Mistress of the Seas

Chapter Eleven

Julia still had her arms around him, but she released him after a quick squeeze. "I am glad you were not really punished."

"Love me at seventeen, hate me at eighteen..." he mused, not at all convinced of the constancy of females.

"I do not think so," Julia said confidently. "But if you do not want to risk anything, perhaps you had best wait until I am eighteen. You will see I have not changed. I shall perhaps have wasted away because I missed you ... but no, I should not lie to have my way. I cannot know such a thing beforehand."

"Julia, do you want to come with me?" It sounded very much as if she was only waiting for him to invite her. He was happy, though, that she would not seriously waste away.

"I can only say that I would never say no, but you must want to ask me. I gave you some trouble by not soliciting your opinion before. Did we not get along at sea?" she asked, to make his decision easier.

"We did."

"But perhaps there was some inequality," she mused. He knew so much more than she did. "You never asked me any questions of grave importance. I told my mother I never cried. I forgot."

MacLeod studied Julia's face to see what she thought of that now. "Yes, you cried," he said quietly, remembering the occasion all too well. It had been shocking to him too to find her so distressed. "But tears have nothing to do with inequality. Not in this case."

"But..."

"You did not want to be a girl, much less a woman. I understand."

"But I cried and I had to ask you questions." She did not see how ignorance was at all admirable.

He winked at her. "Perhaps you were too distressed to notice that I went away to find the answers first?" After he had ascertained that she was not dying, but merely distressed, he had gone away briefly to consult the ship's surgeon about the problems that young ladies encountered on their way to womanhood. He had never known they would come across anything to unsettle them, after all.

Julia looked at him in some amazement. She had never known that. It had not even really registered that he had indeed been away for a short while. She would never have guessed he had done so because he did not know anything either. "I thought that was because you thought I was a silly girl. I do not know whether to comment on your words or on that frivolous wink, Captain."

"Frivolous? I would call it encouraging, but perhaps still being behind this bush makes it frivolous." He pulled her back onto the path so they could walk on. "You seem surprised that I was not a fount of knowledge on the subject of women. I am now, though. Sharing a cabin is enlightening. All the female quirks that good manners hide in public!"

"Captain!" Julia protested, but she was secretly delighted. "Quirks? Such as what?"

"The excessive attentiveness to a man's appearance, the comments, the assistance. It is all very female -- have you reconciled yourself to...er...not being a boy?"

"I must. Have you?"

He avoided a straight answer. "But I saw almost instantly that you were not a boy."

"That is not what I am asking." She wanted to know whether he still considered her to be a child.

"I know what you are asking."

"And I forgot I was not going to ask," Julia remembered with a sigh. She supposed that was why he was not giving an answer.

"It is not the same question. You may ask it. Did you know your father implied that if you ran away again he would let you?" MacLeod was not sure that the duke had informed Julia of this. He might be afraid it would make her leave instantly.

Of course her father would let her; he had no choice. "Captain, he does not have either the means or the stupidity to send off a fleet in pursuit of me."

"I do not want to bring up boring matters such as money, but your father does have the means to disown you."

"It would be fair of him to warn me about such intentions beforehand."

"It would be wise of you to give some consideration to this beforehand. Your father cannot warn you about the consequences of your actions because he has no idea of what sort of mischief you are capable." Nobody had any idea of that, he thought.

"I was determined to amaze him in a positive manner," Julia said with dignity. She wanted to behave like a grown-up young lady. Much was at stake. It was clear that the captain made a distinction between girls and young ladies. It was imperative that he should see her as young lady. She wanted to be consulted rather than comforted.

"Embracing men behind bushes does not yet come close," MacLeod commented.

His detached observation vexed her. "Will you please not behave as if you were not participating in this conversation? You are here and you are the reason why we were behind this bush."

"I know," he relented with a smile. "And I do not believe in harsh corrections. But do you see how I could not possibly refrain from pointing out the comical?"

"Comical!" Julia guffawed. "I am comical?"

"Why, yes. It is vastly better than being tragic -- although one particular scene on deck did remind me of some of those tragic plays in which all characters are about to die a heroic death, except that there was not much time for an eloquent farewell speech because I had some girl dangling off my arm. They do not do that on stage."

"You were not on stage!" she cried, incredibly vexed now. "In real life people get off a sinking ship as quickly as they can!"

"I thought you thought I was married to my ship. You even offered your condolences." It had pained him to leave her, as silly as that might be, and Julia had somehow felt that.

"I was jealous. You loved her better than you loved me."

"Despite her being a wooden thing rolling to and fro beneath me?" MacLeod bit his lip.

She could see something amused him. "Why did you remember I said that? I remember you thought it highly inappropriate and now you are laughing at it."

"It is funny because you do not know why it is inappropriate to say such a thing in company."

"Not telling me is cruel," she pouted, but then a calculating look appeared on her face. "But perhaps you cannot tell me because there is no one to tell you first?"

"To return to my point," he said patiently when he realised he had been led away from it. He would rather return to the matter of finances than pursue this direction in which she was leading him now. "You may find yourself completely without resources should you run off another time."

"Obviously I should only go if I could depend on your resources, Captain. Remember that the first time I ran off I expected to receive wages. That I did not was all your doing. I did not run off without having given money any thought."

He closed his eyes at her answer. She always had something to silence him. "You must be very certain."

"If I go, I will be." She studied his face. "I sense you are undecided. But you would not toy with me." He would never let her go on talking if he was absolutely determined never to have anything to do with her again.

"If I say the wrong thing, I feel I might suffer for the rest of my life," MacLeod said slowly. He did not know what the future would bring and he could not make up his mind. Perhaps she would not like him a year from now, yet if he spent a year wondering what he wanted, she might be gone. It was her age that made her unreliable.

"Honestly, Captain, if my infatuation withstood the test of being locked up with you in a tiny cabin ...You are very pleasant without the uniform as well." She spoke very seriously.

He gazed at her reflectively. "That is another comment you should not make in company."

"Why not?" Julia thought it was extremely complimentary.

"Because other people will not interpret it as you intended."

"How do you know they will not?"

"Because I know you well enough to know that especially to me you would not hesitate to be frank about liking my figure or appearance if that was what you intended to express." He had received some direct comments at sea. "If you do not make any specific reference to my figure, you are speaking of my character."

"Of course. But what would other people think?"

"They would focus on without the uniform." MacLeod smiled. "As in: my not wearing it?"

It was obvious that such a situation would sometimes occur and it had to be obvious to everybody. "I am sure other people would know you do not sleep in it."

"You should have covered your eyes, young lady." Other people would definitely think so.

"You never told me to. Wait, you did -- but I thought you were not serious." Julia looked doubtful.

"I had assumed you would not need to be told. By the time I discovered the opposite, there was no longer any point because you had seen most of it, so I was indeed not serious."

"But you were doing your duty, so to speak," she nodded. "So you could say you did think of telling me, but I suppose you mean to imply that I should have kept my eyes closed without being told? I have too many brothers to be shocked. I have just dressed Andrew, you know. You will have had more reason to be shocked, since you could never have been prevailed upon to dress sisters."

