Please do not despair now that "Let There Be Love" has now ended. I have a new chapter fic which is now up and running.
It's called "Ghost Of A Chance." Please give it a read because all who have read it so far have said, "This is amazing!"
There is still "The Captain's Cottage" for a wee bit longer and also my Knight Rider chapter fic, "The Past Is A Foreign Country."
Always worth a second look and then a third…
Slainté!
Chapter Fifty-One
Mother Knows Best…
"I swear I will be back before you've had time to truly miss me," Daniel said against his wife's ear.
"I doubt that…" Carolyn shook her head.
With so many people moving around her, she did her best to appear content with her duty to remain behind while her husband sailed away from her once more. She longed to go to but knew it was impossible when Lucy was still too young. She'd come to love seaboard life as much as her husband and promised herself that they would all go aboard for the next voyage.
"I love you so very much…" she whispered against his chest as she hugged him tightly. "Come back to me hale and hearty this time, please…"
"Nothing and no one could ever keep me from returning to you…" he reassured her. "Not even the very devil himself would be able to hold me."
"Oh, please don't say that." Carolyn shivered. "But this voyage of Claymore's to Africa..." She plucked at the gold buttons of his uniform jacket. "I have this odd feeling. I don't like it. There's more here than we know. Some fresh mischief is afoot."
"Nor do I like any of it," her husband admitted honestly. "But it is a means to an end. And if it allows us to pay the Admiral off sooner, then we will become the masters of our destinies."
"Yes, I know that." Carolyn nodded jerkily. "I could wish to be the mistress of my own destiny. I would love to run away with you and avoid my mother. She telegrammed to say she and Father would be arriving any day now. The roads have finally been declared as passable for more than stock wagons. You know how rough coach travel always oversets her delicate sensibilities."
Daniel sighed as he kissed her cheek in sympathy. "I should take her out to sea and overset her precious sensibilities completely. Turner would be welcome to her…"
"Yes, but please do not tempt me into agreeing…" Carolyn grimaced, wiping her fingers across her eyes. "I will endure and then she will go away as happy for me as she can be. I still have Martha and Candy to help me distract her. I look forward to seeing my father again."
She could feel many envious feminine gazes were fixed on them and knew the ladies were scandalised at just how demonstrably the good captain took his reluctant leave of his wife. They saw she'd been well-kissed, and her cheeks bloomed with colour when she realised just how closely they were being watched and commented upon.
Behind them, the Rebecca rode restlessly at anchor, tugging at her mooring lines. She'd sailed into harbour before the dawn and her irascible master was standing at the rail, frowning at the lack of productive activity on the wharf below.
"Aw, belay that, man! I've already bid my wife, her fond farewell!" Lucius raised both his fist and voice at his dawdling business partner. "Now we've work to do and a voyage to make! The tides wait for no man!"
"We've got time enough yet!" Daniel replied over his shoulder and proved it by turning back to his wife to kiss her again with obvious relish.
"Go…" Carolyn pushed gently at her man, begging him to leave her there. "I'll wait for you like a good wife. Or, at least, I will try. I do have another manuscript to keep me occupied with my new machine. I still have some learning to do with it. But it's speed is amazing."
"Yes…" Daniel nodded, accepting her low-voiced dismissal. "Look for me in two months. I will return with my holds bursting with treasure. I'll bring you diamonds and emeralds for your pretty neck…"
He trailed one finger across the lacy edge of her bodice, caressing the shadowed valley between her breasts. "I'll build you a palace on the hill overlooking the sea…"
"I'm very happy with the palace you have already built for me," Carolyn assured him in a broken whisper. "For us. As long as you're always here to share it with me…"
"Until I return. Please do not allow your mother to pull you about too badly…" Her husband gave her one last deep kiss before he turned and walked away, shouting orders as he went.
Many an idling crewman, dallying with his girlfriend, fiancé or wife, leapt at his gruff commands, all hurrying for the ship's gangplank to not be the last man aboard. Elroy Applegate was one of the last to pick up his seabag and scurry aboard with his captain's verbal lash laid across his hunched shoulders. He looked back at his new love and smiled sadly before he ducked below to Old Alfred's cubby.
"I love you…" Carolyn whispered as she composed herself, straightening her gown and steadying her breathing.
Of course, the Captain's lady smiled happily at those who came up to speak with her after Daniel had finally taken his reluctant departure from her embrace. The wives and girlfriends of the other officers aboard the ship were content to make small talk. But their comfortable conversations about home and hearth soon began to grate on Carolyn's already stretched nerves.
