The Apollo was suitably majestic as she swept into the harbour, laying down
her anchor with all the grace of a whale. The governor stood on the dock,
watching as the crew and merchant's men hurried to secure the cargo in the
hold before lowering a boat to row their passengers ashore.
Will stood with the governor, wishing for all the world that he had not agreed to meet the ladies as they arrived. It had been an eventful morning, to say the least, begun by the governor's horrified announcement that his sister-in-law and her daughter were to be arriving very shortly, in fact on board the brigantine that had been sighted off the headland as dawn approached.
As Elizabeth took charge of the household, carefully preparing rooms and hiring maids for her aunt and cousin, it had slowly come out that Governor Swann had received a letter from Lady Rosemary Blythe just over a month before, informing him that she was making her way to Port Royale to meet her niece's husband and congratulate them on their marriage. Needless to say, in all the excitement, he had forgotten their impending arrival, reminded only when the runner came up to the house to inform him that the Apollo had been sighted.
In order to ease their relations into the house gently, Elizabeth had immediately sent Marin down to the fort to spend the day with James, forced into a dress because of who would be at the house when she returned. Jack had been shooed away and told to at least make himself look respectable, even if he couldn't act respectable. Will hadn't missed the mischievous twinkle in his friend's eye as he left the house, wondering what the irascible pirate was up to.
So now he and his father-in-law waited patiently on the quayside as the longboats pushed off, Elizabeth putting the finishing touches on the final preparations up at the house. Will could see the two women sitting snugly in the stern of the second longboat, nudging the governor to make sure he saw them.
As the longboat bumped alongside, Will hurried to help them disembark. The older woman gave him a grateful smile as he extended a hand to assist her, glancing back at her daughter with a knowing look.
'Weatherby, how wonderful to see you again!' she exclaimed, embracing the governor warmly.
Will swallowed a laugh at this shameless announcement of his father-in- law's first name, leaning down to help the daughter onto dry land. She echoed his amused smile, watching as her mother accosted her uncle.
'I'm sure your joy does not exceed my own, Rosemary,' Swann told her, accepting her embrace with an air of defeat. 'I trust the voyage was not too rough?'
Lady Rosemary Blythe laughed.
'Oh, not at all,' she assured him. 'I found it quite bracing.'
She turned to where her daughter stood with Will, neither doing very well in hiding their amusement at the governor's less than masterful command of the situation.
'You remember Laura, don't you?' she said, beckoning the younger woman forward. 'Oh, of course you do. Ellen made a special effort to make sure you knew your niece, didn't she?'
Laura curtseyed to her uncle, her green eyes alive with laughter as she greeted him warmly.
'How could anyone forget Laura?' the governor said warmly. 'And how are you, my dear?'
'I'm very well, thank you, uncle,' she replied quietly, and Will was struck by her sudden shyness. How could someone whose emotions were so obvious to anyone who took the time to look be so shy, especially with her family?
Rosemary beamed down at her, wrapping her arm about her brother-in-law's firmly.
'How is dear Elizabeth?' she asked, returning his attention to her with a swift tug on his sleeve.
The governor seized the opportunity presented to him. He smiled.
'I'm afraid I am no longer in a position to tell you, my dear,' he told her. 'Her husband is far better able than I.'
He gestured to Will, beckoning the younger man forward.
'May I present William Turner, my son-in-law?' he said formally. 'Will, this is Lady Rosemary Blythe, my late wife's sister, and her daughter, Miss Laura Blythe.'
Will bowed to the two women, suddenly aware of Rosemary's scrutiny.
'I'm honoured, ladies,' he managed, before he was pulled into her arms with a low cry.
'You dear, dear boy,' she cried, holding him close for a moment before releasing him once more. 'You don't know how pleased I was to hear that our Elizabeth had finally found herself a man. And to hear that she married for love - it was wonderful news!'
Bemused by this exclamation, Will smiled politely, nodding to Laura as she curtseyed once again, this time to him. Rosemary's hand grasped his arm as she drew him along the quayside, having obviously decided to walk up to where she could see Governor's House nestled on the hill. Behind them, Governor Swann offered his arm to his niece with a bright smile, escorting her through the town as they listened with interest to the bombardment of questions Will found himself answering.
