Chapter 4 #2
“Clearly you don’t know everything,” the captain said.
“Miss Dupont is under no obligation to acquaint you with her every decision. Nor is it any of your concern how or when we met. But let me make one thing perfectly clear. If I ever see you lay a rough hand on her again, I will break that hand. Is that understood?”
Maurice’s lip curled in disdain. “Her father shall hear about this.”
“Yes, he shall,” the captain agreed, unconcerned. “I shall tell him myself when we see him in a few days. And I shall also apprise him of your disrespectful treatment of his daughter.”
Maurice swallowed. “I meant no disrespect. Worried about her, that’s all. And why wouldn’t I be—planning to run off with a stranger as she is?”
Captain Overtree formed a humorless smile. A dangerous smile, it seemed to Sophie.
“Your concern is touching, young man. But I am hardly a stranger. I am soon to be Miss Dupont’s husband. Now wish us happy and be on your way. It is time we took our leave.”
Leave . . . The thought of setting off with this man toward an unknown future filled Sophie with trepidation. She was suddenly very glad she’d accepted Mrs. Thrupton’s offer to accompany them.
When Maurice stalked off, the captain stepped away to speak to the coachman.
Mrs. Thrupton hurried into the yard, huffing and puffing. “Sorry, sorry! Ran into a neighbor. She’s going to feed my cat for me. . . .” Mavis looked at Sophie’s face and frowned. “What is it? What’s happened?”
“Maurice was just here.”
“Oh no.”
“Captain Overtree dispatched him—never fear.”
Mavis tsked. “Sorry about that. He must have seen me leave your note.”
Sophie looked at her wrist, relieved to see no mark there. “Oh well. It’s over now.”
Captain Overtree finished speaking with the coachman and joined the ladies. “Are we ready?”
“Yes,” Sophie lied and forced a smile.
The groom opened the door for them, and the captain handed in Mrs. Thrupton, then offered his hand to Sophie. She glanced at it as though it were a coiled snake.
Noticing her hesitation, his blue eyes grew icy again. “Afraid of me, are you? Thank heavens you have a chaperone to protect you.”
Sophie swallowed and allowed him to help her inside. She sat beside Mrs. Thrupton on the front-facing seat, leaving the opposite bench for him.
“Do you mind, Mrs. Thrupton?” he said. “I prefer to face forward.”
“As do I.”
“So you can keep your eye on me?” he asked.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Tell you what. Sit here straight across from me and I shan’t move a muscle without first announcing my intention to do so. That way I needn’t see Miss Dupont looking at me like a frightened rabbit the entire journey.”
Mavis sniffed. “Very well. He that pays the piper calls the tune, I suppose.”
“Thank you for understanding,” he said sardonically. “You are all goodness.”
He sat next to Sophie, leaving as much distance between them as the narrow bench allowed. Seated on his left as she was, she could see the unmarred side of his face when she sneaked a glance at his profile. Was that his intention?
He certainly kept his word to sit quietly and paid neither of them any attention, staring out at the passing countryside with a vague expression.
As the journey began, Mrs. Thrupton tried a few times to engage him in conversation. He responded civilly but remained aloof. Mavis soon wearied of his terse replies and lapsed into silence.
Hours later, they passed a mile marker and few buildings, and Captain Overtree announced they had reached the outskirts of Plymouth.
Suddenly the carriage lurched violently to one side and careened to a halt.
Sophie, half asleep, lost her balance and pitched forward.
The captain’s arm shot out and stopped her from falling off the bench.
“Thunder and turf!” he exclaimed.
“Are you all right, Sophie?” Mavis asked.
“Yes, perfectly well,” she murmured, straightening her bonnet. Though she’d likely feel the impact of the captain’s hard arm against her shoulders for days to come.
“Must have hit quite a hole,” he said, pushing open the door. “Hopefully we did not break an axle.”
He stepped out to survey the situation, and Sophie followed, needing to stretch her legs. The groom hopped down as well.
While the men checked the carriage underbelly and wheels, Sophie walked a few steps away.
“Stay close,” the captain warned. “Rough area.”
“I won’t go far.”
She had walked only a few yards, when she passed a wheelwright’s shop. How convenient for him to have a nasty hole in the road so near his door. Or perhaps it was no coincidence at all.
A young man leaning against the building pushed himself upright. She had not seen him in the shadows.
“Hello, love. Can I interest you in this fine gold watch fob?” He held up a tarnished brass chain. “A gift for your husband? Only a bob for you, pretty lady.”
She almost replied that she had no husband but bit back the foolish words. “No, thank you.”
A second youth leapt from an alleyway and snagged her reticule. Its ribbons around her wrist bit into her flesh as he jerked it away.
She cried out in pain and alarm. “Stop!”
In a flash of black coat and gleaming brass, Captain Overtree struck the young man with his sword stick, knocking him to the ground. The second youth turned to run, but the captain grasped him from behind, one arm across his throat while twisting the youth’s arm behind his back.
“Give the lady her reticule.”
“You’ll break my arm!”
“I said . . . give it back.”
The youth extended it to Sophie, who stood trembling nearby.
The coachman jogged into the fray with his blunderbuss and held the men until the constable could be found.
Sophie walked unsteadily back to the coach, rubbing her wrist, the captain beside her. She noticed Mavis’s face in the window, staring wide-eyed.
Although relieved to be safe, and have her bag returned to her, Sophie was stunned by his violent strike. “You needn’t have done that,” she hissed.
“I should have let him take your reticule?”
“No. But they are only boys—not more than eighteen.”
“I have killed men even younger.” The captain jerked open the carriage door. “Now, wait inside.”
She climbed back into the carriage as bid, legs trembling.
“Are you all right?” Mavis asked.
“Did you see that?” Sophie whispered, feeling torn. “Of course I am grateful, but . . . such violence. What sort of man is he?”
“He is a soldier, Sophie. A hardened one, by the looks of it.” Mavis squeezed her hand. “Were you frightened?”
“I was more frightened by his reaction than I was of those boys.”
Mavis bit her lip, brow furrowed. “It’s not too late, you know. If you are afraid of him, I could . . . take you to my sister’s in Bristol. You could have the child there, and then perhaps find a nice young couple to—”
“No. I want to keep my child. Going to Bristol would not solve my problem.”
The captain entered the carriage a few minutes later, the equipage lurching under his weight.
He sent her a sidelong glance and asked darkly, “Having second thoughts?”
Mrs. Thrupton spoke up, “Captain Overtree. Thank you for protecting my young friend. But I’m afraid we find your violent behavior quite shocking. It makes one wonder if you are able to control your temper. Can you give me some assurance that you will treat Miss Dupont in a gentlemanlike manner?”
“If by ‘gentlemanlike’ you mean slow to act, servile, and soft, then no. I’m afraid I cannot oblige you. In my profession, that sort of behavior gets one killed. I haven’t the luxury of a tender conscience.”
“Let us not mince words. I need to know that you will not ill use her.”
“I will not ill use her. You have my word. I shall even promise not to touch her if that will chase the frightened fawn look from her eyes.”
“Not touch her? I would not ask that. You shall be husband and wife, after all. Is that not so?”
“That is up to Miss Dupont.”
Sophie made no reply, and the carriage starting moving again.
A short while later, they reached the Plymouth docks, where they would buy passage on one of the boats waiting there to carry eloping couples across the channel.
When the carriage halted, Captain Overtree grasped the door latch and said over his shoulder, “I shall go and check with the harbormaster about a ship. That will give you five minutes to talk about me between yourselves. Please finish before I return.”