"I wonder why in the household of a duke, the infants are to be dressed by his eldest daughter."

"Because the infants do not know their father is a duke," Julia said as if this ought to have been clear to him. "And they have their own reasons for having a favourite assistant."

"I want to get back to my point again," he tried. "The finances. If you follow me you cannot leave the ship, because I cannot afford a house. You have to keep that in mind when you pressure me to ask you. Your circumstances would change in any case. If you came to despise me, there is no way I could do what my friend Carter plans to do if he finds himself an ugly wife, which is to keep her ashore and out of his sight."

"Why is your friend Carter looking for an ugly wife?" Julia inquired.

"A rich one," he explained.

"I am rich." And she did not think that was equivalent to being ugly.

"Well, if your father keeps approving of you, you may be, but it is not something I am counting on."

"Are you trying to discourage me?"

"I am trying to open your eyes." He would rather do so now than have it happen to her in some shocking way.

"I do not see what you are worried about. Have I not shown myself to be very adaptable?" She would be perfectly comfortable on a ship.

"Hmm. Yes, you have." From dresses, to trousers, back to dresses.

"Oh!" Julia cried all of a sudden. "It has just occurred to me that you must not be like your friend! Or you would have been more ingratiating to my parents, taken my money and set me up in a grubby little house in Portsmouth."

MacLeod laughed at her face, but he placed a finger across her lips. "Please, no adoration."

"That is quite a liberty you are taking with me there, Captain. Perhaps my Mama will ask me again if you touched me."

He coloured a little. "Did she ask that?"

"I said there was no avoiding it in a small cabin."

"But she did not ask about anything specific?" He could see how the duke and duchess could have increased their own fears by not being specific and then receiving such an answer.

"I do not think there was anything specific," Julia said cheerfully. "Not of the type Papa and Mama engage in themselves, at any rate."

"And what do you know of that?" he asked with a quick glance aside.

"They hug and stare into each other's eyes. Just before you arrived. And then I could see..." Julia said dreamily. "...that they could not possibly want me to marry someone I could not take into the cloakroom. They could not deny me what they have themselves. I could see that was it."

"It," he repeated uncertainly.

"To be so, well, married."

"There is more to it than staring into each other's eyes, I am sure," MacLeod said dryly. "I have never seen my parents do that. They were too busy working to have time for such matters."

"I suppose they did not hug you either?" She had deduced he was not used to them, otherwise he would have been more receptive.

"Not that I recall."

Julia was appalled. "They did not love you?"

"They did; that is why they worked very hard. I would even have gone to see them if I was not leaving so very soon. Perhaps they are able go to Dundee, but I am not certain of meeting them there." He wondered if he had not said too much, but perhaps she was already so intent on accompanying him that the prospect of seeing his parents would not be another incentive.

Chapter Twelve

"I was again distracted from my point," said MacLeod. He had stopped counting. She was not doing it on purpose, he was sure. All he could do was to remain patient and remember what his point was.

"Your point was clear to me," Julia answered. "I hope you will make up your mind soon. Mine is made up." She stepped into the shrubbery suddenly.

The captain waited patiently on the path, but he was surprised to see her beckon him. "What is there?" Considering what he had just told her about men lurking in bushes, he was not eager to follow her, in case Julia had decided she could do what men do.

"The river. Papa is on it, I am sure." She jumped eagerly over branches, exclaiming once or twice when she did not pay attention to her head. Eventually they reached the river and the duke could be seen in a little boat. "Papa!" Julia waved wildly. "Come here!"

The duke rowed his boat away from them, or rather straight down the middle of the river without betraying any intention of going in their direction. He only gave them a disturbed glance. His peaceful refuge was sacred.

Julia was not that easily discouraged. "Papa!" she complained. "Fine. Fine. Fine. You know what I am about to do," she muttered. "Captain, unbutton me."

"No," he answered, looking at the row of buttons before him. Suddenly he was facing two fierce eyes. "Still no," he said sweetly. He had followed her here out of curiosity, berating himself for even considering that she might have something less honourable in mind and then just when he had been reassured, she asked this of him. He was not going to comply.

"You must do as I say. I am not on your ship. You are on my father's estate." She spoke even more commandingly than the night before.

"Precisely." He was not going to undress Julia in front of her father, no matter how many orders he received.

"My buttons are bothering me."

"I will not undress you, Julia."

Julia reached behind her back and unbuttoned her dress herself. She was quick to take it off, before the captain could protest. "You had best not display too much interest in me now," she advised MacLeod, although he was looking powerlessly at the duke, who had stopped rowing.

MacLeod hoped the duke would see he had nothing to do with this. It had happened so quickly and unexpectedly that he had not even been able to interfere, a decidedly bad thing for a man of action. Julia, now in something white, pressed her gown into the captain's hands. Then she waded in, apparently oblivious to the gaping of the two gentlemen.

Another thought occurred to MacLeod. He was fortunate that she had not stripped completely, although he supposed he would have interfered then. There was no knowing what the duke might have thought of the concomitant wrestling, however. Perhaps that would be considered less of an evil than Julia's displaying herself in such a wanton manner. They were not in a cabin. He dropped the gown and recollected his wits.

"Julia!" her father cried angrily. "Get out of the water!"

"I need to speak to you, Papa," she said, increasing her pace.

"Go away!" he gestured, but he forgot to row away from her. "You cannot do this!"

She stumbled and spit out water. "I want to know if you would disown me."

"Now I will! Get out! Two more bends and we shall reach civilisation!" He could row on, but she would follow him and then everybody in the new cottages around the bend would see them. That should be avoided at all costs. Julia in a wet under gown -- what would they think of that? A madwoman at best.

Julia did not care about civilisation. "But Papa..."

"Get out!" He looked aside for a moment and saw the captain, divested of some of his clothing as well. "Not another fool!"

"No, Your Grace," MacLeod responded. "I have come to save you. I have some experience removing the stubborn chit from a sinking ship."

"But I want to talk to my father!" Julia protested when he grabbed her around the waist to drag her out. "And he will not condone such liberties as you are taking."

"It is in his best inte--" He could not finish his sentence because he stumbled and they disappeared under water.

"Some experience, you said?" the duke mocked when he saw Julia had freed herself and was coming back towards him. "She has got you where she wants you, Captain. There is nothing she enjoys more than being tossed in. A scantily clad young man could only add to her enjoyment."

MacLeod managed to get a hold of Julia again. "I assure you that I am only scantily clad to spare my clothes, not to add to her enjoyment."

"Twenty-thousand pounds, Captain, plus an annual allowance -- and you will no longer have to excuse yourself," the duke negotiated from the rowing boat.

"Papa, are you selling me?" Julia cried indignantly.

"No, I am buying peace of mind. Do you accept my offer, Captain?"

"It is a fair trade," said the captain, carrying Julia under his arm like a large sack. He smiled, although it was not clear what amused him. Perhaps everything combined.

"I absolutely object!" Julia shrieked, kicking her legs and managing a lot of splashes. "It is unbelievable! Only for the money!" Money was not important; she was.