The walk to the house was mercifully short, Will decided, swiftly side- stepping his wife as she flew from the garden on their arrival to greet her aunt and cousin. It was touching to see how affectionate the three women were, leading him to believe that they had been close before the Swanns had come out to the Caribbean. However, it gave him the perfect chance to observe the newcomers as he quietly gave instructions to the servants.
Lady Blythe was a plump woman, not even half as prim and proper as he had expected her to be. She seemed genuinely pleased with everything, from the weather to the welcome she had received on arriving. Her questions as they had walked up from the town had not been invasive, but Will had found it hard to answer easily because he felt he did not know her. He realised now that he would have no choice but to get to know her very quickly. This was a lady with a zest for life, and she didn't seem the type to be put off for long.
Her daughter was a younger, slender version of herself, a deal quieter than her mother. What Will had mistaken for shyness on the quayside had been a softer nature than that of her mother, though she was no more reserved than said lady. Her attachment to Elizabeth was clear, shining through her affectionate smiles and gestures. Her hair was as dark as Elizabeth's had been when they had first met, the similarities between mother, daughter and niece too numerous to dismiss.
Jonathan slipped into the room, moving to tug at Will's sleeve since he couldn't reach the governor.
'The little lad says to tell you, sir, that Miss Delaney and Commodore Norrington are coming up the track, and not to let Mrs Turner laugh at their companion,' he whispered hoarsely.
Laura glanced up, having overheard the whisper, watching as Will slipped from the room with the manservant to head off the approaching guests. She turned to Elizabeth, swallowing a laugh at the sight of her mother cooing over the baby.
'Where did you meet Will?' she asked softly, curious.
Elizabeth smiled gently.
'He was pulled out of the water on our voyage from England,' she told her cousin. 'His ship had been destroyed by pirates.'
Laura gasped, feigning shock. Elizabeth slapped at her hand.
'Don't you tease me, Laura Blythe,' she warned. 'I know all about your love of pirates.'
'And I, yours, Liz,' Laura laughed. 'Tell me, did you ever meet that pirate you read so much about?'
Before Elizabeth could answer, Will slipped back in, announcing their other guests.
'Elizabeth, Marin's back,' he told her, before said young woman brushed him aside gently.
'Oh, I'm terribly sorry,' she said, mortified that she had interrupted them. 'I'll come back later.'
Rosemary glanced up, her eyes quickly taking in the appearance of this newcomer.
'Oh goodness me, don't leave on our account,' she said bluntly. 'Come in, we're not going anywhere.'
Marin nodded to her, slightly bemused, and slipped into the room, vaguely aware that Will had gone back out into the hall and was engaged in a heated conversation with Jack. James followed her, bowing politely to the women as they rose to curtsey to him.
'Forgive me, Aunt Rosemary,' Elizabeth said warmly. 'These are my friends, Miss Marin Delaney, and Commodore Norrington. Marin is staying here with us, I do hope you don't mind.'
'Nonsense, child, of course we don't mind,' she was told firmly. 'She was here first, by all intents and purposes. Oh, do sit down, commodore. Don't stand on ceremony.'
Exchanging an amused glance with Marin, James took a seat beside Laura, nodding politely to her as Elizabeth spoke up again, introducing the women she was sat with. He blinked, turning his head to look again at the young woman by his side as the conversation began again. She was lovely, an enchanting looking woman, especially the way her eyes sparkled as she spoke. He couldn't take his eyes off her.
Elizabeth glanced at his captivated expression and nudged Marin, who was forced to swallow a rather hearty laugh at the moon-calf look in her cousin's eyes. Rosemary tapped her hand, drawing her attention back to the older woman.
'Do you live out here, Miss Delaney?' she asked, her eyes sharp as she took in the simple dress, obviously noting the lack of corset.
Marin smiled, nodding.
'I've lived in the Caribbean almost all my life,' she said gently.
'Goodness me, have you really?' Rosemary sounded intrigued. 'Here in Port Royale?'
'Oh no,' Marin hastened to correct her. 'All over the place. My parents died when I was very young, you see, and my guardian's profession took him all over the Caribbean.'
Rosemary nodded, glancing to where James still had not gained control of his senses enough to join the conversation.
'The commodore has not always been stationed here, then?' she ventured, innocently assuming that he was the guardian Marin spoke of.
Marin smiled again, already liking this inquisitive lady.
'I wouldn't know,' she admitted.
Rosemary frowned.
'But surely, if he is your guardian . . .'
