Unable to bear reading any more, Colette closed her eyes, as tears welled up. Wherever Juliette was at this moment, Colette knew with a sickening certainty that she had just lost her sister and her best friend in one fell swoop.
Familiar footsteps caused her to open her eyes to see Lucien stride into the room with a purposeful air, followed by a panic-stricken Yvette and a very anxious Lisette. Colette glanced up at her husband, relieved by his very presence. Tall and commanding, Lucien had a way of taking care of things. He would get to the bottom of this and make sure her sister was safe.
“Juliette is gone?” he asked, obviously unsure whether to believe the news he had been told by her younger sisters.
Remaining tight-lipped in an attempt to control her tears, Colette handed him the note. He read it quickly while Yvette sobbed and wailed with her usual dramatic flair. Colette watched a grim expression appear on Lucien’s handsome face.
“How is she getting to New York?” Lisette asked, her brows creased with worry.
“The only person I know going to New York is Captain Fleming,” Colette murmured in somewhat of a daze.
Lucien nodded in agreement. “I know he intended to sail for New York last night.”
Colette’s heart pounded with fear. “Do you think Juliette has gone with him?”
“I would not put it past her,” Lucien said grimly.
“How could Captain Fleming do such a thing?” Yvette cried in outrage, her face awash with tears. “How could he just take her from us?”
“If Harrison Fleming had any indication that Juliette was leaving home without our knowledge or permission, especially by way of one of his ships, he would have informed me immediately.” Lucien staunchly defended his friend. “There is not a chance that he assisted her in this ridiculous scheme.”
“You believe Juliette hid herself on his ship then?” Colette asked. She could barely catch her breath. How did Juliette manage to get to the docks by herself? Where was she now? Was she in any danger? And the question that hammered her heart above the rest: why had her sister not confided in her? Filled with a pain she could not describe, she wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Knowing Juliette, yes,” Lucien began. “Somehow your sister managed to slip onto his ship. If they set sail only last night it’s quite possible they aren’t even aware that she’s aboard.”
Paulette added, “Oh they’ll know she’s aboard soon enough for Juliette can never keep quiet for very long!”
Colette gave her a frown before turning to Lucien. “Do you think she’s safe?”
“Unquestionably. Harrison would never allow anyone to harm her.”
“Oh, Lucien!” Colette’s heart skipped a beat as a dreadful thought occurred to her. She could barely utter the words. “What if she never even made it as far as the ship? What if she were lost, or hurt, or accosted on the docks—”
An anguished gasp interrupted Colette.
“Don’t even think such things!” Lisette cried out in horror, wrapping her arms protectively around Yvette, whose eyes were wide with fear.
Colette stared at her husband. Lucien’s grim expression showed that he obviously considered her words a distinct possibility.
Before the awkward silence became too unbearable, Lucien declared, “I’ll go down to the docks now to search for her and see what I can find out.”
“I’m coming with you!” Colette cried, attempting to rise from her chair, which was not an easy feat given her thickening girth.
“You are not going anywhere,” Lucien said in a definitive tone. Then his voice softened. “You cannot go traipsing around the docks with me in your condition. It’s best for you and our unborn child if you remain at home.”
Colette wisely, but reluctantly, sank back down into the leather armchair, her hand on her swollen belly once again. Her husband was right. She certainly had not the energy to do much of anything lately. The baby would be arriving in only a few weeks time and its weight made it more difficult for her to move around as it was. She had not even visited the bookshop lately due to her discomfort in getting in and out of the carriage. She would not be of any use to Lucien on the docks. As much as she worried over Juliette’s whereabouts, Colette did not possess the strength to physically search for her.
Now in his element, Lucien took charge of the situation, his tall handsome form full of authority and confidence. Colette loved him more than she did the day she married him almost a year ago. And she loved how he took care of her family.
“Lisette, would you please help Colette upstairs so she can rest,” Lucien asked. “She must not become overexcited. Yvette, you must go back to your studies as usual, and Paulette—”
“I’m coming with you!” Paulette stared at Lucien, her pretty face set with determination.
Colette watched the interplay between Lucien and Paulette, knowing Lucien would not win this battle with her little sister. The two of them shared a special bond of friendship and Lucien was not one to deny Paulette anything, especially not when Paulette had that look.
Lucien grimaced, but nodded. “Fine. You must remain in the carriage though. We’ll stop and pick up Jeffrey as well.”
Lucien leaned down and kissed Colette. She pulled him close to her, holding him tight. She whispered in his ear, “Oh, Lucien, what are we going to do?”
“We’re going to find Juliette and bring her home safely.”
The surety of his words calmed her and again she realized how much she loved him and how much he meant to her.
Now if only they could be sure Juliette was safe.
Wherever she was.
4
Sailing, Sailing Over the Bounding Main
Juliette gritted her teeth and bit back the urge to scream. That self-centered, egotistical tyrant. How dare he treat her this way! Tossing the scrub brush back into the bucket with a splash, she arched her aching back and rubbed her sore neck. She never expected to have to scrub her away across the Atlantic.
Treat her like a stowaway, indeed.
