Seacrets

by Adrianna Wingate

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  Chapter Nine

  The days turned to weeks and Maura survived each day to the best of her ability. She tried desperately to remain positive about her future in America. She managed to steer clear of Kilern for the rest of the voyage by sticking to Godsey's side and never letting herself be alone too long and to not open her cabin door unless she was certain it was Godsey or Daniel on the other side. Maura could tell by the looks she was receiving from Kilern he was not happy. But all that mattered right now was getting the rest of the way to America without being raped again. If she could just get to the Turlington's, she'd be safe from harm. They must surely have received her dowry money by now and would take her in. She could start a new life and try to put the unfortunate circumstances of her journey behind her for good. These thoughts allowed her to get through each day and allowed her to focus on the positive.

  The morning was bright with sunshine that seemed to be catching every breaker. The tips of each wave looked as though they were sparkling like tiny diamonds.

  The air smelled fresh, up on deck, and she was grateful for the feel of the warm sunshine on her face.

  Daniel stood with with his back to the ships wheel, leaning up against it, watching Maura enjoying the sun on her face. He observed her leaning up against the outer balustrade, face tilted upward towards the sky and he couldn't help but remember how beautiful she really was, underneath that boys attire. He had been careful not to tempt himself with her sensual innocence since that night, many weeks earlier. The memories of that night were driving him mad with desire for her, but he knew he had confused and hurt her and didn't want to do that to her again. He had his obligations to attend to when he arrived back in New England and no amount of wishing it were not so would change things. He was a man of his word and he made a deal with the Gilmores to wed their daughter and he must keep true to his word. He thought for a fleeting moment perhaps he could set Maura up in a flat, in Boston. But he knew that would never satisfy a woman like her. She wanted love, children... a life. He could not take that from her. He would have to let her go.

  Daniel walked over to stand beside Maura. His elbow brushed up against hers and it caused a startle he was not quite prepared for.

  The second Maura felt a presence near her she flung her eyes wide and jumped several feet away from him. "Don't ya dare come any closer or I'll...", then she realized that it was Daniel. She reaclimated herself to her surroundings and apologized for her rudeness.

  “Captain Hargendon, I'm terribly sorry, sir, I spoke ta ya in an insubordinate manner. Please, sir, forgive me.” As she turned to face the ocean once again.

  Daniel was taken aback by her obvious fear of his nearness to her and began to probe her with questions. “I should have made my presence clear ta ya. I meant not ta make ya afeared of me lass, only ta talk with ya, is all. I've been near ya plenty since our, ahem, night together, many weeks ago, and ya've not been fearful of me. Why now are ya so frightened?" Daniel pressed her for an answer.

  “I, I canna say. I was just startled. I was not expectin’ anyone ta be suddenly so close ta me.” Her eyes cast downward, fumbling with her fingers, anything not to have to make eye contact with him.

  “No I think it be somethin’ more than that, woman. I'll not be havin' ya keepin' things from me. Come now lass, out with it! Why are ya so frightened o’ me, all of a sudden?” He continued pressing her. “We're alone in my cabin every day and night and ya are not behavin' this way." He grabbed her by her arm and forced her to face him.

  Maura was no longer frightened, but furious. Her hazel eyes turned to a fiery emerald. Daniel had not seen this look for a while. She shrugged his hand from her arm and stepped back away from him. She kept her voice low so as not to draw attention, but there was no mistaking, on Daniel's part, she was angry none the less. “How dare ya order me ta tell ya anything. I am but your cabin boy. I do my work for a fair wage. I owe ya no explanation for a blessed thing, Captain. Leave me be, I say, Leave me be.”

  Maura left the upper deck for the solitude of the cabins below. When she was in the safety of her cabin she threw herself onto her bunk and wept like a baby. "Why, Lord, must ya keep testin' my will? How many more days until we see shoreline, that I might put these awful experiences behind me and begin my new life?" She finally fell off to sleep from the sheer exhaustion of her weeping and nagging thoughts.

