Days of Gold

“Angus!” she said sharply. “Wake up!”

  Slowly, he opened his eyes, and looked at her with a smile. When he turned his head he felt the lightness, and ran his hand over his bare face. “What have you done to me?”

  “What should have been done long ago,” she said. “You have to stop sleeping now and get ready to go. We have to get James’s clothes off of him and I have to get dressed. I apologize but you’re going to have to help me with the strings to my corset.”

  “To your... ?”

  When she looked at him she could see that his face had pinkened. “My goodness, McTern of McTern, are you blushing?”

  “Nay,” he said, but he turned away as he stood up. “You’ll have to show me how to... to do what you need to have done.”

  “I will,” she said, hiding her smile.

  She got the clothes she’d worn the day before out of the wardrobe and laid them out on the bed, watching Angus as she did so. She would have thought he’d want to see himself in a mirror. It must have been a long time since he’d seen himself without that beard, but as far as she could tell, he showed no evidence that he was even curious.

  She watched as he bent and grabbed James under the arms, then hauled him onto the bed. For a moment Angus just stood there, looking at the man lying on the bed, happily asleep.

  “I don’t like this,” Angus said. “To steal a man’s clothes like this is not right.”

  Edilean rolled her eyes, and went to James and loosened his cravat. “Then I’ll undress him.”

  “You’ll not,” Angus said, sounding shocked by the idea. “I’ll tend to him. You go and do what you need to.”

  Edilean glanced out the window. The pink of dawn was approaching. “I think we should go down to the wife’s room as soon as we’re dressed. I’m sure James will have someone coming to rouse him to get him to the ship on time. He likes to stay up late and hates to wake up in the morning.”

  “Good idea,” Angus said.

  He was on the other side of the bed, and the hangings kept her from seeing what he was doing, but she could hear the movement of cloth as he took off his own clothes and put on James’s. An unusual feeling was running through Edilean. Just a few feet from her was a man in his undergarments. And not just any man, but one who had been kind to her. Well, not always, but in the end he’d taken care of her. If it hadn’t been for him, she’d now be asleep in the inn and James and his wife would soon sail off with her dowry.

  “I need help with the laces,” she said softly. She’d put the corset on over her nightgown, but the laces were in the back. “Should I come ’round there?”

  Angus took the few steps to get to the foot of the bed and Edilean could only stare at him. He had on James’s tight tan breeches and his big-sleeved shirt and nothing else. A lifetime of being outside, of riding horses and climbing, had given him thighs that were heavy with muscle.

  Angus was smiling at her in a way that let her know he knew what she thought of him.

  She wasn’t about to tell him that he looked so good he took her breath away. She turned her back to him, presenting the laces for him to fasten. “When we get to the ship it will be better if you don’t speak,” she said.

  “Not a word?” he asked as he grabbed the sturdy laces and pulled the stiff corset together.

  “Your accent and the way you say things will give you away. No, it’s better that you let me do all the talking.”

  Angus gave a jerk on the corset laces that nearly broke her ribs.

  “Do you mean to cut me in half?”

  “I thought you’d want a waist as small as that of other women. I do apologize. I’ll loosen the strings.”

  Edilean grit her teeth. “You can tighten them more than that.”

  “Ah, a medium waist is what you want.”

  “I—” she began, but knew this was her own fault. She held on to the bedpost as he pulled. “All right! You look good. And you can talk all you want. What do I care? Do a dance on crossed swords for all it matters to me.”

  When he tied the strings at the bottom, she looked at him and his eyes had that look of teasing that she was beginning to know well. “You’re a dreadful man, you know that?”

  He went back to the other side of the bed, picked up the waistcoat, and put it on while Edilean stepped into her dress. Yesterday she’d done her best to clean it of the sawdust, but she could still see that it wasn’t at its best. She hoped that there was a wardrobe full of clothes on board the ship. She knew she’d have to take the dresses in, at least in the bustline, but she could do it.