'Oh! Oh no, Lady Blythe, James isn't my guardian,' Marin told her, and paused, suddenly overcome with longing for Elias.
A gentle hand covered her own as Rosemary leant in closer.
'My dear, are you quite well?'
Suddenly aware that Marin needed rescuing, James jolted from his contemplation of Laura's face and joined their conversation.
'My cousin is quite well, Lady Blythe,' he assured the woman. 'I'm sorry to say her guardian died a little while ago, and the pain is still very near.'
Rosemary nodded, understanding now the tight expression on her companion's face. She squeezed Marin's hand gently.
'I understand, dear,' she said softly, deftly changing the topic of conversation away from such a painful subject.
Just then Will slipped in, barely in control of his expression as he introduced his companion to those already seated.
'May I present Captain Jack Sparrow?' he said softly, turning away as Jack entered the room, a bright smile on his face.
Of those who knew him, only Marin and James managed to maintain composed expressions, having seen his ensemble on the walk up from the town. Attired in a fine suit, worthy of any English merchant, his dreadlocks hidden beneath a wig similar to the governor's, Jack was almost unrecognisable. He bowed low to everyone present, ignoring the slack jaws of both Elizabeth and the governor, and Will's near hysterical laughter behind him.
'Forgive me for interrupting,' he said politely, the slur gone from his voice to be replaced with a clipped British accent. 'I was unaware that the governor had guests. I shall retire to my room.'
'Are you staying here also, sir?' Laura asked innocently, glancing from Elizabeth to this polite merchant who had entered.
'I am, my lady, though hopefully not for long,' he told her gently.
Rosemary was also glancing from niece to merchant, turning to Marin for an explanation.
'My dear, could you tell me who this young man is?' she asked.
Marin smiled, grateful for an excuse to ease the tension in the room.
'I can, Lady Blythe,' she assured the two women. 'This is my fiancé, Captain Jack Sparrow.'
Jack bowed, shooting her a mischievous look as the two ladies rose to greet him formally.
'Jack, this is Lady Rosemary Blythe, and her daughter, Miss Laura Blythe, Elizabeth's aunt and cousin.'
'A pleasure, ladies,' Jack said softly, moving to sit on Marin's other side with a warning look to Elizabeth.
She snapped her mouth shut, dragging herself back under control.
'The captain is staying with us while his ship is repaired,' she told them. 'Since he is to be married to the commodore's cousin, we could hardly allow him to take rooms at one of the inns.'
'Hardly,' Laura echoed in an amused tone, her eyes betraying the fact that she had guessed something was going on.
Marin's gaze locked suddenly with James', and he picked up on the subtle message to tell Laura everything. With a polite smile, he turned to the young woman.
'Miss Blythe, would you care to take a turn about the garden with me?' he offered.
Laura blushed, glancing at her mother before answering.
'I'd like that, thank you, Commodore Norrington,' she said, allowing him to draw her to her feet.
Rosemary watched them as they left the room, her mind already alive with possibilities. She turned to Elizabeth.
'Is the commodore unattached, Elizabeth?' she asked.
'Rosemary!' the governor objected. 'You've barely arrived and you're already match-making?'
His sister-in-law gave him a gentle pat on the hand.
'It is one of the duties of being a mother, Weatherby,' she told him. 'After all, I can hardly trust Laura to make a suitable match all by herself, now, can I?'
Elizabeth shared a wide smile with Marin before answering, watching over her aunt's shoulder as the pirate lass tucked one of Jack's stray dreadlocks back beneath his wig.
'No, Aunt Rosemary, I don't think he's attached,' she told the curious woman. 'I'm sure he would have mentioned it to someone if he was. Has he said anything to you, Marin?'
The girl looked up with a surprised smile, not having expected to be included in the conversation again. Her hand, Elizabeth noted with some satisfaction, rested in Jack's, quite unconsciously.
'I don't think he's had time to get attached to anyone,' she said softly.
Rosemary frowned.
'Whatever do you mean, child?' she asked curiously.
Jack restrained his grin to a polite smile as he answered for his fiancé.
'Merely that the dear commodore has been rather too busy arranging other people's lives for them to let himself notice that there's a score of young women who would be only too happy to make his life complete, as it were, Lady Blythe,' he told her.
She glanced between him and Marin, nodding in understanding.