"Goodness, what could be more exciting than being married off to a man you detest!" he responded cheerfully, adjusting her in a better manner.

"Insufferable!" Julia kept hissing as the captain dragged her towards the bank. "I make you an offer and you refuse; my father makes you an offer and you accept!"

"The difference being that you offered yourself and your father offered money," MacLeod explained patiently. "Nice girls do not offer themselves."

"Some men are so absolutely blind that one has to!" Julia hissed.

"Oh, I am not blind," he answered readily, studying her underclothes, wet, white and clingy.

She was oblivious to his scrutiny. "Marrying me for money, as if I am so ugly you would not marry me without!"

"Is it not a fair deal?" he muttered, shaking the water drops off. "It is worse than I thought. It is not love me at seventeen, hate me at eighteen, but love me at ten o'clock and hate me at eleven. You will get me, whom you have always professed to adore, and I get the money. Without the money I would only have got a highly excitable girl with hardly any clothes on. Tell me what I should have done with that!"

She had no idea, so she chose to huff, looking at her gown and wondering if she could pull it back on over her wet underclothes.

"I must go and find your father to discuss it further," he said, regretting his rakish slip. "Where is the boathouse?"

"His peace of mind is obviously worth more than mine!" Discussing the offer was more important to him than reassuring his betrothed.

"Now, what could have unsettled you?" MacLeod asked innocently. He was glad for her distress. Perhaps she would start to think now.

She stepped into her dress. "Button me up!"

"Mama!" cried one of the boys when the duchess made it into the breakfast room. He had been waiting to tell somebody this exciting news. "Julia hit Jeremy!"

Jeremy looked annoyed, for he had not wanted this humiliating fact to be known. Boys were not hit by girls and perhaps he had been soliciting a slap. "She did not!"

"Boxed his ears!" cried his brother, imitating the movement in the air. "Whack!" It had impressed him. He was not the eldest and therefore not the strongest, and it was occasionally very satisfying to see his elder brother receive his comeuppance.

The duchess believed it instantly, although if Jeremy denied it, he had almost certainly deserved it. "Why? It is very admirable of you to protect Julia, Jeremy, but why did she do it?"

"For nothing."

The second eldest did not mind clearing the matter up. "He was being foolish, offering to chaperone her private walk with that man."

His mother looked bemused. "Chaperone?"

"Yes, now! She is in the park and we were not allowed to come. Jeremy said something about that and then she hit him."

"Julia needs no chaperone. You were silly indeed, Jeremy. People who do need chaperones do not take boys of fourteen. They would take Papa or me." She wondered where her husband was. He should have been here with the boys. "Pray tell me why you believed Julia needed supervision. What did you think would occur? What would occur if you went for a walk with a young lady yourself?"

"Mama!" Jeremy protested, blushing furiously in embarrassment.

"That is not a convincing answer," said his mother. "I think it is time you all went to the schoolroom and I will talk to Julia when she comes back. And please consider what you hoped to gain by telling me," she told the messenger.

"Nobody cares about me, Mama," Julia complained with tears in her eyes when she saw her mother.

"Why are you wet?" asked Clementine, perceiving small puddles of water around Julia's feet. Her hair was wet as well. Did she indeed not need a chaperone? Perhaps that ought to be reconsidered.

"Mama, Papa has bought himself peace of mind and he has transferred ownership of me to the captain! As if I were some c-c-commodity! For twenty-thousand p-p-pounds and an a-a-annual a-a-allowance!" Julia burst into tears.

The duchess hugged her, not caring that she was wet. This was a development that needed to be acknowledged. "And did he accept the offer?" It was a generous one and the captain would be foolish to refuse. Surely he would be clever enough to know Julian would not make such offers to anyone?

"I must be so ugly!" Julia sobbed. "They do not care about me at all."

"But you adore the man." That ought to set off any feelings of indignation that arose from being treated as an object, the ownership of which could be transferred. Clementine remembered all too well how she had felt when she thought the new duke had considered her part of his inheritance, yet she had not adored him then and that should make a considerable difference.

Of course Julia adored him still, but there was now a serious flaw she had to consider. "Until he proved he only cares for money."

Her mother was not yet going to give her opinion on that matter. There was very little chance of it being properly heeded at the moment. "How did you come to be so wet, my dear? Was it before or after the offer?"

"I was chasing Papa. He was rowing away from me, even though I called him to ask a question."

"You jumped into the river?" This was by no means unusual or unexpected, given that this was Julia. She had always liked the river -- and chasing Julian.

"Yes and Papa was afraid I would swim after him until he came upon the new cottages, so he ordered me to get out and then the captain, who was obviously already angling after money at this point, appeared out of nowhere and announced he would save Papa from me and he grabbed me --"

"He jumped in as well?" The duchess was sorry to have missed everything. It appeared to have been quite a scene and she was not so sure the captain had been angling after money if he had proceeded to grab Julia.

"Not instantly. And then Papa had enough of it and sold me to the captain, who called it a fair trade and who then hauled me out of the water most insufferably. And then Papa rowed away."

That sounded like Julian indeed, the quick decision and the rowing away. There had to be some more inquiries into the captain, however. "Did the captain hurt you, was he angry, was he fully dressed?" He could not have been undressed -- Julian would not have rowed away in that case -- although she almost wished it for her daughter's sake.

Julia's eyes flashed indignantly. "He was smug! And he had taken something off, yes, but I did not pay attention."

He had taken something off and Julian had rowed away regardless. That was remarkable. Julian had rowed away and left Julia with a partly undressed young man. The duchess was astonished. There must have been absolutely no indication of danger then. Julia, for all her declarations of love, did not know how to appreciate a partly undressed man. "Silly girl," said her mother. "You have the man where you want him and now you start being silly."

"I never wanted him anywhere. I only wanted to adore him," Julia said miserably.

"He will be all yours now and you may adore him with impunity. Go and change. You are shivering." Her mother pushed her out of the room.

The duchess stood lost in thought for a while. Perhaps she was a bad woman who immediately assumed the captain had taken off more than his shoes. If it had been merely his shoes it was no wonder that Julia had not paid attention. Yes, she was a bad woman. Unfortunately she would never change and she smiled to herself.

"I want to go swimming too!" said her youngest son but one. He and the youngest did not yet have any lessons and they were going to play with their mother after she had eaten.

"You know you should not ask me, but Papa," said the duchess. "And he appears to be missing." She had a strange desire to see him swim now.

"Can we go find him? Or the man? The man who speaks strangely?" The boy thought he had best keep both options open. The strange man had been friendly enough.

"That might be a very good idea," she smiled at this splendid plan. "I should like to be involved in any arrangements they might be making." She grabbed a few pieces of bread for herself and Andrew and they walked out.

Chapter Thirteen

"You cannot begin to understand my relief at this satisfactory conclusion," commented the duke as he tied his boat up in the boathouse. "You do not look very troubled by the burden, Captain."

"There are worse burdens."

"I have just realised that my girls being seventeen years apart means that I shall be rejecting and approving young men and women for the next twenty years at least." He sighed deeply at this prospect and perhaps even at the prospect of there being still more children with still more suitors.

