Page 5 of The Captain’s Valentine (The “Other” Trents #3)

Harrison woke later than he had in a very long time, then lay in bed staring at the ceiling wondering how his intentions of the night before had not gone as planned. After he had secured a dance with Miss Perdita, he had spent the rest of the evening in conversation with friends and acquaintances, except for their delightful stroll in the gardens, supper, and one dance. Not once did he seek the company of a widow whom he was familiar with and there were plenty to choose from. They had even made veiled offers for a more private meeting yet he had no desire to accompany any of them to their home.

What the blazes was wrong with him?

Since when was coming to know a miss more intriguing than a practiced lover? He was a confirmed bachelor who enjoyed pleasures that the innocent could not comprehend.

Scratching his head, Harrison rose from his bed and prepared for the day. He did need to check on the repairs to his ship, but what then? He couldn’t call on the widows during the fashionable hours simply because if an assignation was going to be planned, it should not be done where others might hear.

It was better to see to his ship and finally visit White’s, except while he was inspecting the repairs, his mind was on Oliver, because he had been reminded when Harrison had passed the alley where the lad had been found.

There was a mystery. Where had he come from and why had he not been claimed? That was a question that needed to be answered. Except, instead of going to Bow Street or the Thames River Police, because they had set the matter aside, he made his way to Westbrook House.

While Oliver was a good enough excuse, Harrison could also not lie to himself because it was Miss Perdita who drew him there.

What was it about her?

When he knocked on the door of Westbrook House, he had assumed it would be Edith who answered. Instead, it was Lady Victoria Westbrook.

“How can I help you, Captain Trent?”

Lady Victoria asked after he’d been granted entrance.

“Is there any word as to Oliver’s parents?”

She nearly snorted. “Is that the true reason you are here?”

“Yes…well…why else would I be?”

Harrison resisted the urge to run a finger around the cravat that seemed to be tightening around his neck.

“Miss Perdita is an employee,”

Lady Victoria reminded.

“My concern is for Oliver,”

Harrison insisted, even if it was not the complete truth.

“Then it is just a coincidence that you remained at a ball all evening, dancing with no one, expect my employee?”

With a frown, he stared at her. While Lady Victoria spoke the truth, he had not thought anyone noticed who he did and did not dance with.

She chuckled. “Join me for tea, Captain Trent.”

Lady Victoria turned and glided into the parlor then tugged on the bellpull before continuing to the settee where she settled. “I am in the middle of writing a letter to Sophia. Is there any news that I can include?”

Miss Perdita was not the only person who needed to worry about matchmaking women. “I write to my sister often enough and share with her any news that I believe is pertinent.”

Lady Victoria. “As to Oliver, there has been no word,”

Lady Victoria said as Edith entered. She requested tea then focused on Harrison again. “The circumstances are rather odd, are they not?”

“The very reason I am intrigued. A child of quality does not go missing without being noticed.”

“You assume he is of quality,”

Lady Victoria reminded him.

“His clothing was of a fine linen and the dirt upon his hands was recent. He was not filthy, nor did he carry the stench of the unwashed that even children and infants possess when they have been born to a home with reduced circumstances.”

“True,”

she acknowledged. “However, the clothing could have been found in a rubbish or rag bin after being tossed when the former owner outgrew the clothing.”

She paused when Edith entered with a tea service and placed it in the middle of the table. Harrison waited to hear the rest of her theory while she poured tea.

“The mother may have wanted to bathe the child so that he would not dirty the clothing, even though she knew it would not last.”

Harrison had to agree that it was possible such had occurred. “I do not think that is what happened.”

“Nor I, but it is the only explanation that I can conceive. Otherwise, it meant that a child was stolen from their parents or a guardian by a destitute woman, who had the misfortune to be murdered.”

“But why?” he asked.

Lady Victoria shrugged. “Ransom, I suppose.”

“If that is so, why is someone not looking for the child? Why have they not gone to the authorities?”

She shrugged and blew out a sigh. “It is a mystery,”

she said before lifting the delicate cup to her lips.

“A mystery that I hope can be solved soon.”

“I as well,”

Miss Perdita said from the entry. “I cannot imagine what the parents must be experiencing not knowing where their child is, who took him or why.”

She advanced further into the room. “What if it was kidnapping for ransom and the parents paid, but no child was delivered. They must be fraught with desperation and deep fear of what has become of their son.”

Harrison immediately came to his feet. “How is Oliver doing?”

“He is well, so long as I am holding him, or I am where he can see me. If I leave before he is asleep, he cries until exhausted.”

“Do you not find it rather odd?”

“Many children develop an attachment to various people for reasons that none of us can understand.”

He supposed she was correct. It wasn’t as if Harrison had much experience with children.

“Lady Victoria, if there is nothing else that you need, I shall leave for the day.”

“I will see you again the day after tomorrow.”

“Until then.”

Miss Perdita smiled and left the parlor.

Was tomorrow her day off?

“I should be going as well.”

He returned his teacup to the saucer on the table. “Thank you for the tea, Lady Victoria, and if you do learn anything further about Oliver, would you please send word?”

“Of course, Captain Trent.”

Miss Perdita had already donned her gloves and hat by the time he joined her.

“I would be happy to walk you home again,”

Harrison found himself offering as he joined her in the entry.

“It truly is not necessary, Captain Trent. I am certain that you have more pressing matters that require your attention.”

