Lorena turned her attention off the starboard quarter in the same direction George held the glass and gave the ship careful and particular examination for the first time since its sighting.
She was of new construction to Lorena’s trained eye, and there was a certain familiarity in her architecture and the craftsmanship of her carvings. Lorena watched her copper-bottomed bow cleave the harsh waves, and something within her reacted with a spontaneous burst of joy. Suddenly she understood what George was looking at.
“Jane,” she said with a gasp, curling her fingers around the woman’s forearm and drawing them both to an abrupt halt. Lorena glanced again at George. His back to the forward ship, he slowly lowered the spyglass. “Jane, it’s possible I know this ship!”
As though he’d heard her, George turned around to catch her eye from where he stood on the quarterdeck. The look of crazed, angry panic he shot back confirmed what Lorena had dared not let herself believe.
It was true then.
She smiled as she had not since her feet stood on dry land. “No, I must take that back, Jane,” she said in a clear, bright voice. “I do know this ship. I christened her myself in my father’s shipyard less than two months ago.”
Jane’s mouth fell open and she turned her surprise on her husband and brother-in-law, who had just joined them. “Then it is your father, do you believe?” she asked Lorena. “He has come for you?”
Lorena’s thoughts whirred. “I don’t know. I don’t know what to think.” But Lorena was imagining not her father, but a handsome Yankee captain with sharp features, a hawkish nose, and sandy blond side whiskers framing his lean cheeks.
Brogan had come for her. Already some of the other passengers were waving a greeting, and she was reaching up to join them when her wrist was seized from behind.
“Silly girl, you’re making a terrible mistake.” George’s words spewed forth in a hiss.
“Here, here,” called Thomas Ellery, stepping forward. “I’ll not tolerate roughness to a lady.” He glared a warning at George, then turned his stare upon the hand that held Lorena.
“Forgive me, Thomas.” As George released her, Lorena snatched back her hand, glowering.
“I believe the apology you owe is to Lorena,” Thomas corrected.
George assessed her with his dark stare, and even now with help so close at hand, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
“I believe you are correct, Thomas. I owe her much by way of apologies.” George beseeched those surrounding her in hopes of privacy.
Lorena reached for Jane’s hand. Her eye remained warily on George, sending him an unspoken message. You may speak to me in front of my friends or not at all.
He straightened, studying her with a penetrating stare until his expression softened. “I have loved you since we were children,” he declared, his voice a controlled whisper. “My means of showing it of late may have seemed desperate and extreme, I confess, and yet if not for that desperate act, you would have been lost to me forever. Lorena, you cannot leave with Captain Talvis. The good people of this ship will not allow you—a kind, respectable Christian girl—to be taken off by this ruffian. I cannot allow it! It is not too late for us. We will be happy in England.” He stepped closer. “I assure you.”
Disgust and pity rose in her throat like bile. Lorena stood erect, facing George with resolve. “Matters have gone far beyond reviving any further tolerance of you. I believe if you examine your heart, you’ll realize it is not me you love at all but personal achievement. You set your mind long ago that I was to be part of that success. Marriage to the daughter of the man you were once indentured to. What a testimony to how far you’ve come up in the world. And because you have never failed to accomplish anything you’ve put your mind to, it is inconceivable for you to accept defeat in this one thing. For if you loved me, George . . . if you even understood the meaning of the word, you would have respected my wishes. You would have considered my happiness. Not just your own. You would not have deceived me in order to get me to come with you. Accept it, George. I could never be persuaded to marry you! I’ll be leaving with Captain Talvis, and this time no amount of trickery or vomit powder can stop me.”
George’s expression turned to stone.
“You admit it?” Jane’s tone rang of shock as she draped an arm protectively about Lorena’s waist. “You poisoned her, Mr. Louder? Not that we did not believe you, Lorena, but he does have a manner of presenting himself to be everything amiable and helpful.”
George’s color rose along with his defenses. He shot Jane an indignant glare. “Vomit powder is not a poison, Mrs. Ellery. By all accounts, it is most often considered a remedy.”
“A remedy?” Jane scoffed. “No remedy for unreturned love, Mr. Louder, surely!”