  Daniel was left standing on deck bewildered and confused. He felt sure she was not fearful of him, but could not figure out what had her so fired up. He looked around at all the deck hands and saw that not one of them seemed to be aware a female was on board. Godsey would never hurt her, so what else could it be? He decided to go below deck and confront her. He could not stand that any female would be frightened of him. He had never been abusive to any woman.

  In truth, it was his own guilt that was getting to him. This was a new experience for him, as well. He'd never given much thought to any female once bedding her. But this woman has him thinking of her night and day. Was it because he was forced to endure her presence on a nightly basis, whereas the others he'd never see again? He would get to the bottom of this, of that he assured himself. When he entered the cabin he immediately scanned the room for Maura. He laid eyes upon her over in the corner, lying on her stomach on her own bunk.

  The minute she heard the cabin door creak, she jumped up and turned to face the intruder, reaching up inside her pillow casing, for the dagger she had hidden there ever since the night Kilern had raped her. She would not let it happen again, by God, or he would surely die. The moment she realized it was Daniel, she let go of the handle and left the dagger in its hiding place. Nervous she began to babble on... "I know I should be up on deck working Captain, but I was feelin’ poorly and then I just fell asleep. I assure ya that I'm not a shirker and I'll make up my time by workin’ later into the night, if I have ta, Sir."

  "Maura I care not about whether ya make up ya time. Relax, woman. I can't stand that ya are insistin' on workin at all. I respect that ya want ta be doin' ya share. You can do cabin chores and then when ya feel like ya need ta feel the sun on your beautiful face, ya can just come up on deck, dressed as a boy, of course."

  He no sooner got the last word out and Maura broke down into an ocean of tears. She was sobbing openly, now. She had no pride to conceal her feelings.

  Daniel bent to his knees in front of her and took her into his arms.

  "What's the matter with ya Lass? Tell me. Mayhap I can help?" She felt so good in his arms. This was a very natural feeling, he thought. He never gave it a moments thought not to go to her and give comfort.

  "Daniel I miss my home terribly, and my father. What of him? Is he still alive? I have not a clue as to how he's feelin' without me at his side. I should have been more forceful and refused ta leave." She buried her face in his chest and sobbed a while longer until she felt heavy in his arms. Then he knew she'd cried herself to sleep again. She needed rest. He laid her back onto her bunk and curled up against her backside, pulled the wool blanket up over both of them and cuddled her until he too was fast asleep.

  When Daniel awoke he could see the first twinkling of the twilight hour over the horizon, through the panes of the great bay window. He knew he'd only been asleep a short time. Maura was still safely wrapped in his arms and sleeping.

  Thoughts began to run through his mind of Maura, starting with his first encounter on deck when he had to help her bring his trunks below deck. What a dolt he was not to have caught on for so long to her secret. He remembers, though, a thought or two had crossed his mind when he felt his cabin boy was beginning to have a strange hold over him. He drew a smile to his lips and rested his forearm on his brow. The way she fought beside him, on deck, without the least bit of regard for her own safety, only his. Making sure his pistols were reloaded and ready for use. She fought as bravely as any young seafarer.

  He was beginning to realize she was a very special woman. Nothing like the other women he has known
. She was brave, strong, smart, caring, beautiful, warmhearted, sincere, funny, the list was endless in his mind. He respected her and that’s a notion he'd never expected to come to know in his lifetime...that he could respect a woman. He'd ravished them, loved them, protected them, but until now, had not respected one.

  Daniel ran his fingers along her outer arm, as he recalled their night of passion. He so desperately wanted to revisit that night. He could feel his desire for her beginning to mount.

  Maura innocently turned to face him, but was still half asleep. Her arms instinctively wrapped around his waist and she cuddled down into his chest. Daniel wrapped her into his arms even tighter now, and kissed her on her forehead. He felt contentment for the first time in his life. He was falling in love. He drifted back off to sleep.

  In the morning they both awoke to the sound of Godsey pounding on the cabin door. "Captain! Captain! Shoreline can be seen, sir! We're just about home! Another two or three hours, sir, and we'll be anchorin' down to the docks o' the Shawmut!" Godsey was always upbeat and excited when he knew he was almost home.

