‘Miss Clemence?’ It was Eliza. ‘It is eight o’clock. The gentlemen say they are sorry not to let you sleep longer, but they need to speak with you. They say, will you take breakfast with them?’
This time Clemence had no trouble recalling where she was and why. She sat up, pushing her short hair back from her face, thankfully aware that a few hours’ sleep had restored her body and her wits to something like normal.
Inside there was a dull ache of loss, but there was a bitter energy, too. She could not rely on anyone but herself, it seemed. So be it.
She had only yesterday’s muslin to dress in, with salt-water stains around the hem and the marks of One-Eye’s affectionate slobbering on the skirts. That would need to be remedied and she would need to borrow the money, somehow, to send Eliza out shopping for her.
Three men in naval uniform rose as she entered the shabby dining parlour at the front of the house. Nathan, a burly captain she seemed to recognise from somewhere and a tall lieutenant with a wide smile that suited his chubby face. Her eyes on the captain, Clemence made a slight curtsy. ‘Gentlemen.’
She saw him glance at Nathan, then he seemed to realise he was being asked to take command of the introductions. ‘Captain James Melville of the Orion at your service, ma’am. This is Lieutenant Conroy. Captain Stanier you already know.’
‘Good morning.’ Clemence shook hands, forcing herself to allow her fingers to rest in Nathan’s grasp for a reasonable length of time. She sat beside Captain Melville, Mr Conroy opposite her and Nathan at the foot of the table, and managed a social smile. ‘I must thank you, Captain, for sending your men and the midshipman to rescue me last night.’
‘The least we could do, Miss Ravenhurst.’ Eliza came in with platters of fruit and meats and Melville broke off while she set out the food and put the tea and coffee pots by Clemence’s right hand.
‘Miss Ravenhurst, we have been joined by two other frigates and a cutter bearing orders for Orion to sail for England as soon as I have been able to hand over command of this operation to the senior officer commanding. Captain Stanier has apprised me of the deplorable actions of your uncle and I can only agree with him that the resources of the Ravenhursts would best bring this matter to a speedy conclusion. It is also of the first consideration to remove you from any danger and I understand that the Governor may take some persuading of this.’ He drank coffee, watching her over the rim of the cup to gauge her reaction. Clemence nodded.
‘It appears to us, therefore, that the sooner you can be united with your family in London, the better, ma’am.’
‘Indeed. If it had not been for my father’s death I would have sailed some weeks ago for a long-planned visit.’ Clemence ate, her attention on Melville. That way, despite her internal agitation, she could at least try to ignore Nathan’s silent presence at the end of the table.
‘It seems impossible to secure you passage on a merchantman, given the delicacy of your situation here.’ Melville passed her fruit and began to peel himself a pawpaw. ‘How soon could you and your maid be ready to sail on the Orion?’
‘On the frigate? I—’ Clemence made herself focus. ‘I do not know if Eliza will wish to make such a journey, she is a free woman; in fact, I do not know how she is able to be here, for she has another employer now.’
‘She tells me she has resigned her position and is willing to sail with you,’ Melville said. ‘What else is required?’
‘Clothes—every necessity, in fact,’ Clemence admitted. ‘And I have no money, I will need to borrow from somewhere before Eliza can shop for me.’
‘That we can take care of.’ Melville waved the difficulty away. ‘Conroy, you accompany Miss Ravenhurst’s maid—we do not want to place her in any difficulty if the Naismiths see her and realise what she is about.’
‘And we need to lay a land mine under the Naismiths,’ Nathan said, making her jump. ‘I suggest that while Eliza and Conroy are out, you, Miss Ravenhurst, write an account of all their actions following the death of your father, including their most recent imprisonment of you. Melville and Conroy will witness it and we will leave it with our agent here against the time the Ravenhursts’ lawyers take action.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, finding that she could meet his gaze and smile, after all. This was the man with whom she had nearly lain last night, this tall, distinguished, serious-looking officer. It did not seem possible. And then he smiled and she saw the rogue with the dice sitting in the dockside tavern who had made her feel safe in the middle of terror. The man whose look made her tremble and ache.
‘It will give you considerable satisfaction to be able to continue the campaign against the pirates with more ships, I imagine, Captain Stanier,’ she observed in her best drawing-room manner, accepting his empty cup to refill it.
‘It would do, Miss Ravenhurst, if I were not to be returning on the Orion,’ Nathan said, reaching with both hands to catch the cup as it slipped out of her suddenly nerveless fingers.
Chapter Fourteen
‘Miss Ravenhurst, are you faint?’ Both Conroy and Melville were on their feet, looking at her anxiously. ‘You have gone quite pale,’ the captain continued, reaching for the bell.
‘No, n
ot at all. I thought I saw a centipede, over there, by the sideboard,’ she improvised. ‘They are venomous, you know. But I think I was mistaken.’
Nathan’s hands were still cupped around hers. ‘Nothing spilled,’ he observed, lowering them after a moment.
‘No, indeed, not even milk,’ she joked, managing a smile for her own feeble wit. Nathan, on the Orion? To be with him on a frigate for six, perhaps eight weeks? She would not have to say goodbye to him for ever in a day or two—yet the painful pleasure of being close to him could only make that eventual parting worse.
And the intimacy of their shared danger and deception aboard the Sea Scorpion, living with him, so closely—there would be none of that. Instead she would be under the scrutiny of others the entire time, having to treat him just as she would any of the other officers.
‘Are you sorry to be leaving the Jamaica station?’ she asked, handing him back his filled cup. ‘Do you know where you will be posted next? Or are you not to speak of such secrets?’
‘I must await their lordships’ command,’ Nathan said, so lightly that she suspected he was as uneasy about this development as she was. No wonder—he must have thought the difficulties she had brought him would be over within days.
‘You will excuse us, Miss Ravenhurst?’ Melville was on his feet. ‘Conroy will wait until your maid is ready to go out, but Stanier and I have to go on board. We will leave you to compose your statement in peace.’