Miles could sense that she still felt guilty over her supposed crime. “I stole whole apple pies off the window sill three different times and ate them all by myself.”
“You didn’t!”
Miles laughed at her shocked expression. “I did. The first time, my mother scolded me. The second time, my stepfather took me behind the woodshed, and the third time, I had to peel and core three bushels of apples for my mother when she canned her apple butter. Look,” he said, pointing at his hand. “I still have a scar from cutting myself.”
She held his hand towards the light. “Where? I don’t see anything.”
He pointed toward his palm near his index finger. “There.”
“Oh, I see it, barely.”
It was less than half an inch long, and with time, it had faded into near nothingness. As she eyed the small line, she became acutely aware of the warmth of his hand and realized, if society deemed they should wear gloved when they danced, she probably should not be touching his hand over the breakfast table. Reluctantly, she released his hand.
“If I had known it would get me out of peeling the rest of the apples, I would’ve done it on the first bushel, not the third.”
Andrea laughed until she caught him looking at her and dropped her gaze.
Phillip, the same waiter from the night before, arrived to take their order. He gave her a friendly smile that made Andrea think he looked to be very close to her age.
“Porridge with a small bowl of fresh fruit and a cup of tea,” Andrea said.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Miles’s shoulders drop a fraction when she ordered.
“Mutton chops, fried potatoes, flapjacks and coffee.”
When Phillip was gone, Miles cast a sorrowful look at her. She sensed his disappointment in her. “At school, some of the girls put sugar in their porridge. It was my intention to do so as well.”
“You mean some people eat it without sugar?”
At his plaintiff tone, a little giggle bubbled up from inside her. Andrea tried to suppress it, which made it come out as a little snort. Her hand flew to her mouth at the unladylike sound. Miles laughed, making her giggle-snort again, which made him laugh harder.
“Stop,” she cried between snorts.
She could feel the eyes of the other diners turning towards them and closed her eyes so she could not see him. She felt mortified that they were causing a scene. It took her a few more seconds to stop laughing and another five seconds after that to open her eyes.
Miles sensed the change in her immediately. She sat tall in her chair, her back and neck ramrod straight and not against the chair back.
“I’m sorry. That was very unseemly. I didn’t mean to disturb your other passengers.”
“No one was disturbed—or at least, not overly so.”
“But they were looking.”
Miles put his hand on hers. “They only wanted in on the joke.”
The carefree Andrea was gone, and the ice princess, as Rory called her, was back.
Miles tried to draw her out as they ate, but she could only manage short polite answers. He offered her the first bite of his flapjacks so she could see if she liked them, and was politely told, “No, thank you.” She did not even put sugar in her porridge, and he wondered if she was punishing herself for some supposed wrong.
He did not understand it. One moment they were laughing, the next they were polite strangers again. Was she embarrassed that she had drawn the attention of the other passengers? Was she not allowed to enjoy herself and laugh?
“Sir, I’m sorry to disturb your meal,” Phillips said as they were finishing. “Word has just come from the engine room. Mr. Ness believes they have found the problem with the engine.”
“Thank you, Phillip,” Miles said to the waiter. “Miss Andrews, will you think it rude of me…?”
“Your ship takes priority,” she said. “If you’ll escort me out of the dining room before you go, I would appreciate it.”
Phillip helped Andrea with her chair and Miles offered his arm. “Shall I come for you at 11:00 o’clock for our tour?” he asked.
Andrea’s nod was nearly imperceivable.
14
Andrea and Miles parted ways outside the dining room. She was afraid to take a direct path to her cabin for fear that Clyde Sully was waiting somewhere along the way and tried to find a route that would bring her to her stateroom from the opposite direction. Unfortunately, the passageway to her cabin only had one way in, so it was impossible to be completely unseen. As she entered the corridor, she realized she was being followed. Quickly, she slid the key into the lock and rushed in. Before she could slam it shut, a foot stopped the door’s progress. With all her might, she pushed against the door only to have it easily pushed open from the other side.
Clyde Sully squeezed in and shove the door shut behind him. He stood against the door, blocking her only avenue of escape. One side of his lips shot up in a lopsided sneer revealing a row of crooked grimy teeth.
“My, my, what luck to have you fall into my lap like this.”
She stared at him incredulously, slowly backing until she came to the wall on the other side of the cabin. “Does your pappy know you’re here? No?” he answered for her. “I can see it in your scared jackrabbit eyes.”
“Get out of my stateroom, Mr. Sully,” she said shakily. “If you don’t, I’ll scream and have the whole ship descend upon this cabin.”
His sneer faded. “You won’t if you don’t want me to tell Huntington who you are.” He carefully measured her reaction, and knew he was on the right track. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw you with him. He actually didn’t recognize you. But I think he would be quite interested to know who is in the cabin next to his.”
“What do you want, Mr. Sully?”
He took a deliberate step towards her, his eyes gleaming lustily. With each step closer, she felt herself shrinking. Desperately, she looked for something she could use to defend herself.
