She swallowed hard. It wasn’t that she aspired to be Lady Launceston. It was Simon himself she wanted, not his title or comfortable fortune.
That was not a dream she could achieve in America.
* * * *
The party reached Liverpool very late and spent what remained of the night at an inn near the harbor. Next morning, after Adam had consulted with the innkeeper about the shipping news, they plunged into the teeming Liverpool dockyards just as the port was waking to the day’s business.
A forest of masts rose in front of them while other ships bobbed out in the harbor, waiting their turns for dock space. Sailors and stevedores yelled in incomprehensible dialects and gulls screeched overhead and fought for tidbits. The air was ripe with the pungent scents characteristic of places where the land meets the sea.
Antonia and her companions had to dodge bales of goods and drays as they made their way along the waterfront. She was attracting huge amounts of unabashed male attention, but felt completely safe with her male escorts.
She would have enjoyed the new sights and sounds immensely if they weren’t on an errand of such urgency. Simon’s anxiety was contagious. It would be far better to intercept Judith before she left. One small woman could disappear very easily in a raw new nation. If she decided not to write, they might never find her.
Though Adam had never been to Liverpool, he had been in enough ports to know how to proceed. Antonia was impressed to get a glimpse of the merchant prince in action. It gave her a whole new view of the man she loved.
In an amazingly short time they were in an office where a substantial gratuity persuaded a weathered old clerk to check his passenger lists. As Antonia understood it, this office acted as local passenger agent for a number of foreign-owned ships.
With excruciating slowness, the clerk perused the list of names. Eventually he allowed that a Mrs. J. Winslow had purchased a ticket on the Lady Liberty, an American ship out of Boston.
Antonia breathed a sigh of relief that it had been so simple. Luckily, there was no reason for Judith to conceal her identity.
“When does it leave?” Lord Launceston asked eagerly.
The clerk blinked saurian eyelids. “Left yesterday on the evening tide.”
Simon began to swear with startling fluency. Antonia would not have guessed that the calm scholar could forget himself so far in front of a lady. More proof of the strength of his feelings for Judith.
While Simon swore and Antonia reflected, Adam asked the clerk a series of swift questions. After getting the answers, he ushered his companions out of the office. “The Lady Liberty will put in at Belfast before going on to Boston.”
Simon’s face lit up. “Will the ship be there long enough for me to catch up with her?”
“Not in the normal course of events. The Lady Liberty will stop for only about twenty-four hours, and no other ship is leaving for Belfast today. Mail packets go out of Port Patrick.” As he spoke, Adam’s eyes scanned the harbor intently.
“Would it be possible to hire a ship that could get us there in time?” Simon asked, grasping at any possibility.
“None of the small boats we could hire can catch a fast Baltimore schooner like the Lady Liberty, not when she has almost a day’s lead.” Adam shaded his eyes with his hands as he squinted to see the more distant docks.
“What are you looking for, Adam?” Antonia questioned.
“When we came in, I thought I recognized . . .” A wide smile crossed his face and he took her arm. “Come along. I think that fortune favors our quest.”
They made their way through the confusion to a dock where a trim ship named Star of India was moored. Antonia wondered what class of ship it was. She felt very ignorant.
But she recognized the come hither look in the eyes of the buxom black-haired figurehead gracing the prow. Not at all a respectable sort of female, Antonia decided as they boarded.
A neatly dressed sailor appeared as they reached the deck. “Is Captain Langdon on board?” Adam asked. At the sailor’s nod, he continued, “Tell him Adam Yorke is paying a call.”
Visibly startled, the sailor bobbed his head, then turned and ducked below. In less than a minute, a tall man of unmistakable authority appeared, his broad smile very white against his dark skin. The wickedly attractive Captain Langdon was the very image of what Antonia imagined a pirate should be.
“Adam, my friend, what an unexpected pleasure! Welcome aboard.” He offered his hand, adding, “My ship is yours.”
“Not anymore,” Adam said with a grin as he shook hands.
