Stormy Persuasion (17 page)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

N
ettie was leaving Judith’s cabin, having just finished helping Judith dress that morning.
Catherine arrived before the door closed, Judith’s yellow ball gown draped over her
arm and, by the looks of it, nicely hemmed now. Nettie had tried to put the finishing
touches on Judith’s wardrobe, but Nettie MacDonald didn’t see well enough these days
to do such intricate work, so Judith had stopped her and had decided to take Catherine
up on her offer to do some sewing for her. Catherine had already finished three dresses.
She spent a few hours every day in Judith’s cabin, working on Judith’s come-out wardrobe.
And Andrássy hadn’t been exaggerating about her skill with a needle. Her work was
so fine that Jack was even considering asking Catherine to re-hem her own ball gowns.

Catherine had joined the family at the last few dinners in James’s cabin and would
probably continue to dine with them for the duration of the voyage. Her behavior had
been polite and so pleasant that Judith wasn’t the only one who wondered if Andrássy
hadn’t only exaggerated his stepsister’s shortcomings, but had deliberately given
them the wrong impression of her. While they believed that she might have rebelled
in her earlier years against being thrust into a family she didn’t want, which was
understandable, her behavior indicated that she’d outgrown that resentment.

Judith turned to Catherine now and suggested, “Why don’t you join us on deck right
now? We’re going to conduct some dancing lessons. It will be fun.”

“Surely you already know how to dance?”

Judith giggled. “Of course. Jack and I are going to teach the crew.”

Catherine smiled. “Thank you for the offer, but I confess I’m not very fond of dancing.
Truly, I am happiest with a needle in hand, so you go ahead without me.”

Judith shrugged. “Make yourself comfortable then, either here or with Georgina. She
did invite you to spend your days with her.”

“Yes, I sat with her yesterday . . . well, until your uncle came in. He makes me nervous,
I’m not sure why.”

“He has that effect on a lot of people. You just have to get used to him. But Jack’s
waiting on deck for me, so I must run now.”

She didn’t run, but she certainly had the urge to. Two days had passed since she’d
seen Nathan. She’d done the avoiding this time, staying close to one member of her
family or another so if she did see him, she wouldn’t be able to talk to him. But
enough time had passed for her embarrassment over what had happened in the crow’s
nest to have ebbed. He’d carried her down from the nest that night on his back. Insisted,
mentioning that he didn’t want her abraded palms on his conscience. She hadn’t complained
about the soreness, but figured he’d guessed that her palms stung because sailors
were familiar with rope burn.

He’d only made one inappropriate comment on the way down, telling her in a cheeky
tone, “I’ve dreamed of having your legs wrapped tightly around me, but I enjoyed it
more when we were sitting in the crow’s nest.”

She might have slapped him if she hadn’t had her arms around his neck in a choke hold.
The man wasn’t accustomed to being around gently bred ladies. But two days without
seeing him had left her feeling a little bereft, so she’d had a note delivered to
him last night, telling him what time to present himself on deck this morning. She
didn’t mention why, not when he’d made it clear he didn’t want dancing lessons.

Jacqueline was already there teaching two sailors to hum a tune. She’d called in three
others as well, and even Artie had come over to find out what she was doing. Judith’s
intention wasn’t to single Nathan out, and Jack knew that. The size of the group would
assure him of that—if he showed up.

Judith laughed as she joined them, asking Jack, “Is that going to work?”

“Course it will. Besides, there isn’t a single musical instrument aboard, so we’ve
no other choice. You do recognize the song, yes?”

Judith answered by humming along while she carefully surveyed the decks without seeming
to and even glanced up in the rigging. But there was no sign of Nathan. Jack was ready
for a demonstration and grabbed Judith to waltz with her. Jack had even worn her pants
so there would be no confusion over who was assuming the role of the man for the lesson.

“Pay attention to the position of the hands,” Jacqueline told her audience, “and the
distance you must maintain from your partner.”

They danced a bit before Judith was forced to whisper, “You were supposed to lead,
not make us a bungling pair with neither of us leading. Let’s try it this way instead.”

Judith let go of Jack and, with her arms still up in the appropriate positions, began
twirling about by herself. She even closed her eyes for a moment, imagining that she
was dancing with Nathan. But that just brought forth some annoyance because she had
expected to dance with him, and he wasn’t cooperating by showing up.

Behind her, Jack said, “Artie, you’ve seen enough waltzing to know how it’s done.
Come show your men.”

“Don’t even—” Artie started to balk.

But Jacqueline cut in, “Don’t force me to get my father for this demonstration.”

“He wouldn’t,” Artie snickered.

“He would for me. Of course, he’d still be annoyed about having to participate, and
he’d take that out on everyone else afterwards.”