Her slightly dubious notoriety as the authoress of some rather racy magazine serials had preceded her. Several barbed questions were asked and answered to the best of her ability without any sign of dissatisfaction. It was generally agreed among the ladies over their teacups that Mrs Gregg was a sweet-natured and well-mannered lady without airs and graces above her station in life. They would make allowances for her slightly lurid pastime of being a published writer.
Carolyn smiled as she folded her hands over her reticule and gripped it tightly. She well knew she couldn't be rude to those who enquired so sweetly about her baby daughter, who had been left at home in the capable hands of Ellen, Henry's young nurse. And the commiserations about how long her husband would be gone on an unplanned voyage to Africa.
If she needed to share any of her wifely concerns, the ladies promised their doors would always be open and the tea kept hot. The women bustled and cossetted until Carolyn felt like screaming.
"Thank you. Yes, of course…" she replied tightly to these kind and well-meant invitations from the women who were more than content with their lot of remaining behind to tend to their wifely duties.
'Blast…' was the word that came into her mind then.
But she forbade to express it, knowing how much it would shock the ladies to hear such a man's word from a woman's lips. So, she smiled and endured until the cluster of women finally ran out of conversation and time.
"Don't mind them," Martha advised as soon as the small crowd of ladies and wives moved away. "They're just jealous. I know that, to a woman, they read your serials in private. I've seen them buying the magazine down at the general store, thinking no one was watching. Fred Hammond told me only yesterday that you've become so popular, he's had to triple his order for 'Ladies' View'."
She chuckled. "His wife insisted. I'll bet your stories have spiced up more than one staid marriage or flagging affair."
She and Candy had come down to see the ship and her captain depart. Jonathan had stood proudly at the rail, waving his arm vigorously at his family until some sternly shouted command sent him scurrying away to his station.
"Yes, but we do live in this town, and I must remain on those same ladies' good side," Carolyn replied softly as she watched her son disappear. "But sometimes I just feel like screaming. I know they mean well, but…"
She turned in time to see Vanessa Beauvoir departing from the harbourmaster's office, closely followed by a very troubled-looking Claymore. Carolyn flicked a dismissive hand. "I would like to know what that woman wants here in our town. I thought she was safely tucked away down in Boston where she could do no more harm. Lucius told us she was a positive harridan aboard his ship. Orders flying from her painted lips day and night."
"Well, her being here now, is nothing good, I'll hazard to say." Martha shrugged. "But it looks like she's Claymore's problem and good luck to the both of them. They fully deserve each other."
"Yes, they most certainly do." Carolyn nodded.
"The Captain will be back before you know it…" The housekeeper smiled as she slipped her hand through Carolyn's arm and took Candy's hand as they watched the Carolyn's mooring lines being cast off and the ship responded immediately to her freedom. Her bow rose as she turned with the tide, her sails filling and beginning to billow as she followed her sister ship from the confines of the harbour and toward the ocean.
Only then did the three Gull Cottage ladies turn from the view and walk back to their carriage to settle in for the drive home. There they would wait and pray for the ship's safe return.
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"Carolyn, my dear, sweet daughter…" Emily Williams cooed as she entered Gull Cottage the next afternoon.
She reached out to draw her only child into her perfumed embrace. "It has been such a long time since we've seen you and the children."
Carolyn nodded quickly, hearing the unspoken censure in her mother's comment. "Yes, well, I'm afraid we have been rather busy…" she managed to reply into the frothing lace covering her mother's stiff, whale-boned bodice.
"Of course, we do understand why you didn't think to invite us to stay with you at Christmas," Emily replied comfortably as she patted her daughter's cheek with her gloved hand before she let her go. "You were otherwise occupied and the roads…"
She sighed and waved the same hand as her husband walked into the house, burdened with numerous suitcases and hat boxes. "But we did manage to spend a perfectly charming few days with Harriet and Hazel. They certainly know how to entertain and delight their guests. Their townhouse is so large and well furnished. The servants are very well trained. It was quite the gay time."
"Then, I'm very glad you enjoyed the festive season with the sisters…" Carolyn rolled her eyes at her father who was shaking his head at her.
Bradford Williams dropped his burdens and came forward to embrace his daughter with real affection. "I had no choice in making that visit to the twins…" he whispered against her ear. "I go where I'm told. But I would rather have been here, with you."
"What was that, dear?" Emily arched her brows at him as she drew off her white kidskin gloves.
"Oh, nothing, dear…" Bradford kissed his daughter's cheek before letting her go. "I was just saying how much we have missed seeing Carolyn and the children."
"Yes, well, galivanting off to sea at the drop of a hat does not make familial visits easy to arrange," Emily replied severely. "If only you still lived with us."
