One Year Later

The Dolphin cut through the azure waters of the Mediterranean Sea like a knife, rising and falling with the steady rhythm of a heartbeat. Blythe could still remember her first few nights on board the gorgeous clipper ship, green and ill. Now she walked the shining decks with a sailor's rolling stride, and her favorite perch was on the railing, just behind the figurehead.

“You know it frightens the living daylights out of me when you sit there. What can I give you to come down?”

Blythe glanced back at Thomas with a wide smile. She was tempted to stand up on the rail as she had learned to do just to see the look on his face, but she thought she might save the revelation of that little trick for later. “Well, what have you got?”

Thomas was leaner and browner than he had been when he was spending every night in the gambling hells of London. He had taken to sailing even faster than she had. Though the Dolphin was one of the fastest cargo ships in the growing fleet he was assembling with his father's blessing, it had really been a gift for both of them, their home away from home as they explored the Mediterranean waters and the Near East.

Now he crossed his arms over his broad chest, watching her with a bright twinkle in his eye.

“Would you get down if I offered you a dozen kisses?”

“I am not interested. You would give those to me anyway, wouldn't you?”

“I suppose I would. Let's see. When we were last in port at Mersin, we picked up some mail. I have a letter from Honey and another one from Robert.”

“You do? What do they say?”

“That Honey is well, and that Georgiana is keeping her busy as ever, and that I was wrong, that tailor journeyman who came courting her was honest after all. He just proposed marriage to her.”

“Ha, you were wrong, and remember, I was right! I knew he was a good man just from the way she described him. And Robert?”

“Of all things, he's going to meet his chess-playing partner.”

Blythe blinked. “The old woman who lives in Westchester?”

“Yes. Something about tiring of London. Reading between the lines, he's slept with another married woman and now is looking for less trouble in the country.”

“That sounds like Robert. But you have lost your bargaining chip. Now I know what is in the letter.”

“Absolutely shocking how bad I am at reading a room and negotiating. How in the world will I convince my darling reckless wife to come down?”

Blythe considered, and then grinned at him over her shoulder. “You've not tried saying please yet.”

“I have not?”

“No. You went right to bribing me as if I were some kind of potentate or dictator.”

“Ah, well. Please, will you get down off your perch and stop giving me visions of you tumbling to your death in the ocean below?”

“I suppose so. Since you asked so nicely.”

Thomas only waited for her to swing her legs back over the deck before he grabbed her up in his arms and pulled her close. As he kissed her, she noted with pleasure that he smelled of salt and the juniper water that all of the sailing men shaved with, of the coarse fiber of the ropes and the smoke of the cook fire. Some might say that he had smelled better wearing the colognes that were sold everywhere in London, but she wouldn't be one of them. Then his kiss deepened, and she leaned into it, giving in to his passion in a way that only hinted at what occurred during the nights they spent together.

Before she was quite done, he pulled back from her, grinning and reaching forward to run a gentle thumb over her lower lip. “Quite red. No need for paint at all.”

“Never even tried to wear it. I suppose I could come to you whenever I wanted a little bit of color on my lips.”

“That's certainly a service that will be a delight to provide. I wanted to let you know that I've spoken with the captain. He says we shall make landfall in Antalya in just two days, three at the outside.”

Blythe blinked. “That's far earlier than we thought.”

“Is that a problem? The hospital in Antalya will be happy to get the medicine from Toulouse no matter when we bring it.”

There was an outbreak of a certain childhood sickness in the Turkish city and aid had come from Toulouse. England might still be at war with France, but neither she nor Thomas had found it particularly unpatriotic to transport aid from one city to another that was ailing.

In some ways, her life with Thomas was not far off from what she had imagined it would be when she was a young girl. She had dreamed of adventure, and she’d certainly found it. The only difference was that she did not have to do it alone.

Over the past year, she had seen more of the world than she’d ever imagined, and from what Thomas had hinted at, in the next few years to come, they might see more of it yet. She craved the stone pyramids of South America, the great honeycomb buildings of Africa, and the wonder of the Yellow River in Asia. A part of her, she soon realized, would never be altogether content with staying at home. However, all of her needed Thomas, and she reached for his hand, looking out over the sea.

Thomas picked up on her quiet mood immediately. He stepped closer, turning her so she had to face him. “What is it, angel?”

“I was thinking. Perhaps after Antalya, it is time to return home to London. At least for a while.”

Thomas looked at her with curiosity. “Are you tired of travel?”

“Yes. No. Not really. But between some of the things that Georgiana has written to me and one rather terse and unsettling letter from Tristan, I have a feeling the two of them might need some help sooner or later.”

“Your cousin doesn't need help from anyone. What in the world has Georgiana been writing to you that she hasn't been writing to me?”

“There are some things a woman would rather not tell her brother, I suppose.”

“Fair enough. So, you want to see our families?”

“No, not just that. It is only that... well. When our child is born, I want the first land that he or she sees to be home.”

She took Thomas’ hand and guided it to her belly, which was just now beginning to rise softly.

Thomas’ eyes widened, and he held her with a new reverence bordering on awe. “You're sure?”

“I think I am. We can consult with a midwife in Antalya, but I am mostly sure. You are not disappointed by returning home?”

“Angel, you could not have told me anything that would please me more.”

Blythe smiled sweetly, sniffling back unexplained tears. “Not even, 'I will stop sitting by the figurehead?'”

“Ha, I know better than to ask for the impossible, and I know what happens when you are denied the adventure you crave. The world will keep while we return to England. After all, being with you is all the adventure and thrill that I have ever needed.”

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