Chapter 4

"D ' YOU THINK D REW WILL MIND?" Georgina Malory asked her husband as she prepared for dinner.

"You intend to ask him?" James replied.

"Well, certainly."

"You didn't ask me," he reminded her.

She snorted. "As if you'd let me go alone."

"'Course I wouldn't, but there was the possibility that I would have told you to stay home."

She blinked in surprise. "Was there really?"

He groaned inwardly. She'd miscarried their last child. They didn't talk about it, but it had been recent enough that James would have agreed to anything she wanted, even though he could barely tolerate her brothers, and the thought of sailing with one of them when he wouldn't be in control of the ship himself was the last thing he would have normally agreed to do.

In fact, he was considering buying another ship himself so he wouldn't have to, though he wasn't sure he could manage that in the short time frame Georgina was planning on. Then again, taking her to America himself wouldn't give her the extra time with her brother, which she was also looking forward to. Bloody hell.

"I've already agreed, George, so it's moot. But he's your brother. What do you think?"

Georgina bit her lip, though she didn't appear to be worried. "It is perfect timing, isn't it?" she asked, wanting a little reassurance. "Drew was already scheduled to sail in a couple weeks, and not off on one of his Caribbean routes, but home to Bridgeport, so he'll have room for passengers this trip, and won't have to go out of his way to oblige me. And I'm sure he wouldn't mind sailing a week earlier. He was only going to stay here longer to visit with me."

James raised a single golden brow at her. It was an affectation that used to annoy his wife before they married, but now she found it quite endearing.

"And you wouldn't have asked him otherwise?" he queried.

"Well, certainly I would have. There's no better time to go, after all. It's late summer, so we'll be home before winter. And the date for Jeremy's wedding in a few days is even accommodating. We'll be back in London from the wedding with plenty of time to pack if we sail next week. I just wouldn't have felt as comfortable asking him to make a detour to take me to Bridgeport, but since he's already going there…"

"You forget, he adores Jack. He'd do anything for her, if not for you. And like you, he'll be delighted with the notion of taking her to Connecticut to see firsthand where the barbaric side of her family comes from. For years now your brothers have been mentioning that she ought to make the trip. If they had their way, she'd be raised there, not here."

She ignored the "barbaric" remark to point out, "I don't think they meant for her to go while she's this young, though. If you must know, they're hoping she'll marry an American, so they wanted her to make that particular visit when she'd reached an age to attract a husband."

"Bite your tongue, George. She's going to marry an Englishman—if I allow any of them to get close enough to her to make her acquaintance."

The last was said in a mumble that had Georgina grinning. "Well, the thought was that if she fell in love with an American, you wouldn't prevent the marriage. You'd object, of course, but since the little darling fits in one of your few soft spots, you'd give in, in the end."

"Appreciate the warning."

Since he didn't elaborate, she frowned. "In other words, you won't allow her anywhere near Connecticut when she reaches a marriageable age?"

"Exactly."

The frown eased. She even chuckled. "I hate to inform you of this, but more and more Americans visit England these days. And you can be sure that when the time comes, my brothers will be trotting every eligible one of them by here to meet their beloved niece."

"I wouldn't place any wagers on that, m'dear."

She sighed, imagining how unpleasant it would be if her husband and brothers put aside their truce. It was only a grudging truce, after all. It wasn't as if they liked each other or hadn't tried to kill each other in the past. In fact, her brothers had trounced James soundly, all five of them at the same time. Of course, they wouldn't have succeeded if they'd been fair about it, but they had been furious when he'd announced to them that he'd compromised their only sister, and they'd been quite willing to have him hanged for piracy if he didn't agree to marry her. Not a very good start to the wonderful marriage they had now, but she certainly couldn't say getting to know James Malory, ex-rake, ex-gentleman pirate, hadn't been incredibly exciting.