Both men laughed while Antonia observed with interest. The captain had a distinctly foreign look, though his name and accent were British. Of mixed race, perhaps? Not an easy condition in a bigoted world.
After Adam made the introductions, the captain bowed over Antonia’s hand with a flourish. “You are betrothed to Captain Yorke? A pity that one so beautiful should waste herself so,” he said soulfully.
“On the contrary.” Antonia chuckled as she retrieved her hand. “It’s the wisest thing I’ve ever done.”
The captain turned back to Adam. “Come, you and your friends must join me for morning coffee.” As they went below, he asked over his shoulder, “Is this purely a social call?”
“No,” Adam said as they moved from a narrow passage into a spacious cabin. “We need to get to Belfast as quickly as possible to intercept a friend on the way to America. Can you take us across immediately? Her ship left Liverpool last night and will spend only a day in Belfast before sailing on to Boston.”
“I’ll pay your charter fee, whatever it is,” Simon added, too anxious to be a good bargainer.
Captain Langdon gestured airily. “For a friend of Adam’s there will be no charge. It will be a splendid diversion. I arrived ahead of schedule and my cargo won’t be ready for at least a week. In fact, I must move from the dock now that I’ve unloaded. A quest for a fair lady—she is a fair lady, I trust?—is a great improvement over lying at a mooring in the Mersey.”
“Thank heaven,” Simon said with patent relief. “How soon can we leave?”
“To catch the tide we must leave within the hour. Do you have luggage or servants to board?” the captain asked.
Antonia’s maid and Simon’s very superior valet were summoned from the inn with the baggage. Half an hour later, they were under weigh. Fortunately the ship was equipped with several passenger cabins that were unoccupied until the next voyage, so everyone could be accommodated comfortably.
While Lord Launceston prowled the deck restlessly, Antonia found a spot at the stern railing to enjoy the sights as they sailed from the mouth of the Mersey River into the Irish Sea. To her relief, the rise and fall of the ship produced no symptoms of mal de mer.
“I feel rather ashamed of myself for having such a good time when we’re on a serious mission,” she confessed to Adam, who stood next to her.
He grinned. “We’re doing the most we can, and brooding won’t improve our chances of success.” He gazed out toward Ireland. There is something very special about being at sea.”
“Do you think we’ll reach Belfast in time?”
“We have a very good chance. The Star of India is fast, and we’re less than a day behind.”
Transferring her gaze from the sea to her true love, Antonia notice how very much at home he was on a ship. He’d left his hat below, and the wind ruffled his sun-streaked light hair as he balanced on the rolling deck with the unconscious skill of long practice.
“You look very dashing,” Antonia murmured, knowing that she sounded quite besotted, as well she should. “Are you really a ship’s captain?”
“I’ve commanded ships,” he admitted, “though I certainly haven’t the skill or experience that Ramesh Langdon does.”
“If you asked him to take us all the way to Boston, he would do it, wouldn’t he?” Antonia had been intrigued by the obvious intimacy between the two men. She wanted to learn more about her cousin’s merchant life.
Adam turned his eyes seaward again. “Perhaps. He feels he owes me more than he does.”
“What happened?”
Adam shrugged. “Nothing dramatic. I offered him a ship to sail when no one else would. This ship, as it happens. He did very well, made us both quite a lot of money, and eventually bought the Star of India for himself. We both benefited.”
Antonia smiled warmly. “I’m sure that’s an oversimplification, but you won’t tell me more. Have I mentioned lately how much I love you?”
“Not in the last twelve hours.” He laid his hand over hers on the railing. “By the way, before we left I dispatched my man to London to get two archbishop’s licenses. They should be waiting when we get back to Thornleigh.”
“One for us and the other for Simon and Judith?” Antonia said with delight. “A life in trade makes one marvelously efficient.” Her voice dropped. “I don’t want to wait a day longer than necessary.”
“Nor do I, love.” Adam put his arm around Antonia. She settled against him with contentment. She refused to believe that things would not work out equally well for Simon and Judith.
