Page 16 of Devil of the High Seas
“You’re not the one about to be married off to a stranger,” she said, her tone more waspish than she’d intended. Adrian’s brows rose at that. It wasn’t often she and her brother quarreled, but her temper was up and her pride had been pricked by the events of this morning.
He reached over and covered one of her hands with his. “I tried to convince Father not to pursue this marriage, but he lectured me on my own duties regarding marriage.” Adrian’s tone hardened slightly. “It’s as if the moment Dominic returned to England, they wanted us both gone.”
“You know that isn’t true. It’s just... well, Dominic will be the Earl of Camden someday. He and Roberta will have a house full of children, and you and I will be in the way, won’t we?” She and Adrian had given a lot of thought to the new dynamics of their household now that their elder brother, who’d been gone for fourteen years, had resumed his role in the family.
“Father suggested I join the navy. Can you believe that? Thank God Nicholas Flynn talked him out of such nonsense. I’d be lashed to death for rebellion within the first hour.”
“You in the navy would be nonsense indeed,” Josephine agreed. Many fraternal twins were opposites to each other, but she and Adrian were more like mirror images. Adrian would no sooner take orders than she would had she been in his position and facing life on a naval vessel. Life in the navy would be a disaster for him.
“I have been thinking, though. Dom said he will be needing masters to captain his new fleet of merchant vessels, and I thought I could join one of his crews and work my way up to captaincy in a few years. I wouldn’t mind the work, knowing I could advance with hard work and not have to pay for a commission.”
“I don’t suppose I could go with you? Dress up like a lad, like in those stories Roberta told us about when she played Dom’s cabin boy,” she said, half teasing. Josephine briefly indulged in a fantasy of donning men’s breeches and scaling the rigging of a ship with a knife between her teeth while the guns fired upon an enemy ship.
“Your husband might notice you missing,” Adrian chuckled. At his comment, however, she flinched. “He seems like a good fellow, Josie,” her brother quickly added.
“He is, and I suppose that’s rather the problem. What sort of life would I have with a kind and gentle man?”
“A safe life?” Adrian countered. “Surely anyone would want that?” Yet even he didn’t sound that certain. The siren’s lure of adventure was irresistible to everyone in their family.
“I want to sail to the West Indies like Dominic. I wish—” She stopped herself before she voiced any more foolish wishes.
“What do you wish?” Her brother’s gaze turned serious as he pushed away a plate of half-eaten food.
“It’s silly...”
“Nothing you say is silly,” Adrian replied. “Now, what’s the matter? I’ve felt you’ve been different since last night. I saw you leave dinner, and Dominic went after you. Did he say something?”
Adrian had no idea how right he was. Dominic had said something... about lost men and the sea, and then Gavin had washed up on shore and found his way to her. Andeverythingabout her life felt changed on some elemental level that she couldn’t quite explain, not even to her twin.
“I don’t want a normal life.”
“Does anyone?” Adrian’s tone was teasing, but she shook her head at him.
“I am not meant to sit around and sew silly needlepoint until my fingers bleed and act as if I can’t offer the world something more.”
Her brother squeezed her hand again. “I rather doubt that will be your fate. You’re a Greyville, Josie. Like me, like Dominic, like Mother and Father. We’re bound for adventure. Give it time, and you’ll see that the world is waiting for you.”
“Promise me this marriage will be a good one…” she begged her brother.
Her brother’s face was solemn. “Ipromise, Josie. You will marry Castleton and have a life you’ve always dreamed of. You’ll sail the seas and have adventures and all the things you could ever dream of.”
She wanted to believe him, but Adrian had always been such a positive believer in one’s dreams. But as a woman, Josephine didn’t have the same luxury to let her dreams be catch the wind and sail her away toward adventure.
She finished her small luncheon, and allowed her mind to wander back to the subject she had been carefully avoiding. Had it been a mistake to tell Griffin that his brother was alive? Surely Griffin wouldn’t betray his brother to the authorities. She pushed her plate away and stood.
“Where are you off to?” Adrian asked her.
“Nowhere.” When her brother raised a brow at her, she rolled her eyes. “Nowhere,” she said again and left him to finish his meal.
She was halfway up the stairs when Griffin came flying down the steps. They met in the middle of the grand staircase.
“Ah, there you are, Josephine.” He smoothly took one of her arms in his and escorted her back up the stairs the way he’d come. His sudden forwardness confused her. Mere hours before, his touch had been hesitant. Now there was an urgency to him that confused her. Had something happened to Gavin? Had his injury worsened? Josephine expected them to stop before the tapestry cloaking the secret passageway, but Griffin continued on to another room farther down the hall.
“My lord—”
“Griffin,” he corrected automatically as he pulled her into an empty drawing room and closed the door.
“What’s the matter?”
