Chapter Thirty-Eight
‘A fter the children are asleep I need your help,’ David whispered to Anna when she rose from the chair beside his cot, and sent the children to the veranda, promising them heaven knew what for dinner.
It was time to play the wide-eyed na?ve lady again. She went into the kitchen, where the housekeeper stared at nothing, fidgeting with her household keys. Anna gathered every ounce of courage she possessed.
‘Madame, I didn’t expect to see Captain Tyler and that scoundrel foretopman again,’ she said, striving for genuine amazement. ‘Do you… May I help you provide some dinner for the little ones?’ She shook her head. ‘I do not think Private Bartleby is up for anything beyond consommé.’
Perfect. Madame Durand, no matter her level of plotting and secrecy, would always and forever be a cook. She banished Anna from her kitchen. Soon Anna heard the sound of pots and pans. The result was an excellent dinner that tasted like sawdust to Anna. The children enjoyed every bite.
She read to them in the sitting room, calm and serene, because she had no choice but to be the quiet lady the Durands thought wasn’t bright enough to figure out anything. Let them think that.
She played cat’s cradle with the children until thankfully Allan finally yawned, and even Pru started to droop.
She took them upstairs and helped Allan into his nightshirt, one that only days ago she had cut down from one of his father’s.
I will see you again, John, I will , she thought fervently, even as the weight of the coming battle nearly ground her heart into powder.
She knew these clever little ones sensed something in the air and made a decision.
‘Such a day this has been,’ she said, holding their hands. ‘I think you should share a room tonight. It’s a nice thing to do when things are in a bit of commotion, don’t you think?’ She almost felt their relief. ‘Goodnight, dears.’
She undressed slowly, not bothering to light even a candle in her room, thinking about her words and wishing she could share her own bed tonight.
‘I honestly do not know what gets into women’s brains when they decide to fall in love and marry a Navy man,’ she announced to her mirror. ‘It is a great malignancy.’
‘Come now, Anna. You know you love me.’
Certain that wishful thinking was her downfall and she was sinking into imbecility, she took another look in the mirror and gasped.
There he was behind her, uniform flung onto a chair and looking pretty much as God had made him.
‘John, would you mind if I pinch you?’ she asked, coming closer to the bed. ‘I really don’t believe my eyes.’
‘I’d rather kiss you here and there in random places. Will that do?’
He was right; the random places cheered her immensely. And who would have thought that the odour of brine was an aphrodisiac?
‘I swear I am an easy mark,’ she murmured as she settled herself next to him. ‘Luckily, you’re my husband and not some random stranger.’
He was silent, not wasting a moment as he gentled her onto her back.
He kissed her lips, her breast, her stomach and that sweet spot that seemed to take on a life of its own.
She sighed with relief when he moved inside her, and her legs knew exactly where to go.
Sensible woman always, she knew nobody died of pleasure, not even a Navy wife without her man for too long.
He kissed her when she started to moan. ‘Shh, love,’ he murmured, then buried his face into her shoulder to silence himself when his peak quickly followed hers.
If he had stayed like that forever she would have let him, but no. It was as though she saw Duty tapping his shoulder, maybe whispering in his ear as not long ago she’d wanted to whisper, I love you . But for once, Duty could wait. It was her turn now.
‘John, I think I have loved you for quite a while, but…’
‘I didn’t make that easy for you, did I?’ he asked grimly, and settled beside her. ‘Anna, I owe you an apology.’ He touched her face. ‘I owe an apology to Cathy, too. What you said when you asked if I believed her when she told me to remarry…’
‘It was wicked of me! I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,’ she said. ‘I shouldn’t have…’
He stopped her words, a finger to her lips. ‘You were entirely right. So was Cathy. I may have even used war and duty to avoid the simple fact that I am a good husband and I like being married.’
She kissed his fingers. ‘John, don’t you see?’ she told him earnestly, and he smiled tenderly. ‘Cathy only wanted you to be happy. You needed a little time to see it, too, and who has time to look during a war?’
‘I am happy with you,’ he said simply, and kissed her, wrapping himself around her. ‘I will echo my late wife here: if something happens to me , don’t stay a widow forever. What a waste of good love that would be.’
‘I like being married, too,’ she whispered in his ear. ‘I love you, John Beattie.’
