Days of Gold (Edilean 2)

“Tam?” Angus asked. “The boy who was in love with you?”

“All the Scots were in love with me,” she said. “Except you.”

Angus smiled. “I think they were. Even my uncle Malcolm adored you.”

She raised her hand to him, and as he helped pull her up, for a second they looked into each other’s eyes.

“What do you say that we go to the top and see the wind in the sails?”

“I would love that.”

“But I must keep you safe,” he said, smiling at her. In the next second, he picked up the jewel set and looked about the room. He saw some cabinet doors under the big window, opened one, and put the case inside, standing it on its side so that it couldn’t be seen at first glance.

“And why is my safety so important?” she asked when he joined her at the door.

“To protect my wee bairn,” he said, as he offered her his arm and opened the door. They laughed together as they left the room.

11

AS CAPTAIN INGES watched the young couple walk about the deck, he sighed. He and his wife had been like that once. He saw the way the tall Harcourt hovered over the beautiful young woman, his eyes only on her, listening to every word she said. As for her, she looked at him as though he’d hung the moon.

“Nice couple.”

The captain turned to his first mate, Mr. Jones, and nodded. This was their third voyage together and he liked the young man. “Yes, they are. Reminds me of my wife and me when we were that age.”

“I would like to find a woman who looked at me like that,” Mr. Jones said.

“That, or would you like a woman who looks like her?”

“Both,” Mr. Jones said, smiling. “Do you think they’ve been married long?”

“My guess is that it’s been hours, but maybe it’s been years. Who knows?”

He and Mr. Jones stood by the rail and watched the young couple as they walked about the deck, looking at the sea that was rushing past them. The wind was good and they were moving quickly. At this rate they’d be in Boston in just three weeks.

When Mrs. Harcourt stood on tiptoes to look over the side of the ship, both the captain and Mr. Jones held their breaths. She looked so small and she was leaning over quite far. She must have worried Mr. Harcourt too because he put his hands on her waist and held her so she wouldn’t fall. When she turned and said something to him, he shook his head no. She spoke again and he shook his head more vigorously. When she frowned at him, Mr. Harcourt’s shoulders slumped for a moment, but then he lifted her up so she could see farther over the side. She held her arms straight out for a moment and let the wind hit her in the face.

When Mr. Harcourt put her down on deck again, the captain and Mr. Jones let out their pent-up breaths.

“She does get her way, doesn’t she?” Mr. Jones said.

“I think perhaps that young man would do anything in the world for her. Walk into fire, throw himself in front of a cannon. Whatever she needed, he might do it.”

“So would I,” Mr. Jones said. “If I had a wife who looked like her I’d—”

“Mr. Jones,” Captain Inges said, “I’m not talking about looks, I’m talking about love.”

“Yes, sir,” Mr. Jones said. “Excuse me, sir.”

The captain left the deck and went below.

“My wife told me that she can sing but I’ve never heard her,” Angus said to the captain as they sat at the dining table with him and Mr. Jones.

“Haven’t heard your own wife sing?” Mr. Jones asked in astonishment, and looked at the captain.

“We married quickly,” Angus said.

“Yes,” Edilean said. “Our first meeting was memorable and our second was explosive. We’ve rarely been apart since then.”