Artie grabbed Jack’s waist and began twirling her, if a little rambunctiously. But
Jack started laughing. She was having fun. So was Artie after a few moments. And then
Judith spotted Nathan watching from a distance, arms crossed as he leaned against
the railing. She waved him over. He didn’t budge. If she had to go get him, that
would
single him out. But Jack noticed him, too, and bounded over to him and dragged him
forward, starting a lesson with him.

Judith was satisfied to watch them, avidly actually, so she was startled when Andrássy
was suddenly dancing her around the deck. His engaging grin kept her from being annoyed
with his presumption that she wouldn’t mind.

“You should have let me know you needed a partner,” he said, showing her there wasn’t
much difference between the English waltz and the European version.

“We’re not dancing just to dance, we’re teaching the crew. But since you’re here,
we can demonstrate how refined and elegant this dance can be. My father and aunt have
been keeping you company?”

“I have enjoyed learning the card games favored in your country. Your father is brutal
at chess, though.”

“I know.” She grinned. “He taught me.”

“I could use some lessons on how to beat him, if you are willing.”

“Perhaps later today. But I’ve been meaning to ask you about Catherine. She’s been
most helpful, even sweet, a far cry from what you led us to expect.”

“I apologize. Sibling squabbles perhaps made me sound harsher than I intended. She
can indeed be charming when she tries, and I’m delighted she’s presenting her best
qualities on this trip.”

Judith held her tongue, trying not to read too much into that about-face. She had
to remind herself that she’d been on Andrássy’s side to begin with when Jack and James
hadn’t been, so she didn’t want to start doubting him now. And it was easy enough
to believe that Andrássy had only given them the wrong impression due to a recent
squabble with his stepsister.

But then he added, “I confess I was more worried that she would become testy simply
due to boredom than anything else, but you have come to our rescue in that regard,
and for that we both thank you. She is never more content and calm than when she is
sewing.”

Jack had released Nathan and grabbed another sailor. Nathan didn’t stay to watch,
though, was walking away. Judith stopped dancing with Andrássy to go after him, telling
her cousin, “Thank you for the dance, but I need to get back to our task before these
men are called back to work.”

She thought she could stop Nathan by skirting around in front of him, but he started
to put up his hands to move her aside. Without a word, too. And he looked annoyed,
even impatient. Or was he jealous? Jealous? Over Andrássy?

She quickly took his hand instead and thrust it out to her right with hers, then draped
her other wrist over his upper arm. “Show me what Jack just taught you.”

“No.”

She grit her teeth. “This was all for
your
benefit. Don’t disappoint me.”

He just stared down at her for a long moment. But she could see in his green eyes
that he was relenting, before he said, “You looked silly when you were dancing by
yourself.”

She tried not to grin. “I’m not out to impress, I’m here to teach. And now that we
have your hands in the right places—”

“Not the right places for me. Just my opinion, darlin’, but I’d much rather be touching—”

“Lesson number one.” She leaned a speck closer and hissed, “Keep your risqué thoughts
in your head,
not
on your lips.”

She started them off. He quickly took the lead, making her wonder if he had done this
before, until he said, “If I step on your toes, are you going to cry?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time, but a gentleman doesn’t usually wear such heavy boots,
so do try not to.”

But he got back to her previous remark, saying, “I thought you favored honesty.”

“I do, just not the sort that might only be shared by married couples.”

“So what you’re saying is I’d have to marry you before I could speak my mind?”

He was teasing, but she still missed a step. “I see you
do
understand.”

He shook his head. “Too extreme. I’ll suffer the blushes instead, and yours are too
pretty not to see them often.”

“So you’re choosing to be incorrigible? Never mind, no need to answer what’s obvious.
But one thing a waltz allows is
polite
conversation while dancing. Let’s see if you can keep track of your feet and talk
at the same time, shall we?”

He chuckled. “Isn’t that what we were doing?”

“The operative word is
polite
.”

“Very well, what did you want to discuss politely?”

“What will you do with the manor after it’s repaired?”

He raised a brow. “You’re allowed to scratch nerves but I’m not?”

“This isn’t a touchy subject.”

“It is for me.”

She sighed, deciding now wasn’t the time to persist in her questioning of him, so
she was surprised when he added, “I’m going to live in it with my nieces.”

“While you work as a carpenter again in Southampton?”

“No, the house comes with land. I was thinking I might try my hand at farming.”

She winced for her cousin Derek, knowing he wouldn’t like a farm in his backyard any
more than a ruin. But she didn’t quite believe Nathan, either. A farmer? She just
couldn’t picture it. Of course, a man in his position wouldn’t need to plow fields
himself. Gentlemen farmers hired workers. But she was sure he’d meant tilling the
land himself.

So she said, “You’re right, the house comes with a lot of land, the tract stretching
to the east. Have you considered building houses on it that you could rent out? The
income would support you very well.”

