Will you please stop mumbling to yourself?” Charlotte tossed the coat and waistcoat into her sea chest and slammed the lid shut. She stepped to the door between the sleeping quarters and the day cabin. “Either speak aloud or keep your thoughts inside your head.”
Everything about the cabin, the ship, and even Charlotte annoyed Ned this morning. “What I said was I wish you would have let me know you were planning to stay in the sick berth the entire night.” He threw the wardrobe door open hard, and it banged against the wall.
“How was I to know two of the men would become violently ill and I would need to stay?” Had her voice always been so shrill? “At least you were able to get a good night’s sleep. I was awake all night cleaning up sick.”
Ha! Sleep? Worrying about where she was, about who might be discovering her true identity through the guise of Charles Lott? How was he supposed to sleep? Besides, he’d never even gotten to kiss her last night.
He fought to get his arm through the sleeve of his uniform coat. One of the buttons popped off the cuff, hit the floor with a thump, and rolled under the desk. An oath popular amongst the sailors nearly popped out of his mouth, but, with a quick glance at Charlotte, he stifled it and something nonsensical came out under his breath.
She clenched her fists, closed her eyes, and her whole body shook for a brief moment. “Stop doing that!”
Ned bent down to retrieve the button, but his fingers were too thick to reach it.
“Oh, move out of the way.” Charlotte pushed his shoulder, knelt down, and easily swiped her finger under the desk to fish out the button. Muttering to herself—it was fine, apparently for her to do it, but not him—she opened the valet drawer in the wardrobe and withdrew needle and thread. Without speaking to him—but continuing to mutter to herself—she grabbed his arm and sewed the button back onto the sleeve while he still wore the coat. She bit the thread off with her teeth and returned the sewing implements to the drawer, which she closed none too softly.
“Now, if that is all, Captain, sir, I came back up here hoping to get some sleep finally.” She shooed him toward the door with a waving motion of her hands. “So if you will go about your business, I’ll be fine here on my own.”
He would strangle her. It would stop the ringing in his ears and make him feel much better. “No. Orders from your brother. You are to attend me to Alexandra.”
Her mouth dropped open. “When?”
“Now.”
“Now?”
“Yes. Now.”
“But I have not slept all night. I smell like the sick berth, and I have nothing to wear in which I’m fit to be seen.”
Ned dug his fingers into his hair and squeezed his temples between the heels of his hands. “I have not slept all night, either. And you are not going to a ball, so put something on. We should have left near half an hour ago. I don’t care that he is your brother. Commodore Ransome is my commanding officer and I must obey my orders.”
Charlotte looked down at the loose white blouse and indigo trousers she was wearing and then returned to the sleeping cabin.
Ned closed his eyes against the sound of the renewed slamming of her sea chest’s lid. He glanced toward the brandy decanter left behind by Captain Parker. Ned had not touched it before now, and only the earliness of the hour kept him from doing so.
Charlotte entered, buttoning her uniform coat. “I lost my hat when I went out on deck to save Kent.”
“You will not need it. Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and dragged her from the cabin.
In the wheelhouse the marine guard, the sailing master and his mates, and the midshipman and lieutenant of the watch all looked conspicuously away from Ned and Charlotte. Lovely. His men had heard them arguing.
As soon as they got back to Kingston, Ned would find out what it would take to get their marriage annulled. Because he was not certain it was legal, he hoped it would take nothing more than burning the marriage certificate he and Charlotte had signed.
“You’re doing it again.” Charlotte yanked her hand from his grasp when they reached the entry port. She turned and put her foot down to find the first slot of the accommodation ladder.
“What?”
“Muttering.”
“You do it too.”
Charlotte gasped. “I do not!”
Ned rolled his eyes and sighed. After she disappeared down the side, he started down after her.
“Wait! You’re going to step on me.”
He growled deep in his throat. “Go faster.”
“You go slower.”
Ned looked down, over his shoulder. In the boat below, Lieutenant Martin and the crewmen stared up at him and Charlotte, wide-eyed.