He frowned with the realization that there was absolutely nothing he needed to be doing. It was an odd and unfamiliar sensation since when he was aboard a ship, there was constant work to be done.

“I find the remainder of my afternoon free.”

He opened the door for her. “Shall we?”

Perdita had intended to simply inform Lady Victoria that she was leaving for the day and was stunned to find she was talking with Captain Trent. It was a pleasant surprise, which only grew when he offered to escort her home.

As she always did, Perdita took a deep breath and blew it out, enjoying the moment of quiet and fresh air, which was when she noticed the woman standing beside a tree across the street. She wore a bonnet so Perdita could not tell the color of her hair, but she was certain that it was the woman she’d seen previously.

“There is that woman again,”

she whispered to Captain Trent.

He looked to the area that she had given a slight nod.

“What woman?”

Perdita glanced back to the tree where the woman had been but she was gone. She took in the entire area but the woman was nowhere to be found. Very odd!

“I suppose it does not matter,”

she finally offered as they began the walk toward her home, yet it bothered her. That woman was beginning to become as intriguing a mystery as the circumstances of how Oliver came to be at Westbrook House, and she was certain it was only a coincidence that his arrival and her first appearance occurred around the same time. Except…

Could that woman have anything to do with Oliver?

Of course not. If Oliver belonged to her, she would have claimed him. Further, Perdita would not have seen her in other locations, only near Westbrook House and she was foolish for even entertaining the idea that the two were related.

It was also a silly matter to ponder, especially when Captain Trent was walking beside her because he was far more intriguing than the woman.

“Thank you for the escort, Captain Trent, but it truly is not necessary. I see myself home often.”

“A woman should always have an escort or companion when walking in London.”

“Which are you?”

Perdita couldn’t help asking. “Escort or companion?”

He frowned then tilted her head. “Friend.”

It was the perfect answer. “I thank you, my friend.”

Even though this was not a courtship, Perdita was far from disappointed that Captain Trent was walking with her a second day in a row.

“Will you be attending another ball this evening?”

Perdita frowned. “I am not certain,”

she answered. “Rosalind usually does not inform me of our commitments until I return home.”

“Truly?”

he asked with surprise

“She prefers to surprise us with what is planned so that my sisters and I do not have time to make appropriate excuses not to attend.”

“Do you not like attending balls?” he asked.

“Oh, I adore them, and dancing, and all other activities that Society does to fill their time. It was my sisters who tried to avoid the ton and mainly because they did not feel we belonged, and they didn’t want our sister interfering and possibly arranging courtships and such.”

Captain Trent frowned, concern in his green eyes. “Why would you not belong?”

“According to Felding and Rosalind, we do. They wanted to give the three of us a Season, which we had never experienced before, and even though none of us are fresh from the school room, it does not feel right to take advantage of their generosity.”

“What of your parents. I assume they are not living, or perhaps they did not come to London.”

This was the part she hated more than anything. Oh, how she hated to lie, but the truth and secrets did not belong to her alone.

“My parents were missionaries in India. They were killed before I had even reached the end of my first year.”

“I am terribly sorry.”

“It was our mother’s sister, and her husband, Vicar Grant, who raised us.”

“All ten of you?” he said.

Perdita nodded. “They had no children of their own and even though it must have been quite an adjustment they took all of us in. We will be forever grateful for who knows where we might have ended up. Instead of being an officer with the Thames River Police, Benedick could have found himself being arrested by one.”

Harrison may think she made light of a possibility, but the fact was that Benedick was quite good at picking pockets before their uncle intervened.

“I had always wanted to visit India, but the opportunity never came about. Maybe I will one day. It is a place that I would like to see.”

“I have no memory of India.”

Nor had she ever been there but sometimes secrets must be kept.

“Maybe one day you will get the opportunity to return.”

Perdita had tried not to react, but she couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking that they would see India together.

She immediately dismissed that hopeful thought. He was making conversation not indicating a future that involved the two of them sailing to India.

“Am I to assume that when the Season has come to an end that you will be returning to your aunt and uncle?”

“No.”

He pulled back rather surprised. “Do you intend to remain with Felding and your sister?”

“I hope to live in their home, even after they return to the country, and continue in my position at Westbrook House.”

Perdita already anticipated arguments from Felding and her sister. “Though my aunt and uncle would never ask me to leave, they should be free of the obligation they took on twenty-four years ago.”

“I am not so certain that I would approve of my sister living alone without companion or guardian,”

he stated as they reached the door to Felding’s.

Few men would. “If I were younger and fresh from the school room, I would agree. But, as I near the shelf of spinsterhood, I no longer believe such strictures placed by Society are necessary.”

It was likely Captain Trent would never approve, and no doubt, if Felding agreed to let her remain in London, she would have an older woman to watch over her whenever she stepped foot from the house. But it was a small inconvenience if she were able to continue in her work at Westbrook House.

“Though, I will admit, that if you remain in London, it will be easier to visit you when I do return to port.”

“Yes, it would,”

she agreed as she smiled. It was comforting that Captain Trent did not intend to forget about her after he sailed again. Then again, he might, but at least he intended not to.

“Thank you again, for seeing me home.”

“It was my pleasure, Miss Perdita.”

With that, she hurried up the two steps, entered the house, closed the door then leaned against it and grinned. Not a courtship, because he never indicated as such and he was leaving shortly, but a friend who happened to be a captain that she liked very, very much.