Chapter 4

It was late in the evening and Carolyn was standing before the mirror on the dressing table in her bedroom. She was wearing a fitted blue, sleeveless dress that rested just above her knees. Her matching jacket was laid over the chair.

"What is the occasion, madam?" the captain asked, curiously. He appeared without warning, as always, standing beside her.

"Claymore's taking me to dinner," she said, brushing a spec of dust off her dress.

"Claymore?!" the captain repeated in complete disbelief. "That churlish cheapskate?" he exclaimed, his calm, curious demeanour now morphed into indignation.

"Yes," she nodded and sat down at the dressing table. "I asked him about getting access to some Gregg family documents again for the book while I was in town this morning and…well, he insisted," she shrugged.

"Ah, and there lies the rub. Madam, he is after the rights and royalties to this book. You cannot fall for this ploy."

"And just how gullible do you think I am…don't answer that," she rolled her eyes. "I know he's going to ask about it again. But, like it or not he is a friend. As much as Claymore can be, anyway. And since he's the one who asked me, and said that he'd pick me up, I really didn't have the heart to refuse him," Carolyn said.

"It is easily done. Blast your overly kind heart," he grumbled. "Willingly spending the evening in his company," he shuddered, "Anyone would think you'd taken leave of your senses."

"Well, I haven't," she assured him.

"That overstuffed landlubber," he continued to grumble with a grimace. "He's letting his imagination run wild, thinking that you would be flattered…."

"I am flattered."

"…Simply because when he was masquerading as me, your overly eager parents almost had the two of you shackled together in eternal matrimony."

"Captain, I really shouldn't have to tell you this, but a man and a woman can be perfectly good friends without being romantically involved. I'm not interested in marrying Claymore and Claymore isn't interested in marrying me…I have too many expenses," she added with a smile.

"A man and a woman? 'Perfectly good friends'…what rot," he snorted. "Why, no woman of my acquaintance ever sought to remain platonic with me," he said.

"So does that that you and Martha will be wanting some time alone?" she asked, slyly.

"Madam?" he furrowed his brow, confused.

"Well, Martha is a woman of your acquaintance. And you just said that you were never just friends with a woman. I'm sure Ed Peevey will be devastated but if you explain just how suave and debonair you are, I'm sure he'll understand," she joked.

"Blast, must you twist my words?"

"I did no such thing," she insisted, still sarcastic. "I took you exactly at your word," she said.

The captain sighed and grumbled and she smirked.

"I know, I know," Carolyn said before he could speak. "Female, inexplicably, eternally, irrevocably female," she said with a dramatic arm over her eyes.

"You women delight in vexing the opposite sex. It does you no credit," he insisted.

"On the contrary, it makes us much more interesting," she countered.

"It makes you a menace to entirety of the male population," he threw up an exasperated hand and turned his back to her.

"What? Me personally?" she grinned.

"And there again! Twisting my words!" he spun around to face her.

"Bilge," she said pointedly.

"Oh," the captain sighed and tutted at her.

"Even if we women are a menace to you men, it certainly didn't stop you, did it?" Carolyn said dryly with a raised eyebrow. "As poetic and beautiful as the love letters you penned a hundred years ago are, you weren't writing them to be platonic, were you?"

"I have a masterful, eloquent command of the English language, I cannot help it if my words were misconstrued by swooning females," he snapped, defensively.

"Uh-huh," she rolled her eyes. "Well, you can stop all your blustering. Claymore doesn't exactly have your 'masterful command of the English language' and it's only dinner. He'll chew my ear about letting him have the royalties to the book and pester me about writing a chapter entirely dedicated to him and I'll refuse. Once that's over with, it'll just be two friends talking. That's all," she said. "And once he's disappointed with my answer, he'll probably make me pay for the meal…or at least my half of it…the bigger half, no doubt."

He stared at her through narrowed, stormy eyes and crossed his arm. "Very well, if you insist on accepting his ridiculous offer, have it your way," he said with a pursed lip.