'Well, I should think it's about time he did,' she said firmly, her gaze shifting to watch as her daughter and the commodore took a turn around the garden, oblivious to anything but one another.
Will stood with the governor, wishing for all the world that he had not agreed to meet the ladies as they arrived. It had been an eventful morning, to say the least, begun by the governor's horrified announcement that his sister-in-law and her daughter were to be arriving very shortly, in fact on board the brigantine that had been sighted off the headland as dawn approached.
As Elizabeth took charge of the household, carefully preparing rooms and hiring maids for her aunt and cousin, it had slowly come out that Governor Swann had received a letter from Lady Rosemary Blythe just over a month before, informing him that she was making her way to Port Royale to meet her niece's husband and congratulate them on their marriage. Needless to say, in all the excitement, he had forgotten their impending arrival, reminded only when the runner came up to the house to inform him that the Apollo had been sighted.
In order to ease their relations into the house gently, Elizabeth had immediately sent Marin down to the fort to spend the day with James, forced into a dress because of who would be at the house when she returned. Jack had been shooed away and told to at least make himself look respectable, even if he couldn't act respectable. Will hadn't missed the mischievous twinkle in his friend's eye as he left the house, wondering what the irascible pirate was up to.
So now he and his father-in-law waited patiently on the quayside as the longboats pushed off, Elizabeth putting the finishing touches on the final preparations up at the house. Will could see the two women sitting snugly in the stern of the second longboat, nudging the governor to make sure he saw them.
As the longboat bumped alongside, Will hurried to help them disembark. The older woman gave him a grateful smile as he extended a hand to assist her, glancing back at her daughter with a knowing look.
'Weatherby, how wonderful to see you again!' she exclaimed, embracing the governor warmly.
Will swallowed a laugh at this shameless announcement of his father-in- law's first name, leaning down to help the daughter onto dry land. She echoed his amused smile, watching as her mother accosted her uncle.
'I'm sure your joy does not exceed my own, Rosemary,' Swann told her, accepting her embrace with an air of defeat. 'I trust the voyage was not too rough?'
Lady Rosemary Blythe laughed.
'Oh, not at all,' she assured him. 'I found it quite bracing.'
She turned to where her daughter stood with Will, neither doing very well in hiding their amusement at the governor's less than masterful command of the situation.
'You remember Laura, don't you?' she said, beckoning the younger woman forward. 'Oh, of course you do. Ellen made a special effort to make sure you knew your niece, didn't she?'
Laura curtseyed to her uncle, her green eyes alive with laughter as she greeted him warmly.
'How could anyone forget Laura?' the governor said warmly. 'And how are you, my dear?'
'I'm very well, thank you, uncle,' she replied quietly, and Will was struck by her sudden shyness. How could someone whose emotions were so obvious to anyone who took the time to look be so shy, especially with her family?
Rosemary beamed down at her, wrapping her arm about her brother-in-law's firmly.
'How is dear Elizabeth?' she asked, returning his attention to her with a swift tug on his sleeve.
The governor seized the opportunity presented to him. He smiled.
'I'm afraid I am no longer in a position to tell you, my dear,' he told her. 'Her husband is far better able than I.'
He gestured to Will, beckoning the younger man forward.
'May I present William Turner, my son-in-law?' he said formally. 'Will, this is Lady Rosemary Blythe, my late wife's sister, and her daughter, Miss Laura Blythe.'
Will bowed to the two women, suddenly aware of Rosemary's scrutiny.
'I'm honoured, ladies,' he managed, before he was pulled into her arms with a low cry.
'You dear, dear boy,' she cried, holding him close for a moment before releasing him once more. 'You don't know how pleased I was to hear that our Elizabeth had finally found herself a man. And to hear that she married for love - it was wonderful news!'
Bemused by this exclamation, Will smiled politely, nodding to Laura as she curtseyed once again, this time to him. Rosemary's hand grasped his arm as she drew him along the quayside, having obviously decided to walk up to where she could see Governor's House nestled on the hill. Behind them, Governor Swann offered his arm to his niece with a bright smile, escorting her through the town as they listened with interest to the bombardment of questions Will found himself answering.
The walk to the house was mercifully short, Will decided, swiftly side- stepping his wife as she flew from the garden on their arrival to greet her aunt and cousin. It was touching to see how affectionate the three women were, leading him to believe that they had been close before the Swanns had come out to the Caribbean. However, it gave him the perfect chance to observe the newcomers as he quietly gave instructions to the servants.