  Daniel wiped the sleep from his eyes and shouted through the door, "Alright Man! I'm not deaf ya know. Prepare ta dock, mister Godsey." He jumped up onto the window seat, over his bunk and got a look at the shoreline. Oh what a beautiful sight to behold. This would be his last voyage for a while so it was bitter sweet for him. He turned to Maura and called for her to join him up on the window seat.

  Maura climbed up to look out of the panes of the great bay window and she was elated to be able to see something other than water. She could see land. Oh she had dreamed many times over the past three months of how she would kiss the very earth she would trod upon, once she got to the shores of New England. Now she was almost there. It was also bitter sweet for her as well, for she knew she'd never see Daniel again, nor her father, and that saddened her.

  Daniel was having the very same thoughts. How was he ever going to let her go? He had thoughts of just grabbing her and running away with her, never to be seen again. In his heart he knew that would be wrong and dismissed the idea immediately.

  He cleared his throat, looked away slightly and spoke in a matter of fact tone.

  "Alright, lass, there's still plenty o’ chores ta be done ta get ready for dockin’. Go up topside with Godsey and he'll show ya what ya need ta be doin' ta get ready."

  Maura slowly eased down from the window seat and began to dress in her deck clothes, not speaking a word to Daniel. Many moments of silence passed between them.

  Daniel could tell Maura was regretting their journey together was ending. Without even thinking about it he reached for her and turned her to face him. He pulled her to him and kissed her long and deep, and could feel a single tear run down his cheek. When he pulled away from her to look into her eyes, she had tears streaming down her face.

  Then choking back more tears she spoke..."I will ne’er forget you Daniel. You will live inside my heart, always and forever." She stood on tip toes and hugged him tight about the neck, then turned to rush out of the cabin before she let the river of her passion jump it's banks, and would never be able to let him go. She knew this was the right thing to do, no matter what her heart was telling her. He belonged to another and she had no rights to him. Time will heal my heart, were her last thoughts.

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  Chapter Ten

  Word had ripped through Stonehurst Manor Daniel's ship was approaching shore. Everyone was excited, for this usually meant a great homecoming gathering would surely take place. Up in her bedroom, Mallory Gilmore was having the last few curls of her fashionable coiffeur set in place by her maid, Charlotte.

  Mallory had been told earlier that morning Daniel's ship was approaching and she wanted to be absolutely perfect for him when he arrived. This was it, she thought to herself. "Soon I will be Mrs. Daniel Hargendon. All that man ...and all that money!" Mallory had been anything but chaste, while Daniel was away, but she was certain he'd not been faithful, either. She looked upon her trysts as nothing more than preparing herself to be a better lover to her future husband. She fully expected he would continue having affairs, as all men did, but she would never have to worry about being destitute. Her Daddy had seen to that. Mallory had decided a long time ago the only man she ever felt she could count on was her father.

  "Come Charlotte! Step lively, now! Danny will be here by sundown and I want this house to be perfect. Food, wine, anything his heart desires." She gave Charlotte a sly little wink.

  Mallory placed both hands upon her hips, pursed her lips, as if to kiss herself and then with one last perusal of her feminine stature, she pushed her breasts together so they would swell well above her bodice of gold and green satin, and remarked, “Charlotte, he will not know what hit him, when I’m through with him tonight! Maybe I'll get myself with his bairn and trap him good this time!”

  Charlotte rolled her eyes and said, “I don’t know missy, I feel nothin’ but pity for the poor bastard that will have to share the rest of his life with the likes o’ you.”

  Mallory laughed over her shoulder and ran down the steps to greet her Father, Leif Gilmore. "Good morn to ya daddy! Have ya heard Danny's ship is in sight?!" She stated gleefully, while grabbing a cranberry muffin off of the breakfast cart and popping small bites into her mouth, and licking the tips of her long slender fingers

  "Yes, Yes, child, Daniel's brother Aiden came by earlier this mornin' and heralded the young prince's arrival." Leif yawned and replied mordantly.