* * * *
They made good time for the first half of the voyage, but the winds fell off west of the Isle of Man, and even the cleverest of sailors needs wind. By the time the Star of India entered the harbor at Belfast, they were a full day behind the Lady Liberty, perhaps more.
As the ship slowly made its way into port, Simon and Adam stood in the bow. “Do you think we’re in time?” Simon asked tightly.
“It’s hard to say,” Adam replied, trying to combine comfort with honesty. “But even if Judith’s ship has left already, it doesn’t mean she’s lost forever. Surely there must be some interesting geology on the other side of the Atlantic if you choose to follow her there.”
Simon smiled reluctantly. “Yes, but I can’t say that that geology is prominent in my thinking. Do you see the ship?”
Adam’s experienced gaze was scrutinizing the mass of ships moored about the large harbor. “We’re too far to read the names, but just right of where we will be docking there’s a Baltimore schooner that could be the Lady Liberty. But don’t get your hopes too high. The class is popular with the Americans.”
Unless Adam greatly mistook matters, the schooner was preparing to set sail. No point in mentioning that to Simon when there was nothing his friend could do about it until they docked.
* * * *
Based on her very limited experience, seaports were much the same, Judith decided. Belfast was smaller than Liverpool and the accents of the stevedores were different, but the overall effect was similar. She was impatient to set sail. Once she put the British Isles behind her, perhaps she could begin looking to the future rather than mourning the past.
Mrs. Maxwell joined her at the railing. Together they watched the final preparations for putting out to sea.
“They’re about to remove the gangway. It won’t be long now,” the American woman said, glancing along the quay. Then she stiffened. “Would you look at that,” she exclaimed in a reverent voice. “Here comes the handsomest man I have ever seen in my born days.”
Judith didn’t bother to look where Mrs. Maxwell was indicating. It wasn’t easy to impress a woman who had known Simon Launceston.
Mrs. Maxwell elbowed her in excitement. “Look, he’s coming aboard the Lady Liberty! I swear,” she said impishly, “if he’s going to be on the voyage to Boston, I’m going to disgrace myself by following him around like a puppy dog. Lucky my daughter isn’t here to see her old mother making a fool of herself.”
“Women are always making fools of themselves over men. It’s part of our nature.” Judith glanced over to see the man who had impressed her cabin mate so much, then froze. No, it couldn’t possibly be Simon. It couldn’t be!
But it was. Lord Launceston had raced up the gangway just before it could be removed, pausing at the top to scan the deck.
Even with most of the length of the ship between them, she could see the vivid blue of his eyes when their gazes met. He gave her a smile of such intimacy that she thought her bones would melt.
Judith clasped the railing for support, knowing her jaw was slack with astonishment. She could not have spoken to save her life
“Do you know him?” Mrs. Maxwell asked. “He’s looking right at you.”
Judith just shook her head dazedly as she watched the Lady Liberty’s captain approach Simon. The wind brought fragments of words, the captain gruffly saying that the ship was on the verge of departure and that the newcomer had better leave if he didn’t want to see Boston and have to pay for the privilege.
The only part of Simon’s reply that could be heard was, “Ten minutes.”
Something passed between the two men that elicited a respectful nod from the American captain. “Very well, ten minutes.”
Before the captain had finished speaking, Simon was taking swift strides toward Judith while she watched in blank confusion.
An elbow from Mrs. Maxwell returned her to reality. “Will you introduce me?” the other woman asked.
Simon stopped right in front of Judith, tall, elegant, and paralyzing handsome. But he had always been that. What was different now was the expression in his eyes, as if she were the most beautiful and desirable woman in the world.
Weakly she said, “Mrs. Maxwell, Lord Launceston. Simon, this is Mrs. Maxwell, my cabin mate.”
He turned and gave the older woman one of his devastating smiles as he bowed over her hand. “My pleasure. My I impose on you for a few moments’ privacy with Mrs. Winslow? I have something very important to say to her.”
Dazzled, Mrs. Maxwell returned his smile, then retreated until she was out of earshot. Barely.