“I seem to find myself in a bit of a dilemma,” he said with deliberate slowness. “As I recall, there is a rather tidy sum on your head. I don’t suppose you could equal that amount to ensure my silence.”
Her eyes widened and she shook her head mutely.
“I thought not,” he murmured. His eyebrows deepened into a scowl. “Now where does that leave us? I could see that you get home safely. However, that would mean finding lodgings in New York until I could secure passage back to London for us and I would be forced to watch you until you are safe in your pappy’s arms. It sounds like a thankless job and one without reward if you should decide to escape me or jump ship. And should you return home damaged…I shudder to think what my reward would be,” he said mockingly. “Of course, I could walk next door—”
“No!” she cried quickly.
“A hundred pounds a day will buy my silence for the rest of the journey to New York.”
“A hundred? It might as well be a million, Mr. Sully,” she spat with disgust. “Even at ten pounds a day, I could only pay you for four days.”
His eyes narrowed as he considered this new information. “It’s not enough,” he announced. “But perhaps you can persuade me.” His lips parted and his tongue darted out to wet his lips.
“I-I don’t understand.”
He moved closer, laughing cruelly, again making her shrink back against the wall. “I only want a kiss to compensate me for my generous concession.”
“Indeed,” she said haughtily making him smile with genuine pleasure. “And what will you take from me when I have no more money?”
His smile widened and he rubbed his hands together. He was standing inches from her now. “I will take nothing. If you want my silence, you must willingly give me what I want—be it your money or your kisses. Put your arms around me.”
“I won’t!”
“You will,” he stated firmly. “And you will return my kisses also—that is if you don’t want me to seek out the owner of the ship. I am on his pa
yroll, after all. He would expect me to inform him of your presence on board.”
Andrea’s breath was coming hard and fast. Her hands and knees trembled so fiercely, she could barely stand. The man was mere inches away from her. As he closed the gap with one small step, she sent her knee into his groin, doubling him over in pain. Andrea bolted for the door, but he managed to grab a handful of her skirt. Over the sound of his curses, she heard the fabric rend.
“Help!” she screamed, as her hand clutched the knob. “Help me!”
She had the door open less than a foot before he slammed it closed. Sully grabbed her around the waist and threw her on the floor, her head hitting the wooden leg of the sofa. Knowing rescue would have to come from outside the door, Andrea screamed, and cried out loudly until he clamped his hand over her mouth. His body was stretched over hers, his foot firmly against the closed heavy door as he reached his free hand under her skirt.
“You bitch,” he said, low and menacingly. “Keep fighting. That’s the way I like it.”
Andrea bit his hand so hard, she tasted his blood, and only let go when she realized the flesh between her teeth was the only thing keeping his hand in place. As soon as her mouth was free, she screamed again.
“Help! God help me!”
As if in answer to her prayer, she felt Clyde Sully’s entire body jolt as someone tried to force the door open. It gave her renewed strength to know that someone was on the other side of the door trying to help her. Her hands struck out blindly at him striking him repeatedly. With a loud crack of splintering wood, the door burst open, hanging awkwardly on its lower hinge. Miles Huntington grabbed Clyde Sully by his clothing and hauled him off her. He twisted the sailor’s arm behind his back and shoved him into the corridor wall.
“Andrea, go into my cabin and lock the door,” he ordered. “Don’t open it for anyone but me.”
15
Andrea heard voices outside the door before Miles knocked and announced himself. She tried to school her emotions. She tried to hold her shoulders back and her head high, but the second she opened the door, her façade disappeared and Andrea burst into tears.
Miles stepped in and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her into his wide chest. “Shh, it’s all right now, Andrea. The man is locked up. It’s over,” Miles said as the two men dressed in officer garb came into the room and closed the door.
It took several minutes before she began to get control back. He set her back from himself and wiped her face with his handkerchief.
“Andrea,” he said, putting his arms around her and guiding her to the sofa. “This is our captain, Levi Bloodworthy and our doctor, Milton Franks. Dr. Franks wants to make sure you’re all right.”
Andrea could feel the tears coming to the surface again. “He s-scared me mostly. I bumped my head when he threw me on the floor, but I barely have a lump. I think I hurt him more than he hurt me.”
“Let me take a look,” Dr. Franks said as he stepped up to Andrea. She pointed out where it hurt. The doctor started to reach for her scalp but stopped. “My dear, can we remove the pins from your hair? It’s going to have to be redone before you go out in public either way.”
“Of course,” Andrea murmured and began pulling the pins from her hair.
Miles had only seen her hair down once before and that was at the docks the day her family left New York to return to England. Her hair began falling in a tangled mess down to her waist. Miles suspected she would be even more upset if she knew how disheveled she appeared at that moment.
Andrea winced slightly as the doctor found a tender spot near the crown of her head. He looked in her ears for blood and checked her pupils. “As far as lumps on the head go, I’d say you were very lucky, my dear. Are you sure you are not hurt anywhere else? I can send Mr. Huntington and Captain Bloodworthy out of the room if you have anything you’d feel more comfortable telling me about in private.”
