Chapter Fifteen
Home to Gull Cottage
That evening, Carolyn walked into the large dining room of the Parker hotel ahead of her husband. Daniel had been abruptly detained in the lobby by an elderly gentleman who wished to speak with him urgently.
"I'll wait for you inside at our table. Please order for both of us. You know what I like." Carolyn smiled as she'd left her husband to his deep discussion about cargoes and manifests, things that she had not the head for.
As she followed the waiter through the restaurant to the secluded table, they'd requested at the back of the crowded dining room, Carolyn became aware she was being watched. She had no idea what about her would attract anyone's close attention.
Her apple green silk evening gown was new, made up from bolts of the exquisite cloth her husband had thoughtfully brought ashore from his share of the last cargo he carried. It was cut low across her shoulders with scallops and falls of cream antique lace at the bodice and sleeves.
She'd dressed her hair up with long falls of curls around her shoulders secured by matching ribbons. She'd left aside the ostrich feathers that would have denoted her married status. She disliked the distraction of the nodding plumes and they were uncomfortable to wear.
She frowned repressively in the direction of the unwanted regard and encountered a pair of deeply amused green eyes in a man's darkly bearded face. Carolyn considered him briefly, allowing that he was handsome enough in the overt way of a man who was well aware of his charms. A suitable hero for one of her upcoming books, but not for real life. She noted and dismissed him with the same glance.
She knew she was not the prettiest woman in the room by any means but she felt she could hold her own well enough. Certainly, against the likes of the Countess Beauvoir. The woman's careless actions still grated on her sense of fair play.
The stranger's smile widened at her dismissive look as he raised his wine glass in her direction. He was sitting alone at a table set for a single diner. No doubt he found himself at a loose end and was looking for company.
Carolyn raised her chin, ignoring the man's regard as she made her way to the table Daniel had booked. She raised a denying shoulder and refused to look in the man's direction again.
She knew she should tell her husband of such unwanted attentions, but decided against it. She did not wish to cause a scene. She was honest enough to know she would soon be forgotten by the handsome, bearded man who would easily find someone more willing to enjoy his masculine attentions.
Daniel soon joined her, followed by a waiter carrying an ice bucket containing a bottle of champagne. He sat down and shook out his napkin.
"I thought we might celebrate the success of our day," he said, indicating to the waiter to pour their champagne. "I have ordered our food."
"Thank you. Then here's to the very marvellous Miss Hall…" Carolyn raised her glass in salute the moment the waiter left.
Their quiet corner table was set behind a conveniently leafy planter box where they could be relatively alone to discuss the details of their day. A quick glance around the room showed Carolyn no further sign of the man who'd been watching her. She breathed a cautious sigh of relief, deciding he'd presumably moved on to easier prey. There were a number of single ladies in the room to choose from.
"That redoubtable woman will certainly make you work for your living," Daniel observed, as he raised his own glass to answer her toast. "And to my regret, I will not always be there to help you when I must be away at sea for weeks at a time over the summer. As long as none of your family decides to visit us, we can make up for lost time when we get home."
"Yes, we do need to make the best of it when you are home…" Carolyn nodded quickly, sipping her champagne. "I'm sure my mother knows her place by now and will not send anyone to spy on us."
"You're looking pensive again," Daniel commented quietly as he refilled both their glasses. "Never hide what you are thinking from me. Tell me."
"Very well. I was thinking that if we can finally make enough money from my writing perhaps you will not need to go away to sea so often," Carolyn replied, knowing she had no right to ask such a drastic thing of a man born to sail the ocean.
Daniel sat back in his chair as their meals were delivered. He ordered another bottle of champagne from the hovering wine waiter and they talked of mundane things until they were alone again.
"I am a sea captain, my love," he said quietly. "My life is as much on the ocean as yours now seems to be behind a desk writing about my travels. Perhaps the day may come when—"
"Please, forget I spoke." Carolyn laid her hand over his in apology. "It was a selfish wish. You would not be you without a ship to carry you away and bring you back to me."
"It was what you are thinking and wishing, none-the-less," Daniel responded, as he squeezed her hand before picking up his knife and fork. "And I did ask for your complete honesty. I value that."
