Page 78 of Reforming Lord Ragsdale
She shook her head over his dilemma and hurried on deck, minding her steps around more luggage and rope, and casks. Tim had already attached himself to the seamen doing their slow shuffle around the capstan as the great anchor rose. He grinned at her in self-conscious delight, and she smiled back.This trip will be a boy’s paradise, she thought.I wonder what I will make of it?
The captain and first mate were everywhere, bellowing orders to the men balanced on the yardarms. She glanced at the small knot of men standing forward, chatting by the railing, obviously the other passengers. There was a lady with them, well-dressed and standing close to the man who must be the colony’s new governor.Perhaps she will need a servant, Emma thought.I should make myself known to her.
She stayed where she was, shy again.I have seven months to make her acquaintance, she excused herself.It can wait.She turned to go belowdeck once more but stopped and looked around again. Someone had called her name.
She looked at Tim, who was still pulling up the anchor, his attention concentrated on the sail above him that was slowly filling with air now.I must be hearing things, she decided and moved toward the companionway again.
“Emma, I wish you would pay attention,” Lord Ragsdale called to her.
She whirled around and stood in dumbfounded amazement as one of the men separated himself from the group by the railing and strolled her way. She stared at him, then sank down on a hatch as he came closer, taking his time, ambling along as though he owned the ship.
“What a lot of clutter,” he said with some distaste as he seated himself beside her. “The captain tells me that we will stop in Rio to take on livestock, and then it really becomes interesting.”
Her mind was even more cluttered than the deck.If I look at him, I know he will vanish, she told herself but could not bring herself to glance his way. She knew quite forcefully that the last thing she wanted was for him to disappear.I will just sit here and pretend another moment, she thought.
It would have worked, except that he took her hand then, and she knew he was real. She looked down at his fingers twined through hers and closed her eyes as she sighed and leaned against his shoulder, feeling safe again.
“Emma,” he said after a moment, and there was nothing of assurance in his voice now. “I hate to admit it, but I’ve made a real muddle of your excellent work of redemption.”
She smiled but did not open her eyes. “I suppose you will tell me now that there is a ferociously angry lady in London who would probably break you on a rack if she ever catches you.”
“Well, yes,” he said. “You Irish have such a way with a phrase, did you know?”
She giggled. “What have you done, Lord Ragsdale?”
He raised her fingers to his lips and kissed them. “I think I have made it impossible to return to London anytimesoon.” He paused a moment. “How fortunate then that I have taken on the job of lord inspector for Australia and Van Dieman’s Land.”
She gasped and looked at him then. “You can’t be telling the truth!”
“Why would anyone lie about that? Really, Emma, you disappoint me.”
He kissed her then, and as she let him fold her in his arms, she knew his disappointment did not extend to his lips. Or his heart, obviously; it was pounding as hard as hers was. She would have been happy to continue kissing him until they arrived in Sydney, but he stopped suddenly and looked up at the cheering sailors in the mast overhead.
“We should obviously continue this belowdeck,” he commented as he tucked her close under his arm. “I am somewhat squeamish about spectators to my lovemaking. Call me prudish, but there you are.”
“I could never call you prudish, Lord Ragsdale,” she assured him.
“Yes, well,” he said. “Neither are you, my dear. That was quite a note you left on my desk.”
She blushed. “I had hoped I was able to retrieve it in time.”
“So glad you didn’t,” he murmured. “It sent me out the door and on my most spontaneous errand ever. Clarissa Partridge—should you ever require this information—does not enjoy tumult, challenge, or change of plans.” He kissed her head. “She’d have been a dead bore in a place like Australia, which will probably contain generous parts of all three.”
“It was the note?” she asked.
“Well, yes and no,” he said. “I had decided several weeks ago that I loved you, but figured that was a lost cause. So I thought it would be less painful all around if I stuck with the original plans and married Clarissa. I did not want to return from Norfolk until I was sure you were gone.” He chuckled and shook his head. “I owe such a debt to the defunct lord inspector.”
“But I do love you,” she assured him. “I didn’t think you could ever be serious about me, so I left that note only because I knew you would never see it when I was around.”
“Of course; makes perfect sense,” he said calmly, with only a hint of a smile, then glanced at Tim, who stood beside Emma. “And you, lad, what does your expression tell me?”
“Only that I do not understand adults,” he said honestly.
“Nor I,” Lord Ragsdale confessed. He kissed Emma again. “I had to make some arrangements, obviously, to show you what a good fellow I am—hardworking, honest, and all that, and fit to be father to your children. I don’t think your da would much approve if I were to arrive unemployed with you in Australia and tell him what a bargain he was getting for a son-in-law.”
“And all this because I wrote I love you,” she marveled. “I am sure you have heard it before.”
“Heavens, yes,” he agreed, the picture of serenity. “Fae Moullé used to tell me that on a regular basis, so she couldn’t have meant it.” His voice turned serious then, and her heart pounded louder. “Actually, Emma, what no one has ever said before was that they liked me.”