She sniffed as she looked around. "Now where is our new granddaughter? I cannot wait to meet her."
"Lucy is upstairs in our bedroom," Carolyn replied as Martha and Candy walked out of the kitchen. "We just put her down an hour ago."
"Lucy…" Emily clicked her tongue. "I still cannot like that name."
"Good afternoon, Grandfather and Grandmother," Candy said brightly, having been instructed to be on her best manners. She dutifully hugged both of them.
Emily stood back with a confused frown. "But where is Jonathan? Is he from home?"
Carolyn inhaled deeply. "He shipped out with Daniel as his new cabin boy when the Carolyn sailed two days ago."
Her mother looked horrified. "But he's so young. How could you let your husband be so careless with your only son." She turned to her husband. "Bradford, say something."
He shrugged. "Whatever we have to say now seems to be a bit too late. The boy has sailed, and I for one, am happy for him. A boy needs to find adventure and he will do that in safety with our excellent son-in-law to watch over him."
"Well, you would!" Emily tossed her head with dissatisfaction. "You should care more. The boy is our heir, after all. He must be trained in the ways of the banking world and not the ocean. There is no future there for him. That is with us, in time. And that cannot come soon enough."
"We will not argue about that, here," Caroyn said repressively, shaking her head. "You must come up and meet Lucy. So leave your luggage with Martha and come upstairs to say hello to your newest grandchild."
"Very well…" Emily gathered her skirts. "But it is a pity the child is not a boy. It would have made life easier all around."
"I disagree…" Carolyn bit her inner lip to prevent herself from saying something impulsive she knew she would soon regret as she led the way up the staircase.
※※※※※
"I have given you the good grace of two whole years in which I prayed you would finally come to your idiotic senses!" Ellsworth Hall railed at his unrepentant daughter. "But it seems my prayers continue to go unanswered. I have come here today to give you one final chance to redeem yourself and your reputation!"
"You mean, your reputation," Sally shot back. "And I don't remember ever asking for your prayers." She rose from her desk chair as she watched her father take an agitated turn around her office. "Or any concern for my welfare. I am quite well, by the way, thank you. And my magazine is thriving."
She tried to appear calm and in control. It had been an unexpected visit, and she knew her irascible parent was up to something more than a familial visit. He'd come to make some kind of deal that would save the reputation he valued so highly.
"You continue to show your utter disrespect for my wishes at every turn!" Ellsworth shouted at her. "Any other right-thinking parent would have cut you off without a penny, by now! That would have brought you to your senses!" He came close to snap his fingers in front of her face.
Sally blinked but stood her ground, refusing to be intimidated by his boorish attitude. "You do not care for me as your daughter. You never did. You wanted a son to carry on the family business and you constantly remind me how much of a disappointment I am to you. So, why should I care a single jot for your opinion now?"
"Because I am your father, woman!" Ellsworth snapped. "You will do as I say, or it will be the worst for you! I have asked you repeatedly to sell your magazine to me. You could retire on the proceeds and set about giving me grandchildren before it's too late. I would be more than generous. More than you deserve."
He moved even closer to her. "Or I could bring in a doctor of the mind and have you declared mentally unstable. A woman who has constantly refused to listen to her father and marry as she should may be judged as questionable. You would be confined to a hospital for the insane," he continued in a low, threatening tone. "Then all that is yours would become mine, by default. Perhaps, it would be better and cleaner than way."
"As you did with my poor mother when she finally defied you?" Sally replied grimly, glaring at him with disgust.
Her father flicked a dismissive hand. "Well, you know she was unstable. It was for her own good. From the very beginning of our marriage, she did nothing but cry and put on those fainting airs whenever I went near to her."
"I know that when she could not give you the son you wanted, you had her put away from your sight. And then you helped yourself to her considerable fortune."
"Have a care to your tongue, daughter!" Ellsworth spat back. "I was a good and caring husband. I worked hard and tripled her fortune within ten years."
"But not a faithful one. My poor mother refused to die and free you to marry again." She smiled softly. "It was a suitable revenge. I am only sorry she is dead now. She would enjoy this impasse."
"Lies!" her father shot back.
"Hide away from the truth if it suits you." Sally shrugged, picking up a sheaf of paperwork and looking pointedly toward the door. "But if you insist on bringing such base threats to my door, know that my lawyers and others have my written statement to the fact of how you imprisoned my poor mother against her will. And if you attempt to do the same to me…"
She stabbed a forefinger at the door to her office. "Now, if you will excuse me. I have a magazine to run and an edition to get out." She raised her shoulders. "My readers are expecting another instalment of our high seas adventures. I wouldn't want to disappoint them by being delayed."
