Days of Gold (Edilean 2)

“Would you be so good as to shut the door, my good man?” Angus said as he held up a lace-trimmed handkerchief to his nose. “The dust is not good for me.”

The man, with two teeth missing on the upper front, looked at Edilean, then down at something in his hand. “Here, she looks like the lady that’s run away from her uncle. He’s givin’ a reward for her return.”

“Are you saying that my wife looks like someone’s niece? And he has money? I say, old man, where does he live? We shall visit him and tell him this is his lost niece. Do you think he would believe us?”

“Bleedin’ fob,” the man said in disgust as he slammed the carriage door. “Go on with ya.”

Angus shoved the handkerchief back in his pocket and looked at Edilean, who was staring at him with wide eyes. “You have something to say?”

“No. Nothing,” she said, blinking quickly. “But where did you learn that?”

“From listening. It’s nay so hard to do.” His heavy accent was back. “Would you like for me to talk like Harcourt all the time?”

“No,” she said quickly, “I wouldn’t.”

Smiling, he turned away to look out the window, and a moment later, he said, “I can see the ship. We’re almost there.”

10

EDILEAN WAS VERY nervous and she kept glancing at Angus as they made their way up the gangplank to the ship.

“Calm down,” Angus said. “You’re shaking so much I fear you’ll fall into the bay.”

“What if the captain knows James and says that we’ve kidnapped him?”

“How is he going to know that?” Angus asked in astonishment, then smiled. “Would you like for me to do the talking?” As he said it, he held out his arm and she slipped hers through it.

She knew he was getting her back for her saying that she should do all the talking, but she was too nervous to respond.

“Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt,” Captain Inges said as soon as they stepped aboard. “At last we meet.” He held out his hand to shake theirs and reminded them of his name. He was an older man, quite tall, and with a pleasant smile—and he couldn’t take his eyes off Edilean. “I had no idea that you were so charming. I had heard... differently.”

Angus put his hand over hers on his arm and smiled lovingly at her. “My dear, has that rascally brother of yours been telling tales about you again?” He looked at the captain. “Were you told that she was tall, heavy, and not the best to look at?”

The captain smiled in understanding. “Yes, I believe I was the recipient of such a jest, but I’m happy to see that it was just that. You must want to get settled, so I’ll have the first mate show you to your cabin. I hope you’ll dine with me this evening, and perhaps you would like breakfast in your quarters.”

“Yes,” Edilean said quickly, still holding on to Angus’s arm. “My husband is very hungry and we would like something right away.”

“Then this way, please.”

But before they took a step, the captain frowned as one of his officers whispered something to him. Captain Inges looked back at Angus and Edilean. “I fear that I have some bad news. As you know, we are not usually a passenger ship, but sometimes, as in your case, I do take a few people with me. However, on this voyage, I’ve had the great misfortune to be assigned nine female prisoners to take to America.”

Turning, Edilean looked down at the dock and saw several women in leg irons looking up at them. She moved closer to Angus.

“I apologize,” Captain Inges said, “and I would understand if you’d prefer to postpone your voyage.”

“No!” Angus and Edilean said in unison.

“We’ll be all right,” Angus said. “We’re not so squeamish as to let a few prisoners bother us, are we, dearest?”

When Edilean said nothing, he saw she was watching the women as they started coming up the gangplank. Most of the women were dirty and looked exhausted and forlorn, but the third one in line was looking about her with an insolent smile, as though she thought everything going on was a joke. She was a tall woman, inches taller than Edilean, and she was plump and had a pretty, pink-cheeked face.

When the woman saw Angus, her eyes bulged for a moment, then she lowered her lashes in a coquettish way.

Edilean moved closer to him and held on to his arm tighter. Angus smiled down at her, thinking she was afraid of the prisoners. He stepped back to let them pass, keeping his face straight when a couple of the women made remarks about him.

“Cor, but ain’t he a beauty?” one of them said.

When at last the prisoners and their two guards were past and the women had been led down into the ship, the captain apologized again. “I am so sorry for this. We will, of course, do our best to keep them separate from you.”