"Damn it. This is not the time to worry about her rest."
She gave him a small smile. "It will do no good. With that ginger tea of yours, she could sleep through a black squall."
That answered how she had managed to leave her cabin undetected. Melly was much too protective to have allowed it under normal circumstances. He turned his back.
"Put on your nightrail."
"Perhaps you should go first."
"I'm not going anywhere."
She sighed. "I was afraid of that."
He heard sounds of rustling fabric. Then the bed creaked. "You may turn around now."
He did so and was struck by both the beauty and the defenselessness of the woman sitting under the covers. She was afraid of nothing, but she was so small compared to a man. What had she been about, traipsing on deck alone at night?
"Start."
She frowned at him. "Start what?"
"Your explanations. You can begin with what the bloody hell you thought you were doing walking on deck alone."
* * *
Chapter 6
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I have taken Lady Upworth into my confidence about Thea. She has p
romised to help me leave England. It was a risk, but so is staying here. She thinks that I should wait until Thea is a little older to travel. I think she believes that Langley will relent. She does not say so, but she has a soft spot for her nephew. I cannot blame her. There was a time when I loved him, too. No longer. I cannot bear to be in the same room with him. My son is now a year old and I have not seen him since last spring.
September 24, 1798
Journal of Anna Selwyn, Countess of Langley
"Surely, that is not the most important issue at the moment?"
Drake glared at her. "Don't bet on it."
"What about my attacker? Shouldn't you be trying to find him? Your other passengers could be at risk."
His expression turned more forbidding, if that were possible. "My other passengers know better than to walk on deck alone at night." He sat down on the edge of her bed and loomed over her. "Bloody hell. Even your stubborn, independent little self had to realize that it would not be safe."
She scooted back toward the wall, pulling the covers up to her chin. "Lady Boyle said that life aboard ship was like being in a small village."
"She referred, I'm sure, to the spread of gossip. Not the friendliness or honesty of the people. We've picked up passengers in every port. For all you know, every man jack of them is a rake and rogue."
"It wasn't a passenger."
"What?"
"It was a sailor."
"You saw him? Why didn't you say so? You can point him out." The smile on his face was anything but friendly. "Then I'll deal with him."
She shivered at the implied threat in his voice. "I didn't see him."