16. Isla
Isla
True to James’s word, Fornette arrived at Isla’s front door within the hour.
She read over the contract giving Archduchess Pierpont control of her estates and businesses in her absence and signed her name at the bottom, silently praying that she was doing the right thing.
She also signed the duplicate copy he’d sent along and returned both documents to Fornette.
“Thank the goddess we have you to deliver the paperwork. Other than Celie and the ladies who work here, I don’t think there’s another person in the world I’d trust not to take the information to Montfort and sell it to him for a profit. ”
The law clerk blushed when she pulled him into an embrace and kissed his forehead. After pulling back, Isla smiled fondly at him. “I’m so fortunate to have friends like you, Celie, Lily, and Uncle James in my life. Please take care of him for me while I’m gone.”
The blush intensified as Fornette folded the parchment and placed it inside his breast pocket for safekeeping.
“I will, Isla. You know I will.” As was typical for a man who wore his emotions on his sleeve, his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, blinking back the tears that had appeared behind his eyes.
He grasped her shoulders and shook them gently.
“Even though I wish the circumstances were different, your mother would be so proud of you going on this adventure, Isla. Enjoy yourself, and trust me, James, and the Archduchess to take care of things here. I expect you to tell me all about it when you come back. Don’t forget a single detail because I’ll never be able to sail away on a four-masted sailing ship to parts unknown. ”
Laughing, Isla took his hands in her own. “I will, I promise. But I think that if you ask him some day in the future, Admiral Jontoreaux would be happy to take you on your own adventure to wherever you want to go. Let’s get this horrible time behind us, and then we’ll see, shall we?”
He nodded enthusiastically and let himself out.
As Fornette stepped onto the stoop, Isla saw her coachman bringing her Brougham from the stables.
Her muscular coal-black gelding, Peppercorn, leaned into his traces as though he’d been born to the task.
Junius’s Peppercorn was a proud but shy horse.
It had been his shyness that had forced her to geld him so that the trait wouldn’t be passed along to others in his bloodline.
Luckily, he was only shy around other horses in the paddock, a trait that could cause unwanted problems within the herd.
Otherwise, he rarely spooked and, in fact, pulled the carriage boldly through crowded streets where vendors shouted from the sidewalks and children darted in front of him at the most inopportune times.
Lily, who was to attend Isla on board the ship, hurried down the stairs carrying both hers and Isla’s valises while Tansy and Perrin followed behind with her trunk. Isla hadn’t known what to pack for a sea voyage and hadn’t had time to ask Jonto what types of clothing he recommended.
After packing her chemise undergarments, she’d included several blouse and skirt combinations along with a few day dresses and one formal evening gown in case they were invited out in whatever kingdom Jonto intended to visit.
Of course, she’d included bodices, cloaks, and scarves, and Lily had insisted on adding a shorter jacket for added warmth.
Isla had included one wide-brimmed hat to protect herself from the sun and two pairs of gloves to protect her hands from the biting winds she imagined buffeted a sailing ship.
As for footwear, she’d worn lady’s boots for walking on deck and had packed low-heeled shoes and one pair of formal, higher heels for social occasions.
She also included slippers for use in the cabin.
After listening to Lily go on about the need for a sewing kit to make minor repairs to her clothing during the voyage, Isla had thrown that in as well.
She had to admit Lily had been a great help packing and would appreciate her cheerful smile on board the ship.
Another half hour saw her pulling on her hooded woolen cloak and climbing into the Brougham.
She’d chosen to keep the curtains drawn on the windows, thinking the fewer people that saw her and Celie heading for the docks, the better.
Once she’d arranged her skirts on the padded seat and scooted closer to the door to make room for Lily on her far side, she pulled in a long breath to settle her nerves.
Tansy and Perrin stood on her front steps waving enthusiastically as Peppercorn pulled the Brougham out onto the cobbled drive.
Celie must have been watching for her because as soon as the carriage pulled in front of her flat, her friend hurried out the door carrying two sturdy valises, one in each hand.
The coachman jumped down and secured them on the floor between the seat and front wall of the passenger compartment.