  When she was dressed and her hair smoothed back, she went to Angus. He was leaning against the bedpost, his eyes closed, and his vest buttoned crookedly.

  “Come on now, wake up,” she said as she unfastened his vest, and buttoned it straight.

  “I had a dream about you,” he said softly, looking at her in the candlelight and the pink dawn that was coming through the window.

  “Was it a good dream?” she asked as she held up James’s coat for him to put on.

  “The best. You and I were together in a field. I could see it all clearly. It wasn’t Scotland, but a place that I’d never seen before.”

  “Maybe it was America.”

  “Aye,” he said gently, and reached out to touch her hair. They stood there for a moment looking into each other’s eyes and she swayed toward him. “When we get to America I’ll give you some of my gold and you can—” She broke off at the look he gave her.

  “Ever even mention such a thing to me again, lass, and I’ll have no more to do with ye.”

  She could tell by the anger in his eyes how much he meant his words. She started to apologize, but in the next moment a ray of sunlight came into the room and her opportunity was gone.

  “We must go!” Angus said.

  He grabbed James’s boots in one hand, and her hand with his other, while she snatched the bundle of shaving and sewing gear.

  They ran down the stairs, Edilean trailing behind him, never letting go of his hand. When they got to the room, they had just shut the door behind them and were standing there breathless when the landlord pounded on the door. “Your carriage is here!” he shouted, seeming not to be concerned that he might wake his other guests.

  Angus left the room, Edilean behind him, but when she saw the coachman standing in the doorway, she ran back into the room, closed the bed curtains, then told the coachman to get the trunk in the corner, and not to wake her sleeping sister. Edilean made sure Angus didn’t hear her do this, as she knew he wouldn’t like it. She was taking the woman’s clothes. But Edilean didn’t know what had been put on the ship. She didn’t want to spend the several weeks of the voyage in only one gown.

  Outside the inn a beautiful hired carriage with four prancing horses was waiting for them. “James spares no expense for himself, does he?” Edilean said in sarcasm.

  “Do you think we might get something to eat before we go?” Angus asked as he tried to move his arms in the tight jacket.

  “Do you ever think of anything besides food and sleep?” Edilean snapped at him.

  “Aye, I do,” Angus said slowly, “but not when I’m with a woman who’s as ill tempered as you are. Did I tie your laces too tight?”

  She leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m just nervous, is all. I know my uncle knows who James is from the letter he stole from me and he—”

  “Did you tell Harcourt this?”

  “Yes,” Edilean said. “When I wrote James the second time I told him everything, but my uncle could have made some inquiries to find out about James having booked passage on the ship. He could—”

  She didn’t say any more because the coach suddenly came to a stop and she heard men shouting.

  “Say nothing,” Angus said. “I will deal with this.”

  “You? But—” She broke off at a look from him.

  The door to the carriage was thrown open and two rough-looking men peered inside. Angus didn’t mo
ve, just stayed leaning back against the seat, seeming to pluck a bit of lint off his cuff.

  “Have you seen this man?” one of the men said as he held up the picture of Angus.

  “I should think not,” Angus said, barely glancing at the handbill. “I would have shouted for help if I’d seen such a ruffian.”

  On the seat across from him, Edilean’s mouth dropped open in surprise. Angus’s normally thick Scottish burr was gone, and he sounded as though he’d been raised in the salons of London.

  “Would you be so good as to shut the door, my good man?” Angus said as he held up a lace-trimmed handkerchief to his nose. “The dust is not good for me.”

  The man, with two teeth missing on the upper front, looked at Edilean, then down at something in his hand. “Here, she looks like the lady that’s run away from her uncle. He’s givin’ a reward for her return.”

  “Are you saying that my wife looks like someone’s niece? And he has money? I say, old man, where does he live? We shall visit him and tell him this is his lost niece. Do you think he would believe us?”

