Page 28 of A Lady's Wager
“Life never is.” She slid her hands up his coat to grasp his white lapels. He shivered and she grinned. “But I am ready for this adventure.”
2 July 1795
Two years later
CORAH LED DERRICK BY THEhand from the hackney through the doors of their little townhouse in Deptford. Fatigue slowed his pace, but his blue eyes shone brighter than the trim of his full-dress coat. Heavens, that suited him well. She hurried to close the door, leaving them alone in the darkened house.
Not sparing another moment, she threw her arms around his neck. “Post-captain, Derrick? I can hardly believe it.”
“You didn’t think I’d stay a lieutenant forever, did you?” He embraced her, nuzzling her neck the way he always did when he returned.
“Captain King will be sorry to lose you, but you deserve the recognition.” His bravery in action off the coast of Brittany had been too valuable for the Admiralty to ignore. She released him to examine his face. What new scars had he acquired this time? She ran her fingers over the nicks on the sides of his face, then turned to his hands to look for evidence of gashes. He’d returned whole, and she would offer the sincerest prayers of gratitude for that.
He grinned. “You are happier about the time I’ll have at home waiting for a command than you are about the commission.”
She reached up and pulled the hat from his head. “Of course I am.” The first two years of their marriage hadn’t been easy, but she’d settled into the life of a navy wife. She was luckier than many wives, as he returned to England with messages and prisoners more often than most officers. She saw him every moment he could spare. It was never enough, but someday France would relent. She’d learned not to give up hope.
Now hope had given her a little prize of her own. It could be months before the navy had a ship for him. With pockets padded from prize money, she didn’t even mind the cut in his pay. He was home.
Corah pulled off her hat, the Bristol diamond pin twinkling from its band, and set both on the sofa in the tiny sitting room for the housekeeper to care for later.
“Where is Mrs. Thomas?” Derrick asked.
“She and Matilda are at the grocer’s.” Corah had sent the housekeeper and maid-of-all-work off to purchase things for dinner before she left for the docks. She and Derrick had been invited to dine at Grandfather’s townhouse across the river, but she wanted Derrick for herself tonight. A navy wife could be selfish about this sort of thing. That’s what Mrs. King had told her.
“We’re alone, then?”
She cocked her head coyly. “If Mrs. Thomas and Matilda are not here, what do you think?”
“Do not play with me.” His arms shot around her with a swiftness she wouldn’t have expected, given how tired he seemed in the coach. “Do you know how long I’ve been dying to hold you?”
Corah took his face in her hands. “Remind me.”
He kissed her fiercely, as though trying to make up for all the time away. She let him try for as long as he wanted. Every night he was away, she dreamed of this moment. She ran her fingers through his hair, quickening his breath until eventually, she tugged out the black silk ribbon that held his hair back.
“You’re certain they won’t be back soon?” he asked.
Corah lifted a shoulder. “They don’t usually return before noon.”
Derrick scooped her into his arms, earning him a laugh. He made for the stairs and proceeded up them with determined vigor. She clung tightly to him, the brightness inside warming her from her head to her toes. How she’d missed him. All the waiting was worth it if it meant being his wife. Never mind that fate had given them a life neither one had planned. They’d both found home—not in Bristol or on the decks of a ship, but in each other.
