Page 50 of The Autumn Wife
“There you are.” Captain Girard slammed a meaty hand on the table, making everyone jump. “Lazing about past dawn, are we?”
Theo stilled. The captain’s silver gaze narrowed pinpoint fierce, and the tone of his voice ran rough. The captain usually greeted him in a more jovial way. A side glance at Cecile suggested she was just as surprised at the captain as he.
“Here I thought you’d be up at first light.” Lucas clanked his pewter spoon beside his bowl. “Are you so eager to leave us for Quebec—and a berth on a ship to France?”
Wasthatthe trouble? The captain hadn’t been happy, yesterday, when Theo had informed him of his decision to leave. But the burly Lucas hadn’t reacted with nearly as much passion as now. “Actually,” Theo ventured, crouching by the hearth to set the firewood in the bin. “I’ve been thinking—”
“Oh,” Lucas interrupted, “you’ve beenthinking, have you?”
“Lucas.” The warning came from Marie, still nursing the baby on the far side of the room.
“You’re onlythinking,” the captain continued, “about the ship you’ll be sailing out of these settlements. That’s the only thing on your mind, Theo Martin, now that you’re finally a free man.”
Free manechoed in his head.
He swayed on his heels. He’d been counting down the days to freedom for four long years. How could he have overlooked—even for a moment when he’d arisen from his bed this morning—that his indentured servitude had finally come to an end?
“Congratulations, Theo.”
The sight of Cecile answered his own question. He’d forgotten because this woman filled his mind now. This woman who, once all the complications were settled, would be this free man’s wife.
“So,” Lucas prompted, still frowning, “was it the packing of the canoe that made you late to the table? Or is it that you can’t wait to be gone?”
“There will be no berth on a ship for me.” Theo swelled with pride and wonder, unsteady in this new freedom. “I’ll be staying in these settlements.”
“Why?” Lucas barked. “Did the Saint Lawrence River ice up early, making travel impossible? Or do you think you’ve missed the last ship?”
Theo glanced at Cecile, silently questioning whether this was the time to announce their news. She remained stunned—and mum—watching thecaptain while holding the wooden spoon suspended above the pot.
Theo stalled. “I’ve got my reasons for staying, Captain. Good reasons.”
“What a man of whims you’ve turned out to be.” Pewter utensils and earthenware bowls rattled as the captain slammed both hands against the table again. “Only yesterday, you were so eager to go. Damn it, man—”
“Lucas, language.” Marie glanced over her shoulder toward the hearth, where the two-year-old Charles sat on a braided rug, eyes wide above the wooden toy he was gumming.
The captain grunted, but he did not cease his glower. “So, then, are you just to stay in the settlements until the spring ships come and then leave us?” He pointed at Cecile. “Are you going to break that woman’s heart?”
Realization struck Theo hard.Ah, so that’s the root of this matter.The captain knew he and Cecile had spent the night together.
“Enough.” Cecile stepped toward Lucas, holding the dripping wooden spoon aloft. “Captain, I know you’re standing in the place where my father would, if I’d ever known my father, but I won’t have you roaring at this good man.”
“Good man, you say? Are you daft, woman—”
“Careful.” Theo took a step toward the table. “No one talks like that to my future wife.”
The room went stone silent but for the slobbering sounds of little Charles sucking on the toy.
Damn, had he really said that aloud? He and Cecile were supposed to announce this together. He turned to her with an apology on his face, only to find her grinning.
“I suppose it was foolish,” Cecile said, “to think we could keep this from them for more than a moment.”
“Keep it from us?” Marie stood from the chair, the nursing done, her bodice-scarf tucked in. Patting the babe against her shoulder, she headed toward the cradle beside the hearth, tsking every step of the way. “As if we couldn’t figure it out for ourselves.”
“I told you,Chepewéssin,” the captain said, using Marie’s Huron nickname. “I won’t believe it until I hear it out of this blackguard’s mouth.” The captain shot to his full height. “And now that it’s been said, it’s thefinestof news, Theo. Thefinest.”
Lucas bellowed a laugh, a roar that rattled the pewterware anew, before thrusting a hand toward him.
Theo extended his own, wincing at the grip.
