The Captain's Pearl

by Jo Ann Ferguson

  The mill’s door opened as she approached. With a warm smile, she asked, “How are you this afternoon, Mr. Bergen?”

  “Fine, Mrs. Trevarian. ’Tis kind of you to ask.” He tipped his hat to her, revealing a balding spot.

  As she stepped into the mill, the stench of dirt and damp surrounded her. Each pace woke years of dust to cling like gray feathers to her black skirt. Walking to the small window on the opposite side of the large empty room, she pushed aside lacy cobwebs to look out at the creek dropping over the dam. The sluice had fallen apart, so the wheel did not move in the slower waters.

  “How much can be salvaged?” Lianne asked, her voice fading quickly into the timbers of the ceiling far above her head.

  “The wheel can be repaired.” Mr. Bergen’s grin stripped the plainness from his round face. “The building is sound. An addition would be necessary, along with machinery to run the looms, but I think it can work, Mrs. Trevarian.”

  “Good. I think …” She looked past him as the door clanged shut. Mr. Bergen tensed, but she smiled as she recognized Bryce’s silhouette. “Bryce, I thought you were going to be in New Bedford until this evening.”

  “I just returned.” He glanced at the man beside her.

  “Bryce, this is Gilroy Bergen. Mr. Bergen, my husband Captain Trevarian.”

  “An honor, Captain,” the rotund man said.

  “What are you doing here, Lianne?” Bryce asked with a nod toward Mr. Bergen. “I was sure Hyett was mistaken when he told me that you were driving out here.”

  “Father bought this mill to take the Shadow Line into manufacturing. As we may have to cut back the Shadow Line—”

  “Cut back on the line? Are you serious?” His amazement was replaced by fury as his dark brows lowered.

  “Mr. Bergen,” she said quietly, “will you excuse us? I will see you tomorrow at the house.”

  “Of course, Mrs. Trevarian. Good day to you, ma’am.” Mr. Bergen tipped his hat to her. “Captain.”

  Bryce nodded. As the round man left, the door slammed behind him. The noise reverberated through the empty space.

  Lianne watched as Bryce strode around the room, testing the strength of the floor and grimacing when he saw sunlight through cracks in the wall. He leaned his hand against a door and jumped back as it crashed to the floor. Dust burst up to bleach his hair.

  He faced her. “You made a bargain with me, Lianne! I would oversee the ships. Why are you trying to break that agreement two hours later?”

  Clasping her hands behind her back, she said quietly, “With the war in China, we can’t be sure of any cargo next year.”

  “You are being short-sighted!”

  “I wouldn’t sell the China Shadow, but I think we must look for a buyer for the Sleek Shadow.”

  He stared at her in disbelief. “You would sell that fine ship?”

  “You said she was not as good as the China Shadow.”

  “She isn’t, but that is no reason to get rid of her.”

  “To keep the Shadow Line solvent, I may have to. I had hoped to hold on until the wars stopped over there, but it appears that the treaties mean little.”

  “I am not afraid of a bit of fighting.”

  Lianne shivered, wondering if she should tell him that her concerns for the line were not only economical. If there was a battle, Bryce would be at the forefront, leading his men to death if necessary in the defense of his ship. The thought of waiting month after month for him to return, knowing that he might never come back, was horrifying.

  “Bryce, don’t let your obsession with the sea blind you. We can’t depend on just the China trade to keep the company alive.”

  “We’re not. You’ve had the Pacific Shadow refitted for whaling. Why not leave things as they are? Two ships for the China trade, one for the local harvest.”

  “But what if something happens? What if the China Shadow had never returned?”

  Closing the distance between them, he grasped her elbows and swept her into his arms. “Then, blue eyes, you would never have shared this with me.”

  Protesting that she wanted to speak of business, her words melted beneath his lips. How could she argue with him when he made her dreams come true in his arms?

  “Let’s go home,” he whispered. “I want to hold you before dark disguises your beauty, blue eyes.”

