Page 24 of A Lady's Wager
“I will certainly be giving leave to officers, if asked.”
The implication in the captain’s tone made Derrick squirm. “I won’t be needing leave, but I’m sure Christian and Willis would appreciate it.” A small part of his heart protested. She was in London. He could at least enquire as to her well-being.
“You are the one I thought could benefit from a few days on land.”
“Me?” Derrick tried to laugh. “I have no home, no family. Of all your officers, I am least in need of time ashore.”
Captain King tapped the wheel thoughtfully. “You are not the carefree Lieutenant Owens who kept our spirits up the winter of ’89. Either something happened in the three years since we served onBountifulor you are not being entirely truthful.”
Derrick looked out across the river toward London, tendrils of fog lingering in the April morning air. Somewhere in the bustle, she must be waking up to ready for a day of social calls and parties. Or perhaps she’d decided to smuggle one of her romance novels into bed and was spending the morning hiding under the covers. Was she thinking of him as she read and about all he’d denied her?
“Join me in the main cabin, would you?”
“Yes, sir.” Derrick followed him in descending from the quarterdeck and down the hatchway to the captain’s quarters. He nodded to the marines on watch outside the doors.
King shut the door behind them, then made his way to his desk. “You’ve been distracted, Owens. Everyone can see it.”
Derrick folded his arms over his hat. “I am doing my best.” If only Corah hadn’t been such a wonder.
“It’s a girl, isn’t it?”
He groaned, swiping a hand down his face. “Captain, it is a ridiculous matter that I will sort out. I will do better at ensuringit does not affect my duties.” He didn’t think it had, but it seemed he’d been wrong.
King clasped his hands on his desk. Barely five years separated them, but King seemed to live a vastly different life. He had a wife and child, a command, the respect of the navy. They’d bring in prizes aplenty patrolling the Channel, picking off as many French merchants and smugglers as they could, which would give him a comfortable fortune. Even if Derrick received an appointment to post-captain, he could not see that cozy life in the cards for him. Not for many years, when Corah was married and gone.
“You won’t confide in an old friend?” the captain asked.
Derrick leaned against the bulwark, attempting to look unconcerned. “There is nothing to confide.”
“Is she a captain’s daughter?” King took out a writing box and set about trimming a pen.
Derrick blew out. The indefatigable weasel. “Midshipman’s sister.”
His friend did not react to being proven right but kept his focus on shaving off bits of the quill. “Anyone I know?”
“Bradford fromSt. George. I doubt you know him.”
King fashioned the tip into a point and held it up to the light coming from the stern windows. “Is she waiting for you?”
“I told her not to. She’s in London for the Season trying to find a husband.” It was the hard thing to do, but it would work out better for the both of them. He couldn’t be so selfish as to make her wait years.
“You daft-headed son of a landlubber.” The captain set down his pen and knife. “London is crawling with dandies. She’ll be nabbed in no time.”
“As I hope she will.”
Captain King planted his elbows on the desk. “No, you certainly do not. And that is why you’ve been in such a terrible gloom.”
Derrick chewed the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t deny it. His lowest moments came from imagining her in the arms of another man. “You know, your insults could use a splash of originality.” Anything to change the subject.
“I’m a captain, not a lovesick lieutenant. I don’t have time to practice words, be they poetry or insults.” The captain plucked up his pen and began writing. “I’m sending you ashore.”
“Captain, no.” Panic flared in his chest.
“Does she return your affections?”
Derrick threw up an arm. How was he discussing this with his captain? “I do not know.” He hesitated as Corah’s tearful face swept across his mind’s eye. The feel of her gripping his waistcoat, begging him not to push her away, made his breath catch.
“Then go be certain.”