He appeared surprised by her suggestion. “That’s something I would never have thought
to do.”

She grinned. “Broadening your horizons, am I? Then it’s a good thing you met me.”

He snorted. “When you’re nothing but trouble? And you’ve spent too much time teaching
me something I already know.”

She blinked. “The waltz? But you said—”

He laughed as he let go of her. “I’m a quick learner, darlin’. It only took a few
minutes for me to figure it out.”

“Selective learning,” she humphed as he sauntered away.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

T
he two to four weeks Nathan had mentioned to Corky that the trip could take hadn’t
seemed like such a long voyage to him before they’d set sail, but it did now. Of course,
like Corky, he’d never sailed so far from land before. Crossing the Channel between
France and England on his runs was nothing compared to an Atlantic crossing. So he
hadn’t known what this sort of isolation was going to be like. Now he did, and it
was hell with such a desirable woman as Judith aboard—a woman who wouldn’t leave him
alone.

She was dangerous to him in so many ways. She’d gotten him to open up. He couldn’t
remember ever saying so much about himself to anyone else before. She made him want
more for himself. She made him wish their circumstances weren’t so different. But
the worst thing was that knowing he couldn’t have her didn’t stop him from wanting
her.

He picked his times on deck carefully now, first making sure she wasn’t there. But
he had been trying to find Boyd Anderson alone for several days now, without having
to disturb the man in his cabin. Today he finally saw him, not alone, but on deck.

“The captain suggested I speak with you, Mr. Anderson, if you have a few minutes?”

The woman Boyd was with said, “It’s a little too windy for me up here today. I’m going
to return to the family.”

“You have a beautiful wife,” Nathan said as they both watched her walk away.

Boyd turned back to him with a smile. “I know.” But then his eyes were drawn to Nathan’s
waist. “Ask whatever you like as long as you tell me what you have crawling around
in your shirt.”

Nathan laughed and pulled out the kitten. “It
was
sleeping.”

“You weren’t going to toss it over the side, were you? They’re valuable aboard.”

“Not this size they aren’t, but no. I found it strolling down the corridor by itself.
I looked for its mother for a while, but she’s hidden her litter well.”

Boyd was still staring at the kitten, curled up now in the palm of Nathan’s hand.
“I know Artie brought his tomcat along, but I didn’t think he was such a romantic
that he’d bring along female companionship for him.”

“I’d have to agree with that assessment.” Nathan grinned. “It’s more likely a female
jumped aboard on the southern coast, long before we sailed, to have kits this size.”

“Well, good luck finding the mother. But don’t let my wife see that tiny thing before
you do, or she’ll want to adopt it. Women can get silly when it comes to adorable
babies. Now, I’m sure you didn’t want to speak to me about lost kittens?”

“No. The captain, as well as the first mate, both steered me to you. Artie said you’re
as American as one can be, and I’m going to need American assistance after we dock.”

“How so?”

“Are you familiar with the town of New London?”

“It’s maybe a half day’s ride up the coast from Bridgeport. It’s a whaling town and
one of our competitors.”

“For whaling?”

“No, shipbuilding. My family has owned a shipyard for longer than I can remember.
We don’t just build ships to add to our fleet, we build by commission as well.”

“Would you know if any of those competitors only claim to build ships?”

Boyd laughed. “That’s an odd question.”

“Not odd when you hear the rest of what I have to say.” Nathan explained his situation,
ending with “I didn’t know the thieves are operating out of a whaling town. The thought
of them overhauling
The Pearl
into a whaler turns my stomach. I need to find her before she’s sold.”

Boyd was shaking his head, his expression incredulous. “A decade of stealing ships
right under the noses of the English? I wonder . . .”

“What?”

“Skylark had a ship disappear out of Plymouth harbor in England four years ago. We
thought it merely departed ahead of schedule, and when the ship and captain were never
seen again, we had to conclude they ran into trouble on the seas.”

“If your vessel was one of the stolen prizes, they may have killed your captain if
he was still aboard when they took it. The thieves killed a man when they stole mine,
so they don’t care if anyone gets hurt. But the information I have is that they only
steal English ships.”

“You can’t tell the difference with ours. We got out of the habit of keeping our colors
up in English ports after we dock. Damned lot of rubbish gets tossed on our decks
in the middle of the night if we flaunt that we are Americans. Old grudges not forgotten
on both sides, apparently.”

“But your vessel could have been lost at sea as you surmised. You don’t know that
it’s related.”

“We don’t know that it isn’t. Regardless, while it’s probably nothing that can ever
be verified, the people you’ve described still need to be stopped. I don’t know anyone
in the town government of New London personally, but I have an old friend who settled
there who would. John Hubbard and I go way back, and he owes me a favor.”

“I’ll be sure to look him up then.”

“
We
will,” Boyd corrected. “I’m going with you.”