The fluffy second half of the previous chapter that ties up a couple of loose ends.

The ship swooped on the waves and Sarah concentrated on keeping her hand steady as she meticulously finished inking the leaf she was drawing. She lifted the quill and contemplated her work, comparing it to the original in the botany book, before nodding her head in satisfaction. Dipping the feather back into the new bottle of ink that Captain Visser had presented her with earlier in the day, vastly superior in quality to the muddy stuff she had been using, she began transcribing the notes on the plant neatly next to the drawing she had made.

She paused in her writing at a particularly large swell and looked up as the door opened and Billy came into the small cabin they shared. He shut the door quietly, looking quite at home despite the movement of the ship beneath his feet, his hair windswept and damp from sea spray. Sarah cocked a questioning brow at his dishevelled state.

'The wind changed so we had to reset the sails,' he said shrugging off his shirt, which also looked wet, as he crossed the room and began rummaging in the chest that held all their belongings. Sarah knew she was staring but there was always something arresting about the sight of Billy déshabillé. He looked up and grinned at her as he dragged out a dry shirt. There was a rustle and a clinking sound as a little leather bag fell out of the folds of cloth and Billy's smile faded. He gathered the bag up and hastily tucked it back into the chest before pulling the new shirt over his head.

'We're quite alone,' Sarah said mildly.

'I know,' Billy said sheepishly, rolling his sleeves up. 'I'll just feel better when we make landfall and I can send that fucking map to Jack.'

The map he referred to, drawn in his precise hand and annotated with Sarah's neat additions, was carefully folded and hidden inside the small leather bag of black pearls and pinpointed the exact location of the cache.

'Do you think it necessary?' Sarah said.

Billy shrugged. 'I don't know,' he admitted. 'But I feel we should uphold our end of the bargain, I don't want him to have any reason to come looking for us.'

'You don't think he'll notice a pilfered bag of pearls?' she asked with a raised brow.

'Any more reason,' he amended. 'I'm almost sure he won't notice, and if he does then hopefully the rest of the cache will be enough to placate him.'

'I'm sure he won't,' Sarah said easily. 'And they'll be a great help wherever we choose to settle.'

'They will,' Billy agreed. 'As will your winnings at cards. I did try to warn the crew but they didn't pay me any heed.'

Sarah chuckled. 'Perhaps they'll learn, but until they do…well, how large a house did you have your heart set on?'

Billy laughed and ran a caressing hand over her shoulder, looking down at her work. Sarah gestured at the bottle of ink wedged in its stand and then waved a hand across the page.

'A present from the captain,' she said tilting her head up to look at him, watching as he smiled.

'The captain's giving you gifts? Should I be worried?'

Sarah laughed and shook her head at his whimsy. 'If he has ever looked at anyone but his wife I'd be very surprised.'

'He does speak fondly of her,' Billy acknowledged. 'But he has only recently met you,' he continued with a look in his eyes that made her heart rate increase. Sarah put a hand up and pulled his head down so she could kiss him softly.

'You ridiculous man,' she said tenderly. 'He asked me to make a copy for him, he thinks it may come in useful.' Billy put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a more insistent kiss.

'Not ridiculous,' he denied when he drew back.

She would have kissed him again, possibly initiated something a little more intimate but his warm expression suddenly shifted to something akin to awkwardness and he straightened up and carefully stepped away from her.

'I have something I want to talk to you about,' he said, fiddling with his cuffs, looking at his hands and not at her.

Sarah waited, looking at him expectantly even though he did not meet her eyes and trying to quell the irrational surge of concern that his abruptly nervous demeanour provoked. Her mind raced as she tried to think of some reason for his unease, something that she had said or done, but nothing came to mind.

'I've been speaking with the captain,' Billy said. When he didn't continue she prompted him.

'And?'

'I told him the truth about us.'

'What?!' she said, aghast, the quill slapping loudly against the page as she dropped it and surged to her feet. 'Why would you do that?'

On hearing her sharp tone Billy finally looked up and seeing her wide eyed horror immediately tried to reassure her.

'No, no, not the whole truth, just the truth of us not being married. I told him that I'd said it to protect your reputation given how long we had been alone together on the island.'

'But why?' Sarah frowned and watched as he took a deep breath.

'Because I don't want to lie about that. When I tell someone you're my wife I want it to be the truth, and the captain can do it. He can marry us. In fact, he is very willing to, as long as that is your wish.'

The little knot of dread in Sarah's chest vanished and was immediately replaced with giddiness as she took in the significance of his words. It was the spirit of mischief that prompted her to say, 'I rather had my heart set on a title if I'm honest.'

He grinned at her.