What must they think of Acting Captain Ned Cochrane now? Doubtless that he could not control his wife or a wayward midshipman, whichever they thought Charlotte to be. Either way, their opinion did not bode well for his continued leadership aboard Audacious.
Except to give his men commands, neither he nor Charlotte spoke on the trip across the bay to Alexandra. At one point, he thought he saw her eyes drift closed as if she were dozing off, but when she opened them—slowly—and noticed him watching, she turned her face away from him.
He sent her up the side of Alexandra first and followed behind. She stood just beyond the entry port when he attained the deck, rubbing the top of her left arm, her brows pinched.
“Welcome aboard, Captain Cochrane. Commodore Ransome is waiting for you in his quarters.” Lieutenant Campbell touched the fore point of his hat.
Ned returned the salute. “Thanks, Angus.” He settled his hand on her lower back to move her toward William’s cabin and leaned close. “Is your arm paining you?”
She dropped her right hand. “Only a little. From climbing the ladders.”
“When we return, I could have them use the bosun’s—”
“No. I am well enough to make use of the ladders.”
Ned smiled to himself. That was the Charlotte he loved—the one with spunk and spirit, not one to give in to a minor injury, such as getting shot.
“William does not need to know of my injury,” she whispered as they crossed into the shade of the wheelhouse.
“I fully agree.” No need to let his commanding officer know he’d let the man’s sister place herself in the path of incoming fire from an enemy vessel.
The marine guard stepped aside for Ned to knock on the door. Dawling let them in and then led them around the dining table and into the day cabin.
“Julia!” Charlotte rushed toward her sister-in-law, who sat, rather stiffly, in one of the straight chairs at the large round worktable. William caught Charlotte with one arm around her waist.
“It is all right, William.” Julia reached her left hand out to Charlotte, and William released his sister. “I have several cracked ribs, and William did not want you accidentally hurting me.”
Charlotte took Julia’s hand and leaned over to kiss her cheek before kneeling by her side. “I was so worried about you. When we found out that Shaw had you…” She pressed Julia’s hand to her cheek.
“Captain Cochrane,” Julia inclined her head at him; Ned bowed. “It is good to see you again.”
“Mrs. Ransome, I am relieved you are safe and well. Except for the cracked ribs, of course.”
“Captain Cochrane,” William said, “I do not believe you have met my brother, Captain James Ransome.”
“James!” Charlotte jumped up, spun around, and flung herself at her brother, who groaned, staggered, and then put his arms around his sister.
“’Tis good to see you too, little sister.” The similarity between James and William astonished Ned. He wondered if the third brother resembled them so greatly.
She stepped back and reached up to touch the scars across his cheeks. “How came you to be here?”
James and Julia exchanged a dark look. “It is a long story, Charlotte, that must wait for another time.”
“What’s wrong with your voice? Are you ill?” Charlotte ran her hand down his waistcoat, as if trying to feel his lungs for sickness.
“A throat malady, but nothing catching.” James smiled, but his expression seemed forced.
Julia started to rise. William was instantly at her side to offer his assistance. Charlotte did the same on her other side. Julia smiled at her and Ned. “Dr. Hawthorne gave me some laudanum to take, but I wanted to wait to see you first.” She tucked a lock of Charlotte’s hair behind her ear. “Your hair is growing back so fast. Perhaps by your wedding it will be long enough that we can do something with it.”
Charlotte looked at Ned, William, James, and then back at Julia. “Our wedding?”
“Yes, in the chapel at Tierra Dulce. I believe it will be good to wait for the banns to be read—not that for the two of you it would matter here. It will give us time to plan the wedding breakfast properly and give our neighbors time to plan to attend.” Julia pressed her hand to her right side, pain clouding her face, and she leaned into her husband’s side. “And until we reach home, Charlotte, you will stay here on Alexandra with us.”
Charlotte shook her head, but Julia was not looking at her. She looked instead at William, who in turn looked at Ned.
“Captain Cochrane, I will make it an order if I must.”
Ned thought back to the half hour past—the way Charlotte’s shrill voice rubbed on his nerves like a holystone against the deck, the way she disobeyed and countermanded him, the way she scolded him for doing things she herself did, the way his men heard all of it. Perhaps it would be better if Charlotte traveled back to Kingston aboard Alexandra.