  “Bryce …”

  His tongue traced her ear’s whorls. “Come with me.”

  “Bryce,” she said, reluctantly pulling away. “Please listen to me. Brown and Ives in Rhode Island is investing in cotton manufacturing with less risk than in shipping.”

  He put his foot on a pitted stone and rested his crossed arms on his knee. “You know nothing about the manufacture of cotton.”

  “I have hired people who do!”

  “And exactly when were you planning on telling me?” he asked with deceptive serenity.

  “Soon.” Taking his hands, she whispered, “Bryce, I can’t be Great-Aunt Tildy, living a quiet life overlooking the harbor. I need a challenge as you need adventure on the sea.”

  “I don’t want you to be Great-Aunt Tildy.”

  “Then let me be who I must be.”

  Slowly Bryce’s hands encircled Lianne’s face. He wondered if she could guess the conflict in him. He admired her dedication to her father’s goals, but she must not let them destroy the Shadow ships.

  As he stroked her soft face, he sighed. The day had not been an easy one, for the part he needed for the China Shadow had not been waiting in New Bedford. A wasted trip, and another to make in a week. Yet more than repairing his ship, he wanted his wife. She enchanted him with rapture.

  “Bryce, I need this chance,” she said. “I must do what I think is right.”

  “What’s right for you right now is to kiss me.”

  “Don’t change the subject.”

  “We’ll discuss this.” He stared at her lips, wishing he could focus on her words instead of how he wanted to feast on them.

  “But when?”

  “Later, blue eyes.”

  He could no longer resist the temptation of her lips. When he sought beneath her cape to find her magnificent curves, she gasped with the craving he sensed in her fingertips at his nape. The sound spellbound him, stirring his seething desire into a frenzy. As her hands glided down over the back of his trousers, she pressed to him. He moaned as her breasts caressed him.

  He released her. She spread her hands against the rough wall behind her as she stared at him, her chest heaving with the power of the need that ached in him. He reached for her, then let his hands drop to his sides. She shared all of herself with him, even her dream to build a mill in her father’s memory.

  With a curse, Bryce said, “Convince me.”

  “Pardon me?”

  Taking her hands in his, he raised first one, then the other to his lips. “Convince me, Lianne. I am your business partner. Show me why Trevarian Enterprises should do this.”

  “All right. Come with me.”

  When Bryce offered his arm, Lianne put her fingers on it. She led him out of the mill and down the slippery path toward the creek. She huddled into her cape as her skirts swirled about her legs. The only sounds were their footsteps on the uneven ground and the percussion of the water against the stones.

  Standing on the edge of the stone dam, she said, “The building is solid, Bryce. We have water power, and there are many in town who want to work.” She watched his face as she added, “The Shadow ships could transport raw materials and finished product.”

  “Is that what those proud ships shall be? Delivery barges?”

  She wanted to soothe his pain, for she shared it. Putting her hand on his arm, she said, “Only for now. When things are better, we may find we want to sell the mill.”

  He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his pea jacket and nodded as he looked at the motionless wheel. “You are determined to do this, I see.”

  “Father believed it was a good idea.” She raised
her chin. “And so do I.”

  With a wry grin, he nodded. “All right. Let’s go over the books. If you can pay for this without taking money from the Shadow ships, you should try this.”

  “And succeed!”

  “That is yet to be seen.” He pulled her into his arms as he murmured, “Let’s go home, blue eyes. Before we go over the books, I would like to go over you.” His eyes glowed with longing. “Very closely.”

  She smiled as she tipped his mouth over hers. He trusted her as his partner in Trevarian Enterprises. Maybe he would eventually trust her with his heart.

  Bryce knocked dirt off his boots as he opened the front door. He glanced back toward the harbor and at the China Shadow. This afternoon, he had taken the ship on a trial voyage to the end of the cove and back.

  Hyett rushed to him, distress on his aged face. “Thank heavens, you are home, Captain Trevarian. Miss Tildy may need your help to get in to dinner. She fell again.”

