Chapter 3

W hile the others in Susan’s wedding party ate and drank, shared stories and laughed, and generally celebrated this highly unusual wedding, James decided he’d done all he could and that his time would be better spent returning to France with the additional documents he’d received from the Foreign Office. He needed to ensure that the documents arrived safely as soon as possible, so rather than waiting until tomorrow to leave for France, James would depart now.

After the tension of the past week, he was actually looking forward to traveling on his own. He had spent nearly the last twenty-four hours before the wedding getting a surly and somewhat drunk little brother sober ... and bathed and shaved and dressed. Simon had sulked and complained and growled throughout the process but had ultimately cleaned up nicely and had almost looked like the younger brother James remembered. But James’s efforts had all been worth it when he’d seen the joy on his mother’s and father’s faces after Simon had arrived at St. George’s with him, and when the utter surprise and delight had shone on Susan’s face when she’d walked up the aisle at the church and spied Simon sitting with the rest of the family who’d actually been able to attend after all.

James bid farewell to the bride and groom, kissed his mother, shook his father’s and brother’s hands, and then made his exit.

Once he secured a coach headed to Dover, where he would sail on the duke’s yacht to Calais and, from there, onward to Paris, he allowed himself to be lulled to sleep by the jostling over well-driven roads. Such roads didn’t tend to bother James; in fact, he found them rather soothing.

He intended to enjoy these brief few days alone as he traveled back to Paris, having no responsibilities except to himself and no companions to take into account either.

It was a welcome respite, and James planned to make the most of it.

Anna could smell the salty English Channel even before she could see the water. The feel of the air had changed too. Here, near the coast, the brisk air felt clean and life-giving, unlike the smoky air common in London. Their coach rumbled along until a horizon of brilliant blue sea appeared. Its beauty lifted her spirits and gave her the tiniest bit of hope.

They finally arrived in the center of town and slowed as they approached an inn that appeared welcoming and amenable.

“I shall inquire about rooms,” Sparks said as they drew to a halt.

“Thank you, Sparks,” Anna said, grateful for his continued assistance.

Rather than enter the inn, however, Anna was of a mood to stretch her legs and breathe in the fresh air. The sun was shining in the late afternoon, and the citizens of Dover were still bustling about, seeing to the demands of their day.

Sparks returned swiftly. “We has rooms,” he said. “Our bags is being taken there straightaway.”

“Thank you,” Anna said. “I believe I am going to walk a bit, though, now that we’re here, and try to locate the Duke of Aylesham’s yacht. I shan’t be long.”

“Are ye sure, me lady?” Sparks said, looking concerned. “Mary can go with ye, can’t ye, Mary?”

“I can, me lady, if ye like,” Mary said, although her actual expression conveyed the exact opposite.

“No, thank you, Mary,” Anna replied gently. “Although you are free to join me if you wish. But I do not need a chaperone. Dover looks a friendly enough town, its citizens are about, and the sun is shining. A brief stroll by myself is something I have done many times, and you both look as though you’d rather eat and rest.”

Mary looked sheepish. “Very well, me lady.”

“As ye wish, then, me lady,” Sparks said, not sounding convinced. He shot a slightly perturbed glance at Mary.

Anna smiled reassuringly at them both and then turned and walked determinedly down the main street of Dover toward the wharf.

James had made good time traveling to Dover. Aylesham always provided him and Osbourne with one of his coaches, and the duke had this time too. The coachman knew where Serenity was usually anchored and took James directly there.

James jumped from the coach and strode quickly toward the yacht once they arrived, and he spied Clegg on her bow pointing at something and speaking to one of the sailors on board.

James picked up his pace. “Ahoy, Captain Clegg!” he called.

Clegg turned and saluted as James reached the yacht. “Come aboard,” Clegg called back.

James deftly boarded Serenity , holding fast to its railing. Once on deck, he brushed off his sleeves and took a deep breath—the first free breath he’d had in days. He enjoyed sailing, and the time spent on Serenity would feel like a true respite from the demands that had been placed upon him and from the hurried pace that had accompanied his arrival here in Dover.

“You be traveling alone this time, Mr. Jennings?” Clegg asked. He pulled a pipe out of his pocket and pushed a pinch of tobacco into the bowl, then lit it.

“That I am,” James said. “I presume we can leave in the morning?”

“At first light,” Clegg answered after a thoughtful puff on his pipe.

“Excellent,” James replied. “It appears it should be decent weather for the trip.”

“P’raps,” Clegg said. “P’raps not. I feel a bit of a rumble in me bones. Nothing too terrible, mind, as far as weather. But the swells, now, they may give us a bit of a ride.”

James had weathered worse aboard Serenity . They’d been through quite a squall when Aylesham had been so ill the last time they’d returned, and somehow, they’d all managed to survive—even Aylesham.