He straightened under the stern eye of his commanding officer. “Commodore Ransome, Mrs. Ransome, you must do what you think is necessary, of course. I know you are concerned for her welfare and reputation. I am also.”
Charlotte’s face fell from expectation to disappointment.
“So Charlotte will stay with me on Audacious. She is my wife.”
Charlotte Cochrane loved her husband very, very much. She couldn’t show him how much with her two eldest brothers standing there staring at her, but she would find a way, somehow, to let Ned know just how much she appreciated how he stood up to William so they could stay together.
“We will discuss this later.” William helped Julia into their sleeping cabin.
So that was where Ned had picked up that phrase—from William. She wondered if William liked lecturing Julia as much as Ned liked lecturing her.
With just James left in the room with them, Charlotte crossed to Ned and wrapped her arms around his middle. “Thank you. And I am sorry about our quarrel earlier.”
He squeezed her back. “I as well.”
They dropped their embrace when William returned moments later. He closed the door to the sleeping quarters and came back to stand in front of the worktable, arms crossed. “Why were you so long in responding to the orders to report to Alexandra?”
“That is my fault, William.” Charlotte stepped in front of Ned. “I had been down in the sick berth all night attending the sick and injured, and I had to get cleaned up and changed before we could come.”
William looked down at her uniform with an arched brow. “Changed?”
“Out of my soiled uniform into this one. They are the only garments I have left. Fortunately, my sea chest remained behind on Audacious when I came to Alexandra in Barbados, so all of my belongings are still there.”
Her brother did not seem to find this news as cheerful as she did. His lips pinched together. “Perhaps Captain Witherington has more women’s clothing he would be willing to part with.”
“Those gowns are for his fiancée.” Charlotte swiped her hair back behind her ears. “Besides, they are far too big on me. You saw how long the blue dress is on Julia, and she is much taller than I. I wore it once when I was Captain Sal—Captain Witherington’s guest.” So everyone now knew that Salvador was actually Julia’s brother. Good. She liked him very much and was glad to now call him family.
“We shall discuss this later.” William called for his steward.
Dawling appeared almost immediately. “Aye, Com’dore?”
“Pass word for Dr. Hawthorne.”
“Aye, aye, sir.” Dawling knuckled his forehead and disappeared again.
Charlotte glanced between her brothers. “Why send for the surgeon? James, are you certain you are well?”
“I did not call him for either of us.” William sat at the table and motioned for the others to do so as well. “Something happened with Mr. Kent during the night, and the doctor wanted to talk to you, Ned, about it, since the lad is under your command.”
As they waited for the doctor to arrive, Charlotte sat on her hands, swinging her feet, and combing her teeth over her bottom lip. A faint buzzing filled her ears, and William’s, James’s, and Ned’s voices echoed oddly in her head.
Finally, Dawling showed the young doctor in. He nodded at each of them with a tight smile.
“Report, Doctor.”
“Yes, Commodore.” Hawthorne slid his thumbs into his waistcoat pockets and rocked back on his heels. “During the night, Mr. Kent began having a fit—a seizure—due to the pressure the swelling is putting on his brain. I was able to sedate him, but I need to perform the surgery soon if he is to have any chance at surviving.”
Ned stood and paced a tight circle behind the table. “So you are saying there is no chance that he will recover on his own.”
“No, sir.”
“Surgery is the only option?” Ned stopped and rested his hands on the back of Charlotte’s chair.
“Yes, sir.”
“Very well, then. Perform the surgery.”
“Yes, sir.” Hawthorne now turned his attention on William. “Commodore, this is a very tricky procedure. One slip, one mistake, and it will kill him. It would be best done on land, but taking him ashore would jostle him too much and possibly cause another seizure, which could also kill him. Because that is not an option, it would be better done while we are at anchorage here. The water is calm, so there should not be much danger of sudden motion to jostle my hand.”
“How long will the surgery last?”