"Yes, you did." Carolyn began to eat her food. "In an ideal world we could sail the world together and I would see all the wonders we are going to write about," she acknowledged. "But we would be away for far too long and I would miss Candy and Jonathan too much for any of that to be in our immediate future."
"All is not lost. When the children are older, they may sail with us," Daniel replied. "We could employ a tutor for their education. I have heard it has been done by other seafaring families. I cannot see why we can't do the same."
"The best of both worlds? And not one of my family may have a word to say about anything we do since they will not know?" Carolyn raised her eyebrows at him. "Have I told you lately how truly wonderful you are, my dear? At times, I must pinch myself to believe it's all real."
"You can show me later how much you appreciate me…" Daniel lowered his tone to a whisper as he leaned across the table to clasp her hand within his, carrying it to his lips. "When we can truly be alone…"
"Please, do forgive the intrusion. I trust I am not interrupting a private conversation here?" a masculine voice, filled with wry amusement, inquired softly.
"Blast!" Daniel muttered, withdrawing his hand from his wife's. He looked up at the intruder into their privacy. "Yes, you are, so you may leave."
"No…" The intruder's mischievous grin widened, showing a full set of strong white teeth within his dark moustache and beard. "I'd rather stay."
He was equally as tall and powerfully built as Daniel. His fine green eyes assessed Carolyn again as closely as the moment she'd first entered the dining room. "Because you always do manage to find the prettiest girl in the room and claim her as yours before any of us lesser mortals can even ask her name."
He turned away to hook an empty chair forward and sat down between them. Again, his sea-green eyes travelled over Carolyn, appreciating the picture she presented to his practised regard. "I do not believe I have seen you in the hotel before, my dear. Your beautiful face I would have remembered. I wonder where Daniel found you."
"You have me at a disadvantage, Sir. I do not believe we have been introduced." Carolyn lifted her chin, unable to prevent the warmth of colour seeping into her cheeks at his open and frank assessment.
"No, regrettably, we have not…" The stranger shrugged, frowning at Daniel. "I was on my way out when I saw you both," he lied smoothly. "It is soon remedied. You must introduce me to this ravishing creature, Daniel. Else I might die from not knowing if her name is as beautiful as she."
"Must I, indeed?" Daniel shook his head at the man's audacity. "Then you will leave us in peace to enjoy our meal."
He extended his left hand to take Carolyn's again. He made sure the light from the table candle reflected off the wide gold band on his ring finger.
"For all his sins, which are many, varied and blasted near uncountable, I am forced to introduce Captain Lucius Beaumont to you, my dear. He will not be staying long enough to spoil our evening. I am sure he has far more important business to which he must attend such as the loading of his ship."
He shook his head. "Lucius, allow me to introduce you to my wife, Mrs Carolyn Gregg. Now you may go on your way to perdition with my best wishes." He waved a dismissive hand with a wry grimace.
"So, the rumours are true…" Beaumont marvelled, not moving a muscle to leave them alone. "I laid out good money on it not being so. You bounder, you owe me the princely sum of ten dollars. I thought you would never find the right woman for you. I remember you speaking of it often enough whenever our paths crossed."
He whistled softly. "So the old Bey was right, after all. He will be pleased. That old man knew a thing or two about life and living."
Daniel frowned at him. "I remember hearing rumours of your own nuptials a year or more ago. It seems we have both left our bachelorhood behind and for good reason."
"And yet you never sent me so much as a gift." Lucius sat up to his full height, placing a spread hand over his heart. "You wound me, my friend."
Carolyn could not prevent herself from smiling at his mock expression of grief. "I find it very hard to believe that you can be wounded so easily."
"Please do not encourage him, my love," Daniel begged. "We shall not be rid of him all night if he discovers you possess a sympathetic ear for his stories. None of which are suitable for the delicate ears of a lady."
"I am as you see me, my dear Mrs Captain Carolyn Gregg…" Lucius wheedled, bowing his head. "It has been more than two years since I have seen your husband. Time and tide can change a man."