"I hope they will indeed all be young."

The duke uttered a distressed exclamation. "What if you had been my age and lusting after my daughter? Do not make me think of that!"

"Do you not think me too old to be lusting after her?" MacLeod asked cautiously.

"Do you mean to ask if you are old or if you are lusting?" the duke inquired shrewdly. "The fact that you are still in one piece, Captain, might be indication enough. Do you, by the way, entertain the hope of ever having a sensible wife?"

"I do."

That was a surprising answer, since there had been precious little sense coming out of Julia so far. "I suppose your opinion counts for something -- what precisely did you do in that cabin?"

"Your Grace, I had started out by warning her she would be locked up until we reached England, but she had behaved rather well at the governor's house, so I became more lenient --"

Here the duke coughed.

"-- even more lenient, if you insist." He was still in a position where the duke could insist on quite many things if His Grace so desired. "And we dined with the ship's captain and other passengers."

"Where Julia provided music and you did not dance. But I asked about the cabin." Julia's behaviour in a private setting would count for more. It was easy to pretend to be a lady for an hour or two.

"We did not spend as much time in there as I had originally envisaged," said MacLeod. "We came out more often than strictly for meals, also for walks on the deck."

"That still leaves about twenty hours, does it not?" The duke studied the captain with renewed interest. Twenty hours and he still had hopes of sense -- he said so, at least. This matter warranted investigation. A young man who had been locked up with a young woman for a considerable length of time rarely had an opinion on her good sense, yet the captain did not seem flustered by the question.

Twenty hours seemed rather long to MacLeod and he had no idea how he could justify the time adequately to satisfy the duke. "Er ... I also had to write my account of my unfortunate voyage."

"I can imagine Julia wasting paper on adorable little notes to you," the duke said with provocative sarcasm.

He could imagine that too, but it had not happened. "She copied the account so I could have a second copy to hand in."

"And for the remainder of the time she was either sleeping or sensible?" Julia's father had trouble believing that. The captain proved himself sensible enough with his double copies, but Julia was another matter.

"I tried to give her much to do in the way of chores and lessons on our voyage down, so I would say she was more sensible on our voyage back."

"Chores and lessons?" the duke inquired with raised eyebrows. It was sounding stranger by the second.

"Indeed, Your Grace. When there was no sewing to take care of, she was instructed in basic navigational principles."

"With a view to future voyages, Captain?" He was again provocative, although not quite as deliberately. Navigational principles? Julia?

"With a view to keeping her out of the ropes," MacLeod replied. "But at least she did not go up in a dress." Her father could be reassured about that. He would never have allowed that, even if it had meant climbing up himself to catch her.

"Not? Goodness, Captain! You put your foot down in the one matter in which it would be advantageous for certain types of men not to forbid anything?" Those types would allow a girl to climb up, only to look under her skirts.

There was very little MacLeod could reply as a direct response to that. He was not entirely sure what was implied. "I told her to sew a dress for herself and I thought she obeyed, but she sewed trousers. Very neatly, but..."

"How could you allow this?" The duke was amazed. "Did you not punish her for such deliberate obedience?"

"I could not, because she pointed out that I had not specified that she should make a gown, only that she should sew -- and that was correct." Perhaps he was too reasonable.

"Any other person would know what you wanted! And I am sure she did too! Trousers and dresses are not even made of the same fabric. What did they become, flowery?" The duke almost shuddered.

"Lilac, Your Grace."

"Julian, my dear! What is this I heard?" the duchess inquired breathlessly, dragging a child along by each hand. Fortunately they were very willing to come and they ran along beside her.

MacLeod struggled with his shirt. He could not appear before the duchess like this, but the faster he wanted to dress, the more difficult it was to match the right holes to his arms.

"Oh Captain," she said dismissively. "I have seven sons and a husband. Please do not be alarmed." She ought to be alarmed, for he had taken off more than his shoes, she was sure, and Julia had not cared. This was worrisome, considering how much her mother cared for her father.

"Papa, I want to swim," said one of the boys.

"There you have it, Julian. You made someone jealous by taking Julia swimming." She smiled encouragingly. He should now offer to take his son in so she could watch.

"I am dry, Clementine. I did not swim."

That did not matter. In fact, it might make him more eager to go in now, because he was not yet cold. Clementine did not give up. "Take Henry swimming. He loves it so."

"Yes, Papa!" Henry cried, already kicking off his shoes. Someone was going to take him in; Mama would see to that.

"Andrew and I will sit here and watch," the duchess said with a satisfied grin. She was lucky that Andrew did not yet care for swimming, or perhaps he had inherited a dislike of cold water from his mother. "Mind you do not get your clothes wet, Julian."

"Clementine!" he protested, but he knew it was in vain. He was going in, whether he liked it or not.

"You cannot disappoint little Henry."

"Nor you!" he retorted, interpreting her grin correctly. He shook his head good-naturedly.

She found herself a good spot and settled Andrew on her lap. The captain, who had finally managed to put his shirt and coat back on, joined her. "I can see where Julia got some of her character traits from, Your Grace," he remarked, having seen how easily she had got what she wanted.

"Not all of them, yet," she responded, referring to her observation of her now shirtless husband.

"She knows how to get her way."

"I assure you that I should not have my way if my dear husband did not like to please me -- and I should not try to get my way if I were the only one to be pleased. Is that not so, Captain?" She wanted him to say that the duke's offer pleased him for more reasons than only the obvious one.

"Your husband does seem to be enjoying himself," he observed, evading her implied question.

"I should not enjoy watching him as much otherwise. Only Henry thinks solely of his own pleasure. But he is four and he may. Julia did not find out until she was seventeen. But," she said reflectively, "How much does one learn with a privileged upbringing? Her situation will never be comparable to mine and so she will learn different things at different times."

"Did you not have a privileged upbringing?" She seemed to imply that she had not. He hoped she had not, for neither had he.

"I had never seen a duke before in my life! I am still catching up," she said with a wide grin. "I apologise for our lack of decorum, Captain. I assure you we would not have exposed you to it if we did not think you equal to the task. And if you are joining the family you will be exposed to it often enough. I also assure you it has nothing to do with my upbringing, but it is in fact more scandalous -- we love playing with our children," she mocked.

"Mama, look!" Henry cried and showed her what he could do.

"Very good!" she praised him. "But Captain, is all of this preventing you from speaking to my husband about that offer that upset Julia so much?"

"I shall wait until he has finished." He would be so mercenary if he insisted on handling it immediately. It was not his place to bring up the subject first and to urge that it be handled.

"You accept his offer, I understand."

"I do."

"Why?" She studied him closely.

It was only one word, but it was very unsettling. He looked away. "You know why, Your Grace."

"Indeed I do."

"Your husband does not behave as though he does," he said with a frown.

"That would be very inappropriate," she revealed. "In the eyes of the world and in the eyes of Julia, albeit for different reasons. Come to think of it, my husband's behaviour might not be so appropriate either in some eyes, giving away Julia just like that. We can never please everyone, but Julia is my daughter and I have some responsibilities towards her. If I must take anybody's side, it must be hers and not yours -- unless she is especially foolish, in which case she still needs encouragement to become less foolish."

