Seth heard a soft sob and realized that it had come from his wife. “Lisabeth. Love, what is it?” He rose up on his elbow and saw her huddled form. She turned toward him, and he stroked her cheek, noting her tears. “You’re crying.”
“I’m all right,” she said in a strangled voice.
“Tell me.”
The tears escaped to spill onto her smooth skin. “You—you won’t leave me again, will you?” she asked.
“No, no, of course not.” He gathered her close, kissing her neck and ear, moving to caress each of her features with his lips. “I love you. I wouldn’t leave you. Is that why you’re crying, because you thought I would?”
She nodded. And it was the truth, she thought. But it was just one of the many things that concerned her.
“You’re my wife. I want to be with you always. I want you to have my child.”
Bess drew a sharp breath. The air shuddered in a hiss as it escaped her lungs. She began to cry in earnest, for the child she’d lost, for the child she might never have. She’d never been certain that the birth of her first child hadn’t caused her damage.
“What if I can’t give you a child,” she asked, her heart beating loudly. He doesn’t know about our dead baby. I have to tell him.
Seth had never seen her hurt quite like this; it was a heartrending sight. “Then we’ll still have each other.” He gave her a tender smile. “Now stop worrying, my love. Do you think I’d let you go now that I finally have you again?”
“I guess not,” she said. But as Bess nestled against his side, she had her doubts. She should tell him about their son, but she couldn’t find the courage. Soon, she promised herself.
And she lay within his arms, seeking comfort, worrying about what the truth would do to their future and love.
San Francisco, November 1850
“It’s quite a sight,” Seth murmured into Bess’s ear. She nodded, silently agreeing. They stood together on the upper deck, studying the bay and the shoreline.
The harbor at San Francisco was cluttered with ships, lots of them: tall-masted ships, smaller vessels, some looking to be on the point of ruin.
“I don’t understand,” Bess said. “I thought San Francisco was a place to make riches. Why do some of the ships look abandoned?”
“They have been abandoned,” Seth told her. “I heard about this kind of thing here, but it startles me to see it.” He gestured toward the shore with his right arm, the left arm he kept firmly about Bess’s middle, holding her to his side.
“See those vessels lined up along the shore?” She nodded. “Many have been renovated into shops or hotels.”
“Honestly?” Bess asked. She appeared skeptical, and disturbed.
He gave her a crooked grin. “Honestly,” he said.
“San Francisco doesn’t look like a very . . . peaceful place.”
Seth agreed. “No, it doesn’t.”
Once the Sea Mistress was anchored, the men, all but the four sailors who would make up the anchor watch, started to leave the ship. Seth stayed topside to oversee the disembarkation, while Bess went to their cabin to gather her belongings to take ashore. Someone came to the cabin door. Knowing it wasn’t her husband, because he never bothered to knock before entering, Bess went to open the hatch, expecting to see James Kelley or Mark Hawke. But it was John Reeves, who asked if he could have a word with her.
She nodded and stepped aside to allow his entry.
Reeves stood for a moment, appearing uncomfortable with what he had to say. “Bess—”
“What is it, John?”
“About you and the captain . . .”
She frowned, for she had told him that the marriage would be annulled once they had reached San Francisco. But that was before Seth and she had fallen in love again.
“I love him,” she said. “And he loves me, John. We’re going to stay married.”
To her surprise, Reeves appeared relieved. “Good. I was afraid.” He stopped and blushed. “Bess, Rebecca is with child.”
Ah, so it’s Rebecca you’re thinking of, she thought. “I know.” She stifled a growing fear.
“You do?” He seemed shocked.
“She told me. I’ve known for some time. In fact, it was I who told her not to worry—that you would still consider her your friend.”
Reeves’s mouth softened. “Thank you.” Bess nodded. “Then it’s all right if I . . .”
He looked away. “I thought I’d stay with Rebecca. You have the captain now, while Rebecca has no one to take care of her.”