"I think you love yourself all too well," Carolyn countered quickly. "I wonder at the woman who could complete with your own high opinion of yourself."
"Oh, so the lady has claws. I like her very much. Have you been talking about me, my friend?" Lucius turned to raise his dark eyebrows at Daniel. "I thought you must have because she appears to know me too well."
"I can truthfully say your name has never once crossed my lips," Daniel denied. "And it never will again, if I have my way. Has it been only two years? It seems longer."
"If you had been in London at the time, I would have asked you to stand up for me," Beaumont replied. "I married Admiral Kearns' youngest daughter, Rebecca. She is back in London, helping her mother to take care of the admiral."
"Congratulations. I wish you both every happiness." Daniel raised his glass in salute.
Lucius nodded as he stood up. "I am in port for a few days waiting for my cargo to arrive," he said to Carolyn. "Perhaps you both will visit me aboard the Rebecca."
"We sail in the morning with the tide," Daniel replied. "Sadly, we will not have time to make any social calls."
"A pity." Lucius chuckled quietly. "I could regale your good lady with some of the more venturesome adventures from our youth when we were both foolish and carefree."
He leaned forward to whisper to Carolyn, "I do remember a female witch doctor back on Madagascar who took a rather keen interest in acquiring certain male parts of your husband's anatomy for her spells. And she was also fascinated by his nice blue eyes. I will not tell you how I saved his sorry hide that day."
He straightened, tipping two fingers elegantly to his temple. "I shall convey your regards to the admiral and his family. He is getting on in years now. Maybe the next time you're in London you will visit him. He would like that."
He bowed again, before walking away, whistling a sea shanty, and smiling at all the pretty women in the room.
"You were never going to tell me anything about him, were you?" Carolyn asked quietly as she watched Beaumont leave before returning to her interrupted meal.
"You will find talking about Lucius only encourages him to do his worst." Daniel shrugged. "He sometimes sails the same sea lanes as we do. I had thought we would have met him eventually, but it would have been a place and time of my choosing. This was certainly not it. Not when we have so much to celebrate and be thankful for tonight."
"I will say he is entertaining…" Carolyn smiled. "And I do think for all his bravado and talk he is really missing his wife. And he knows things about you that I do not."
"Anything you wish to know, I will tell you," Daniel said repressively. "Beaumont is inclined to embellish his tales out of all recognition. It is his habit to put himself at the centre of everything to appear the hero."
Carolyn's eyes twinkled at his gruff reply. "So, the female witch doctor looking to acquire certain male parts of your anatomy? That was not true?"
"Sadly, it was." Daniel sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "I will say that day I owed Lucius my life."
"Therefore, he cannot be as bad as you paint him." Carolyn forked a mouthful of her meal. "He saved you then so you could save me on a certain snowy night in Schooner Bay..."
"Yes…" Daniel looked after his friend. "I doubt we will be seeing him again for some time to come."
"A pity." Carolyn pulled a face. "Maybe some of his less outrageous stories would make excellent fodder for my next novels."
"Any future dealings you may have with Lucius Beaumont will be on my terms and my terms alone. He has more of a talent for remembering the bloody-thirsty and swashbuckling tales of daring-do. They are not all suitable for the delicate ears of a lady. Or for publication in a woman's magazine. Even the redoubtable Miss Hall would blink at them."
"Fair enough." Carolyn nodded quickly. "I am willing to accept those terms as reasonable. But you must tell me everything. I think there will be a definite place for Captain Beaumont in some of my novels. His is the kind of brazen male air the ladies seem to like for some reason."
"Beaumont?" Daniel's brows rose incredulously as he paused in his eating, his fork of food halfway to his mouth.
A slow smile of unalloyed delight curved his lips and he began to chuckle. "Captain Lucius Beaumont's precious stories of adventure on the high seas being confined within the scented pages of a lady's romantic novel…" he mused. "Oh, my dear, he would truly hate that with every fibre of his being. And I could not think of a more fitting punishment for his unwelcome interference in the pleasure of our evening."
"Then it is settled." Carolyn nodded. "As soon as we get home to Gull Cottage, we shall get set up for me to begin writing our next novel before you go away to London. We will make as many notes as we can in the time we have left."
