Days of Gold (Edilean 2)

“Me? What could I need?” he asked, his voice full of amusement.

“If you marry Tabitha you’ll need a lot of everything. Be sure she doesn’t steal you blind.”

“I don’t think that’ll happen,” he said, smiling, his arms loosely about her waist.

“Let me go,” she said and pushed against him. “The captain will want to say good-bye to us, and I need to see if anyone is waiting for me. Do you think it will be a man?”

“A man?”

“Yes,” she said, smoothing her skirt. “A man. You’ve heard of them, haven’t you? If I’m to stay in this country I think I’m going to need a husband. I don’t like living alone.”

“A man,” Angus said.

“Will you stop repeating that? What did you think I was going to do when I got here? Sit in my parlor doing my embroidery and pining away for you as you romp with Tabitha or someone of her ilk?”

“I think I should see any man you want to marry,” he said, his jaw set in a firm line.

“But you don’t need to do that,” Edilean said. “You’ve spent these weeks teaching me what is valuable in a man. I won’t fall for a pretty face again, and I won’t fall for a man who just wants my money. I’m going to hold out for a man who likes me, one who doesn’t see me as a nuisance of a child as you do.”

“You have been a sweet companion,” he said, looking at her as though trying to memorize her face.

“And you have been...” She hesitated. “When you weren’t making a fool of yourself over Tabitha’s bosom, you’ve also been a good companion.”

“A fool of myself?” he asked, repeating her words under his breath as though he couldn’t believe them.

“Shall we go?” she said, looking at the door, waiting for him to open it.

“Yes,” Angus said as he held the door for her.

As soon as her back was to him, Edilean let out her pent-up breath. She congratulated herself on carrying that off as well as she had. It hadn’t been easy to pretend to be unaffected by their parting. For all that she felt excitement at the prospect of a new life, the idea of leaving Angus was about to split her in two. If she let herself go she would have thrown her arms about his neck and begged him to stay with her. But she knew that he’d tell her something about their not being of the same class or the same education or some other nonsense, then he’d put on his “hero face” and do whatever he thought was noble and good—and leave her. Since there was no hope at all that she’d be able to make him change his rock-hard, stubborn mind, she wasn’t going to let him have the satisfaction of knowing how she felt about him.

“Mrs. Harcourt,” Captain Inges said as soon as they were on deck. “It has been a pleasure. I hope we meet again.”

“Yes,” she said. “Maybe we’ll see each other here in town or in Virginia. Maybe—” She broke off because the captain had turned to look at the dock.

“There it is!” he said. “I was beginning to wonder if the letter your husband sent me was correct or not.”

“Letter?” she asked.

“When he booked the passage. Surely, he told you.”

“Yes, of course,” Edilean said, “but I guess I forgot.”

“A woman in your condition can be forgiven lapses in memory,” he said, sounding like an adoring grandfather.

Edilean had almost forgotten that she’d told Mr. Jones she was with child. All that seemed so long ago. Right now Angus was belowdecks supervising the removal of the trunks of gold and whatever else James had arranged to be shipped to the new country to use for his comfort and enjoyment. “What exactly was in the letter that you’re referring to?” she asked.

“The green carriage. There it is.” He looked down at her and saw her lack of comprehension. Quickly, he glanced about, obviously looking for Angus. “I do hope I haven’t ruined a surprise. Your husband’s sister is to meet you here, and I was told to look for a dark green carriage with the crest of an earl on it. I can’t make out what it says on the side of that carriage, but I think it looks like the one, don’t you? But then, I’m sure you’ll recognize your sister-in-law.”

“No,” Edilean said. “I’ve never met her.”

“Oh, dear, I really have spoiled the surprise. I do apologize.”

Edilean could only stare in fascination at the carriage. What did she do now? The gangplank hadn’t been put into place, so she couldn’t run. James’s sister? She hadn’t known he had a sister. A sister would know everything about her brother’s wife and about the gold and maybe, somehow, she was going to know that Edilean had drugged her brother and left him on a hotel floor. And, worse, she might somehow know that Angus was wanted for kidnapping.

Edilean felt a strong hand on her shoulder and knew without looking up that Angus was there, and he knew what was going on.

“Be calm,” he whispered. “We’ll fix this. We’ll get out of it.”