Except Aunt Clara, Bess thought, and then felt guilty for the thought. She experienced a burning in her stomach, as it tightened and formed a knot.
“You don’t need me anymore,” Reeves said.
“I don’t know about that, John.” What would she do without Reeves when Seth went to sea again? She straightened her spine. She would manage, just as she’d always done. With or without John Reeves.
“I’ll continue to work for you until you’re settled and the shop is ready to open its doors.”
Bess waved aside his concerns. “Everything will work out, John. I’m not worried.” She thought of Rebecca and then made an offer. “Perhaps Rebecca would like to help out at the shop?”
Reeves’s face lit up. “Do you think?”
She nodded, smiling.
“I’ll ask her.” He headed for the hatch.
“John,” she called him back. He paused to regard her over his shoulder. “Don’t get hurt. Don’t allow her to hurt you like I did.”
He became flustered. “I won’t,” he said, not denying that his love for her had caused him pain.
And he left, leaving Bess to wonder what the future would bring them.
The Willard Hotel was a pleasant establishment run by one Miss Priscilla Willard, a forty-year-old spinster from New York.
Seth arranged for their room, and then took Bess up to see her comfortable. “You’ll be all right here. We’ll dine when I get back. And if you need anything before then, James will be right downstairs on the first floor.”
Bess frowned. “Where are you going?” She couldn’t help remembering the last time he’d left her and never come back.
“I have a delivery to make. A group of solicitors hired me to transport an item for them. And the man himself has offered an extra handsome reward for my efforts.” He encircled her with his arms. “Bess, love, I’ll be back in an hour or so.” He caressed her cheek, before he bent to kiss her mouth.
“How will you get there?”
“I’ll find a way.” He grinned. “Hire a mule if I have to.” He kissed her again, hard. “I’ll have a bath sent up for you. Dress in that gown I bought you. When I get back, we’ll have dinner—a real dinner and not that unpleasant sea fare we’ve been putting up with.”
“Cook’s meals weren’t so bad,” she said with a smile.
He laughed and kissed her one last time, and then he left her.
Seth wasn’t too impressed with the new San Francisco. In fact, there were things about the city that alarmed him. He wasn’t sure it was the safest place for Bess to open a mercantile. There were burned sections of San Francisco. When he’d inquired about those areas from a resident, he’d learned the fires were the work of looters, their victims local shop owners.
He found a livery stable not far from the hotel, and was able to hire a good horse to take him to the Blanchard home. It was a mile or so away from the wharf.
The item he carried with him was a mahogany box about six inches by five inches in size with a lock. Mr. Blanchard already had the key, one of the solicitors in Wilmington had informed him.
He was curious about the box’s contents. It must be something valuable, because he’d already been paid by the lawyers to bring it, yet Mr. Blanchard also offered a reward.
The money he earned for its transport along with the monies he’d get from George Metcalfe was more than enough to pay off any debts, including buying the remaining shares in the Sea Mis
tress.
The Sea Mistress would finally belong to him, and him alone. There would no longer be any other shareholders to worry about pleasing, to share in the profits. All future monies made would belong to him, except for wages to be paid to his crew.
Why then, now that his moment had finally arrived wasn’t he excited over the prospect?
Bess. It was because of Bess that he wasn’t exhilarated by the knowledge that the ship was to belong entirely to him. Having a wife complicated matters, because although he wasn’t ready to give up the sea, neither was he anxious to leave Bess’s side. He’d come to love and need her that much.
And he’d promised her he wouldn’t leave her, but how could he possibly keep his promise? Unless . . .
He could hire someone else to command the Sea Mistress on the voyages that took the vessel far from her new home in San Francisco. He himself could captain the ship for the short-distance runs.
Seth smiled. He’d found a solution to his problem. He wasn’t ready to give up the sea, but then he also didn’t need to be out on his vessel for months at a time. James Kelley would make an able captain. He’d hire James to make the long runs, while he would take the trips closer to home, like those to the Sandwich Islands. On those journeys, Bess could come with him if she wanted. Surely the mercantile would survive without her for a short time.
