Miles Before I Sleep (10 page)

“Mama, do you think we could invite everyone from the ship to the wedding? After all, this is where we met. Isn’t it romantic?”

Nauseating was more like it
, Andrea thought.

“It depends on who is paying for the wedding, my dear. I was thinking more along the lines of a simple wedding. But really, darling, we are getting ahead of ourselves.”

“Maybe he’ll even change the name of the ship. Let’s see, maybe
The Lady Fair
should be
The Dark Lady
… No, that doesn’t sound right. Oh posh,
The Callie
or
The Callie Pike
then.”

“I believe it is bad luck to change a ship’s name,” Andrea volunteered, knowing that her father’s ships frequently wore the wrong name and flag when in the port of a country that was on less than friendly terms with England. “You know how superstitious sailors are.”

“Oh,” Callie said disappointedly, her bottom lip coming out in a pout. “Perhaps his next ship.”

Andrea wanted to suggest that Miles Huntington was probably hopelessly in debt from building this ship. Not only were steamships substantially more expensive than a wind powered vessel, but the H & O had made the ship unbelievably luxurious. Everything she had seen of the ship was first rate, no expense spared. But if she had pointed that out, she would have appeared catty, so she let the woman’s fancy pass without comment.

Andrea sat back and listened as the two women discussed what Callie should wear at dinner. The mother and daughter had such an easy rapport with each other. It had never been like that for Andrea and Lillian. Lillian, rather than commenting on her daughter’s attributes, as Lady Pike did, always seemed to find Andrea’s flaws. Her hairstyle did not suit her face, the color of her dress was not complementary, the cut of her dress did not flatter her figure, she was simply too tall, even though she was shorter than Lillian by an inch.

Lady Pike left to see to Callie’s wardrobe, leaving Andrea alone with Callie.

“Aren’t you worried about…marrying a man,” Andrea asked in a moment of seriousness.

“I should be more worried if I were marrying a monster,” Callie answered keeping a straight face with some effort. She waited until she saw that Andrea had caught the joke before she laughed.

Andrea laughed only because it was polite. She had been sincere in asking and wanted a real answer. Offhandedly, she wondered if Lady Pike had ever told her daughter about what happens in the marriage bed.

She leaned closer to Callie, her tone was hushed. “But really, aren’t you afraid of…being with a man?”

“Whatever for? I should imagine it shall be perfectly natural. I mean, men and women have been, you know, for hundreds of years. No one has died from it that I know of. Oh, I suppose I’ll be nervous the first time, but only because I wouldn’t want to displease him.”

Andrea nodded her head knowing that Lady Pike had never broached the subject with her daughter. Poor girl, she thought compassionately, she had no idea of what she was getting into. Andrea could not bring herself to disillusion her. Perhaps it was better to go into the marriage blindly. She could live with her misconceptions of love and happiness, whereas Andrea could only see marriage with trepidation.

Lady Callie’s maid arrived in the saloon a few minutes later. Lady Pike had sent her after Callie so they could dress for the midday meal.

After they departed, Andrea decided to return to her cabin to change also.  It would be her first time in the dining room and she was excited to sample the ship’s fare.

As she entered the corridor to her room, she saw Clyde Sully lingering nearby.  When he saw her, he strode towards her with purpose. 

Andrea quickly dashed into her room and shut the door locking it.  A moment later, there was a knock on the door. 

“Who is it?” she asked without opening the door.

“You know who it is,” he said keeping his tone low.

“Go away.”

“You can’t hide forever,” he said menacingly. Clyde Sully was astute enough to realize he could not be seen standing outside the door of the passenger cabins making threats. “Eventually, you will have to talk to me.”

11

After her confrontation with Clyde Sully, Andrea could not get her nerve up to leave her cabin for the midday meal. At breakfast she had consumed the last bit of food she had brought with her, so by suppertime, she was famished. Standing at her door, she waited to emerge until she heard other people leave their cabins to go to the dining room. Although she felt safe in the presence of other passengers, her eyes continued to dart into every alcove and shadow expecting Clyde Sully to reach out from the darkness and pull her into a storage closet.

When she arrived at the dining room, Andrea encountered an unforeseen problem. Having never traveled by passenger ship before, she had not expected the seating to be assigned. Since her passage was booked under the name Jim Andrews, she had to convince the maître d’ that there had been a mistake and her name had been misspelled on his list. But when she was escorted across the room and a chair held out at Miles Huntington’s table, she nearly bolted. Only the gnawing in her stomach, and her fear of causing a scene, allowed her to pull her shoulders back and sit down in the seat offered to her.

Lady Pike and Lady Callie stared open mouthed as Miles Huntington took careful notice of her.

“It would seem,” Andrea began in explanation to the Pikes, “that I am assigned to this table.”

“Indeed,” Lady Pike said, piqued. “I was under the impression that one had to be invited to join either the captain or you, Mr. Huntington.”