“Hours, sir. First, I must determine exactly where the swelling inside the skull is. Then, I must bore a hole in the skull—”
William raised a hand and closed his eyes. “Please, Doctor, I do not need to know the details.” He turned to Ned. “Witherington has just begun the painting work to turn Vengeance into Serenity, which will take several hours to complete also. Have your master carpenter confer with mine, who has already asked to go ashore for wood for repairs. They could go together and save us time.”
“Aye, sir.” Ned’s fingers brushed against Charlotte’s shoulders, sending a shiver of pleasure down her spine.
“Dismissed.”
Ned snapped to attention. The doctor gave a half bow and left. Ned picked his hat up from the table. Charlotte rose to leave with him.
“Charlotte, you will stay.”
With her back to her brother, she looked up into Ned’s beautiful gray eyes.
“I will wait for you in the boat.” He touched her cheek and then exited, closing the cabin door behind him.
Charlotte turned to face her brothers. James, though lounging on the sofa in the corner and looking not the least interested in what was about to happen, was still someone who could be either a help or hindrance to her.
“Please sit, Charlotte.”
“I would rather stand, thank you.” She crossed her arms and held them there despite the burning tightness of the wound.
“Very well.” William clasped his hands behind his back. “You may return to Audacious to retrieve your dunnage. You will then immediately report yourself back to this cabin, where you are to remain until we dock in Kingston. Do I make myself clear?”
“No.”
“In what way was I unclear?”
“Oh, your demand was perfectly understandable, but I am not going to do that, William. Despite the fact I am currently dressed like a midshipman, I am not one of your men whom you can order about and expect to obey your every edict.” Her arm hurt too badly to keep them crossed, so she mimicked William’s stance instead.
“No, you are my sister. My sister who has not yet reached the age of majority and is therefore still my responsibility and, in the eyes of the law, unable to make decisions of your own.”
She had been making decisions of her own for years now, though many of them did not turn out quite as well as she expected. But her decision to marry Ned was different. “Then it is a good thing you gave us your blessing, as that negates any objections to the marriage or to Ned and me living as man and wife.”
William stiffened. “Have you…has the marriage been…?” A ruddy flush rose from his neck up into his face.
An answering heat flared in Charlotte’s cheeks. “No. Not yet.”
“Good. Then your reputation can still be salvaged.”
She threw her hands out in front of her. “Why does everyone believe that my marriage to Ned will ruin my reputation?”
“It is the method in which you married that concerns us, not the marriage itself, once it truly takes place.” William glanced over at James, who seemed to be more interested in cleaning under his fingernails with a letter opener than in William and Charlotte’s argument.
“Jean Baptiste is a minister. He led a church in New Orleans for twelve years before he had to sneak out of town one night to keep from being captured and sold into slavery.”
“A minister of what kind of church?”
“A Baptist church, and they even ordained him. So he’s as official as any rector Julia would find to wed us.”
Although, there was that gorgeous fabric Suresh had sent her. She would love to have that made into a gown and stand to publicly vow her love and devotion to Ned.
She knew one way in which she could appeal to William that he would not be able to resist. “Besides, is it not God who is the ultimate authority in such matters, not men? Ned and I made our vows to God”—or was that before God?—“and that makes us just as married as you and Julia because we made the same vows you did.”
William gave her an indulgent smile. “It would make Julia and me very happy if you would come aboard Alexandra, if you would choose to wait until you can have a real wedding, with your family there to witness it, before you enter into the marriage estate. Julia has her heart set on a wedding in her chapel and then giving you and Ned a fancy wedding breakfast. If you and Ned are known to have…behaved as a married couple before then, Julia is afraid your marriage will be tainted with rumors of impropriety for the rest of your lives. She does not want that for you.”
Charlotte groaned. Of all the contemptible, rotten arguments to use. “All right. I will go back to Audacious, get my belongings, and then come back to Alexandra. But I do this under extreme duress.”
William crossed the room and kissed her forehead. “I knew you would eventually see reason, Charlotte.”
Shaking her head, she left to rejoin her husband. No, she could not think of him as that now. But as soon as she climbed down into the boat, she could tell he read the truth in her expression. He would not talk to her for the entire trip back to Audacious.