His grin widened. “Aye, I believe it will work!” His smile slipped a little. “As long as Bess’s cousin has no objections.”
He thought of Bess’s charm, the way she’d managed to wrap Edward about her little finger, and his good humor was restored.
Then he thought of the matter no more, for he had reached his destination. And the sign on the adobe building read, THE BLANCHARD HOME FOR ORPHANED AND ABANDONED CHILDREN.
Johnson Blanchard ran an orphanage? Seth was surprised. He heard the sound of children’s voices and laughter, and he smiled as he raised his hand to knock. He shifted the box beneath his arm as he waited for someone to answer the summons.
Twenty-one
An hour after Seth had left, Bess had bathed, dressed, and was waiting anxiously for her husband’s return. She was agitated. The feeling that something terrible was going to happen wouldn’t leave her, even when she reminded herself that it was the past playing with her mind. Seth had left her before, and although she knew for certain that he was coming back, she remembered the last time when he hadn’t returned.
The hotel room was nice enough. James Kelley was downstairs, Seth had said, but Bess hadn’t felt like visiting him, so she didn’t know whether all the rooms were as nice as Seth’s and hers. The lady who ran the place, Miss Willard, had been pleasant and accommodating, and Bess’s bath had been scented, hot, and wonderfully relaxing.
But as she’d dressed, she’d become anxious again. How many times had she gone to the window to study the city? To look for Seth?
San Francisco was different than she’d expected, but she thought she would enjoy the challenge of setting up shop here. It seemed that people were everywhere she looked. There were shops and boarding houses and hotels, any type of establishment that one could think of with which to make money.
“Where are you, Seth?” she murmured, going to the window once again. Did he get to the man’s house without incident?
He should be back by now, she thought.
Bess paced the room and worried about her husband’s safe return.
“Yes?” The woman who opened the door was buxomly built with an attractive face. In her forties, Seth surmised.
“Is Mr. Blanchard in?” Seth asked.
“Mr. Blanchard?” she said with humor.
“I’m Seth Garret. I’m here to make a delivery to him.”
Something flickered in the woman’s eyes. Her amusement vanished, and an unreadable look took its place. “Oh, oh yes, of course!” she said, gesturing for him to come inside. “Come right in, Captain. I’ll tell him you’re here.”
The sound of children was greater inside the house. Seth watched, smiling, as two boys barreled down the staircase from the second floor.
“I’ll get you, Johnny!” one cried.
“No, no, you won’t,” Johnny retorted, “cause I’m faster than you!”
The boys disappeared to other parts of the house, and a girl came out of the room to Seth’s right. He watched her walk across the hall with a dignity that touched his heart. Orphans, he thought.
The girl stopped as she became aware of his presence. “Hello,” she said. Her chestnut-colored hair hung down past her shoulders. “Who are you?”
Seth gave her a smile. “My name is Garret. Captain Seth Garret.”
“Seth Garret,” she echoed with a blank look. Then she returned his smile. “That’s a nice name.”
There was something missing in her smile, Seth thought. As if she had witnessed tragedy in her life and had never quite recovered from it.
“Maria.” The woman who had answered the door—who Seth assumed was Blanchard’s wife— had returned from the back part of the house. “Go into the kitchen and have a pastry,” she told the girl. She gave Maria an affectionate hug before giving her a pat to send her on her way.
Mrs. Blanchard’s gaze was apologetic. “I’m sorry, Captain. Maria is different from most other children. She was born . . . special . . . which is why, I suppose, her mother abandoned her when she was a baby.”
Seth felt overwhelming sympathy for the girl. “She seems happy,” he said, brightening with the knowledge that the girl was in the best hands. It was evident that Mrs. Blanchard loved Maria.