"That we shall." Daniel poured them both more champagne. "We will have a few evenings together before I must sail."
His look became intimate. "And the nights. The nights will be for us, alone."
"Yes…" Carolyn's lashes swept down at the look in her husband's eyes.
"And I will consign to Hades anyone who thinks they may interfere in our homecoming," Daniel told her hardly. "I want you to myself for as long as we are able to be together. You are sure your mother now understands her place in our lives? You do not hear from them for months, thanks to Claymore's manipulations. But now we cannot seem to shake their interest in our family's doings."
"Oh, I'm sure all will be well…" Carolyn crossed the fingers of her free hand out of sight beneath the edge of the table as she sipped her champagne. "I do not think any one of my family would even think to interfere so soon after the wedding."
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Daniel leaned back against the rail in the Charlotte's waist beside Nathaniel Grimes' position. The carpenter continued to work, keeping his head down and his whole attention on the piece of wood in his gnarled hands.
They would dock in Schooner Bay in the later afternoon. The run for home from Boston had been swift with a strong following wind that had favoured them for the whole voyage.
The bright spring day was warm and sunny. The air felt fresh and clean. It was a good day to be alive and in love.
Daniel drew a long breath, knowing a sudden, deep and abiding regret he must leave his family again so soon. But London was calling and he had no way of avoiding the summons he once welcomed with open arms.
"How stands your book now, Mr Grimes?" Daniel asked of a wheeling gull. "It should show a pretty penny."
"A shade over nine dollars," the carpenter replied, his lips barely moving, as he patted the pocket of his shirt. "The men have tried their best not to incur your ire when it comes to your good lady. I pray none of them has overstepped the bounds of your keen eye for her well-being."
"I have not seen anything to trouble me," Daniel replied evenly.
"Good." Nathaniel shrugged. "To my knowledge not one scurvy knave among them has taken an inordinate interest in your lady. None wish to have his back striped to ribbons and thrown overboard to the sharks. But none can claim to be entirely honest and above reproach."
"I would hazard to say that young Malcolm is the only innocent aboard this ship," Daniel's lips twisted wryly. "Even Mr Jarvis has been observed looking where he should not when he had duties to perform."
"You cannot blame any of them, Captain." Grimes shrugged. "Mrs Gregg is a very pretty lady. She also has a goodly care for the men, which they appreciate."
"But now it seems the lady has lost one of her handkerchiefs." Daniel shook his head. "She had it tucked within her sleeve when she came up on deck this morning. Now it is nowhere to be found. It appears to have grown legs and walked away."
Daniel's look hardened. "I have looked for it, but it has vanished. If it has been taken, then that is theft, Mr Grimes. And I cannot allow it to go unpunished."
"Aye, that it be, Captain." Nathaniel sighed roughly. "What's to do, then?"
"We shall assemble the men and put an end to the matter." Daniel straightened from his position and walked away to where Carolyn was standing against the side rail of the ship watching him closely.
"We will soon get to the bottom of your missing kerchief," he told her.
"It is only a handkerchief, Daniel," Carolyn pleaded. "I have others. It may well have blown overboard. I wish now I had not mentioned it to you."
"If that is so, my dear, then no one is harmed." Her husband shrugged. "It may seem minor to you, but I must maintain strict discipline aboard this ship as any other I captain. We have a long voyage ahead of us and all manner of things can quietly disappear if this incident is not addressed. Other crews have been known to strip the very nails from the boards if they thought it would afford them a profit. The whole ship could fall apart beneath us in the middle of the Atlantic."
"I cannot have that…" Carolyn took his hand between hers. "But it would be a shame to spoil such a wonderful voyage. I cannot remember a time when I enjoyed myself more."
"I should hope not," Daniel replied with mock solemnity. "Our enjoyment of each other has been mutual but sadly all too brief."
"Yes…" Carolyn smiled at the sensual look in his blue eyes. "Poor Lucius Beaumont seemed so lonely without his wife beside him."
"I forbid you to talk of that man," Daniel commanded. "He is both a rogue and a scoundrel."
"And your good friend." Carolyn shook her head. "Even if you try to deny it."
