Pendragon (Sherbrooke Brides 7)

“I made you smile,” she said, and brought up her fingertips to lightly touch his mouth, “but I didn’t really mean to.”

“Meggie, I want you to stay awake a bit longer. Head injuries are unpredictable.”

“I’m really tired, Thomas.”

“I know, but hold on.” He took her hand and said, “I’ll help you stay awake. Listen to me now. Let me tell you about my first ship, mostly financed by the earl of Clare, which went all the way to India. It was due back the first week of October. It didn’t come. I tell you, I was down at the harbor in Genoa at dawn every single morning, scanning the horizon until I was cross-eyed, but no Star of Genoa. Every night I was there, until it was so dark I couldn’t even see the water. Adam Welles—the earl of Clare—found me one night on my own private hill overlooking the Mediterranean, drinking brandy. I was so drunk, so despairing, I was ready to go down to the wharf in Genoa and bust heads together, a very stupid thing to consider because there are more miscreants down at the dock than you can imagine.

“Adam stood over me, hands on hips, and said, ‘All right, you young fool, enough is enough. If the bloody ship has sunk, you will simply raise money to finance another. Get up or I’ll knock you in the head.’ ”

“What happened?”

“I got up and jumped on him.”

“You hit him?”

“I surely tried. I wanted to kill him, at least maim him. It was a very good fight, until he got me in the stomach and all that brandy—I thought I was going to die there for a while.”

“What happened?”

“The Star of Genoa arrived in Genoa the following Tuesday afternoon. As I recall, I think I kissed her hull. There’d been a vicious storm just outside of Gibraltar, but she’d managed to survive it. I immediately financed another ship. I’ve lost only one ship in the past three years. I have three ships out right now and, thank God, excellent men in Genoa I trust to oversee things.”

“What did the earl of Clare have to say about the one lost ship?”

“He bought me a case of brandy, said he didn’t want to see a single bottle drunk for at least six months or he’d hit me in the belly again.”

Meggie laughed, she just couldn’t help it even th

ough it made her sure her brains would rattle right out of her head.

“Did you wait six months?”

“Actually, the entire case is still intact. I haven’t had any brandy since that night.”

“Oh Thomas, that’s a wonderful tale. Our children will enjoy it. Did you sail one of your ships here to England when you came back to Glenclose-on-Rowan?”

“Yes, she’s in between trips right now. We decided some English goods bound for the West Indies would be an excellent thing. She’s being fitted and goods bought as we speak.”

“What is the name of your ship?”

“The Hope.”

“I can’t wait to see her. How much longer will she be here?”

“Another week, in Portsmouth.”

“I am so very proud of you.”

He flushed, just couldn’t help it.

“You will see, everything will be all right. Oh dear, please find the person who struck me on the head.”

“Yes,” he said slowly, giving her some laudanum now in a glass of water, “I will.”

25

“WHY IS WILLIAM here?”

Thomas said, “I asked him. He said he’d heard that I’d married and he wanted to meet you.”