"Hmmm," she nodded.

"I suppose it is a shame that my abilities were not inherited…although, the mould was broken with me so there was little left for the next generations to work with," he said.

"Well, exactly," Carolyn said, dryly.

She turned back to her dresser and picked up her pearl necklace and tried it against her neck. She gave an approving nod and went to fasten it around her neck.

"Allow me, my dear," he said and the necklace floated from her hands.

He walked over to her and caught the now floating necklace. Then he leaned over and fastened the clasp at the back of her neck, smoothing the pearls over her skin. The captain didn't move and their eyes met in the mirror. His hand ghosted over her skin and she shuddered ever so slightly because it was so easy to image that she actually felt his touch.

"Thank you," she turned her head around a little so that she could look up at him directly rather than his reflection.

For a moment they simply started at each other. His hands hovered just above her shoulders and Carolyn leaned closer to him, craning her neck as of to kiss him. Only she stopped after a second, hardly realising she was doing it, when she remembered that of course she couldn't do so.

She quietly coughed and looked back into the mirror at the pearls.

"Should your dining partner for the night fail to act as a perfect gentleman…" the captain began, quietly.

"I'm sure the thought of you scaring the life out of him, will make sure he does," she finished for him and stood up again.

"Hmmm," he hummed, unconvinced.

Before Carolyn could pick up her jacket, it too floated up into the air and draped itself around her shoulders carefully.

"I hope that you have a pleasant evening, madam," he said. "However unlikely that may be, based on your unfortunate choice in company. And if I were you, I would take full advantage of this opportunity to plunder Claymore's rarely used wallet."

"It might need some oil on its hinges," she joked back.

"Aye, true," he said, seriously.

"Captain…I have a favour to ask," she said, a little tentatively.

"And what is that?"

"Please don't spy on us tonight," she said. "Claymore gets nervous enough just thinking that you're there…"

"That is hardly my fault."

"I'd like to have a quiet evening without him running around scared out of wits and jumping at every sound he hears all night," she explained. "Can you trust that I'm more than capable of handling this?" she asked him sincerely.

"You would banish me from the town?"

"No!" she explained. "Just from the restaurant for the night. I admit, a lot of time it really is quite funny, but tonight I do do without the theatrics and I think given how much…nicer…at least in Claymore's terms, that he's been lately, I think that he's earned a little reprieve."

"Very well, madam," he said, haughtily. "Here I shall remain," he said, haughtily before vanishing.

"I didn't mean that to be…oh, blast. Who knew ghosts could be so sensitive," she grumbled.

Later that night, Carolyn returned to Gull Cottage with a nervous Claymore at her side.

"I had a lovely evening," she said to him with a smile.

He gave her a twitching smile but was too busy looking around the room. "Y…yes…yes…lovely," he stammered.

"Claymore?" she sighed.

"It was…it was…but…is he…is he gonna…"

"Good evening," the captain said and appeared beside them.

Claymore jumped about a foot in the air and yelped like a frightened puppy. Then he turned to look at the captain who was standing tall with his hands on his hips.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Claymore exclaimed taking a step to hide behind Carolyn who rolled her eyes at their usual, ridiculous antics. "You can't throw me out! I did the driving and I paid for the bill…well, most of it," he said.

"He did," Carolyn said, "And he was a perfect gentleman."

"Uh-huh…yeah…see…perfect gentleman…that's me…" Claymore stammered.

"Spineless coward, is more like it," the captain retorted.

"Yes, sir," the man gulped.

"Now, captain," Carolyn stared at him.

"Grr…wh…" he muttered under his breath and grimaced.

Carolyn looked back at Claymore who was still standing behind her. "Thank you, Claymore," she told him, calmly.

"Right…yeah…I'll just erm…you…good night, Mrs. Muir…good night Uncle," he stammered and practically ran out the door, slamming it shut as he left.