‘And I love you, Anna,’ he said. She heard his truth at last, as something finally settled in her heart, never to leave.
She felt him chuckle as he disentangled himself but didn’t leave their bed. ‘Now that you’re not moaning in my ear, I hear Duty demanding my time.’
‘Wretch! Ahem, I can be dutiful, too. May I assume that the Swallow is tucked away close by?’
‘Aye, lass.’ He laughed softly, keeping her close. ‘In case you’re interested in nautical matters now, my amiable wench, we’re anchored in our inlet below the house.’
‘How did you get into the house?’
‘That veranda door leading into the sitting room never had a good latch,’ he said. ‘To be honest, I made sure it didn’t when I left, and so informed Bartleby. He was waiting for me downstairs and helped me with something else that needed to be done.’
‘Which was…’
‘We must have been especially quiet.’
Anna sat up, nerves on edge. ‘The Durands!’
He tugged her down. ‘No worries. He met me with two hammers, long nails and three wicked-looking slats.’
She held her breath. ‘Breathe,’ he commanded.
‘Monsieur was drunk so he was no problem. Marines are good at what they do! Bartleby stuffed a rag in Madame Durand’s mouth and held her down with his knee on her back while I took off that rattling belt of keys and found the one to the pantry.
I shoved the drooling Hector inside and Bartleby tossed in the woman.
I locked them in, then we used those boards to secure the kitchen door.
It’s perfect. No windows. Food, so they can’t complain we didn’t feed them.
Oh, and I took out a sack of bread for you three, and that wonderful stuff they make here and call mahonnaise . ’
‘Husband, you amaze me.’
He laughed and patted her shoulder. ‘Anna, I never thought of myself as the swashbuckling type. I’m a captain in the Royal Navy, not a member of a pirate band. Believe it or don’t, I am inclined towards modesty.’ He shook his head. ‘This adventure seems to have brought out my derring-do.’
‘I’m not complaining,’ she teased in turn. ‘Write your memoirs some day, if you have the nerve. Otherwise, when we’re old and grey, no one will believe our sojourn on Menorca.’
He sat up. She knew what was coming and stood first, putting on her chemise, then taking his hand and kissing it.
‘I know you cannot stay,’ she said quietly, ‘you and Private Bartleby.’
‘He is staying here. I won’t leave you defenceless.
Thank you,’ he said as she handed him his smallclothes.
‘We of the Swallow owe him a great debt. He was there at the inlet when we sailed in, and told us to dock out of sight.’ He shuddered.
‘Good God, Marines. He cheerfully announced that he had twisted the schoolmaster’s neck, so both torches would keep burning.
Captain Tyler and the Hartford are pulling out about now. We’re next.’
As he dressed, Anna tried to memorise everything about him, this confident lover, this highly skilled captain, who only months ago, as a distraught father, had knocked on her door and changed her life. There was nothing desperate about him now, and she rejoiced.
He held out his hand to her. ‘Come, Anna. Toss on that dress and see me out.’ He rubbed his hands together, partly, she suspected, to make her smile. ‘I do like a good surprise. Imagine how surprised La Guerre will be.’
When he put on his uniform jacket, she tucked in Cathy’s note. ‘Keep it with you as long as you need it, dear heart,’ she told him.
He patted the note. ‘There is room for both of you, Anna.’
‘I thought there might be,’ she said softly. ‘I do have a question, though.’
‘You want to know how you are so lucky to have married such a prodigious lover? Eh? Is that it?’
‘You are a rascal,’ she said calmly. ‘Where did Mrs Beattie go? You have called me that for so long.’
He bowed his head. When he looked up, she knew.
‘Mrs Beattie was a convenient wife,’ he said. ‘She had her place. But Anna is my dear heart. And I am hers.’
Anna kissed him, just a simple kiss, until it filled their universe.
She went down the stairs with him, nodding to the Marine who stood at the foot. In fact, she held out her hand to him. ‘None of this bowing,’ she said simply. ‘Shake hands with me, David.’
He shook her hand, glanced at her husband, then kissed her cheek. ‘I’ll keep them safe for you, Captain,’ he said.
Her husband kissed her other cheek. ‘You’ll probably hear the battle, Anna,’ he said. ‘Be strong.’
‘I will be. Go with God, dear heart.’