The two boys came out of a back room, one still chasing the other one. The woman grabbed the first child as he flew past her, before she reached for the second.
“Johnny and Zachary, stop your running,” she scolded, having successfully caught both boys. “What will Captain Garret think?”
Zachary regarded Seth through widened eyes. “You’re a captain?”
Seth nodded.
“Of a ship?” Johnny asked. His brown hair was a little long on top and fell across his forehead, blocking his gaze. He made an effort to brush it back so that he could better see the captain.
“Yes, Johnny,” Seth said. “My ship is the Sea Mistress. She’s a clipper ship.”
Both boys made murmurs of appreciation. “Can we see it?” Zachary asked.
“Now, boys,” Mrs. Blanchard said. “Captain Garret is a busy man. He doesn’t have the time.”
Seth smiled, enjoying the youngsters’ curiosity and enthusiasm. “Perhaps I can arrange it before I have to leave.” He looked at the woman and saw her frown. “As long as it’s all right with Mrs. Blanchard.”
“Mrs. Blanchard!” Johnny exclaimed. “She’s not—”
“Johnny!” the woman interrupted. “Run along and take Zach with you. Join Maria in the kitchen. I’ve just made pastries. You may each have one, and one only, for we still have supper.”
“Yes, mother!” they cried in unison, and scampered off again toward the back section of the house, their thoughts on the treat.
The woman watched them go with an affectionate smile before she turned back to Seth. “I apologize for those ruffians, Captain. They’re good boys, really.”
“You don’t have to apologize for those boys.” He hesitated and then asked. “How many children do you have here?”
“Fifteen,” she said. “We originally had sixteen, but our Thomas isn’t here now. He’s a man now, fully grown. He’s gone back East to study. He’s going to be a doctor some day.” She looked proud.
“Fine thing,” Seth commented, understanding her pride.
The woman smiled. “It wouldn’t have been possible if not for my husband.” She grew flustered as if she’d spoken needlessly and said too much.
“Come into the study, Captain. My husband is waiting to see you.” She gestured toward the study door. “Go right in.”
Then she was married to Johnson Blanchard, Seth thought. He entered the study and froze.
It was Joel Johnson who had waited to see him. Seth’s former commander and friend. “Captain!” Seth exclaimed.
Joel grinned as he rose from behind his desk. “Come in, my boy, and sit down. And call me Joel, please. We’ve known each other a long time.”
Seth was feeling confused as he obeyed his former captain and took a seat in the chair before Joel’s desk.
“Did. you have a good journey?” Joel asked, resuming his seat.
“Aye,” Seth said. “We did, but—”
“How is she? The Sea Mistress? Is she still as pretty as a picture? Are you staying on her while you’re here?”
Seth shook his head. “I’m registered at the Willard Hotel,” he said slowly, racking his brain for why Joel was here. And where was this Johnson Blanchard?
“Do you have the box?” Joel asked
The younger man nodded. Johnson, Seth thought.
“I hired you, Seth,” his friend said. “I promised you a reward.”
“You? But why?”
“Aye, me. Because I wanted the box and I wanted you.” Joel eyed his former first officer thoroughly. “Because I want—need—to show you something. Someone.”
He grabbed his pipe, offered Seth a smoke, and when Seth declined, dismissed his own urge with a smile. “Do you recall those two weeks we spent with Edward Metcalfe in Wilmington?” Joel asked, watching him closely.
“Of course. You know that Bess and I—”
“Aye,” the man said. “You and Bess. She’s the main reason you’re here.”
Seth frowned in incomprehension. “Pardon?”
Joel opened a desk drawer and began to search, scowling when he couldn’t immediately find what he was looking for. “Kate,” he bellowed as Seth had once heard him bellow on board ship.
The woman who had first let Seth in came into the room. “Joel, what is it? Why are you yelling so? You’ll frighten the children!”
Seth was astonished to see the older sea captain back down. “Sorry, love,” the man said. “But Seth is here, and I can’t find the key!”
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