"You are very considerate, Your Grace." He quite agreed that she should take her daughter's side. Nobody was referring to opposing sides, after all.

"One of my flaws," she smiled. "I am very considerate of your...motivations, Captain. I do not feel any need to speak to you about them. Really. I am sure you have at least a good suspicion of what you are about. But I am nevertheless pleased that my husband sped matters up a little."

MacLeod was wrong when he assumed that the duchess' departure meant that he could now discuss the financial settlement with the duke. They first had to dress and considering that little Henry also had to change his clothes, that might take a while. Playing with the children seemed to take precedence over almost anything in this household.

He was wrong again.

"You were wearing my clothes because you had none," said the duke. "I assume you still do not have any. That means you will have to come with me, unless your marvellous hostess has searched my closets and appropriated some more of my garments."

"I doubt that. She was rather vexed with me."

The duke's dressing room was buzzing with activity. His valet was busy and so were two ladies, who were matching trousers to coats. Little Andrew was trying on hats in front of a mirror and crying out for people to look.

"Ladies, did we arrive too soon?" The duke thought it uncanny that the marvellous hostess was indeed searching his closets. "Julia, you are starting to become predictable. This is frightening."

"I was told I could do with some more predictability," Julia said coldly. "But do you mean you were always convinced of my foresight and ability to take care of matters, Papa?"

"There is but one motive guiding your actions and that is a predictable one." He eyed her with some pride nonetheless.

"Two?" the captain ventured to say. It was not his place to say very much, here in a duke's private quarters and Julia being vexed with him.

"Two indeed," she said a little less coldly.

"Henry, you must come with Mama to get dressed," Clementine broke the silence that had ensued. "Julian, er ... Andrew? Captain, where had you planned to dress?"

"Mama!" Julia protested.

"Mamas are in charge." At least, that was what they hoped.

"Do I get a say in where I want to dress?" MacLeod asked. He had been willing to wait until someone assigned him a particular location as well as clothes.

"Not entirely. Henry!" she cried when Henry discovered the hats as well. This was not the right time to play with them. "Come with Mama. Julia, pick out the captain's clothes and leave them in his room. And that is as much as I shall decide. Henry! Leave the hats."

The duke had already appeared behind the screen with some clothes, as if a crowd of people in his dressing room was very ordinary. Jones, who was busy, thought it wisest to deposit Master Andrew and some hats also behind this screen, in the bathtub in fact, from where he could not easily escape. It was child number eight and the valet had ample experience with them by now. He was also not required to treat them with any deference if they were in the way.

Clementine dragged Henry out, followed by Julia with some clothes for the captain. MacLeod shrugged in puzzlement at the screen and went too, slowly following Julia.

"I ... cannot go back," said Julia, carefully laying out the clothes on his bed. "These will have to do." Her hand traced the sleeve of the coat. "Mama did not say what I should do after delivering the clothes. I think she gave me the choice. I choose to let you dress in peace. I shall have to see it often enough in times to come, unless you spend those twenty-thousand pounds on separate dressing rooms."

MacLeod looked at her unhappy face. "If you choose to sail." She seemed rather cross with him at the moment and might choose not to accompany him.

"You would not be so cruel as to buy me and leave me. No!" She looked angry. The carpet was darkening around his feet. His trousers were still wet. "Do not stand there, Captain."

"There is no need to address me so respectfully if you are cross with me."

"Well, Mac!" She used the appellation she had heard one of the officers use. It did not sound very respectful to her and he could not find fault with it. "Change! You are wetting the floor."

"As soon as you have carried out your decision to leave." He should allow her the opportunity to be good.

"Yes. I should not pay you the compliment of enjoying it." But she did not move.

"I know what you enjoy." He lifted her up and carried her out of the room. He set her down outside. "But contradict me if you do not." But, just like pulling her behind a bush, she did not seem to have minded the action. He would not call himself exceptionally gentle, but merely practical without being rough and nobody could have minded it indeed.

"I do. Is this not worth more than money?" Julia asked with some frustration in her voice.

"Good to have both," he answered and retired into his room.

Julia stamped her foot and went back to her father's dressing room, having changed her mind about going back. Andrew was apparently playing hide and seek in the bathtub and squealing for attention. "Papa!" she interrupted.

He peered around the screen briefly. "Yes?"

"Why did you do it?"

That was easy, although saying it was unavoidable would probably be something she was not going to understand. She had failed to do so until now. "I am tired of having to worry. Be still, Andrew."

"But he does not love me."

Her father rolled his eyes behind the screen. "Perhaps you will be more considerate of those who do not love you."

"Men always want to make their point several times," she complained. "I have attended to everyone's criticism already. I am determined to be more considerate and to think before I act."

"I am happy to hear it. Do you plan to sail with him?"

"If he wishes." Her confidence was low.

The duke snorted. "Why should he not?"

"Now that you promised him money he can afford not to take me."

"Tell me why he should marry and spend all of that money on a wife he never sees. He will have no money and no wife. What does he gain from it?"

"But if he plans to take me along he does not need that money."

"He will need that money because he plans to take you along," said the duke, thinking of the rate at which his own family had increased. He considered tying Andrew's hands with his cravat. Not only did they want food and clothing and schoolmasters, but they also ruined hats.

"There is very little occasion for spending up north and I assure you I am very good at adapting myself to a less luxurious life."

"I do not doubt that at all, Julia, but that is not what I am talking about."

Chapter Fourteen

There was one matter that the duke had to see to before he discussed finances with MacLeod. He had sent Julia away after their conversation, feeling himself incapable of asking her the questions he felt he ought to ask. If he knew for certain that she was ignorant, he would not have to doubt her, but then he could be certain that she did not understand him whenever he made certain references, and he could be certain that the captain was not a rake.

Whatever he had been before Julia came his way, the captain was no longer a young man who primly averted his eyes. It was all for a good purpose, the duke was sure, but such a fact could not be ignored.

"Now that we have them where we want them, Clementine," Julian began, finding her in Henry's room. "I think you ought to make some discreet inquiries as to what she knows. You see, the captain seems to have instructed her -- or he had her instructed -- in all manner of things, down to navigational principles, when the foolish girl lacks the knowledge to navigate her own life adequately."

"How does one navigate one's life?"

"I have reason to believe him better informed about the consequences of marriage. He seems to know what the money is for. She seems to think he will not need any money if she goes with him, because she can adapt herself to a sober life."

"I daresay she can." She had one eye on the open door and saw Henry slip out. That was good. There was no telling what he might pick up from the conversation.

"I daresay she can now sail a ship on her own and live without jewellery and balls, which is all very admirable. But she lacks awareness. You had it! You made financial arrangements to secure your future." He did not see why Julia could not look ahead as well.

"I was several years older, my dear, as well as forced by my circumstances to be prudent."

"What about her circumstances! Can you not discreetly inquire?" he asked. "She does not seem to realise she might well end up with a family, if she even knows how one ends up with one!"

Clementine smiled at his expression. "Her ignorance must at this moment still be a relief to you."