'Mrs Gates not good enough for you?'

'It does have a certain ring to it to be sure. And the treasure that goes with it is certainly a sweetener,' she said reflectively, cupping her chin and tapping a finger against her cheek. 'But is it enough to convince me to become your wife?'

He looked a little dazed when she glanced up at him through her lashes.

'What's wrong?' she asked.

'Nothing, I just like the way it sounds, when you call yourself my wife. So what do you say?'

'Really? So what do you say?' she mimicked in a gruff voice, raising an eyebrow. 'That's your idea of a proposal?'

He came forward then, dropping to his knees and taking her hands in his. Staring up at her earnestly, he said softly, 'Sarah, I once said that there are no two people close enough that something cannot separate them. I was wrong. Please do me the very great honour of becoming my wife in law, as you already are in my heart.'

'Very pretty,' she said, dipping her head and kissing him gently.

'Is that a yes?'

She hummed naughtily.

'Sarah,' he said rising to his feet, his tone stern but belied by the sparkle of humour in his eyes.

'Of course it's a yes, how could you think otherwise?' she said, tapping him admonishingly on the nose and then sighing happily when he took her face in his hands and kissed her reverently.

The wedding took place that evening in Captain Visser's cabin, with Mr Janssen, Uchechi and Walsh as witnesses, the only members of the crew to which Billy would entrust their secret. Sarah was dressed in a plain grey dress that Mr Janssen had bestowed on her earlier in the day, explaining with a blush that he had a trunk full of clothing for his wife and daughter, more than they would need, and would she please accept it as a wedding gift. Sarah had tried to politely decline his generous offer, not wishing to take from his wife but he had laughed and said that the redoubtable lady would have his head if he didn't see Sarah suitably attired for her nuptials. At least that was what she thought he had meant, his phrasing being a little awkward and his accent thick. The dress he had given her was both practical and comfortable and there was a soft linen chemise to go under it. A fall of lace, gifted with a merry wink by Walsh accompanied by a silent but smiling Uchechi, pinned into her hair added a pretty touch to her rather subdued regalia. Her intended was freshly washed, clean shaven and smartly outfitted in rather close fitting trousers, a fine linen shirt and a waistcoat that strained a little across the breadth of his shoulders, all of which Sarah could only assume had been loaned by Mr Janssen who, while of a similar height to Billy, had a more wiry build. Billy looked slightly uncomfortable in his borrowed finery and kept tugging at his collar but Sarah privately thought he looked magnificent.

The vows were a muted affair lit by only a few flickering lamps and serenaded by the gentle creaking of the ship. The ring was a plain silver band bequeathed by the captain whose secretly romantic soul was delighted to be joining two so obviously in love. Despite the noticeable differences between this and her first marriage, a society wedding filled with ostentation and pomp, when Sarah looked at the shyly smiling face of her new husband she knew that she had never been happier.

Later, after their witnesses had toasted the both the bride and groom several times over with a particularly fine bottle of wine saved for just such a happy occasion and a bottle of rum had been broached, the talk started to become a bit lewd for the ears of a lady and Billy led his wife away to the privacy of their cabin. Some extremely salacious advice in a strong Irish accent followed them which, as soon as Billy had shut the door on their tiny berth, sent Sarah into a peal of giggles.

Billy shrugged off the too tight waistcoat, flexing his shoulders, and then pulled her, still giggling, against him. She slid her arms around his neck and stifled her laughter.

'Well, Mr Gates, are you happy?' she whispered in his ear. She felt his arms tighten around her waist.

'Yes, Mrs Gates,' he whispered back. 'I'm very happy.'

'Good, now look lively,' she said in a poor imitation of an Irish accent. 'You're going to have to make haste if we are to cover everything Mr Walsh mentioned.'

She giggled again but then the hungry look in his eyes cut off her laughter abruptly and she flushed, feeling her stomach clench with anticipation.

Billy turned her around and began carefully sliding the pins out of her hair one by one. He placed them into one of her shells that sat upturned on the shelf and caught the lace as it slipped from her hair. Sarah couldn't help the sound of reproach she made when he tossed it casually across the back of the chair but she was distracted by the press of his body behind her and his warm breath on her ear.

He circled around, not breaking the contact between them, until he was facing her then sat down on the bed, pulling her unresisting onto his lap. His hands moved to the lacing of her bodice and he started slowly unthreading the cord.

'Oh no,' he murmured in a low voice. 'I fully intend to take my time.'

Sarah swallowed, hard, and then leaned forward to capture his lips with hers.

I genuinely have no idea if the captain of a ship can marry people or if that is just a myth but in this story it is true and completely legal, so there!