“If I don’t miss my guess, I’d say Miss Andrews, is in the cabin my cousin was to occupy. He was supposed to join me at my table for the length of the voyage. Circumstances have prevented him from making the return crossing. His arrangements have obviously been transferred to the occupant of his stateroom,” the dark headed man said with some amusement. Adding to Andrea, knowingly, “How is Jim?” His eyes crinkled in the corners mischievously.

Her soft gasp went unheard in the din of the diners. “He-he’s been ill. I fear my brother may have taken a sudden turn for the worse.” Andrea picked up a menu hoping to end the conversation.

“You don’t say….” One eyebrow shot up. “Perhaps I should have the doctor look in on him.”

“I thought you weren’t acquainted,” Lady Pike inquired.

“I met Miss Andrew’s brother in the ticket office. I didn’t make the connection until just this minute.” He turned back to Andrea. “The family resemblance is remarkable. I’m surprised I didn’t see it before.”

Andrea could tell he was toying with her. He knew that “Jim” was assigned his cousin’s cabin and that
he
had come aboard alone. He did not seem at all angry, as she might have expected. Instead, he appeared to be entertained by her farce.

“I was surprised myself,” she replied, feeling only slightly less tense, but smiling pleasantly. “Some say if it weren’t for his spectacles and mustache we would look exactly alike.”

He chuckled. “I would have to agree.”

Andrea glanced across the table at the other two women. Lady Pike's mouth was drawn in a tight, bloodless line, making her lips whitish. Her angry brown eyes met hers for only a moment before Andrea lifted her menu before her.

Lady Callie’s expressive sable colored eyes were fixed on Miles Huntington. She worried her full lower lip with her teeth as she nervously curled a ringlet of hair around a finger.

“Shall I speak with the steward tomorrow or would you prefer to do it, Mr. Huntington?” Andrea asked.

“Miss Andrews?” His eyebrows lifted and his head tilted sideways in question. “What is it that we need to discuss with him?”

“The dining arrangements, of course. Now that we know that a mistake has been made, it must be rectified so you may have more room for your guests.”

“I wouldn’t hear of it,” he stated firmly. “Until your brother is well, you must allow me to see to your welfare. Without his companionship, some of the male passengers and ship’s complement might get into undue mischief.”

Lady Callie, feeling left out of the conversation interrupted. “Surely, Mr. Huntington, all of the men on the ship are gentlemen.”

“Perhaps on one of my other ships I could vouch for my crews’ behavior, but most of these men have only been in my employ for a few weeks. And of the passengers, I know even less.”

“You say you have more ships?” Lady Callie rejoined cheerfully, trying to change the subject away from the young woman whom she now saw as a rival.

Neither Andrea nor Miles heard her. Their eyes were locked on each other as if they could somehow read the other person’s mind if they looked hard enough. Neither one gave anything away.

Andrea broke eye contact first. “You are hardly a suitable choice for a young lady’s chaperone,” she protested with an affixed smile. She tried to sound light and unconcerned, but a slight edge to her voice revealed her true feelings.

“I think if the captain knew I sold Jim your ticket, he would say I am responsible for my action,” he said.

Andrea eyed him out of the corner of her eye wondering if he knew she was Andrea James and was threatening to tell the captain that she had slipped aboard disguised as a man. He held not the slightest hint of amusement in his eyes. She cursed herself silently for not remaining in male garb or at least remaining in her cabin for the voyage. One day in petticoats, and she had already been recognized by Clyde Sully, and now this. For all she knew, Miles Huntington might have recognized her as Andrea James, the runaway fiancée of his cousin, Shamus O’Shea.

Andrea shifted her gaze and stared unseeingly at her menu. A waiter had already begun to take orders from the other end of the table and she had yet to decide on anything for her meal.

“Miss Andrews is absolutely right,” Lady Pike announced peevishly, tapping her fan on the edge of the table. “Despite your impeccable reputation, Mr. Huntington, you are not a suitable chaperone for a young lady. No man is. I have no doubt you could protect her from any man who would treat her improperly. But who will see to it that you do not fall under this lovely creature’s spell and behave improperly yourself?”

“Madam, I am not some callow youth, inclined to take advantage of an innocent lady because I happen to be alone with her.”

“No one is disputing your reputation or intentions, I assure you, Mr. Huntington,” Lady Pike said quickly, her poise flustered that she had unintentionally questioned his integrity. “It’s just that you and Miss Andrews should not be put into that position. Why, just the unconventionality of such an arrangement could have her reputation ruined before the ship docks. Now, look at my Callie for example. Never in her life has she has never been allowed to be alone with a man and won’t be until she is properly engaged.”

She stopped when she realized the waiter was standing at her shoulder waiting for her to place her order. She turned slightly and efficiently spouted off what she wanted, and returned to where she left off, as if there had never been an interruption, while the waiter moved down to Lady Callie.

“This arrangement is simply unheard of. Perhaps if you were related—say, her brother, or uncle, or even a first cousin—though I would not allow even that with my Callie unless he was a married cousin.”

Lady Pike took a quick sip of her water. “There are several women on board who probably wouldn’t mind taking on the role. If no one else can be found, I might possibly be compelled to take on the responsibility, although it would undoubtedly mean a curtailment of my own activities and enjoyment during our journey.”