“What are you doing in Belfast?” Judith made a feeble attempt to collect her scattered wits. “Did Antonia ask you to come after me? There was no need for that. I’m quite capable of managing on my own.”
Simon shook his head. “I’m here on my behalf, not hers.” He stopped for a moment, then said ruefully, “There is no time for roundaboutation, and I’m no good at it anyhow. Judith, will you marry me?”
That was the trouble with dreams. They turn into hallucinations if you aren’t careful, Judith decided. This couldn’t possibly be happening. Or if it was, it was for the wrong reason.
“Are you asking me because Antonia has accepted Adam, and I’m the best available substitute because I have been close to her?” she asked tightly.
“No. Antonia has accepted Adam, but I’m asking because I want very much for you to be my wife.” He smiled with self-deprecating charm. “I’m something of a slow learner in matters of the heart. I didn’t suspect that I’d fallen in love with you until I kissed you in the garden. In retrospect, I realize I was just looking for an excuse to do something I had wanted to do for a long time.
“Even so, the impact was so great that it took me several days to sort myself out. I was on my way to ask you to marry me when Adam’s memory came back. Since I thought you preferred him, I didn’t speak.”
It sounded much too wonderful to be true. Judith looked searchingly into Simon’s deep-blue eyes. “But what about you and Antonia?” she asked. “You were so much in love with her.”
He shook his head. “I was infatuated, not in love. Antonia is a glorious and splendid woman, and I suffered the sort of calf love that I might have experienced at nineteen if I hadn’t had my nose buried in books. Since she was feeling the same kind of infatuation for me, we both believed it was meant to be.”
“You looked so much like you belonged together that it seemed inevitable,” Judith agreed. “You are the two most beautiful human creatures I have ever seen.”
Simon’s handsome face showed self-conscious color. “Antonia has a dramatic beauty that turns all heads when she enters a room,” he said softly. “You are every bit as lovely, but your beauty is a quieter kind, meant to be savored close-up.” He cupped Judith’s cheek in one hand. “I want to spend the r
est of my life as close to you as possible, not just because you are beautiful, but because when I am with you, I am happier and more complete than I have ever been in my life.”
Time was running out. The ship’s captain began to move toward them with deliberate steps. Simon said quickly, “I daresay my absentmindedness is incurable, and I will be forever coaxing you into caves and observatories, but I’ll try to be a good husband in spite of that. Will you marry me?”
He looked so earnest that it was impossible to doubt him. For some incomprehensible reason, Simon really did prefer her.
Feeling a joy beyond anything she’d ever imagined, Judith exclaimed, “Yes. Yes, yes, yes!” and threw her arms around him.
She must have learned that from Antonia, Judith decided as Simon returned her embrace with gratifying enthusiasm. Such profligate behavior was most unlike the Widow Winslow.
Perhaps profligate behavior is contagious. As the impatient captain arrived, a gleam of unholy mischief appeared in Simon’s eyes and he bent over and swept Judith from her feet, cradling her easily in his arms.
He grinned exuberantly at the captain. “Will you be the first to wish us happy? Mrs. Winslow has just agreed to make me the most fortunate of men.”
As Judith blushed furiously and hid her face against Simon’s shoulder, the captain stopped in his tracks. Then a reluctant smile showed through his bushy beard. It’s a rare person who hasn’t a streak of romanticism buried somewhere. Gruffly he asked, “Are you leaving or staying, Mrs. Winslow?”
“Leaving.”
“Very well.” A semicircle of interested onlookers had gathered. The captain signaled to the nearest sailor. “Go below and get Mrs. Winslow’s gear, and be quick about it.”
“I’ll show him what to take,” Mrs. Maxwell said helpfully. Before leaving, she turned to Judith. “Sorry I won’t get to show you Boston, dear, but you’d be a fool to turn that one down,” she said in a stage whisper, rolling her eyes. Then she blew Judith a kiss and led the sailor below.
With perfect gravity Simon said, “Thank you for delaying your departure. Captain. Have a safe voyage.” With the aplomb of a man who swept females off their feet every day, he carried Judith along the deck and down the gangway.