After a fitful night’s sleep in Captain Fleming’s bed, he had awakened her before dawn and explained that she needed to begin to earn her keep. He ordered, yes, ordered her, to get herself above deck in less than ten minutes or he would drag her up himself. Bleary-eyed and nervous, still wearing the same men’s clothes she had worn the night before, she staggered on deck, sleepy and cold, with the pale sunrise illuminating the planking. Captain Fleming handed her a wooden bucket and a scrub brush and told her to get down on her knees and wash until breakfast was ready.
Which she had done, without even the slightest grumbling, even though she had a few choice words in mind for him. Then he escorted her back down to his cabin for a quick breakfast and returned her to her work immediately after. She had been scrubbing the yellow pine deck for what seemed like hours now and her entire body ached, from the tips of her wrinkled fingers to her throbbing knees.
Other members of the crew were busy coiling ropes and lines, raising and lowering the canvas sails, polishing the brass-works, swabbing other areas of the deck, and all the while singing strange and somewhat bawdy songs. They steered clear of her, acting as if she were not working alongside of them. She had to say that Captain Fleming ran a tight ship, for it seemed quite clean, organized, and efficient.
She sighed and squinted at the glittering waves. She had heard of people becoming seasick, but the swaying of the ship did not bother her in the least. Glancing upward, the huge white sails of the Sea Minx billowed gracefully against the cerulean sky. Admittedly, Captain Fleming’s ship was beautiful, as far as ships went, of which she knew relatively little. In fact, she had never even set foot on a ship before in her life.
Now apparently, she was expected to clean the entire thing!
Last night, thrilled that he had not taken her directly home, Juliette would have done anything to remain on board. However, since dawn she had begun to rethink her easy acceptance of the situation. The man was batty if he expected her to
clean his blasted ship for the entire journey.
Her boast of letting Captain Fleming ravish her had not been that much of a lie.
For a fleeting instant she thought she would have preferred being taken to his bed than perform the labor she had been subjected to thus far. Captain Fleming was an attractive male and being ravished by him seemed much more exciting than scrubbing the deck with sandy saltwater all morning, at least judging from what precious little information her sister Colette had divulged to her on the matter of sex. Her friend Jeffrey Eddington had also alluded to the great pleasures of the act on more than one occasion but refused to share any details, no matter how much Juliette cajoled him. How bad could it be if everyone did it all the time? At the very least her curiosity would have finally been appeased. That would be something.
But not now! She would never consider Captain Harrison Fleming’s bed! Now she would gleefully push him overboard and sail away laughing without a single regret.
She would not give up or give in to him. As much as she loathed scrubbing his wretched deck, the triumph she felt at having gotten her way more than made up for the discomfort. She was going to have her great traveling adventure and there was nothing to stop her now. The Sea Minx was sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.
So she would scrub his moldy old boat and do anything else he asked.
“Excuse me,” a hesitant voice began. “But you’re in need of a hat, miss.”
Glancing up, Juliette looked into the face of a young man. Realizing immediately that it was he who had discovered her hiding place the night before, she scowled. Then her hand touched the tweed cap that sat upon her head, containing her mass of black hair. What did he mean?
“I am already wearing a hat, thank you,” she said, unable to keep the sarcasm from her voice.
Shaking his head, he held up a wide-brimmed straw hat. “That little cap won’t keep you cool when the sun hits noon, and you’ll need more shade around your face or you will burn to a crisp. The captain sent me to give you this.”
Ah, so it was the captain, still giving his orders, was it? This time he sent a minion to do his bidding. Juliette studied the young man standing before her. She sensed that he possessed an innate kindness, evident by his easily readable expression. “What is your name?”
“Robbie Deane.”
“I am Juliette Hamilton.”
“Yes, Miss Hamilton, I knew that already. I think you should heed my advice.” He handed her the hat. “Although I reckon that’s not something you do easily.”
“That’s the truth.” Juliette smiled ruefully. She stood up and removed the tweed cap from her head, her dark hair falling in heavy waves around her face. She swept it up again, and taking the straw hat from him, she placed it upon her head, securing a few stray tendrils beneath the wide brim. She had to admit she felt cooler already. “Well, please thank the captain for me. And thank you, Mr. Deane.”
“You’re welcome. You can call me Robbie.” He grinned at her, his boyish face alight. “Everyone else does.”
“Then you can call me Juliette.” She cast him a brilliant smile, knowing she already had an ardent admirer and an ally. He had reddish hair and a sweet face, covered in a generous sprinkling of freckles. She had never seen so many freckles on a face before! “You were the one who found me last night, were you not?”
“Yes. That was me.” He eyed her carefully. “You gave me a quite a scare. It’s not often we have stowaways on the Sea Minx.”
“That’s not too surprising.”
He gave her a shy smile. “But even the few we’ve had, they’ve never been girls.”
“Never?” she asked with feigned innocence. “Not even once?”
“Not once.” Robbie shook his head. “You’re the first girl stowaway I’ve ever seen. And by far the prettiest stowaway we’ve ever had. Why, you’re the talk of the ship!”
