Page 55 of All is Fair in Love
“Go and get your things from the ship, then come back to the warehouse and have some food. We can discuss a financial settlement over some cold cuts and another cup of coffee.” She lifted her gaze and met his.
Jonathan nodded. “Thank you. If there is one thing, I have always known about you, Captain Poppy Basden, it’s that you are fair and honest in everything you do, and that includes your business dealings. Someday, a fine man will come into your life, and he will learn that your word is your truth.”
Jonathan tapped his forefinger to his head in salute, and Poppy offered a kind smile in reply. Them parting on civil terms was an unexpected victory—one she was not going to jeopardize.
Sitting watching as Jonathan made his way across the wharf and onto the gangplank of the Empress Catherine, Poppy considered his words. She had always made a point of being honest with her work, never seeking to undercut a business acquaintance or go against the spirit of a contract. Jonathan would get what was rightfully his from the cinnamon shipment. She would even handle the banker’s order herself.
With her empty coffee cup in hand, Poppy headed back to the warehouse. The second she closed the door; the flood of tears came. When Jonathan departed later that day, she would be alone once more. No family. And few, if any, real friends.
Always by myself. I just wish I had someone to share my life with. To love me. Someone who wouldn’t leave.
Knowing that she would be the only person living here for many months to come suddenly made the cavernous space seemed even more empty than usual. A shiver of fear gripped her. As a young woman sleeping alone at the London Docks, Poppy was in a vulnerable position. Perhaps even a dangerous one. She could only point her pistol at so many people before something bad happened to her.
Wiping her hands at the tears, Poppy wished desperately that they would go away. Weakness wouldn’t do her any good. She had to be brave. It was the only way she could survive.
“You have done this before; you can do it again. Papa will be here soon. You just have to hold on,” she comforted herself.
But the mantra by she had lived for so many of her younger years no longer held the same weight it once had. She was slowly losing faith in the promises her father had made.
George Basden hadn’t always come good on them. And she knew not to question him when he failed her. He was his own man, and she was a lifelong inconvenience. One he had hoped that, through marriage, he would finally be rid of once and for all.
And what if he didn’t make it to London? She had spent long years without her father, living on the prayer that wherever he was, he was safe. When she moved to London, he in turn had remained in Ceylon on the understanding that Poppy was with Jonathan. That he would protect her.
What would she do if her father never came? Ships were regularly lost at sea. The journey around the bottom of Africa was a perilous trip even in the best of weather.
The front door swung open. Poppy turned as Jonathan appeared. His woolen seabag was slung over his shoulder. She flinched as he dropped it to the floor. It was heavy and the sound of it hitting the hard stonework echoed around the room.
“That’s everything. Oh, and I did take my spyglass from your cabin, just in case you went looking for it,” he said.
Poppy sniffed back her tears of self-pity. “Of course. It is your spyglass; you have every right to take it with you. Will you stay and have some breakfast with me? Cold cuts? A final meal before you go?”
“Perhaps just a coffee, but I would prefer that we settle the financial arrangements as soon as possible. I want to be able to leave England with my share of the cinnamon money. Less, of course, the coins you gave me.”
Having made the decision to leave, it was clear he wasn’t even going to bother with more than the barest of niceties. In his mind, Jonathan was already on that ship, and she was but a distant memory.
“Let me get the banker’s money order drawn up. You can cash it this morning and then be on your way,” she replied.
“Thank you.”
Poppy unlocked the top drawer of her desk and took out a pile of papers. In the middle of them was a letter she had written but not dated instructing her bank to pay Jonathan Measy the amount of two hundred pounds. It was a princely sum, more than what a first captain in the British navy would make during the same time it had taken them to sail from the far east. But the contract was clear, and notwithstanding his lack of effort since their arrival, Poppy was determined to abide by their agreement.
Laying the paper out on the desk, she dipped her pen in ink and wrote the date at the bottom of the letter. After affixing her father’s stamp, she signed her own name.
“I think you will find the amount is correct,” she said.
Jonathan took the letter and checked it. “Yes, thank you.”
When he offered her his hand, Poppy stared at it for a moment. This was not how she had expected things between them to end, but as they shook hands, she knew it was for the best.
“I wish you all the luck in the world, Poppy Basden. And much happiness here in England. When I return, I shall call in and see how you are faring.”
She nodded her thanks. “As for you, Jonathan Measy, may you have fair winds and following seas.”
It was the only way for sailors to part and wish one another safe travels.
When the ink had dried, Jonathan carefully folded up the letter and stuffed it into his coat pocket. He retrieved his bag from the floor and headed toward the door. Poppy followed him out into the early morning sunshine.
“Before you go, could I ask one small favor?” she said.