"Was that really necessary?" she sighed at the captain.

"I did nothing, madam. Am I to be blamed for his blubbering?" the captain snapped.

"You know he's terrified of you. And all he did was drive me home like a gentleman," she protested.

Carolyn slid her jacket off her shoulders and folded it over her forearm. "And you know, if you scare him into having a heart attack, he'll be joining you as a spirit sooner than you'd like," she added and made her way over to the staircase.

"That is no laughing matter," he said, grimly.

"Exactly," she smiled, walking up the stairs to her room.

When she reached her room she quietly opened and closed the door, then threw down her jacket then kicked off her shoes. Predictably, the captain appeared sitting in the arm chair with one leg crossed over the other.

"Am I to assume that you refused his attempts to claim the rights to the book," he said, not as a question but more of a statement that he did not expect her at all to dispute.

"Yes, I did," Carolyn answered and he nodded in approval.

"As you requested, I did not leave the ship. I concluded my bedtime story for those poor abandoned children of yours before they went to sleep," he said.

"Really," she scoffed, "I was only gone for a few hours."

"And they missed you terribly. They cried themselves to sleep," he replied, dramatically.

"Somehow, I doubt that."

"Is that the attitude of a mother?"

"It's the attitude of this mother," she said.

"Monstrous," the captain shook his head.

"Well, this 'monstrous' mother is ready for bed," Carolyn continued. "I'm getting changed," she declared and went into the large walk in closet to change.

"What a deplorable attitude, madam," he called after her.

In a moment of childishness, Carolyn poked her head the door and stuck her tongue out at him smugly before closing the door again on his stunned expression. She let out a girlish giggle before quickly putting on her nightgown and a matching robe.

After she emerged back into the bedroom she sat at the dresser and began to remove her jewellery.

"So, how did the story end? The last thing Jonathan told me, was that you and the crew were boarded by pirates in the South China Sea," Carolyn said.

"Yes, it was quite the skirmish," he smirked. "Luckily, I managed to throw their captain overboard and rather unluckily for him, he couldn't swim. So his crew were forced to abandon the skirmish to save their drowning captain. It gave us quite the advantage and finally, we captured the pirates and their ship and received quite the reward when we turned them over to the authorities," he preened.

"You threw their captain overboard?"

"I did, indeed," the captain grinned. "He was a scrawny fellow with long hair, so…"

"You didn't?"

"I did, I did," he chortled, "I threw the scoundrel off my ship by his own unwashed hair. It was one of my proudest moments."

Carolyn smiled with him and laughed at the thought of such a ridiculous image. "Well, please don't give the children any ideas. Jonathan's teachers have already told me his language is too salty for the schoolroom sometimes. I don't need either of them getting into fights as well," she said.

"Bilge. I have always acted in self defence and I told them as such. Self defence is always justified. Furthermore, there is nothing wrong the the lad's blasted language," the captain said. "Curse the school, I could teach both of the children far more useful skills than that useless…"

"I'm not pulling them out of school, Captain," she scolded. "You went to school and it didn't do you any harm," she said.

He grumbled, unable to deny the fact that'd for the time in which he'd lived, he'd been fortunate enough to receive a brilliant, formal education as well as the more practical life lessons from his aunt.

"Blast," the captain hissed and Carolyn grinned, victoriously.

Once she was finished at the dresser she tiptoed out to the bathroom to brush her teeth and remove her makeup, then she returned to the bedroom and sat on the bed, pulling back the covers.

The captain closed the windows for her without moving from his chair, then turned out the lights. "You win this round, madam," he told her.

"Very gracious of you to accept defeat, captain," Carolyn remarked as she curled herself up under the blankets with a yawn.

"I am always gracious in defeat," he replied.

She let out a quiet scoff and he glared at her, she hardly saw it now that the room was dark.

"Of course," Carolyn muttered.

"Good night, madam," he said quietly before she closed her eyes.