"I cannot deny being extremely relieved about that indeed, yet we are nearing the point -- they are nearing the point -- do we play any role in this at all?" he suddenly wondered. Perhaps the young couple ought to be left to their own devices. He sighed. "But I cannot help but think that if we can help to prevent any unpleasantness from occurring..."

"To what are you referring?"

"She seems ignorant -- or careless -- about everything, so I thought you should inquire discreetly and then gently hint at the fact that she may perhaps sail with her captain once, but that afterwards she will be continuously occupied with the effects of it."

"And you think I am better suited to the explanation she will undoubtedly want to have?" She laughed, but then she became more serious. "Very well, my dear."

Solitude was not possible in this house, Captain MacLeod reflected as he observed everything from his vantage point at the top of the great stairs. It seemed as good a place as any to sit down, not knowing when or where the Duke of Muncester might turn up, since everybody here was running in and out of everybody's rooms all the time. They were not fond of sedentary pursuits, it seemed, and appeared to take pursuits quite literally as well. There was really no opportunity for quiet reflection. The house was so busy; it was a miracle they had missed Julia at all.

Here they all hung, the dukes, from the foot of the stairs to the top. Fairly recent paintings of all the children hung on the landing, with their names so large beneath them that he wondered if it was for educational purposes. He had studied them for a while. Should Jeremy now pass, he would know him.

And someone would pass; that much was clear. There were people in sight at all times, from the servants below, to three strange boys with books, to an obvious schoolmaster, to a nursery maid with a baby, to Henry and Andrew who approached him with secretive giggles. He wondered at their being allowed to roam alone. The youngest was not yet breeched.

"What are you doing here?" Henry inquired.

"What are you doing here?" he shot back. "Should you be out walking?"

"I am four!"

"I stand corrected! My apologies, Master Henry. What about Andrew?"

"He is two."

"Did you slip away from Mama?" Perhaps they were allowed to, given the number of presumably good souls who could look out for them. They could not go far without encountering anybody.

"Mama is there." Henry pointed. "What is your name?"

"Alexander."

They sat down beside him and prevented him from devoting any serious thought to anything but their amusement.

It did not take Clementine much time to find Julia. The house was large, but fortunately her favourite haunts were few. She was sitting quietly in her own room, doing nothing.

"Julia?" said her mother, a little hesitantly. She felt she was almost speaking out of character and she had no real excuse, save her being continuously occupied with her multitude of boys. "You did not consult me about anything, but that would be odd at your age. You should have wanted to by now. More things change for girls than they do for boys when they grow up."

"Yes, one could hardly fail to notice," Julia said with an unrefined lack of embarrassment. She looked out of the window, wondering what to make of her mother's attitude. She spoke when her mother appeared to be waiting. "I really do not care about some physical discomfort. It was very small compared to my mental discomfort. You see, even you could still climb the ropes, but people would frown upon it if you did. That bothered me, not the body as such."

Clementine frowned at this odd talk, especially at the mention of mental discomfort when Julia had told her before that she had never cried for a moment, implying that the voyage had only been exciting and happy. "I am sorry I was not there. I hope there was at least some other woman on board you could approach with questions."

"None at all," Julia said cheerfully. "But I asked the captain and since he obtained his information from a knowledgeable source, I think he had most of it right. It did make some sort of morbid sense with things I already knew from home that I had never thought about, you know." She shuddered.

"You involved him?" The duchess was astonished, both at that and at the fact that apparently he had allowed himself to be involved. "In a matter such as this?"

Julia yawned in a bored manner. "One morning I thought I was dying. Of course I called for him in distress and he rushed to my side and I told him I was dying, whereupon, sadly, he did not say I could not, nor did he lift me up and carry me away, but he asked of what!" Her voice rose a little, perhaps more in mockery of herself than in indignation at the captain.

"Of what?"

"Of what I was dying. Whereupon I asked what was happening and he looked around and into my face and my eyes and he said I did not seem to be dying in any hurry and he went away. I threw myself upon my bed and prepared myself for a lonely death, but suddenly he was back and told me some ghastly things and then I lost my senses for about an hour, or perhaps two or three."

"I am sorry I was not there to comfort you." Clementine looked regretful. "And to tell you that you were not dying, whatever was ailing you." She should suppress the thought of missing all the fun. This would hardly have been fun.

"Well, that was not your fault. Was it, Mama?" her daughter said reassuringly with a sweet hug. "I went away myself and I had to deal with all these things myself as a consequence; I do not complain. And the captain ... well ... I hardly know what he did, but when I came to my senses my eyes were quite puffy and everything that could offend me was gone -- except really the fact that I was not ever going to be allowed to do as I liked, because I was now forever marked out for stupid pursuits. I felt quite dead anyhow."

"You do not seem quite as affected anymore as perhaps you were," her mother observed with some caution. There were no tears and bitterness, nor a dull resignation to the stupid pursuits. There was only a lively recollection of having felt dead.

"Well, the captain did not suddenly put me in a gown. He allowed me to continue as I was, in trousers," she explained, her eyes bright. "It was not until the governor's house that I had to behave in a feminine manner, but that was all to fool the governor and I was quite up for it."

"And now you are upset with the captain, when I must conclude that --" Clementine shook her head. "He was unbelievably..."

"Unbelievably practical, Mama. You must like that a lot." Now that Julia recollected his behaviour on board, her heart could not help but soften towards him again. "He sat with me for those two, three, perhaps four hours that I was senseless and he solved my problems in a practical manner. When the evening came, I was fit to dine with the officers again without anybody noticing a thing."

"Do you want to know what will happen on the wedding night, Julia?" her mother asked. Perhaps that was no longer necessary. Julia had not defined how far the captain's ghastly explanations had gone. "Or did the captain obtain that information from a knowledgeable source as well?"

"Are you planning something?" Julia looked puzzled. "A party?"

"Who was his knowledgeable source in the first instance, my dear?" Clementine asked with a frown. Perhaps she had to doubt him now, unless he had simply not touched this subject. If she were him, she would not, but he had already done more than one would have expected.

"He did not tell me that, but if someone is dying, I assume one would ask the surgeon."

"If what he related to you was a literal repetition of a man-to-man chat with a ship's surgeon about women, I really do not wonder that you thought it ghastly."

Julia grimaced. "He wants to marry my money, but perhaps I could make him like me. He did do his best..."

"Really," Clementine said after a moment's thought. "If he consulted the surgeon and he did not leave you to him, whose job it is to see to dying people, but he sat with a senseless girl for hours himself, do you really think he does not like you?"

"Well, he did not sit next to me. He was only in the same room, busy." She had derived great comfort from his presence anyhow. "He was fussing with objects, not fussing over me."

"Your father might only just manage, but even of that I am not certain. I may get back to you about the ... er ... party. Why do you not stop thinking about the money, Julia, and reflect on why Papa brought it up in the first place? I have to see to something now."

She found the captain sitting at the top of the stairs, conversing with Henry and Andrew, as much as conversation with Andrew was possible. He stood up when he saw her.

