Chapter 2 #2
She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved that the choice was now out of her hands—the need for resolve over!—or terrified at the fortitude now required of her for the next months.
The ship flowed with surprising smoothness down the river, at least to Caroline’s untrained perceptions, and apparently she was not the only one to notice.
Captain Wentworth looked appreciatively at the rigging. “A very nice schooner, this! We’re going well with the wind, but I bet she can sail pretty close to a headwind in a pinch. Well in shallows, as well, and with such a small crew!”
“This is a small crew?” Caroline repeated. It seemed like many men to her.
“Well—on my first sloop, the Asp, we had fifty sailors—and that had only one mast, you see. Here there are three, and only—perhaps twenty men? I shall ask the captain.”
Richard raised his brows. “How do they get away with it? Ought we be worried?”
“No, it’s the ingenuity of the rigging. See those rings sliding up and down the mainmast? The pulleys at the top for the sheets? In fine weather, you might get away with two men for each.”
This devolved into a more complicated discussion of topsails, foremasts, and parallel vs.
perpendicular rigging. Anne seemed to know everything about it all, and Caroline could only marvel.
She knew enough to speak languidly of the campaign in Spain or Nelson’s liberties, but not this detail.
It was another deficit, she realized; an accomplished lady was well-informed.
Mrs. Scott joined them and Caroline turned to her. “How do you do? You have missed our departure, but you can still just make out land if you squint.”
Mrs. Scott looked back, and it was true that the low, blue outline of Cornwall on the horizon was still visible against the cloudy gray sky. She had an indefinable expression on her face, something of resignation, but also determination.
“Are you—sorry to go?” Caroline asked her.
“A little. But not very.” Looking at her closely, Caroline was again struck by her surprising beauty. The dark, plain clothes were deceiving, but she would be a handsome woman anywhere.
“Pray forgive me if I should not ask,” Caroline said, “but are you acting as companion to the Marstons?”
Mrs. Scott’s eyes flashed with a force of will and resentment that Caroline instinctively recognized, but Mrs. Scott cast her eyes down to hide it. “Yes, indeed. I am a sort of aide-de-camp to Lady Marston, which is a stroke of great fortune for me.”
“Ah, of course.” Caroline did not envy her that position.
She felt sure Mrs. Scott had been in better circumstances once.
There was breeding and intelligence in her face.
As they watched Cornwall recede into a gray line on the horizon, Caroline spoke of art, music, and even books, and found that Mrs. Scott was a woman of taste, though her experience had been narrow and she was ignorant of recent trends.
The men joined in with their conversation, although Captain Wentworth’s gaze strayed to Mr. Belvedere, who was jovially getting in everyone’s way near the bow. He seemed to be trying to get the parrot to speak.
“That is Mr. Belvedere,” Richard said, “supposedly on the Grand Tour.”
“Well, he is making a nuisance of himself. Mr. Belvedere,” Captain Wentworth called, seeing that the first mate looked ready to throttle him. “Come away. It is not a passenger’s part to bandy words with the crew when they have duties.”
Mr. Belvedere came away cheerfully. “How do you do, sir? At your service. I apologize if I was in the way. I always was a knock-in-the-cradle! My friends say it’s a wonder I don’t have to be told how to put one foot in front of t’other.
But I have a great interest in ships! I was quite mad to join the Navy at one time.
Shame how those things never quite work out.
” He didn’t look at all cast down, however, particularly as he took in Mrs. Scott.
She was even more noticeable in the cloudy daylight than she was in the dining room below. The wind had put color in her rather pale cheeks as well as tugging some of her hair loose to curl around her neck.
Mr. Belvedere bowed. “I could barely see anyone down below, terribly dim. It’s Mrs. Scott, is it not?” Caroline was not above being amused by this small tableau, which could be titled, Young Gentleman Agreeably Surprised by Beauty.
After a further round of introductions, Caroline asked, “Would anyone care to play cards? Perhaps we could make up foursomes for whist.”
“By all means,” Mr. Belvedere said. “It’s a bit of a slow game for me—whist—but I don’t mean to complain. It’s capital to find anyone on this packet that enjoys cards!”
“I’m afraid I must decline,” Mrs. Scott said. “I should check on Lady Marston; please excuse me.”
Mr. Belvedere was cast down, but Richard clapped him on the shoulder. “No time like the present then—you offered to show me your letters of recommendation, yes?”
“If you wish to do anything so dull, I’ve no opposition to make. Let us go down.”