  “Oh Daddy, you know you love Danny.” She leaned forward, cooing into her father's ear then planting a kiss on his cheek.

  " Yes, Yes. I love his father's estate more if I have ta be admittin' ta anything, and the price be my lovely daughter." Leif patted his daughter on the back of her hand. "I only pray he can make ya happy, girl."

  "Oh, now daddy, who ever said marriage had anything to do with happiness? All I want is a comfortable life, like the one you and mummy have given me. "

  "Listen ta me girl, if we don't get a hold of the Hargendon estate holdings we'll be broke inside of a year. The trades have dropped off over the past two years at Gilmore textiles, across the pond. We need his money." pleading with his daughter to take this union more seriously.

  "Don't you worry about a thing, Daddy. Your little Mal will make sure she gets his head in that noose, one way or the other. I've got to get myself to town and then over to the docks to greet him when he arrives. I'll work my woman's ways on him." Batting her eyes at her father and fanning her self with her silk napkin, while bursting into a raucous laughter. Her father grabbed her about the waist, slapped her on the bottom and had a good laugh along with her.

  Just then Mallory's mother, Gwyneth, entered the room. She stopped in the doorway and eyed the both of them. She knew her daughter was up to no good, as usual. "What trap are the two of ya settin’ for some poor soul, today? I pity that poor young man havin’ ta put up with the likes o' you girl. He has no idea what he's in for." She wagged her finger in their direction.

  "Mummy you're always thinkin' the worst of me, now why is that?" With a smirk across her face.

  "Because I know ya child. You've been cursed with beauty and no heart for any man, except your Daddy, and lord knows he's spoiled ya rotten. Bringin' ya up ta think you're of royalty. It's because of wantin' ta send ya ta the finest finishin' schools and buyin' ya the best clothes and lord knows anything ya little heart desires, is why we're in the financial mess we're in. Ya can get over on him dearie but I know all ya little tricks. So don't be battin' those eyes at me girl. You've not even tried ta be faithful ta Daniel since he's been gone this time, and especially knowin' you're ta be married with this trip home. Shameful!"

  "And do you think he has been faithful to me o'er the last year? I highly doubt it, mother!" She shrugged her shoulders and turned her back to her mother and stared out the dinning hall window.

  "That's the way of men, Mallory. Society expects more from women. Don't ya think
that everyone in town has seen ya out and about with every other Thom! If he wants ta he can back out o’ this weddin’ on the grounds that you’re no longer a virgin. What then missy?"

  Mallory laughed aloud at her mother’s weak attempt to shame her. “Please mother, Daniel has known I was not chaste when he first met me. No surprises there.” Mallory turned slowly to face Gwyneth, with a coldness her mother was very used to seeing in her daughter all through her growing up. Mallory squinted her eyes at her mother and with a tight jaw and her hands placed firmly on her hips said, "Listen Mummy, I have it under control. I'll be with his bairn before he knows what hit him. He'll have ta marry me, now will he naught!”

  Mallory stormed past her parents and outside where there was a carriage waiting to take her to town for some last minute shopping, before she met with Daniel, at dockside.

  "Leif, You've done a fine bit o' damage, with that one, ya have. We did wrong by her, Leif. We didna bring her up proper. We struggled hard ta get what we're about ta lose. We should o’ set a better example and made her earn what she gets. She has always expected everything will be handed to her." Gwyneth chided her husband.

  "Aye, you're right, woman, but ‘tis not the time for lookin' back. We must look ta the future. Daniel Hargendon can help us keep ours and hers.” I've got ta get down ta the docks, myself, ta greet him. My presence will remind him of his obligations and his word.” He kissed Gwyneth on the cheek and headed out the door to his carriage.

  Gwyneth stood in the doorway, one arm wrapped around her waist and the other holding onto her chin. “It's a long way from the gossip of the streets and my daughter's wedding. She'll be lucky if she makes it to the altar, at all." She closed the great hall doors and walked up the stairs.