  “Bleedin’ fob,” the man said in disgust as he slammed the carriage door. “Go on with ya.”

  Angus shoved the handkerchief back in his pocket and looked at Edilean, who was staring at him with wide eyes. “You have something to say?”

  “No. Nothing,” she said, blinking quickly. “But where did you learn that?”

  “From listening. It’s nay so hard to do.” His heavy accent was back. “Would you like for me to talk like Harcourt all the time?”

  “No,” she said quickly, “I wouldn’t.”

  Smiling, he turned away to look out the window, and a moment later, he said, “I can see the ship. We’re almost there.”

  10

  EDILEAN WAS VERY nervous and she kept glancing at Angus as they made their way up the gangplank to the ship.

  “Calm down,” Angus said. “You’re shaking so much I fear you’ll fall into the bay.”

  “What if the captain knows James and says that we’ve kidnapped him?”

  “How is he going to know that?” Angus asked in astonishment, then smiled. “Would you like for me to do the talking?” As he said it, he held out his arm and she slipped hers through it.

  She knew he was getting her back for her saying that she should do all the talking, but she was too nervous to respond.

  “Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt,” Captain Inges said as soon as they stepped aboard. “At last we meet.” He held out his hand to shake theirs and reminded them of his name. He was an older man, quite tall, and with a pleasant smile—and he couldn’t take his eyes off Edilean. “I had no idea that you were so charming. I had heard... differently.”

  Angus put his hand over hers on his arm and smiled lovingly at her. “My dear, has that rascally brother of yours been telling tales about you again?” He looked at the captain. “Were you told that she was tall, heavy, and not the best to look at?”

  The captain smiled in understanding. “Yes, I believe I was the recipient of such a jest, but I’m happy to see that it was just that. You must want to get settled, so I’ll have the first mate show you to your cabin. I hope you’ll dine with me this evening, and perhaps you would like breakfast in your quarters.”

  “Yes,” Edilean said quickly, still holding on to Angus’s arm. “My husband is very hungry and we would like something right away.”

  “Then this way, please.”

  But before they took a step, the captain frowned as one of his officers whispered something to him. Captain Inges looked back at Angus and Edilean. “I fear that I have some bad news. As you know, we are not usually a passenger ship, but sometimes, as in your case, I do take a few people with me. However, on this voyage, I’ve had the great misfortune to be assigned nine female prisoners to take to America.”

  Turning, Edilean looked down at the dock and saw several women in leg irons looking up at them. She moved closer to Angus.

  “I apologize,” Captain Inges said, “and I would understand if you’d prefer to postpone your voyage.”

  “No!” Angus and Edilean said in unison.

  “We’ll be all right,” Angus said. “We’re not so squeamish as to let a few prisoners bother us, are we, dearest?”

  When Edilean said nothing, he saw she was watching the women as they started coming up the gangplank. Most of the women were dirty and looked exhausted and forlorn, but the third one in line was looking about her with an insolent smile, as though she thought everything going on was a joke. She was a tall woman, inches taller than Edilean, and she was plump and had a pretty, pink-cheeked face.

  When the woman saw Angus, her eyes bulged for a moment, then she lowered her lashes in a coquettish way.

  Edilean moved closer to him and held on to his arm tighter. Angus smiled down at her, thinking she was afraid of the prisoners. He stepped back to let them pass, keeping his face straight when a couple of the women made remarks about him.

  “Cor, but ain’t he a beauty?” one of them said.

  When at last the prisoners and their two guards were past and the women had been led down into the ship, the captain apologized again. “I am so sorry for this. We will, of course, do our best to keep them separate from you.”

  “What have they done?” Edilean asked, looking at the last woman to go down the ladder.

  “Anything short of murder. Thievery mostly. They weren’t bad enough to hang, just to banish to America. They’ll never be allowed back into England.”

  “And that’s punishment for them?” Edilean asked.

  “The judges think so, but personally I like the new country, especially Virginia.”