  “Is she hurt badly?” He shrugged off his salt-stained coat and tossed it atop the newel post. “Where is she?”

  “In the back parlor tending to her ‘dignity,’ as she says.”

  His dismay eased. If Tildy could joke, the injury was not bad. His jaw worked. Although they had not needed a doctor since Captain Catherwood’s death, he knew one day they would have to send for Newberry. He might not come.

  The acrid odor of liniment greeted him in the back parlor as Great-Aunt Tildy called, “Come in, Bryce. Just pretend you don’t notice the smell of what I put on my dignity.”

  He smiled. “It is not your dignity I am worried about. Did you hurt yourself?”

  “Just bruised myself here.” She pointed to her left hip which was pressed to a heated brick wrapped in muslin. “Now don’t start clucking over me. Hyett has the house all atwitter.”

  “If you would behave yourself, we wouldn’t have to be worried.”

  “True.” Her blue eyes twinkled with mischief. “And I’m the one to be punished for it. Not only will I have an aching limb, but Hyett shall have the staff spying on me, so I do not climb up on a ladder to check my drapes again.”

  “The drapes?” He shook his head, then frowned. “Where is Lianne? I thought she would be here with you.”

  “She had some work that she needed to finish. She is in Samuel’s office.” Tildy patted his arm. “It is about time you got around to asking about her.”

  “I was worried about you.”

  “Uh-huh.” She gave him a dubious frown. “Do you believe that excuse or are you just trying to lather an old woman with compliments? Or is it that you just don’t understand?”

  “Apparently I don’t understand.” It was not like Tildy to talk in riddles, and he was not in the mood for jesting.

  “Don’t you? Or maybe you just don’t want to?” She sighed. “Forgive me, Bryce, for sticking my nose in what may not be my business. All I want is for you to understand that she loves you deeply.”

  He let his breath slide out past his clenched teeth. He did not want to talk about this now. “I suspect you may be right.”

  “She has never said?”

  “No.” He almost laughed at Tildy’s shock. “Lianne is reticent about many things.”

  “Odd,” mused the old woman. “Maybe these old eyes are seeing things only because I want to see them. I know how splendid it would be for you two to fall in love.”

  Locking his hands behind his back, he said, “My life is the sea. She knows that. After all, she’s a Catherwood.”

  “Not exactly,” she answered with a gentle mournfulness.

  “What do you mean? The captain claimed her as—”

  “She has Catherwood blood, but she is of China as well. That you can’t deny.”

  “No,” he admitted softly.

  “She thinks too much of duty and obligation. Go and cheer her up, my boy. No young woman should spend so much time at business when her husband is eager to tell her about his ship.”

  Bryce forced a smile. Eager is not the word he would have chosen. As he walked toward Captain Catherwood’s office, he sighed. This was not going to be easy.

  When he opened the door and looked in to see Lianne bent over the desk writing furiously, he sighed. This was going to be even more difficult than he had imagined because, as she raised her enticing blue eyes, he did not want to tell her what he must.

  “Bryce, how was the trial?” she asked, coming to her feet. She slipped her arms around him.

  With the greatest effort, he stepped away. “Poor.” He went to the sideboard where the captain had always kept a bottle of brandy. Pouring a glass, he took a drink. Its heat in his gut was weaker than the longing searing him when he thought of holding her. “Her mast will not hold. I will need to have the China Shadow towed to Maine, where I can purchase a new one and have it fitted.”

  “Maine? When?”

  “Tomorrow.” He took another drink. “It should not take more than a couple of months.”

  She sank to sit on the settee, a shattered expression stealing the glow from her eyes. “You have to be gone for two months, Bryce?” She faltered, then raised her chin with the pride that had impressed him even in Canton. “I need you here.”

  “No, you don’t, blue eyes. You are running Trevarian Enterprises well.” When she gasped, he wondered if she guessed he was intentionally misunderstanding her. He wanted to avoid speaking of the emotions he could see in her eyes, for he might have to explore his own. He raised his glass in her direction. “To a successful voyage and to success for the latest venture of Trevarian Enterprises.”