"Captain, I asked Julia if she wanted to know what would happen on her wedding night and she asked me if I was planning something," the duchess said hurriedly. She had little time: her youngest would soon want to be nursed again. "Such as a party."

"Are you?"

She stared at him. After all the trouble he had gone through for Julia's sake he could not be asking that in earnest. "That cannot be a serious question."

"Did you ask Julia if it was a serious question?" There was nothing else he could have asked in response to her comment. No, he would not reveal himself in such a manner.

"No, I gave up. I have little time -- my baby --" She gestured to somewhere behind her.

"Why do you not give up with me?"

"In my experience it takes a while for a gentleman to admit that he knows nothing." They might pretend to know everything, just to be done with it. Someone had done that before.

"Respectfully, Your Grace, the size of some people's families implies that it does not seem to require much time and effort to acquire the knowledge and to put it into practice," MacLeod said with a slight bow.

The duchess stared. She was amused rather than insulted by that observation. Somewhere far away a baby's cries began to swell to proportions that could not be ignored. "My call, Captain. I shall tell my husband to speak to you." Her skirts swished as she turned. Julian might think he had purchased peace of mind, but he had not.

"Oh dear," MacLeod said to Henry and Andrew, who had respectfully remained silent when the adults had spoken. "Your Papa will now come after me. Where can I hide?"

Henry and Andrew giggled in excitement. They were experts in the art of hiding. "Under my bed!" cried Henry. He set off for it instantly.

Andrew followed on his shorter legs and he grew frustrated when he could not keep up. Suddenly he sat down in the middle of a long passage and began to wail.

MacLeod lifted him up and instantly the wailing stopped. He snorted at this act and followed in the direction that an imperiously stretched out arm indicated.

"Could you not refrain from procreating?" the duke grumbled, suddenly appearing from a doorway. He did not like explanations of this nature.

"I am sorry, Your Grace, but this one is yours," the captain said politely, referring to the little boy on his arm.

"I know there are many, but I can still tell them apart. Could you not refrain from procreating?"

"I could," MacLeod agreed. He was silent for a few moments as he set Andrew on his feet and gestured that he should go after Henry. "I am afraid I do not see why are you asking the question." He had been thinking Julia had misunderstood her father when he had said he did not want to become a grandfather yet.

"I understand that you inferred from the size of my family that it was not a difficult skill."

The captain blushed. "That is correct."

"Did you think that creating a family was the only aim of this sort of activity?"

Here the captain began to look uncertain. "Er...well, if it is an activity similar to the sort about which my father was quite detailed in his explanations and prohibitions, then --"

"Quite detailed?" the duke bellowed. He was too stunned to laugh outright. The nature of the subject perhaps forbade it. He had never taken it lightly himself. "You must be speaking in jest!"

"No, Your Grace."

The duke grimaced a few times until his features could settle for seriousness. "Am I to understand your father forbade you to engage in activities of a particular sort?"

"Yes, Your Grace. Before I first went to sea. When I was a boy."

"And he was detailed?" The duke made himself sound skeptic.

It was no longer safe to say his father had been quite detailed. Apparently there was some difference of opinion about that. "Enough to put me off, Your Grace," MacLeod said rather guardedly.

"If your father took such trouble to discourage you, Captain, he must not have engaged in this activity himself, ever?"

"I doubt it."

"Where did your father obtain the knowledge he needed to discourage you? Did your parents find you on their doorstep?" the duke wondered.

"I do not think so." MacLeod began to feel rather unsettled. It seemed the duke misunderstood him there, yet perhaps he did have a point.

"Excuse me," the duke said in a constricted voice. He turned around to laugh. "My apologies," he said when he turned back. "I ought to feel glad that I am not the only decent man in the world. But you may be mistaken about the difficulty of the skill."

"Oh."

"Your wife's opinions on the matter are as important as they are on any other matter." He looked reflective for a second. "Any matter in which she has a good reason to feel involved, that is. I would recommend that you mind them."

"Ah," MacLeod looked relieved. "Then my suppositions were not so far off."

"Interesting. You have suppositions in spite of your father's detailed prohibitions? May I ask what you had supposed?"

"That ... er ... no, I shall keep those to myself." He had no desire to be laughed at again.

"Wise. Let us discuss the settlement then. Some money might come in useful, given your detailed knowledge."

Chapter Fifteen

After the financial arrangements, there was the date of the marriage to decide upon. "Personally I do not see why anyone should wait," said the duke, who would not allow anyone to wait. Too much damage had been done already. "I am not in favour of delays. The sooner, the better, or one should not have proposed."

"I did not propose," the captain reminded him.

"Indeed. You were remiss, as you well know, so I did it for you. You are marrying for money, or so Julia informed us," the duke said with an imperturbable face. "Are you in need of...er...this money ... very quickly?"

MacLeod could play that game too. "Needing is too strong a word, Your Grace, but it would make life considerably more agreeable."

"Indeed..." The duke counted off money. "That is what I had supposed your opinion to be. You are a sensible fellow and not averse to conversing with my little ones. What do special licenses cost these days?"

"I could not begin to guess."

"Well, consider it a gift," the duke said absentmindedly, looking around for something. "Not meddling in your private affairs. I shall, however, go with you. You cannot simply appear with a girl without having my obvious blessing. I trust you will see why. My wife must follow with the girls in a few days, if --"

"Girls?" MacLeod interrupted. He was only marrying one girl.

"My youngest daughter cannot be separated from her mother -- but they can only leave if we can be certain that the boys will behave." He tapped his desk with his fingers. "Must send a note to Newman. You may go and take leave of your beloved, Captain. Shall we leave in an hour?"

Julia was in one of the drawing rooms with her mother and the baby. She was walking through the room without purpose, looking dissatisfied, but she brightened a little when he came in and rushed to his side. "Did my mother speak to you?" she asked in a soft voice that her mother could not overhear.

He was taken aback by that question. The last time they had spoken Julia had been vexed with him. He wondered how to interpret her now. "Yes, she did."

"What is my mother planning to do after we are married?" Julia whispered. "Some festivity?"

He remembered the party. "Er ... nothing." He was still looking for traces of vexation, but he saw none, not yet.

Julia remembered that her mother had not answered her either. Perhaps she had misunderstood. What would happen after she was married? Only one thing was certain. "Or was she referring to my going to live with you? Nothing could surprise me there. We have already lived together."

MacLeod smiled at this reduction of the problem to the simple truth. "We have indeed and I will not be any different. But you know parents always fear the worst."

"But why?" She did not see how he could possibly change into something worrisome.

"Because they want the best for you."

"I am sure I shall have it," Julia said confidently. "I apologise for being unkind earlier. I should not have worried. Money is indeed useful and I cannot blame you. If I am selfish, you should be allowed as well."

"Julia," he began, biting his lip. The duchess was present and that held him back from saying too much. He was not selfish. Not really, he thought. It was not the money that had drawn him in, but her age that had held him back. "Thank you."

"Come and let us sit by Mama or her curiosity will not be able to bear it. But how about this Mac business, Captain?" she asked as she pulled him towards where her mother was seated.

He looked startled. "I beg your pardon?"

