Page 10

“Yes, thank you. Goodbye, Mother. Goodbye, Father,” she said, curtsying stiffly.

Adelaide followed suit. It was more than those two wretches deserved, the way they treated their daughters.

Isabella turned her back on them and linked arms with him and Adelaide, practically propelling them from the hall.

“Let us be gone from this place,” she murmured to Martin as soon as they were out of earshot of her parents.

He led her out to the courtyard where horses were waiting for them, and they rode in silence down to the dock where his ship was moored, buffeted by freezing wind.

The Wind Song looked slate gray in the morning light against a sea the color of pewter.

The colorful shields adorning the forecastle were mere shadows as milky wisps of fog curled around them.

Its single mast pointed skyward, crossed by an enormous spar and crowned by the crow’s nest, nearly lost in the clouds.

Martin could barely make out Will up there, awaiting orders to climb out onto the spar to unfurl the enormous rectangular sail stitched with the de Vere coat of arms. Poor Will must have been freezing.

The sooner they set sail, the sooner the gangly youth could climb back down to the deck and warm himself.

Martin led Isabella and Adelaide up the wooden planks serving as a ramp, careful to ensure they kept their balance. Isabella ascended without difficulty and had no trouble keeping her balance on the swaying deck, even though Adelaide leaned on her at every step.

“You’ve traveled by ship before?” he asked.

“Many times,” Isabella answered, looking warily at the crew.

“Do you get seasick?” Martin had been worried about this. Traveling by sea was far safer than by land, given the anarchy that prevailed, but not everyone found it comfortable.

“Never,” she answered proudly.

He couldn’t help but smile. Good. His wife should be able to tolerate life on board a ship, after all he spent more time at sea than not. While he intended for her to stay home and tend to the town’s needs, it would have been nice to bring her along from time to time.

“And how about you, Adelaide?” he asked, turning his attention to her sister. “Have you been on a ship before?”

Adelaide smiled shyly. “Only the ship that brought us to Bamburgh Castle.”

“Then this will be an adventure for you,” he said with a grin. “If there is anything at all you need during this journey, you have only to ask.”

“Thank you, my lord.” Adelaide looked all around, wide-eyed and wondering as she clutched her sister’s arm. It was certainly easier to charm her than Isabella. Perhaps if he could win Adelaide over to his cause, it would help him with his bride. He would have to work on charming the girl.

“Let me show you to your cabin.” He helped them down the hatch to the lower deck where cargo was stored and the crew’s hammocks hung, swaying with the ocean waves.

A few strategically placed lanterns provided meager light as he guided her to the stern of the ship where he opened a door for her.

“This is where you will sleep for the duration of the journey. Normally, this is my cabin, but I will sleep with my men so that you two can have it to yourselves.”

He led them into the compact space, sparsely furnished with a built-in bed with a straw pallet on it and a small, round table with two chairs.

Their chests had been stowed here. There was little room for anything else.

It was as generously proportioned of a captain’s cabin as he had ever seen, but life on board a ship was a far cry from the vastness of Bamburgh Castle.

“This will be adequate,” Isabella said, looking around the small space in the lantern light. “We shall stay here and warm ourselves for a bit while you make preparations to depart.”

“As you wish.” He bowed. If you need anything at all, you have only to come find me.”

“I’m certain we can manage quite well without any assistance from you, my lord.”

He smiled. “If you’ll excuse me, then, I have a ship to prepare for departure and a campaign of seduction to plan.”

“Do your worst, Little Baron. Your meager charms are insufficient to overcome my dislike, no matter how many honeyed words you serve up.”

His grin grew wider. “I disagree. You’re enjoying my efforts to woo you, despite your protestations to the contrary.

Your eyes give you away every time. They flame and spark with interest, even as you lash me with your barbed tongue.

But I will respect your wishes and give you some time to settle in and collect yourself. ”

He turned away without giving her a chance to retort, and left, closing the door behind him.

Everything was proceeding according to plan, he thought as he ascended to the deck and sought out his first mate, Halfred.

The wizened old man had served his father before him, but he was still hard as iron.

Martin found Halfred up on the aftercastle, directing the crew as they lashed everything down and prepared to set sail.

The old man’s only concession to the cold was that his shirt sleeves were rolled down rather than up to the elbows as was his usual habit.

“My lord, are you ready to set sail?” Halfred asked, bowing his head.

“As soon as you are, Halfred. I’m more than ready to see the last of this place.” Martin looked forward to seeing it disappear behind them on the horizon, hopefully never to be seen again.

“Aye, my lord. And the ladies are comfortable below?”

“As comfortable as I can make them.” There was little he could to do improve the accommodations.

A ship was a ship, and there wasn’t room for much in the way of creature comforts, but Isabella seemed to take it all in stride, which was a blessed relief.

Adelaide seemed delighted by the novelty of it all.

“Very good, my lord. My felicitations on your marriage, by the way. She’s quite a beauty.”

“She is indeed, and I’ll thank you to see to it that the men don’t bother her or her sister.” Not that he thought his crew would dare, but it needed saying, nonetheless.

“They wouldn’t dream of it my lord.”

Martin nodded his approval. “Let us depart.”

Halfred shouted orders to the crew to cast off.

Will climbed out on the spar and unfurled the sail before shimmying down to the deck.

Christopher, a hearty sailor his own age, signaled the earl’s men to remove the planks used for boarding and to unlash the ropes that tied The Wind Song to the dock.

Good old Ulf was at the tiller, his long golden beard blowing in the wind.

To his surprise, Isabella and Adelaide emerged from the hatch, thick, wooled shawls pulled tightly around their shoulders. Martin hurried over. “Is there anything that you need, my sweet?”

Isabella furrowed her brow at the endearment but let it pass without comment. “No, thank you. We only wished to watch that awful place disappear behind us once and for all.”

“I can’t say I blame you for that.” He offered his arm and led her to the railing. “You should have a good view from here. I must review the charts with Ulf, if you’ll excuse me.”

Isabella reached out and touched his hand to stay him. “Thank you for taking us away. We both hated it there.” It clearly cost her to express her appreciation.

“I can see why,” he said, warming at her kind words despite the icy wind. Perhaps he was making more progress than he thought. But he wouldn’t push his luck. It was time to retreat. “If there is nothing else, I must take my leave.”

He kissed Isabella’s gloved hand, and she didn’t shrink away.

As he headed toward Ulf, he smiled to himself.

She would be his before they landed at Winchelsea, he was certain.

He looked up and saw gathering clouds in the gray sky, which immediately dampened his mood.

Perhaps it would not be smooth sailing after all.