  Edilean’s eyes widened. “You’ll have to tell us every word about it,” she said as she looked up at Angus. “Won’t he, darling?” He was staring at where the women had gone down and frowning.

  “Then I can look forward to seeing you this evening for dinner?”

  “We would love to, wouldn’t we?” Again, Edilean glanced at Angus, but he was still frowning. She pulled sharply on his arm.

  “Oh, aye,” he said, and seemed to come back to where he was.

  “Captain Inges has asked us to dine with him. We would like that, wouldn’t we?”

  “Oh, aye,” he said. “That would be—” He seemed to realize that he’d lapsed back into his accent so he corrected himself. “We would like that,” he said in the accent of James Harcourt.

  “Then I’ll let Mr. Jones show you to your cabin.”

  Edilean and Angus followed the young man down the ladder at one end of the ship to belowdecks. When he opened a door, Edilean smiled. The entire end of their room was window.

  “How lovely,” she said to the young officer.

  “This is usually the captain’s cabin, but he’s given it to you for this journey. You must have done something he liked.”

  “I’ll need a hammock in here,” Angus said abruptly.

  “A hammock?” the young officer asked.

  “Aye... Yes. That is what the men sleep in, don’t they?” There was one narrow wooden bed at the end of the room. “That’s too short for me,” Angus said.

  “But the captain had it made for him and he’s—” the young man began.

  “My husband is being kind,” Edilean said. “It’s because of me. I am, well... with child, and he fears for my health so he needs his own bed.”

  “Ah, I see,” the young man said, smiling. “I’ll see what I can do. And here is your breakfast. Enjoy the fruit, as it won’t last long.”

  A sailor brought in a platter of bread and boiled eggs and cherries, plus big mugs of ale, and set it on the round table by the glassed-in window.

  When they were alone, both Angus and Edilean went to the table and nearly attacked the food. “With child,” Angus said. “That was fast.”

  “Not as fast as you and those women prisoners,” she said as she peeled an egg. “What possessed you to stare at them like that?”

  “I was thinking how clo
se that was to being me. If things had turned out differently, I could have been in that hold.”

  “But not with those women,” Edilean said.

  “No, not with those women.” He was smiling at her. “So what will we do on this trip? It’ll take three weeks, maybe even six if the weather is bad. How will you occupy yourself?”

  “Reading, I suppose. I wonder if the captain has any books he could lend us? Mayhap you could read to me.”

  He arched an eyebrow as he took the peeled egg she handed him.

  “And what is that look for?”

  “When would I have gone to school to learn reading and writing?”

  Edilean paused with a cherry in her mouth, her hand on the stem. She chewed a bit, and removed the pit. “Then I will be your teacher.”

  “I do not need you to be my teacher,” he said, his face contorted into a scowl.

  “Isn’t it interesting how your humor completely leaves you when you are not in charge? Why does the idea that I—worthless, good-for-nothing me—could teach great, glorious you something infuriate you?”

  Angus bent his head closer to his plate, but she could see that the scowl was gone. “Glorious, am I?”

  “In your own eyes, you seem to be,” she said. “Wait! You can’t take the last of that fruit!”

  “Do you think not?” he said as he grabbed a handful of cherries and turned away from her.

  “You pig!” She ran around the little table to reach for them.

  Angus held them aloft and she grabbed his wrist—just as he transferred them to his other hand.

  “You selfish... Scotsman!” she said, reaching for the cherries.

  He was laughing. “Is that the worst you can think to call me? Did you learn nothing in that rich school you went to?”

  “Not anything that I’d tell a man,” she said, then made a lunge at him that landed them chest to chest as she reached up to his hand to get the cherries.

  His face was less than an inch from hers and she could smell the lather she’d used to shave him. And there was another smell about him, that of Man.

  “Are you asking for more than you can handle?” he asked softly, then he moved a bit as though he meant to kiss her.