  When she did not reply, he watched as she rose and, crossing the room, put her arms around him. His arms enclosed her, savoring her gentle warmth that he would not share during the long months he was gone. Was he mad? Maybe, but what choice did he have? He had been given what he had dreamed of all his life—a line of ships of his own. He had worked so hard, fought so hard, to reach this day. Throwing it away to stay here with his wife would label him a fool.

  His lips touched her forehead, and she trembled as her fingers rose through his hair. Gently he tasted her silken cheek, the tip of her nose, the curve of her chin, before settling on the breathy yearning of her mouth. His hands climbed her back, bringing her closer, so every inch of him could rediscover her luscious curves.

  Her hair flowed along her back as he released it. Gathering her to him, he drew her down onto the settee. He wanted her this one final time before he returned to the siren song of the sea. He smiled and sampled her warm skin as he loosened the hooks on her black gown.

  His eyes widened as she took his face between her hands and whispered, “I love you. I know you may not be able to say the same to me, Bryce, but I must tell you before you leave.”

  “Lianne—”

  She put her finger to his lips. “Say nothing. My heart is a gift for you. You can’t refuse it.”

  “I would not refuse such a gift.” He kissed the curve of her breast above her chemise. As always when he held her, he switched to Cantonese. “Love me, blue eyes, for it will be months until I can hold you again.”

  “Will you miss me?”

  He laughed. “My little fool, I shall miss you so much that I ache already with a loneliness only you can assuage. Open yourself and soothe me within you.”

  “Yes, my love,” she whispered.

  He knew he should tell her not to be foolish, but he could not, as ecstasy swelled through him, making him a part of her as he would not be again, until he returned to tell her farewell when he left for his next voyage to China.

  For the first time, that thought did not give him pleasure. Yet, he had his duties and obligations to honor as much as she did. He had found his dream in the Shadow Line. He must not do anything to risk losing it, not even fall in love with his wife.

  Fifteen

  “Come away from the window, Lianne,” Great-Aunt Tildy said as she limped into the back parlor, her hand on her hip. “You know he will not be back for sever
al months.”

  Lianne turned from the window. “I was watching the sunset.”

  “The sun set more than an hour ago. Do you expect me to swallow that fish tale?”

  “No.” She smiled in spite of the ache deep within her heart. “But I had hoped you might.”

  “You need to trust him, child.”

  “I know.”

  “You trust him with your heart, so why not with everything else?”

  Lianne did not have an answer for the question she had asked herself so often in the past week. Since she had watched the China Shadow leave Stormhaven Cove, she had tried to keep herself so busy she could not think about Bryce leaving her to focus on his first love—that blasted ship! She spent hours each day at the mill working with Mr. Bergen and even more shut away in her office. It did not matter how long she worked, because each night she had to return to the rooms she shared with Bryce and discover how empty they were when he was not here.

  “You must listen, child,” Great-Aunt Tildy said, “for maybe past mistakes can help you understand.”

  “Whose mistakes?” She sat on a chair facing her great-aunt.

  “Mine and your father’s.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Listen, and you may.” Great-Aunt Tildy picked up her knitting, a scarf she was making for Bryce. Although Lianne wanted to tell her that Bryce would have no need for it when the China Shadow was repaired, for he would be sailing for warm Canton, she said nothing as her great-aunt continued. “More years ago than you can imagine, I let the man I love believe that other things were more important to me. He was lost at sea, never knowing how my heart was his. I do not want that to happen to you and Bryce.”

  “Neither do I.”

  “Nor do I want you to grieve as Samuel did for your mother, who held his heart from the moment he first saw her.” She looked up from the navy blue yarn. “Much as I suspect you captured Bryce’s attention.”

  “But not his heart.” Her hands tightened until her knuckles became pale. “That belongs to his ship.”

  “Bryce has a big heart, child. I believe there is room in there for both you and the China Shadow.”