Her father glowered at her. "I see how it is. That Gregg woman has poisoned your mind against me. You listened to my advice until she came into your life." Ellsworth snatched up his hat and crammed it onto his head. "Do not think I don't know what kind of woman she is!"
Sally raised her chin. "The very best kind. One who cares about me, my work here, and my opinion. You would never understand."
Her father clasped his hands together. "Well, I hear she's recently birthed a girl child. Her husband must be deeply disappointed. But that should keep the confounded woman busy for some time yet. Especially with her husband being away at sea and all."
He smiled thinly. "And who knows what could happen while he's in Africa? The dark continent is no place for the faint of heart or the foolhardy. Or those overly sure of their welcome."
Sally gasped. "How did you know about the voyage?" she asked, then immediately regretted the impulsive question. "There is nothing you can do, anyway. And it's none of your business."
"I might have made it my business." Her father rubbed his palms together. "All I ask is that you give due consideration to my more than generous proposal before it's too late. Without your star writer, your precious magazine would suffer a bad setback. I could then buy it for a song."
His dark eyes glittered. "Yes, if the Gregg woman's husband was to meet with some untimely accident while he is away…"
"Leave…" Sally pointed a trembling finger toward the office door. "Leave before I have you thrown out. You will not come around here, shouting idle threats. If you say another word I will totally disown you and your precious name."
"Very well. I'm going, I'm going…" Ellsworth turned for the door, obviously glad he had finally upset her equilibrium. "If you should change your mind about signing over control of your magazine to me before it's too late…"
"Get out!" Sally replied in a low tone of utter disgust. "I do not wish to talk to you again."
"Have it your way, daughter…" Her father paused in the open doorway. "But do not say I did not try to warn you. I will give you one more month to come to your senses and make the right decision. Believe me, you will feel better for it." He closed the door with a look of satisfaction and then could be heard walking away, whistling off-key.
"Blast…" Sally sat down heavily in her chair.
She was painfully aware her father never made idle threats. He was a man of business through and through. He tried to turn every setback to his advantage and make any opponent suffer the consequences.
"I wonder what evil he has planned and with whom…" She shook her head as she reached for the pad of telegram forms, then stopped.
Such dubious information could not be passed over the telegraph wires for all to hear and read. She had no real idea of what she would say to Carolyn anyway.
"Schooner Bay, it is, then…" She stood up and reached for her coat.
※※※※※
"I'm sorry your mother cannot see her way clear to be more accommodating of your wishes for your son," Bradford said to his daughter as they sat together over a welcome glass of Madeira before the living room fire.
Emily had long since retired to bed, citing a bad headache and overset nerves. She'd looked for her husband to follow her but he declined, saying he wanted a comfortable chat with their daughter.
Emily had sniffed. "Well, don't be too long. You know how I cannot sleep with you bumbling about in the room."
"Jonathan has his heart set on being a sea captain like Daniel," Carolyn replied, watching the flames dance through the fine crystal of her wine glass. "He would be miserable cooped up in a city office day after day."
"Oh, I well know that malaise," her father was quick to reply. "If I had been possessed of the blessed opportunity to go sailing when I was his age..." He sighed deeply before taking a long sip of his wine.
"There is nothing to stop you coming sailing with us on our next voyage as a family," Carolyn said impulsively. "We could sail to Philadelphia and you could come aboard there."
Her father's brows rose. "You're all planning on sailing away again?"
"I have become quite wedded to the ocean and all her moods. There would be nothing to stop us once Lucy is old enough."
"Lucy…" Bradford mused. "I do like that name. It means light, doesn't it? She is certainly a delightful child. Such a knowing look she gave me this afternoon when she grasped my finger. I was very taken with her."
He smiled. "She looks so much like you when you were a baby."
"It was Daniel's suggestion," Caroly admitted, smiling at her father's easy manner and quiet acceptance. "It suits her."
"Yes, it does." Bradford paused, frowning down into his glass of wine. "You would sail to Philadelphia for me?"
"If your dearest wish is to sail then why not?" Carolyn lifted her eyes to the ceiling. "You are the master of your own house."
"You make it sound so easy…" Her father sighed. "But it is a tempting offer…" he mused just as Martha walked in carrying a tray of a teapot and cups.
At the same moment, there was a sharp knocking on the front door. Martha looked up. "Now who on earth could that be at this time of night?"
She wiped her hands on her apron as she bustled away to answer the knocks which came again, even more urgently than before. "All right, all right. Hold your horses, I'm coming…"
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