Page 31 of One Bed for the Bluestocking
“Professor Kerr means to retire at the end of this term,” Nat confessed.“He told Andrew Thompson and me last night.”
A broad grin stretched across Kit’s face.“See?Things are falling into place.”
“There is no guarantee that I will be chosen,” Nat protested.“Andrew is also a strong candidate.Or they might bring someone in from outside the university.”
“Oh, it will go to you.”Kit sounded completely confident.“We’re going to make sure of it.This trip has come at the perfect time.Once people see the quality of your research, they won’t be able to deny that you’re the man most worthy of the job.”
Nat gazed at his hands, where they rested on the ship’s rail.“I hope so.”
Kit grabbed his wrist and shook it.“I know so.Mark my words, Nathaniel Sterling.I’ll make sure you get that post, if I have to paint a thousand fornicating badgers.”
That startled a laugh out of him.“Hopefully it won’t come to that.”
Kit gave an exaggerated shudder.“I certainly hope not.”
Nat regarded Kit for a beat.It was nice having someone who believed in him.Who wasn’t merely resigned to his choice of a career.“Thank you.”
Kit inclined his head.“Of course.”
Nat rubbed his jaw.“Your views on the value of academic work are a bit unusual.What does your father do, that he supports your career as a scientific illustrator so wholeheartedly?”
The color drained from Kit’s face.“My father?”he asked, his voice shrill.“He… I… Um…” He glanced away, then suddenly brightened.“Oh, look!Dolphins!”
Nat turned.Surely enough, there was a pod of dolphins swimming about fifty feet from the ship.
He pulled a spyglass from his satchel and trained it on the pod.“Ooh, and they’re short-beaked common dolphins.A rare sighting this close to shore.”
When he lowered the spyglass, he noticed Kit staring at it with longing.“I wish I’d thought to bring one of those.”
Nat reached into his satchel.“Happily, I brought one for you.I need my illustrator to have an unimpeded view of those eagles, after all.”
Kit raised the spyglass to his eye.“Oh!Oh, that is truly remarkable.Look at the streaks of white and even of black.They’re quite beautiful, aren’t they…”
They spent the next few hours admiring the dolphins, and what other wildlife they could spot from their vantage point on the railing.And it only occurred to Nat after he had lain down in his bunk for the night that Kit had never answered his question about his father.
Chapter14
Sharing accommodations with Nathaniel turned out far better than Kate would have thought.
Because their interior room had no windows, it was good for nothing but sleeping, so they did not spend any significant time there.On each of the two nights of their voyage, Kate climbed into her bunk in her shirt and trousers and slipped beneath the blanket.She would have liked to loosen the linen band she used to bind her breasts, but judged this too great a risk.Oh, well—she could manage for a few days.
They took their meals in the captain’s quarters, and, as the weather was unusually fine, passed most of their days as they had the first one—standing at the ship’s railing, watching for animals or interesting sights.
Although they would sometimes talk, they also spent long stretches in companionable silence.This was something that Kate appreciated.She found constant chatter exhausting.Whereas her sister, Pippa, was happier nowhere than at a large party, Kate found the experience draining after the first hour.She inevitably had to go off in search of a quiet corner where she could recover her equilibrium.
Nathaniel seemed to possess a similar nature and seemed genuinely untroubled if they passed a half hour without exchanging a single word.Kate was grateful she had stumbled upon a traveling companion with whom she was so well matched in terms of temperament.
On the third day, they stopped overnight at Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands.While the ship’s crew was busy unloading cargo bound for Orkney and loading a shipment of kelp intended for the mainland, Kate and Nathaniel set off in search of Orkney’s signature vole.Alas, the vole proved elusive in the three hours of daylight they had, but Kate made sketches of birds and flowers, and of Orkney’s strange, treeless landscape.
They spent the night in their bunks and set off for the Isle of Lewis the following morning.As they sailed across the North Sea, a humpback whale breached the water some fifty yards off the ship’s starboard side, landing with a tremendous splash.It happened too quickly for Kate to make a proper sketch, but it waggled its fluked tail at them long enough for her to trace a quick outline before it slipped beneath the waves.
After one more night aboard the ship, they arrived at the port town of Stornoway.It was a small but bustling town with its own assembly room, reading room, and several streets of slate-roofed houses.
“We’re at the Star Inn,” Nathaniel said as they disembarked from the ship.“Ah!”He nodded toward a whitewashed building just opposite the quay with two small gables on the roof.“I believe that’s it.”
It was a modest establishment, but Kate’s heart soared at the sight of it.Sharing a room with Nathaniel had been manageable, but what a relief it would be to unbind her chest for the first time in six days!She wondered if she could get a proper bath.Perhaps not, but even a thorough scrub at a washstand and a fresh change of clothes would be most welcome.
Inside, the proprietor, a Mr.MacRitchie, greeted them in English.“Good afternoon.How can I help ye gentlemen?”
