Chapter IV
IV
Whatever she’d hoped from the captain’s invitation, dinner proved a tedious affair.
The Misses Applebaum wittered on about everything and nothing.
The captain’s steward served awkwardly at table, pouring sherry for the ladies and brandy for the captain.
He did not touch the glass, she noted, but ate heartily the fare of bread, roast duck, and plum pudding.
Bess pushed the food around on her plate, eating sparingly, glancing at the captain through lowered eyelids.
Though he was focused on conversation with the two older women, she felt at all times his awareness of her.
It took her breath and her words, but she delighted in these unexpected sensations.
After supper, the Misses Applebaum, tipsy from the sherry, made their excuses. Bess too considered retiring, bidding the captain goodnight. But as she entered her cabin and Lily enquired if she would like to undress and prepare for bed, Bess shook her head.
‘I need some air first,’ she said. ‘I won’t be long.’
She stole up on deck and gasped at what she saw.
The sky was a perfect shade of pink where the sun had set, decorated with delicate swirls of orange clouds.
In the vaulted blue above her head, the first stars twinkled like jewels.
And everywhere below, the vast sea stretched to infinity, its waves dark and restless.
A sharp wind blew in her face, chafing her lips and cheeks.
She pulled her thin shawl around her shoulders, wishing she had a thicker one, but not wanting to fetch it lest this moment disappear forever.
‘It’s beautiful, is it not?’
Bess startled. She’d been aware of nothing other than the view. Now, however, her surroundings were eclipsed by the proximity of the captain.
‘Yes,’ she said, feeling the warmth radiating from him. ‘More than I could have imagined.’
‘There’s nothing quite like the freedom of the sea,’ he said. ‘It’s both unique and wondrous.’
‘The most wondrous, I should think.’
He moved closer to her. ‘Not the most wondrous,’ he said in a low voice close to her ear.
Although in his presence, she no longer felt the chill of the wind, she shivered. ‘I… don’t know.’
A silence stretched between them, frozen in time. The captain broke the moment.
‘But Miss Trevelyn, you are cold.’
‘No,’ she began. ‘Maybe a little.’
He removed his coat, standing before her in his shirt and waistcoat.
Then, he draped the coat around her shoulders.
She shivered again but not with the cold.
With the unexpected warmth from his body – the heat and smell of him.
And she felt a longing deep within her core like she’d been turned inside out.
Her mind screamed that it was wrong, but the words were lost on the wind.
‘Is that better?’ He was standing so close.
She pulled his coat more tightly around her. ‘Yes, much.’
‘Good.’
They stood there together. Though the air was rife with tension, she managed to speak and listen.
He asked her about herself – her family, and her interests.
She answered his questions and reciprocated with her own.
He told her of his sea voyages, most carried out on behalf of his cousin.
‘I come from the poor branch of the family, sadly,’ he said, though his eyes still held a twinkle. ‘As well as the less respectable.’
She laughed, then changed the subject, not wanting to hear or think any more on his cousin.
It was enough to be with him in this moment.
Although she did not consider herself accomplished in portraiture, she longed to sketch him: an excuse to study his strong jaw, elegant nose, and sensuous mouth.
But to ask would be presumptuous, and she knew she must content herself with the vision she held of him in her mind’s eye.
As the sky deepened to darkness, the stars shone jewel bright.
He pointed out to her the constellations: the Great Bear, Orion the hunter.
In turn, she told him the story of Orion which she knew from reading mythology.
How the hunter came upon Artemis bathing in a sacred pond and the goddess saw that he was killed by his own hounds. To her surprise, he laughed.
‘Sounds like the scoundrel deserved it,’ he said. ‘He reminds me of an old wrecker I know – he’s called Old John Dog. A rogue and a blaggard if ever there was one. We’re none of us safe in our beds when he’s around.’
‘He sounds frightful,’ she said. ‘And that name…’
‘It’s on account of his own faithful cur,’ he said. ‘Got his leg caught in a poacher’s trap as a pup and now goes around on three legs.’
‘How sad,’ Bess said.
The captain shrugged. ‘He gets by well enough.’
‘Then I’m glad to hear it.’
A shout startled them both. The captain turned as one of the sailors came up to him. ‘Sorry to disturb you, sir, but there’s another vessel coming towards us.’
‘Put out the lanterns,’ the captain said.
‘Yes sir, right away.’
He turned back to Bess. ‘I’m sorry, miss, but it’s best you go below.’
‘What’s happening?’ she said.
‘Probably nothing. But there are rogue ships out there – it’s best not to engage with them if it can be avoided.’
‘Pirates?’ she said warily.
He chuckled. ‘And customs men.’
‘I see.’ She shrugged off his coat and handed it back to him. The chill was sharp against her skin, but she welcomed the discomfort. A fitting punishment for sensations she should not be feeling.
‘I will escort you to the staircase,’ he said.
She began walking over of her own accord. When she reached the steps, she paused. ‘Thank you for your company tonight, Captain.’
‘It is my pleasure, Miss Trevelyn.’
‘And please,’ she whispered, ‘do call me Bess.’