"Should I continue to call you Captain at the risk of turning the heads of all other captains who might be nearby?"

"I am sure you could turn their heads even if you did not call out to me -- and there is but one captain on a ship."

Julia looked doubtful. "Is that a polite way of saying..." He might want her to use his rank instead of his name, he might have made her a compliment, or he might gently have reminded her that he was the captain and not she. She did not know. It could be all three.

MacLeod gave no answer but a smile.

"When are you off?" asked the duchess, who evidently derived some amusement from her daughter's doubts.

"In less than an hour. With your husband, Your Grace." He did not know whether that had been communicated already. She did not look surprised, however. Perhaps they had discussed this beforehand. They would have. They were that sort.

"But --" Julia began, but she was cut short when her mother laid a hand on her arm.

"My dear girl, do you want to leave me so suddenly?" the duchess asked softly. "Stay with me for as long as you can. You can be with him forever after that. Have some consideration. In your eagerness to be gone, do not again forget those you leave behind."

"You did not know what I was going to say!" Julia protested with a blush.

"Indeed I did. You can only be feeling their departure stronger than I do and I already feel it quite strongly. Julia, I wish you would see why you could not possibly go with him today." She would rather not detail all the evils of inns and bad reputations.

"Yes, I see," Julia said impatiently to put an end to it. She missed the slight shake of the head of MacLeod.

The duchess did not miss it. She was not fooled either. "We are pleased to hear that you do."

"I do not even know whether you are taking me next week," Julia complained to the captain. "You were not really clear about this. How much should I pack?"

"Pack for cool weather," he said. "We should return before it becomes really cold up there. Is that clear enough?" He spoke rather indifferently, afraid as he was that she would fling her arms about his neck and kiss him on the cheek -- in front of her mother. In spite of his tone, Julia did almost exactly that, save for the kiss. He removed her arms with a mortified blush.

The duchess refrained from commenting on either of them. Her baby had captured her sole interest all of a sudden, it seemed, although her mind was most definitely on the couple beside her. It looked as if both had enough to learn and it was good that these were different lessons.

"Have you met Julia's sister yet, Captain?" she asked.

Before he could finish saying that he had not, she had already been deposited in his arms, a gesture he could not refuse. "Ah," he said, looking down on the infant. There was more cloth than baby. "Er ... I am delighted to meet her, but what do I do with her now?"

"You must get acquainted with her. You must know I am thinking of putting her in the way of some promising lieutenant in twenty years. You must keep an eye out." Although, really, he ought to know what to do with such a child in some twenty months.

The gentlemen's hasty departure was dealt with on either side with calmness. Only the ladies' eyes betrayed some of their feelings, but they were reined in very admirably. Clementine found her exemplary function rather a burden -- she would have preferred to be more affectionate, but that would only cause Julia to behave even wilder. Julia proved herself very ladylike and controlled now, so that was her reward.

The ladies lamented the loss of their gentlemen, but soon they reconciled themselves to the necessity of the separation and they began looking forward to the day of their reunion. They were to travel to the seaside in a few days and then stay with Aunt Julia and the admiral, if those were home. If they happened to be away, Julian would have taken some rooms at the place where the captain was staying.

Julia spent her time packing and repacking. She changed her mind several times a day about the best colour for her evening dress and since she was not planning to take all of them, she had to make a choice.

"I am silly, am I not?" she asked when her mother came into her room. "I shall very likely not even wear it. There may not be evening entertainment unless there is some instrument. We shall not be going to war and there is no excitement other than whales."

"And males."

"Oh, indeed. We could always talk."

"Indeed," her mother said dryly and looked at what she had packed so far. "And will you write?"

"I promise to write whenever I can, but he has not told me precisely where we are going. I know I can write you about the first few days. Would that do? We might meet his parents. I am sure you would like to know what they are like."

"I do. We have been so busy reading his character that we asked nothing about his family," Clementine mused. They had had no time to think properly.

After they had obtained the licence, only the duke had gone to stay with his aunt; the captain had politely declined. He had said he must not change his address so shortly before leaving, since people should know where to find him and he had already been away unexpectedly for several days. His excuse did make some sense and it was not questioned, although what he really wanted was to be left alone so he could concentrate on his duties. Staying with Admiral Henson and his wife would only mean two more people to ask him impertinent questions about other kinds of duties. He had no reason to think the admiral and Lady Julia any less curious and concerned than Julia's parents.

Well, they would simply have to trust him, he thought after he had taken his evening meal at the inn. He set out for a stroll along the still busy streets, the happy alternative to lengthy quizzing sessions at the admiral's house.

When he found himself remarking on the lack of charms of every passing lady, he wondered what he was doing and he set course for a tavern that he knew to be free of females, on the whole.

Captain Carter was still in town, which was not odd, since they had met less than three weeks ago. He beckoned his friend. "Any progress?"

"Where?" MacLeod asked, although he could guess. He had spoken to Carter about the ball. Of course his friend would have remembered such a thing, even if his advice had been predictable and immediate, not the result of careful reflection.

"The duke's daughter. The ball."

"Oh. Er ... yes. We are ... er ... engaged." He thought it best not to mention his upcoming wedding. If Carter got wind of that good news, MacLeod would be paying for all their drinks from now on. He would soon come into a fortune, after all, and Carter would think he might as well start spending in anticipation.

"Engaged!" Carter banged his fist on the table. "That deserves a celebration. Another round," he beckoned. "Which duke was it again?"

"The Duke of Muncester."

"I asked around after you told me about his marriageable daughter," Captain Carter revealed. "Muncester. Used to be a captain on that ship you wrecked. And he let you have his daughter?"

"He does not hold that against me." In fact, having travelled with the duke for a few days he would tentatively say there was not much that the man held against him now that he was cleared of the seduction charges.

"Well, marvellous. How much does she bring in?"

"Enough." He could not bring himself to mention the sum. It was dazzling. He was not the sort to want to dazzle a friend either.

"Ah," Carter said shrewdly, misinterpreting his reticence. "Never tell a friend of your betrothed's dowry when you are off to sea!"

"Precisely. That could not come to any good." He wondered if Julia would be jealous if she saw the wink the serving girl gave him as she brought them their ale. It did not affect him, though.

"I do not know the girl. Nobody could tell me anything about her, but if she takes after her mother..." He looked interested.

"Do you know her mother?" MacLeod inquired. He wondered what sort of tales were being told about the duchess, feeling inclined to defend his future mother-in-law from any slander.

"Oh no, but she is said to be excessively fond of her husband and constantly lying in."

"She was up and about normally, but yes, they are very fond of their children too -- and consequently meddlesome. I mean, protective." He could not be unkind. Although their constant interest had been oppressive -- and it was his own fault for feeling that -- they had in fact been understanding, generous and kind.

Carter was interested in their protectiveness. It could only be for one reason. "Haha, Mac! Did you try anything then?"

That was a treacherous question. If there were any tries, it was Julia who would be the one to try first, not he, but it was impossible to say so. He also did not want Carter to berate him for not having tried anything or not enough. "Perhaps. Not much occasion for that at a ball. Now let us talk about amusing things."

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