Lady Blythe was a plump woman, not even half as prim and proper as he had expected her to be. She seemed genuinely pleased with everything, from the weather to the welcome she had received on arriving. Her questions as they had walked up from the town had not been invasive, but Will had found it hard to answer easily because he felt he did not know her. He realised now that he would have no choice but to get to know her very quickly. This was a lady with a zest for life, and she didn't seem the type to be put off for long.
Her daughter was a younger, slender version of herself, a deal quieter than her mother. What Will had mistaken for shyness on the quayside had been a softer nature than that of her mother, though she was no more reserved than said lady. Her attachment to Elizabeth was clear, shining through her affectionate smiles and gestures. Her hair was as dark as Elizabeth's had been when they had first met, the similarities between mother, daughter and niece too numerous to dismiss.
Jonathan slipped into the room, moving to tug at Will's sleeve since he couldn't reach the governor.
'The little lad says to tell you, sir, that Miss Delaney and Commodore Norrington are coming up the track, and not to let Mrs Turner laugh at their companion,' he whispered hoarsely.
Laura glanced up, having overheard the whisper, watching as Will slipped from the room with the manservant to head off the approaching guests. She turned to Elizabeth, swallowing a laugh at the sight of her mother cooing over the baby.
'Where did you meet Will?' she asked softly, curious.
Elizabeth smiled gently.
'He was pulled out of the water on our voyage from England,' she told her cousin. 'His ship had been destroyed by pirates.'
Laura gasped, feigning shock. Elizabeth slapped at her hand.
'Don't you tease me, Laura Blythe,' she warned. 'I know all about your love of pirates.'
'And I, yours, Liz,' Laura laughed. 'Tell me, did you ever meet that pirate you read so much about?'
Before Elizabeth could answer, Will slipped back in, announcing their other guests.
'Elizabeth, Marin's back,' he told her, before said young woman brushed him aside gently.
'Oh, I'm terribly sorry,' she said, mortified that she had interrupted them. 'I'll come back later.'
Rosemary glanced up, her eyes quickly taking in the appearance of this newcomer.
'Oh goodness me, don't leave on our account,' she said bluntly. 'Come in, we're not going anywhere.'
Marin nodded to her, slightly bemused, and slipped into the room, vaguely aware that Will had gone back out into the hall and was engaged in a heated conversation with Jack. James followed her, bowing politely to the women as they rose to curtsey to him.
'Forgive me, Aunt Rosemary,' Elizabeth said warmly. 'These are my friends, Miss Marin Delaney, and Commodore Norrington. Marin is staying here with us, I do hope you don't mind.'
'Nonsense, child, of course we don't mind,' she was told firmly. 'She was here first, by all intents and purposes. Oh, do sit down, commodore. Don't stand on ceremony.'
Exchanging an amused glance with Marin, James took a seat beside Laura, nodding politely to her as Elizabeth spoke up again, introducing the women she was sat with. He blinked, turning his head to look again at the young woman by his side as the conversation began again. She was lovely, an enchanting looking woman, especially the way her eyes sparkled as she spoke. He couldn't take his eyes off her.
Elizabeth glanced at his captivated expression and nudged Marin, who was forced to swallow a rather hearty laugh at the moon-calf look in her cousin's eyes. Rosemary tapped her hand, drawing her attention back to the older woman.
'Do you live out here, Miss Delaney?' she asked, her eyes sharp as she took in the simple dress, obviously noting the lack of corset.
Marin smiled, nodding.
'I've lived in the Caribbean almost all my life,' she said gently.
'Goodness me, have you really?' Rosemary sounded intrigued. 'Here in Port Royale?'
'Oh no,' Marin hastened to correct her. 'All over the place. My parents died when I was very young, you see, and my guardian's profession took him all over the Caribbean.'
Rosemary nodded, glancing to where James still had not gained control of his senses enough to join the conversation.
'The commodore has not always been stationed here, then?' she ventured, innocently assuming that he was the guardian Marin spoke of.
Marin smiled again, already liking this inquisitive lady.
'I wouldn't know,' she admitted.
Rosemary frowned.
'But surely, if he is your guardian . . .'
'Oh! Oh no, Lady Blythe, James isn't my guardian,' Marin told her, and paused, suddenly overcome with longing for Elias.