Something drew Clegg’s attention to the dock behind James. “Will you look at that,” he said. “There’s a sight a man don’t see every day.”

James turned to see what Clegg was referring to. A beautiful young woman dressed in black stood on the deck, a hand shading her eyes as she scanned the pier. Shining blonde curls escaped her bonnet and fluttered in the breeze, and her figure was delightfully slim yet also rounded in all the right places. She was quite a vision.

Clegg whistled his appreciation. “Ye’re a beauty, miss, and there’s no denying!” he called, then puffed on his pipe and chuckled.

“Clegg,” James hissed, hiding his mild amusement. “She appears to be a gently bred lady, not one of your light-skirts!” He practically launched himself from the deck of Serenity onto the dock toward the lady , only realizing after he did what a spectacle he must have appeared and wondering why he’d behaved so impulsively. He straightened his neckcloth and proceeded toward her with more dignity.

Blast, but he needed to collect his wits for reacting to this young lady in such a visceral way! “Allow me to apologize for Captain Clegg’s comments.”

“Why must you apologize for him?” she asked.

“Why are you on the docks of Dover unaccompanied, miss? It is obvious you are not of the working class,” he said, unsure why her question had made him defensive. Up close, she was even more stunning: blonde, blue-eyed, all cream and gold, and as exquisitely lustrous as a rare pearl.

“I—” she began and then stopped. She looked over at Clegg, who was smoking his pipe and watching them, and then glanced around her. “I would prefer not to address my reasons for being here in such a public place. It is of a personal matter with the captain of the Serenity .”

“That would be me, missy,” Clegg hollered from his place on board. “How can I be of service?”

The young lady strode past James along the deck and then came to a standstill, looking about her as if to determine how to board the yacht. James, his curiosity piqued, followed behind her. “Allow me to assist,” he said, offering his arm to her, which, surprisingly, especially after her pert question to him in reply to his apology, she accepted.

“There ye be, missy,” Clegg said. “Our Mister Jennings has got you from dock to deck, as I like to say.” He chuckled at his joke. “Ye can stow yer things in yer usual spot later if yer planning to sleep aboard, Jennings; ye’ve done it often enough. Now, who be ye, missy? And what do ye need with old Cleggy?”

“I am Lady Anna Clifton, daughter of the Earl of Westbury, or I was until he passed away recently.” She pulled a folded letter from her reticule and handed it to Clegg, who handed it to James, as Clegg couldn’t read much beyond maps.

James perused the letter quickly and then let out an exasperated breath. He recognized the writing immediately—Aylesham had signed it. When Aylesham had had the chance to speak to Lord Bledsoe on behalf of this lady, James couldn’t fathom. “It is a letter from Aylesham, stating that you are to allow Lady Anna Clifton, personal friend of Lord and Lady Bledsoe, passage aboard the Serenity to Calais.”

“What’s that you say?” Clegg said, a look of incredulity on his face. Not that James could blame him; he felt exactly the same way. He couldn’t imagine Aylesham—or Lord Bledsoe, for that matter—actually approving of this young woman traveling to France unaccompanied, let alone assisting her in doing so.

“It says you are to provide passage for me and my two servants across the Channel,” Lady Anna Clifton said firmly, staring down Clegg. Brave lady, or perhaps reckless was a better word to describe her.

Clegg chewed on the stem of his pipe and glared at her. James stood ready in case he were needed to help one or the other avoid throwing fists. He knew Clegg was capable of it—although never against a lady—but Lady Anna Clifton had set her jaw and looked ready to do battle, if necessary.

Eventually, Clegg removed the pipe and clucked his tongue. “We leave at first light, Lady Anna Clifton. If ye’re aboard, ye have passage. If ye’re late, ye don’t.”

She visibly relaxed. “Thank you, Captain Clegg,” she said on a sigh. “We shall be here, as directed.”

She nodded her head in satisfaction, and then James, feeling somewhat dumbfounded, assisted her from the yacht and back to the wharf, then watched as she walked down the street before he returned to the yacht.

“That there is trouble,” Clegg said.

“More than trouble, it’s foolishness,” James said.

“Can’t say I disagree,” Clegg said. “We be in for a rougher sea tomorrow than I thought, Jennings, and I isn’t talking about the weather. I’m hopin’ ye’re ready.”

“Her concerns are not my concerns, Clegg,” James said. “Once we reach Calais, we’ll be good and rid of her.”

“So ye say,” Clegg replied. He chewed on his pipe some more. “But I wager there be more rough seas ahead fer the lass—and fer you.”

“Not a chance,” James said emphatically, willing himself not to think about how the shiny pearl with her sapphire eyes had been a bit jarring to his senses when he’d first seen her ...

He shook the thought away. He’d seen plenty of attractive ladies before. There was nothing special about this one. He would cross the Channel and be done with her.

Anna hardly slept all night.

