little dolls made out of remnant rigging, oakum, and canvas, but each one was treasured up by Caroline as though it had been left for her by faeries, and it was entirely possible that she thought this was their source.

Her latest treasure was found within one of the gaps of the hammock-netting, and she had just plucked it out and turned to her mother, saying, "Look't, mama!" when the bosun's cry came out,

"Shorten sail! Stand by to take in royals!"

In the ensuing piping and subsequent orders that followed, Georgiana gathered up Caroline, the new doll clutched tightly in her hand, and carried her up to a place on the quarterdeck where she knew they would be safe from the ensuing activity. The ship was moving at a fine pace – too fine, apparently, if the command had come to shorten sail. Before her, Georgiana saw Midshipman Willmer throw the log and eventually call out that they were making eleven knots, which did not seem particularly outlandish to Georgiana. There might have been foul weather coming, though, and she determined that once they were done shortening sail, she would take Caroline down to the cabins.

She was startled then by a cry of "Bosun's mate, start that man!" and found that it had come from Osborne, the officer of the watch, and that the man it was directed towards – for the bosun's mate hesitated but then did his duty as ordered – was old Mills. Mills had certainly been an able seaman in the prime of his life, and while he still knew far more than most about serving on a man of war, he had lost more than a step by now. Horrified, Georgiana watched as the bosun's mate rapped him hard with his rattan, once, twice, three times, and she drew Caroline closer so the child would not see.

Mills stumbled forward and was struck once more. Poor young Willmer looked about him in horror, for he knew what had just happened was not the way of the Caroline, but he did not have the authority to do anything. He had long since learned that men could not inform on other men without being despised, but when his desperate face finally caught the countenance of the captain's wife and she nodded to him, he was assuaged. Lady Stanton was not bound by the rules of men, and she would express her anger over what had happened to the captain.

Express it she did, after she took Caroline below. Matthew was seated at his desk in the great cabin, his new epaulettes glistening in the sunlight streaming through the stern windows. His reaction was to sigh and say, "I will speak to Osborne about it. Whatever ships he was on before seem to have had men who needed to be driven much harder than the Carolines, and it will not take long for them to resent him if he keeps on like this. I do not even know why he thought we needed to shorten sail at the time – the Caroline has a goodly number of sea miles under her keel, it is true, but she is still an excellent sailor. She had another half-knot in her, at least, with her royals flying in that breeze, and there was no danger of carrying anything away. I did not like to hear that order given, but I must be careful with my critique of a new lieutenant. Starting a man as he did must be addressed, though, and I will do so."