“Am I now?” she exclaimed with a light laugh. She had seen a few of the crew this morning giving her a furtive glance or two, but not one of them had uttered a single word to her. The captain must have given them orders not to speak to her. “If you don’t mind my asking, what are they saying about me, Robbie?”
To her surprise he blushed beneath his freckles. “Most of it I can’t repeat in front of you, miss.”
Juliette smiled kindly at him. “You certainly do not need to tell me anything you don’t wish to, Robbie.”
“Well, we—I mean they—were all wondering why a lady like you would hide on a ship in the first place.”
“I’m certain they were wondering why, but I have my reasons.” She nodded decisively. “Very good reasons.”
Robbie paused briefly before blurting out, “We—They think it’s because you’re in love with the captain.”
Juliette laughed aloud, so loud that she drew the attention from a few of the other sailors on deck. The laughter flowed from her too easily and she could not contain her amusement. Robbie stared at her in surprise, his brown eyes full of confusion. Tears trickled down her cheeks and she swiped at them with the back of her hand. It was too funny. Men were all alike.
When she could finally catch her breath, she responded. “Let me assure you—and them—that I am not in love with Captain Fleming. The thought has never even entered my mind.”
“I see,” Robbie said, but clearly he did not. His expression appeared quite puzzled, his young brow furrowed.
“What else are they saying about me?”
“They are saying you should get back to work.”
Startled, both Juliette and Robbie turned to see Captain Fleming looming over them, looking decidedly displeased.
Robbie straightened up, the sweet smile disappearing from his face. “Yes, Captain.” He fled to the opposite end of the deck, leaving Juliette alone with Harrison. Folding her arms across her chest, she sighed.
“Well?” he said.
Their eyes held a moment longer than necessary and Juliette felt her stomach flip over.
“Well, what?” Juliette asked, looking up at him from beneath the brim of the straw hat. He seemed more handsome today. More rugged. His hair glinted like pure gold in the sun, almost blinding her with its brightness. “Am I supposed to say, ‘Aye, aye, Captain’ and hurry back to my scrubbing?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him, trying to decide if he was serious. Deciding he was not, she remained standing, her arms crossed.
“Come with me,” he barked. Turning on his heel, he strode away, expecting her to follow. She hated being ordered about. But she was no one’s fool either. If following him got her out of scrubbing the deck for a while, she would follow him to the bowels of his infernal ship if he wanted.
In the end, she merely followed him back to his cabin. As she entered his quarters, he closed the door behind them. They stood quietly, facing each other.
“Listen to me very carefully, Juliette, for I only intend to say this once.”
The edge in his voice caused her heart to beat faster than usual. She ignored it. “You have my undivided attention.”
Harrison eyed her skeptically. “The ship and my crew are not here for your amusement, Juliette. You have inconvenienced me beyond all measure, but I will not have you causing any trouble or inconvenience to my crew as well. They have a great deal of work to do and cannot be sidetracked from it. And the last thing they need is to be distracted by the likes of you.”
She bristled at his attitude. “What have I done?”
“Don’t play the innocent miss with me. You know entirely well the effect you have upon men, and you should leave poor Robbie alone. By the look on that boy’s face, he’s already half in love with you.”
Juliette laughed at his presumptuousness. “Pardon me,” she paused before adding, “Captain…” She gave him a pointed look. “But were you not the one who ordered him to bring me this hat?”
“Yes, I did. That tweed cap of yours is entirely unsuitable to protect you from the sun.”
“Then I don’t
see why you are laying the blame at my door. A young man is smitten with me. I cannot be faulted for that, now can I?”
“Yes you can, damn it!”
Juliette stepped back without thinking. Captain Fleming’s eyes had turned a cold and dark gray, like the color of a storm-threatened sky.
“You are disrupting my entire ship.”
Again Juliette laughed at his overstating of the situation. “Your entire ship? Is such exaggeration truly necessary, Captain Fleming? I spoke to one young boy, at your request.”
“Yes, but you were distracting him from his duties. This ship requires the constant attention of my crew. You cannot be a diversion for them.”
“It was not my intention to be.” She placed her hands on her hips. “I was simply scrubbing the deck, as you ordered me to. You were the one who told Robbie to bring me this hat in the first place. We were merely having a civil conversation as people tend to do when they—”
“Stop talking.”
Juliette was so taken aback by his command that she ceased speaking in midsentence. He stepped closer to her. Losing all sense of what they had been arguing about, she stared up at Captain Harrison Fleming.
He leaned in toward her and tore the straw hat from her head, her long black hair spilling around her. Stunned, it seemed her heart stopped and she could not draw a breath. As she sensed what he was about to do, a ripple of exhilaration raced through her entire body. In a quick movement, Harrison pulled her against his chest, lowered his mouth over hers, and kissed her.
Juliette could not breathe. She could not think. She did not laugh. She did not wriggle away, nor could she. His arms were wrapped around her like a vice. For the first time in her life it seemed she could do nothing. Nothing except kiss him back. In an instant, she lost herself completely in the feel of his warm lips upon hers. It was like nothing she had ever known or expected. Juliette had been kissed before, certainly. Many times, in fact. But this…
Desire In His Eyes Page 3