“Mama!” Lady Callie protested in her harsh voice. Again, no one seemed to hear her.

Miles was engaged with the waiter when Lady Pike had finished her lecture on propriety, so rather than wait for him, Andrea responded.

“I thank you both for your generous offers. Although I do not feel I need a keeper, I shall speak to my brother on the matter in the morning if he is not recovered. Should he agree that my reputation or anything else is in peril, I shall seek out whomever Jim believes is more suitable for the job.”

“You may think that you do not need a keeper, young lady, but I think this unseemly display of impertinence just proves that you do!” Lady Pike had lowered her voice and was now leaning forward. Her cheeks wore a dark flush of anger and her knuckles were white where she gripped the linen covered table. “Mark my words, Miss Andrews, if you continue in your unchecked ways, ten years from now you will wonder why you’ve been mistress to half a dozen men with no prospect of marriage!”

“Mama!” Lady Callie exclaimed

“Lady Pike!” Miles shouted at the same moment, casting a hush over the people within earshot.

Andrea, feeling it was wisest not to respond until the attention focused on them had passed, turned to give her order to the waiter but found that he was gone.

“The waiter… I-I didn’t tell him what I wanted.”

Miles Huntington pried the menu from her hands. “I took the liberty of ordering for you while you were engrossed in conversation,” he said lightly. “By the time you realized Phillip was there, the rest of the dining room would have eaten and gone to the saloons for sherry.”

Color crept into her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she said, aghast at her inattention and thoughtlessness. Her expression of regret was spoken strictly to Miles Huntington for she did not feel she owed anyone else an apology. She had done her best to act with proper decorum, and any transgression she might have committed was provoked by Lady Pike. “It’s probably just as well that you ordered for me, though I’m sorry you were put to the trouble. But I was having a deuced hard time deciding.”

Lady Pike gasped loudly. “Indeed, Miss Andrews! Must we be continuously assaulted by your vulgarity? Were it not for your clothing, one might think you a stevedore-sired waterfront brat aping your betters.”

Andrea, still facing the head of the table where an angry Miles Huntington sat, cast her eyes heavenward. Sighing deeply, she slowly turned back to Lady Pike. Her chin lifted proudly, accentuating her perfect posture.

“My apologies, madam.” Her voice fairly purred with culture. “You are entirely correct in foregoing convention to bring to my attention my ill manners. In the future, I will remember that that kind of language is unacceptable at the dinner table; although I am certain I first heard that word from Lady Frances Himple, daughter of Earl Himple. I defer to your superior judgment and vast worldly experience.”

An apology was definitely not what the older woman wanted or expected. She opened her mouth to make a sharp retort and closed it tightly, her eyes shooting daggers at Andrea. What had sounded like an apology had a definite ring of an insult that Lady Pike could not quite locate.

“You were saying,” Andrea said turning back to Miles.

“I was just asking if you would care to take a stroll around the deck after dinner. And you were just accepting.”

“Was I?” She stared at him incredulously. There had been no such conversation. Did he not see the attention he was giving her was what was causing Lady Pike’s untoward hostility?

“Certainly you were. If not, I would have to seek out the captain to share my latest thoughts and discoveries with
him
. We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

“No,” she answered softly. “We wouldn’t want that.”

Suddenly, the steady motion of the ship slowed noticeably and the constant hum of the engine ceased.

“What the devil!” Miles Huntington cried, rising from his chair. “Excuse me.”

Miles and the captain arrived at the door at nearly the same moment and both disappeared into the passageway.

Conversations had lulled at the first few moments that the change was felt, but now every table was abuzz with speculation. When Andrea returned her attention to her dining companions, she found not only was Lady Pike casting dark looks her way but Lady Callie was also.

“How could you!” Lady Callie cried. Her voice was low in an attempt not to attract attention.

Andrea was not surprised, but had been expecting a tirade from the older woman. At least Lady Callie had enough common sense not to make a scene in front of the man for whom they had set their hooks.

“You pretended to be my friend just to steal him away from me!”

“I did no such thing,” Andrea stated calmly. “I have no interest in Mr. Huntington, and had I known beforehand that I would be placed in this awkward position, I would have asked if I could take my meal in my cabin.”

“Then why did you agree to walk with him after supper.”

Andrea had no desire to tell her that he was subtly threatening to expose the fact that she had come aboard under false pretenses. “I’m afraid my social experience is limited. I simply did not know how to politely decline.”

Lady Pike harrumphed in response and the three fell into silence.

They sat in awkward tension until several waiters came to their table and began serving the soup. One man placed a bowl in front of each guest. Two others carried tureens and the fourth, the waiter Miles had called Phillip, ladled the proper soup into each person’s bowl. Phillip hesitated when he got to Miles Huntington’s empty place, but seeing that a bowl had been set, he decided to fill it.

“Perhaps you should set aside a bowl for Mr. Huntington in the warming oven,” Andrea suggested. “He went to see why the engine has been shut down and may be gone for some time.”