Andrea’s eyes welled with tears again at the thought of what might have happened. “No, I broke nearly all my fingernails when I scratched him, but I’d hardly call that an injury. Mr. Huntington heard my screams and rescued me within minutes of when he forced his way into my room.”
The doctor nodded and turned to Miles. “I recommend several glasses of sherry and a long nap to help her nerves. Then tonight a nightcap before bed if she has trouble getting to sleep.”
Miles thanked the doctor and the captain closed the door behind him after he left. Captain Bloodworthy took a seat across from Miles and Andrea. He cleared his throat as he leaned forward in his seat. The fifty-year-old man, gray sprinkling his black hair, took a deep breath.
“I need you to tell me what happened, Miss uh… I don’t believe I caught your name.”
Andrea spared a quick glance at Miles. He had called her Andrea at least twice, so she saw no reason to continue to lie. “I’m Andrea James.”
“You’re…?” Levi looked between Miles and Andrea confusion written all over his face.
Miles shrugged, offering a slight smile. “Perhaps the questions about why and how she came to be here can wait.”
Levi scowled at Miles. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Can you tell me what happened?”
Andrea began explaining how she had first spotted Clyde Sully on deck two days into their voyage and that he had followed her back to her room that day.
“Even when he worked for my father, I was afraid of him. He always made rude remarks when my father stepped away. I tried to come back from the dining room in such a way that I would not be in the parts of the ship where the crew worked. But, he was waiting on me. I tried to get into my room and lock the door before he caught up with me as I had the first time, but he forced his way in. He wanted me to give him money so he wouldn’t tell Mr. Huntington that I was on the ship. When I told him I only had forty pounds, he wanted other things.”
“Christ!” Miles cursed. “If I had known that pretending to not know you would have put you in danger, I wouldn’t have done it,” he said looking into her eyes and covering her hands with his.
“How long have you known she was aboard?” Levi asked. His face was mottled with anger as he looked back and forth from his boss to the young upset girl.
“I knew who she was when I sold her my cousin’s ticket.”
Andrea gasped, her wide eyes fixed upon Miles.
“Mr. Huntington,” Levi Bloodworthy said tightly. “You will give up your cabin until her door is repaired. See to it that the doctor’s orders are followed. And you will find this young lady a chaperone at once.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I want to see you in my quarters in one hour.”
~*~
After the captain had gone, Miles forced a small smile to his face. “I think I might be in trouble,” Miles said.
Andrea stood up to move away from him. “You knew me all this time? I bet you were having a jolly laugh.”
“No, Andrea, it wasn’t like that at all. At first, I was curious, then intrigued. I hoped if you thought I didn’t know you, you would feel safe around me. I wanted to earn your trust before I revealed the truth. I am not your enemy. Trust me; I am on your side. The last thing I want is for you to marry my cousin.”
“You don’t?” Her voice was tinged with sarcasm.
Miles took her face in his hands so she could not look away. “I want you for myself.”
16
He smiled as he released her and watched a myriad of expressions cross her face. “I could’ve told your father where you were, when you were at the Red Hen.”
“It was you!” she accused. “You were the one watching the place.”
“Guilty,” he said, holding up his hands.
She crossed her arms over her chest and little lines formed between her brows. “I sprained my ankle jumping out of that window.”
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were safe,” he said. His head canted to one side as he looked at her with sympathy.
“I was safe until you d
rew attention to me.”
Miles sighed. He suspected she would react this way, but perhaps her anger was just what she needed to keep her mind off the fright she had just suffered.
A knock on the door interrupted them. Miles opened it to find Phillip there with a carafe of sherry and two small sherry copitas, the miniature crystal stemware traditionally used to portion out the small serving of the fortified wine.
“Mr. Huntington, have you seen the door of the Virginia stateroom?” Phillip asked, carrying the tray into the room. As his eyes fell upon Andrea with her torn dress, untethered hair and upset expression, he quickly understood something terrible had happened.
“Stay here with her for a minute,” Miles said to Phillip.
“Miles….”
“I’ll be right back. Please, pour her a glass.”
Andrea watched as he disappeared through the portal leaving the door open and then shifted her gaze with leery sight at the young man.
“Mr. Huntington’s a good man,” he said, feeling her discomfort with him. “We were raised in the same church. His mother taught my Sunday school class when I was little. Of course, he was nearly grown up by then.”
Phillip handed her the glass of Spanish wine. When she took it, he crossed the room and stood by the door with his hands clasped in front of him.
Andrea looked at the dark amber liquid in the small stemmed glass. As politely as she thought she could manage—because to Andrea, sniffing your food or beverage seemed rather rude—she lifted the glass to the level of her chin and tentatively inhaled. Whereas many girls she had grown up with, had been drinking weak ale or cider since childhood, Andrea had never imbibed. Before she could take a sip, Miles reentered the room, carrying a tangerine colored dress.
Miles Before I Sleep Page 12