"He does have some redeeming features," Daniel conceded. "But nothing that need concern you. Lucius can look after himself well enough. He also sails for London behind us. He will be back with his Rebecca soon enough."
He lifted her hand to his lips. "Now I shall assemble the men and get to the bottom of your missing kerchief. If it be an honest mistake then all will be well."
He sighed. "I supposed it is pointless to ask for you to go below until I call for you once the matter is settled?"
"Totally pointless," Carolyn told him lovingly. "I know you have honest crewmen and they will prove it."
"Very well…" Daniel kissed her hand again before he walked away, shouting for Mr Jarvis to attend him.
※※※※※
The men muttered and jostled their way to their assembly point in the waist of the ship. None of them seemed to have a clue about why they were being summoned so urgently from their duties and speculation was rife.
Not one of them could swear they'd not once looked in the direction of the Captain's fine lady. Her presence on the ship's deck had often drawn more than one set of appreciative masculine eyes. They would all have to be blind monks not to notice. But if any of them had transgressed the narrow bounds of their Captain's small store of patience, it must have been something so minor as to not be observed by their fellows.
Daniel leaned on the rail, looking down on the motley assemblage below him. "It seems we may be harbouring a thief aboard this ship. That I cannot allow."
Murmurs of dissent rippled through the crew. Every man shook his head in vehement denial.
"What proof have ya?" Mr Grimes spoke up.
"My good wife walked out on deck this morning with her handkerchief tucked in her sleeve. Now it is missing. What do any of you have to say to that?"
Again, the men muttered and milled, looking at each other in bewilderment.
"We have seen nothing of such, Captain," one of them shouted. "If so, it would've been returned by now. Mayhap it blew to sea. The wind is strong and stiff today. None of us would do your lady any harm. That's God's honest truth, Sir."
"Maybe it was an accident?" Mr Jarvis ventured quietly.
"That has been speculated upon," Daniel conceded, looking beyond the crowd to where Carolyn stood against the rail. "If it be so then the matter will be closed and you may go back to your duties with my thanks for your honesty."
"But it didn't blow out to sea, Captain…" a small voice at Daniel's elbow commented.
"Malcolm?" Daniel looked down at the young boy beside him. "What do you know of this matter?"
"It was me, you see, Sir…" The young boy pulled at his forelock urgently. "I saw it fall from the mistress's sleeve," he continued miserably. "But it dropped into a puddle of dirty seawater and before I could alert your good lady to its loss she'd gone below to your cabin, Sir. I could not follow below and abandon my duties."
He shifted uneasily from one bare foot to another. "So, I'm the thief. As soon as I was released, I took the kerchief below to the cook, for cleaning and pressing, Sir. I was about to return it when you summoned us to answer for the theft. But I was not thieving it, Sir. Honest! I would never do that!"
"A lady's fine, young champion…" Daniel's lips twitched. "Very well. Do you seek to return it to her, now?"
"Aye, aye, Sir! Yes, Sir!" The young boy saluted smartly. "Thank you, Sir!"
He needed no further urging. Scampering off the upper deck he pushed his way through the crowd to Carolyn's side. Dipping his hand within the front of his shirt he brought out a small, neatly wrapped parcel of well-worn sailcloth.
He held it out to her with a wide smile. "Here it is, Mrs Gregg. Safe and sound."
"Thank you, Malcolm," Carolyn acknowledged, accepting the gift.
"Thank you, my Captain's lady." Malcolm nodded, flushing to the roots of his dark hair as he pulled at his forelock.
Daniel descended to the waist of the ship as Mr Jarvis ordered the crew back to their stations. He stopped beside Nathaniel Grimes. "It seems our young Malcolm is the most honest and innocent man aboard ship, after all."
"I'll see to it that the nine dollars make their way into his pocket, Captain." Grimes saluted. "He'll be grateful of the bonus. I hear he looks to find safe lodgings in town with a good family."
"Then I'm glad for the lad. He has performed his duties well on his first voyage." Daniel nodded as he walked away toward his station as the rugged and wild coastline of Maine began to rise above the restless line of the far horizon.
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