She finally tsked and complained, "I don't know how we got onto the subject of Jacqueline's future marriage, which is years away. We should be discussing Jeremy's instead, which is only days away. You do know he's coming to dinner, right? And that he needs cheering up? I've also invited Percy and Tony and his family."

James came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "You mentioned all that at breakfast. What I didn't know was that you were nervous, and don't deny it. You wouldn't be repeating yourself if you weren't. Fess up, George."

"I'm not nervous a'tall. I expect Drew to be quite pleased to take us on as passengers once I mention it to him, and I'll do that tonight."

"Then what is it?"

She sighed again. "It's occurred to me that we're getting old, James."

"The devil we are."

She turned around, put her arms around him as well, which was no easy task considering how wide and solidly muscled James Malory was. "We are," she insisted. "With Jeremy getting married, I don't doubt he'll make us grandparents soon, and I'm going to feel positively ancient when he does!"

He burst out laughing. "What a silly chit you are, and I thought you only get that way when…you're…pregnant. Good God, George, you aren't pregnant again, are you?"

She huffed. "Not that I know of. Really, I don't think so."

"Then stop being silly, or must I remind you that Jeremy is only your stepson, and that he's only a few years younger than you are. You're only going to be a step-grandmother. And don't even think of calling me ancient again, or were you planning on serving shoes for dinner?"

She pushed out of his arms, laughing at the memory of his chasing her around his desk on his ship, The Maiden Anne, after she'd told him "if the shoe fits" in relation to his being ancient. He'd told her he was going to make her eat that shoe, and he probably would have, too. She'd wounded his vanity, after all, quite deliberately, of course. But shoes and the eating of them were a standard joke with them now.

"And of course the youngun needs cheering up," James agreed. "His future mother-in-law all but kicked him out of her house and refuses to let him see the bride before the wedding. I'm deuced if I would have allowed your family to keep me away from you after the wedding date was set."

"Very funny, James. We didn't get to set a wedding date and you know it. We both got shoved up to the altar the very same day my family met you."

"And a good thing, too, but then barbarians are so predictable."

She burst out laughing. "Let's not inform them that you did the forcing that day, when they really thought it was their idea."

"They wouldn't believe it anyway, and thankfully, you only have one brother here at the moment—one too many, but one I can tolerate."

"You'll never admit that my brothers aren't as bad as you thought, will you? Drew even recently helped extricate Jeremy from the leg-shackle that he didn't want, and without being asked, too."

"His help was noted. Hate to say it, but I do owe him one for that. Just don't remind him that I do. I bloody well hope he forgets."

"Oh, posh. He doesn't expect payback. Andersons aren't like that and you know it."

"Beg to differ, George. Everyone is like that if the need is great enough. Fortunately, he's got four other brothers to depend on before he'd think of turning to a brother-in-law for help. And it sounds like Tony has arrived," he added with a wince as they both heard the noise from downstairs. "You really should point out to our daughter that squealing is a habit of pigs, not young girls."

Amused by her husband's reaction to the din their daughter and Tony's daughter were making, she grinned at him. "Won't do any good. You know very well Jack and Judy are inseparable. If they haven't seen each other for a few days, they simply can't help being excited when they do."

"And make that unearthly racket."

"Which reminds me. Jacqueline is really looking forward to this trip, but I don't think it's occurred to her yet that she won't see Judith for the couple of months that we'll be gone."

James groaned inwardly, quite aware of where her thoughts were going. "You're leaving the twins with Regan, but now you want to add to the passenger list? My brother will never agree. You may depend upon it."

"'Course he will. It's going to be an educational trip, after all, for the girls to visit America. They've never been out of England, either of them."

"What's that got to do with Tony missing his only daughter?"

"Just remind him that it will give him some time alone with Rosalyn."

He pulled her back into his arms. "And when do I get some time alone with you?"

"Do you want some?" she almost purred, wrapping her arms around his neck as she leaned into him.

"Always."

"Then I'll think of something, and you may depend upon that."