Chapter Three #2
“That decision will be made when you tell me what was so urgent that you snuck aboard one of our ships instead of waiting to book passage.”
Why did it even matter to him?
Yet, unless she told him something, she might spend the rest of the day sitting here.
Then again, what harm could come from him knowing? Was her refusal to explain now because she was stubborn? Her mother claimed that obstinance was her worst trait.
Georgie closed her eyes for the briefest moment to remember the true reason why she was here, which was far more important than winning a battle of wills.
Georgie opened her eyes and stared into the ice-blue ones of Mr. Damian Wynd. “I am in England to find my sister.”
“Sister?”
“Yes. My sister.” There. She had told him and now she should be allowed to leave.
Georgie reached to her side and clasped the handle to her valise and prepared to stand.
“Your sister lives in Southampton?” Damian asked. “Or did she sail here?”
Georgie came to her feet. “She sailed to London, but I knew that her destination was here, and I must find her before it is too late.”
Damian leaned forward and placed his crossed arms on the desk. “Too late for what?”
Georgie glanced back at the settee where Livia sat forward, her attention fixed on them.
The child was too young to understand the danger that her sister was in.
Georgie returned her attention to Damian and chose her words carefully before she spoke quietly.
“Grace ran away to find the man who…she foolishly believed herself to be in love with.” Georgie did not really want to explain the entire horrid affair.
“I need to find her before…it is too late,” Georgie whispered.
Damian blew out a sigh and shook his head. “Why do you think she is here?”
Thankfully he did not point out that it was likely already too late, which was the same concern that stayed with Georgie as she sailed to England.
“Because the man lives here. She explained it all very clearly in her letter before she left.”
“I thought you said that she ran away,” Damian corrected.
“She might as well have. Grace did not ask permission, simply packed her belongings and left a letter saying that she had been hired as a companion to Viscountess Mountrath, who was sailing to London where she was going to be reunited with her family. Lady Mountrath’s husband passed during their travels and that is why she had sought a companion for the journey. ”
Damian nodded, so she assumed that he understood.
“Grace explained that once Lady Mountrath rejoined her family in London that she would be free to pursue Harold.”
“I assume this Harold is the man she fell in love with and he lives here.”
“He claimed that this is where he made his home.”
“He also could have been telling a falsehood,” Damian pointed out. “How is it that your sister met an Englishman in Italy?”
“Because he sailed there on one of your ships.”
The manager of Trade Wynd straightened. “He was a sailor?”
“Yes.” A certain smugness filled her being. Maybe if she threatened to expose Trade Wynd as a place that hired lothario sailors, he would let her leave to find her sister.
“Our ships are never in port long enough for a miss to fall in love with any of the men unless she is so easily susceptible and falls in love the moment someone smiles at her.”
“My sister is not so foolish,” Georgie insisted even though Grace had been silly enough to follow Harold from Italy. “This ship was in port for over a month because of repairs that needed to be made following a storm.”
Damian’s eyes narrowed and Georgie was confident he knew of which ship she spoke.
“What was the name of the ship?” he asked.
Clearly, he was testing her, but why would she lie? “The Despoina.”
He gave a slight nod. “The name of the sailor, again?”
“Harold Fisher,” Georgie answered. “He also claimed that he would not be able to return right away because the ship was repaired enough to sail back to England but it would then be docked longer to undergo an inspection.”
“The Despoina is still here,” Damian answered as he stood and walked to the window and stared out, hands locked behind his back. “How old is your sister?”
“Grace recently turned eight-and-ten.”
“Did he compromise her?” he asked quietly.
“I am not certain,” Georgie admitted. “But I suspect that she was. Why else would Grace follow Harold in such a way instead of waiting for his return?” There had been an urgency about her sister before she wrote her letter and disappeared.
Damian slowly turned. “Either true love on her part or consequences of their association.”
That was Georgie’s biggest fear. Why else would Grace be so desperate to get to Harold? “One simply does not fall truly in love in so short a time as a month, though one may be fooled into believing such could happen and thus the feared consequences and need to find Fisher.”
Damian nodded his agreement. “I assume you have a last name?”
“Wylde. I am Georgiana Wylde.”
“Are you really called Georgie or did you just make that up?”
“It is what I have been called since I was a child.”
“I promise to locate Mr. Fisher so that he can answer for his actions, especially if it is what we fear. With any luck, he will be able to tell us where we can find your sister.”
Some relief snuck through the layers of her anxiety. If Grace was in an interesting condition, then the sailor who seduced her would be made to take responsibility.