Isla’s trunk and valise, and Lily’s embroidered carryall already took up all the space in the boot, and she moved her feet aside to accommodate Celie’s things.
Celie climbed in and had to practically sit in Lily’s lap as the seat was built to carry two passengers and not three.
A third pull-down seat faced to the rear, but with her valises taking up much of the floor space, lowering it was an impossibility.
She happily wriggled in between the other two and giggled like a little girl.
“I can’t believe this is happening. It’s like a dream come true for me and for you, too, Isla, whether you admit to it or not.
How often have I heard you say you wish you were more like your mother?
” She grasped Isla’s forearm. “This is exactly something your mother would do, and I feel her, Isla. I feel her, and I know she’s watching over us. ”
With her excitement mounting, a small part of Isla still worried about what people would think of an unmarried woman, chaperoned or not, sailing on a three-week voyage to lands unknown with the most notorious pirate captain in the known world.
The familiar niggling doubts that came in the form of ghostly whispers from her childhood and later, during her years in the Bayview Ladies Academy, never truly left her subconscious mind.
The insidious notions that her mother had done something to embarrass her, or that her dresses were never elegant enough, or that her hair wasn’t styled in the latest fashion poked at her in the childish voices that were so prevalent during her schoolgirl days.
Celie covered her hand and squeezed. “If you continue scowling like The Mad Woman in Géricault’s painting, you’ll be wrinkled before your time.
Wouldn’t you rather have laugh lines around your eyes than a face marked by worry and stress?
This is an adventure, Isla. Don’t let what those harpies might say ruin it for you. What do you care, anyway?”
Sighing audibly, Isla forced her shoulders to relax and smiled at her friend.
“You’re so right, and I wish I could silence those voices that sneak into my thoughts at the most inopportune times.
I used to worry that perhaps I was a bit addled to remember those taunts so clearly.
That they affect me to this day is ludicrous.
I want to be bold. I do.” She squared her shoulders and looked at her friend.
“I will be.” A surge of excitement welled inside her chest. “I’m going to enjoy this adventure in honor of my mother.
We’re going to stroll the deck of a pirate ship, Celie! Can you believe it?”
Grinning, Celie pulled back the curtain and pointed to the majestic ship anchored between the twin cliffs guarding their little port.
They’d rounded the corner and turned onto the lane fronting the bay, and all three women leaned toward the ocean as though the mere act might see them on board that much sooner.
As he’d promised, when the driver pulled to a stop, Lord Jonto himself pulled open their door and offered his hand to help them onto the dock.
“Welcome! It’s a beautiful day to set sail, ladies.
” Isla was the first to exit the carriage, and her cheeks pinked when Jonto held her hand for a moment longer than necessary.
He kept his gaze locked on hers as he welcomed her with a slight bow.
Once she stood firmly on the dock’s wooden planks, he released her hand with a squeeze and offered his palm to Celie and then Lily.
He continued speaking as he helped them step down from the running board.
“With your permission, these men will bring your bags and trunk in a separate boat while I sail you across in the Kraken’s Embrace.
She’s small but mighty and will seat everyone comfortably. ”
When he looked at Isla and waited, she realized he was, indeed, waiting for her permission to transport their bags. “Yes, that would be appreciated, My Lord. Thank you.”
With a pointed look at two sailors standing nearby, he silently confirmed the prearranged order before gently placing his fingers on Isla’s elbow. “If you’ll come with me, My Lady, I think the less time we spend on the dock, the better, don’t you?”
Jonto’s gentle touch on Isla’s arm helped calm her nerves, and as he led her to the sailing skiff, she asked about the unusual name. “I understand your standard also bears the figure of a Kraken. Isn’t that a monster that lies in wait, hoping to destroy any ships that might sail into its waters?”
He nodded amiably as he helped her down into the skiff.
“It is, but if you remember, my sister was swept overboard on our eighteenth birthday. She was my greatest defender and my best friend, and I believe that whenever we sail the seas, she follows us in the form of an enormous Kraken and protects my ship and crew from harm.”