She tossed and turned and rose from her bed and gazed out the window at the sea, a rolling void of blackness occasionally glittering from the light of the moon and that of a sailor with a lantern going about his business on the pier. It seemed a metaphor for her journey. Was that what she would be facing? A rolling void of blackness with little light to direct her on her way?

Eventually, she managed to doze a bit and then awoke with a start when a hint of the first light of dawn appeared. Relieved that the long night was finally over but panicked that Captain Clegg would leave without them, she arose and quickly went about her morning ablutions before donning her sturdiest traveling gown for the voyage to France, while Mary packed her valise. Anna had barely finished dressing when there was a subtle knock at the door. It was Sparks.

“Are ye ready, Lady Anna?” he whispered through the door.

“I am,” she said.

“Allow me to take yer luggage, then,” Sparks said. “They’re already serving breakfast in the dining room. They be used to early risers here.”

“Thank you, Sparks.” Anna opened the door wide for him, grabbed her cloak and reticule, and left Sparks to his task. A bit of breakfast would certainly be the best way to face the unknowns of the day.

The dining room wasn’t terribly busy at this early hour, so the serving girl served Anna and Mary eggs, toast, and tea, which appeared to be the standard fare here each morning. Anna ate quickly, sipping her hot tea and dunking her toast in her egg, all the while thinking how grateful she was for Sparks’s and Mary’s willingness to accompany her on her search to find dear Avery.

Sparks arrived at their table. “I arranged with the innkeeper to have the luggage taken to the Serenity ,” he said. “Ye said it was in our best interest if we arrive at the vessel early so the captain don’t leave without us.”

“We best go, then, if ye’re finished, me lady,” Mary said.

“Indeed,” Anna said. She set her cup down and dabbed her mouth with her napkin before setting it aside and standing.

The sun was peeking over the horizon and shooting rays of light through the misty morning air, and the walk down the main street to the pier was quiet, except for the occasional call of a gull.

When they arrived at Serenity , Anna saw Captain Clegg and his crew already on board, attending to the necessary tasks required before beginning the voyage, she presumed. She had no idea what those tasks might entail, as she had never been aboard a sailing vessel before. Hers had been a simple country life, even though Bristol was a port town and not far from their country estate. There had never been the need.

But there was now.

“Come aboard if ye be comin’!” the captain called out, waving at them.

Anna carefully boarded with assistance from Sparks, then Sparks returned to help Mary aboard. As Anna straightened her skirts, she saw a couple of young men she recognized from the inn bringing their luggage to the yacht.

“Good lads,” the captain called out. “Ye can take those below deck. Ye know the way.”

They nodded and went about their task.

“Welcome aboard,” Captain Clegg said, addressing Anna this time.

“Thank you,” she replied.

Mr. Jennings appeared from the opposite side of the cabin in front of them. His dark brown hair blew slightly in the wind, and he was taller than she remembered from yesterday. If she were a painter, she would paint him as he appeared right now.

What a frivolous thought! Anna shook her head to clear it.

“I wouldn’t mind knowing names, me lady, if ye don’t mind,” Captain Clegg said. He puffed on his pipe and gestured toward Sparks and Mary with his head.

“I’m Sparks, and this here is Mary,” Sparks said before Anna could reply.

It wasn’t the most formal of introductions, but it seemed to satisfy the captain. “Now that we’re all here and the niceties have been met, we can set sail,” he said. “Ye can plan on a voyage of about three hours—or several hours, depending on the weather. But ye’re not to worry—old Cleggy here has seen the Serenity through it all.” He nodded and then turned from them and barked orders to his crew.

Three hours minimum —perhaps much longer, depending on the weather? Anna wasn’t sure what she, Sparks, and Mary were supposed to do with themselves, so she looked about to see if there was anywhere to sit. She supposed she could get one of her books on speaking French from her luggage if need be.

“Perhaps we can sit there,” she said to Mary, pointing to some benches alongside a cabin toward the front of the vessel, since neither the captain nor Mr. Jennings had offered an alternative.

Mary nodded, and they made their way along the deck to the benches, with Sparks following them, doing their best to avoid the sailors who raised the anchor and set the sails.

In the meantime, Mr. Jennings had moved to the front of the yacht and was staring out to sea, one hand shading his eyes from the rising sun as the crew eased the yacht away from the pier and toward the open waters of the Channel.

He was handsome, Anna thought again, with his hand shielding his face and his foot perched on a coil of rope, his expression serious. She was rather shaken that he had such an effect on her senses, and that she couldn’t stop gazing at him.

She deliberately looked away and turned toward Mary, who was staring out at the sea, too, but with a grim look on her face.

Suddenly, the maid lurched toward the railing of the vessel ... and proceeded to cast up her accounts over the side of the yacht.

“Mary!” Anna cried and dashed to her side.