Page 5 of Only By Grace
“Thank you…” She trailed off, hoping he would tell her his name but she very well understood bashfulness and perhaps he needed encouragement. “I am Grace. Do you mind telling me your name?”
Suddenly, he remembered to be afraid of her. “Paddy,” he replied, not meeting her eyes.
“Paddy, I am sure he will enjoy a few minutes to stretch his legs and play.”
She cast him her biggest smile, hoping at least to have one friend amongst the crew. He was certainly less intimidating than the others she’d met thus far.
Paddy blushed. “Yes, miss,” he said, then escaped with Theodore.
Grace tucked into her food. She was more hungry than she cared to admit. It was porridge, which her sisters hated, but she never minded.
“What did you do to that poor boy? He looked moonstruck with a smile as wide as the Atlantic.”
Grace stiffened at Carew’s voice.
“I did nothing more than greet him and ask him to take Theodore for a turn.”
Carew snorted then sat across from her with his own tray.
“A captain retrieves his own meals?”
“Normally, no, but my cabin boy was redirected to another task.”
Grace smiled with satisfaction. She’d actually done something a bit naughty. Joy and Patience at least would be so proud.
“That’s to be the way of it then?” Carew was looking at her in a new way with one brow raised inquisitively.
She tried not to blush, but was likely unsuccessful. She’d had a bit of an infatuation with him—especially the first Season when he’d been part of their rescuers, as she liked to think of them, and her sisters had teased her maliciously ever since. But who could blame her? Even though he’d shown no interest in her at all, he was a beautiful man. Darkly dangerous with black hair and startling blue eyes, paired with his somewhat secretive and roguish demeanour and—Grace could not explain why she was attracted to such a man. She knew she was too shy and mousy to ever catch someone like him. Really, it would not be a comfortable match and she appreciated that now. But that never stopped foolish girls from daydreaming, did it? Grace was always bold and beautiful in her dreams.
“You are eating that porridge as if it’s your last meal,” Carew observed.
“I happen to enjoy porridge, and it is hardly gentlemanly of you to say so.”
Carew looked at her with amazement.
“Is something lodged in your throat, my lord?”
“I do not think I’ve ever heard anyone say they enjoy porridge. The crew complains mightily about it.”
“For a time before Lady Halbury took us in, it was the only thing we could afford. I chose to appreciate it instead of the alternative.”
He shook his head, then took another bite, still looking a bit perplexed.
Grace finished her bowl and dabbed at her mouth with the napkin provided. It was all rather civilized yet alsouncomfortable, eating alone with this man. “Do you normally take meals by yourself?”
“Normally, the first mate joins me. But as you can see, he is not with us this time. His mother was ill and he stayed behind with her.”
“I hope she improves.” Grace could think of nothing more to say. Now that she had nothing more to eat, she felt awkward sitting in his presence. She’d never been a scintillating conversationalist with anyone except perhaps her sisters, where the wall disappeared that normally surrounded her with strangers. In one aspect, she should be grateful that the Captain was Carew, not someone completely unknown to her. But then again, it had to be Carew who she’d been enamoured of that first Season. Had he realized? In her mind, she’d made an utter fool of herself. With him, she’d either been too tongue-tied to speak, or what she did manage was something stupid and trite.
Part of her was still angry that he would not set her down at the nearest port. But the other sympathetic, rational part of her also understood why he would not. First there was his urgent matter, then there was Westwood. If Carew left her at some strange port and expected her to find her way back, Westwood would be furious. If she’d been stranded with rough sailors, it would’ve been one thing, but Carew was one of his closest friends.
She would simply have to think of Carew like one of her new brothers. She was not so shy around them, was she? Well, Rotham was very intimidating. She still did not speak much around him.
“How long will the journey take?” she finally asked after she could no longer take the silence.
“A week, give or take.”
“Why does it take so long to go to Ireland? It does not look far on the map.” She glanced over to the map on the wall above Carew’s desk.