A gentle hand covered her own as Rosemary leant in closer.
'My dear, are you quite well?'
Suddenly aware that Marin needed rescuing, James jolted from his contemplation of Laura's face and joined their conversation.
'My cousin is quite well, Lady Blythe,' he assured the woman. 'I'm sorry to say her guardian died a little while ago, and the pain is still very near.'
Rosemary nodded, understanding now the tight expression on her companion's face. She squeezed Marin's hand gently.
'I understand, dear,' she said softly, deftly changing the topic of conversation away from such a painful subject.
Just then Will slipped in, barely in control of his expression as he introduced his companion to those already seated.
'May I present Captain Jack Sparrow?' he said softly, turning away as Jack entered the room, a bright smile on his face.
Of those who knew him, only Marin and James managed to maintain composed expressions, having seen his ensemble on the walk up from the town. Attired in a fine suit, worthy of any English merchant, his dreadlocks hidden beneath a wig similar to the governor's, Jack was almost unrecognisable. He bowed low to everyone present, ignoring the slack jaws of both Elizabeth and the governor, and Will's near hysterical laughter behind him.
'Forgive me for interrupting,' he said politely, the slur gone from his voice to be replaced with a clipped British accent. 'I was unaware that the governor had guests. I shall retire to my room.'
'Are you staying here also, sir?' Laura asked innocently, glancing from Elizabeth to this polite merchant who had entered.
'I am, my lady, though hopefully not for long,' he told her gently.
Rosemary was also glancing from niece to merchant, turning to Marin for an explanation.
'My dear, could you tell me who this young man is?' she asked.
Marin smiled, grateful for an excuse to ease the tension in the room.
'I can, Lady Blythe,' she assured the two women. 'This is my fiancé, Captain Jack Sparrow.'
Jack bowed, shooting her a mischievous look as the two ladies rose to greet him formally.
'Jack, this is Lady Rosemary Blythe, and her daughter, Miss Laura Blythe, Elizabeth's aunt and cousin.'
'A pleasure, ladies,' Jack said softly, moving to sit on Marin's other side with a warning look to Elizabeth.
She snapped her mouth shut, dragging herself back under control.
'The captain is staying with us while his ship is repaired,' she told them. 'Since he is to be married to the commodore's cousin, we could hardly allow him to take rooms at one of the inns.'
'Hardly,' Laura echoed in an amused tone, her eyes betraying the fact that she had guessed something was going on.
Marin's gaze locked suddenly with James', and he picked up on the subtle message to tell Laura everything. With a polite smile, he turned to the young woman.
'Miss Blythe, would you care to take a turn about the garden with me?' he offered.
Laura blushed, glancing at her mother before answering.
'I'd like that, thank you, Commodore Norrington,' she said, allowing him to draw her to her feet.
Rosemary watched them as they left the room, her mind already alive with possibilities. She turned to Elizabeth.
'Is the commodore unattached, Elizabeth?' she asked.
'Rosemary!' the governor objected. 'You've barely arrived and you're already match-making?'
His sister-in-law gave him a gentle pat on the hand.
'It is one of the duties of being a mother, Weatherby,' she told him. 'After all, I can hardly trust Laura to make a suitable match all by herself, now, can I?'
Elizabeth shared a wide smile with Marin before answering, watching over her aunt's shoulder as the pirate lass tucked one of Jack's stray dreadlocks back beneath his wig.
'No, Aunt Rosemary, I don't think he's attached,' she told the curious woman. 'I'm sure he would have mentioned it to someone if he was. Has he said anything to you, Marin?'
The girl looked up with a surprised smile, not having expected to be included in the conversation again. Her hand, Elizabeth noted with some satisfaction, rested in Jack's, quite unconsciously.
'I don't think he's had time to get attached to anyone,' she said softly.
Rosemary frowned.
'Whatever do you mean, child?' she asked curiously.
Jack restrained his grin to a polite smile as he answered for his fiancé.
'Merely that the dear commodore has been rather too busy arranging other people's lives for them to let himself notice that there's a score of young women who would be only too happy to make his life complete, as it were, Lady Blythe,' he told her.
She glanced between him and Marin, nodding in understanding.
'Well, I should think it's about time he did,' she said firmly, her gaze shifting to watch as her daughter and the commodore took a turn around the garden, oblivious to anything but one another.