When Charlotte reached the top of the accommodation ladder, Declan stood there, offering her a hand up. Ned, coming up directly behind her, expressed her own astonishment.
“What are you still doing here, Mr. Declan? I thought you were to return to your vessel as soon as we arrived.” Ned started toward the great cabin, as if he did not want to be seen on deck with Charlotte. Not that she blamed him. After he stood up to William and declared he would disobey a direct order if William gave him one, she betrayed him and gave in.
Charlotte trailed along behind Declan and Ned.
“I wanted to make sure I had a chance to say goodbye to you, Cap’n. And to the missus.” Declan winked at her over his shoulder.
Missus…but not yet in the eyes of her family. She bumped into Declan, who had stopped just inside the door to the big cabin. She tried to push him out of the way. Finally, with a laugh, he moved. Another time, another place, she might enjoy his teasing nature, but not today.
He turned around and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her high off the floor. “I’m going to miss you, little missus. Vengeance—I guess I should get used to saying Serenity. Serenity isn’t going to be the same without you. Everyone thinks so.”
“Thank you, Declan.” She managed to get her arms around him and patted his shoulders. “You can put me down now.”
“Do I have to?”
She caught Ned’s accusatory glance over the giant’s shoulder. “Yes, Declan. You have to.”
He gave her one last squeeze and then set her down.
“Goodbye, Declan. Safe journey.”
“And you as well.”
She left him and Ned to their farewells and went to the sleeping cabin to retrieve her belongings. There wasn’t much, and it was all in her sea chest except for the coat and waistcoat she’d discarded on the floor this morning because one of the sick sailors had missed the bucket and gotten her. She did not want to leave them behind—they were the only spares she had. But she was not going to put them in her sea chest and have everything in it smell like that.
The walls vibrated when the cabin door closed. She went back out into the main room. Ned stood staring out the stern window.
“I am going to go down to the galley to see if Cook has an empty bread sack I can use to pack these soiled things over to Alexandra in.” There, she’d said it—not in so many words—but she had admitted that she would be leaving Audacious for her brother’s ship.
“Take a farthing with you,” Ned’s voice came out flat and uninterested. “Cook does not like to give anything away he can sell.”
“I don’t have—”
“In the second cubbyhole in the back of the desk. There’s a latch that opens a secret compartment.”
Charlotte found the small stash of coins and took out a farthing. “Ned, I’m sorry. He…he made a compelling argument.”
Ned shook his head but still would not look at her. “Just go and get your sack so that we can get you back over to Alexandra. We don’t want your family to think I am debauching you.”
“That’s not what they think.”
He did not reply.
Near tears, Charlotte grabbed the doorknob. It turned, but the door would not budge. She pushed and then pulled. No movement.
“Ned? Did you lock the door when Declan left?”
“No.” He finally turned away from the windows. “Perhaps it is stuck.” But even his greater strength produced no different result. The door was locked, or barred, from the other side. They both pounded on it and called out—for Declan, for the marine guard, for the steward—but no one came.
“I’ll go around and see what the problem is.” He went into the sleeping cabin.
At his banging on the door that connected to the captain’s galley and then to his steward’s cabin, Charlotte looked in on him. He turned, confusion, with a hint of amusement, affixed in his expression. “I do believe someone locked us in.”
Charlotte scooted past him and tried the door. Her neck tingled along her hairline, though she wasn’t certain why. She turned and pressed her back to the door. “Why would anyone do such a thing?”
Ned shrugged and took a step toward her. “No one is answering our calls for help.”
Charlotte took a step toward him. “Ned, I told William I know in my heart that, in the eyes of God, we are most definitely and surely married. I only agreed to go to Alexandra because Julia did not want any rumors to get started about…what we might have done…” she swallowed hard…“might do before we have a public church wedding.”
Ned reached over and tucked her hair behind her ears. “But what do those rumors matter if we are already married?”
“They don’t—”
Ned’s kiss stopped her words and her thoughts. Oh, yes. She loved her husband very, very much.