As he reached to accept, his fingertips brushed hers. They both held the saucer, yet neither took full possession.
No longer could Brogan dismiss his feelings for her as mere regard for her delicate beauty. His heart betrayed him, harboring affection for a woman who had fouled up his plans. What part had she played in the taking of his son? What knowledge did she hide? He still did not know.
“I find the chowder very tasty.” He accepted the teacup and sought to hide his woolgathering by reaching for the fish cakes. As he ate, he glanced up, surprised to find Lorena observing him.
“Drew tells me you and Mr. Smith share tales of your travels at dinnertime, and that the stories are even more exciting to him than the exploits of Captain Briggs. Imagine my surprise to hear it. I did not think anyone could rise above Captain Briggs in Drew’s esteem . . . in any regard.”
Her tone held a challenge, her eyes mild curiosity as though she insisted upon an explanation.
Brogan swallowed, then followed her gaze to the cloth sea captain lying idle on the table beside Drew. Instead of falling into whispers with his doll, inventing his own stories, as Brogan learned was common of Drew at mealtimes, the lad now took animated interest in the dinner table conversation.
Even now, Drew followed their exchange. He set down his tumbler of milk, licking his upper lip. “Are we going to hear a story?”
“Aye, I believe it is indeed time for a story.” Brogan leaned toward Lorena. “Mr. Smith and I have many stories, but this evening no one has a more interesting tale than you. So tell us, Lorena, for we’ve wondered, what turn of events led you to be shipbound for England with George Louder?”
She cleared her palate with a sip of tea and then swallowed uncomfortably.
She stalled and Brogan had to wonder why. “Now that you are on my ship, I feel an even greater responsibility for your welfare, a sense of duty separate and apart from my command of this vessel.” What he felt was fierce protectiveness, similar to his feelings for Drew and far stronger even than any emotion he’d felt for his late wife. “You claim you were not injured, and to my eyes you do not seem to have been. Still, I understand you have been through a trial, and I don’t mean to be insensitive, but you sit here in good spirits. Therefore, I believe we deserve an explanation. So, tell us. What happened to prevent you from disembarking the Lady Julia?”
“Be warned. You are not going to like what I have to say,” she mumbled into her teacup before carefully returning it to its saucer. She stole a warning glance at Drew before meeting Brogan’s gaze.
“Let me start by explaining that George and I became friends when we were both children. But as we grew older, his priorities changed to follow wealth and success, whereas mine remained with home and family. When he made his decision to depart to England in search of his fortune, he asked me to marry him. I refused as gently as I could. He grew most insistent, and recently I thought he had at last accepted that I did not have the love of a wife to give him. We agreed to part as the friends we had always been. To that end I baked his favorite mince pies for the trip and invited him to tea in the summer kitchen before seeing him off to Plymouth. Little did I know, he never had any intention of taking no for an answer. He somehow slipped a vomit powder into my tea.”
“Vomit powder?” Outrage on her behalf boiled inside Brogan. He felt it hot and urgent, the way he’d felt the injustice of England’s tyranny or Abigail’s deceit. “Louder poisoned—”
“I accused him of the exact same, yes,” Lorena commented with a finality that warned Brogan against further interruption and pointedly put a halt to his rising anger. She continued in a composed voice. “As the powder was beginning to take effect, George deceived me into believing Drew had boarded the Lady Julia. We took off in search of him. While looking in the hold, I became violently ill and hit my head. I could not distinguish my own dizziness from the movement of the brig, and in either case I was too sick to move. By the time I was found, taken to a stateroom, and revived, we were well out to sea.”
Brogan gaped, letting his horror be known. His brows knit as he pinned Lorena beneath the displeasure of his stare. “So this is why you’ve waited till now to tell me? To the last, you protect that weasel.”
“I was protecting you,” she shot back.
“Me?”
“From yourself. She gave him a pointed stare and to such degree that Brogan quieted and let her continue. “You did the right and wise thing in not acting on your anger. Especially when it would have served no good purpose but to distress Captain Winsor and his passengers, not to mention the wrong example it would have set to a certain impressionable young passenger of your own.” With a sharp jerk of her head, she indicated Drew. “Thank you for choosing the most appropriate course and behaving like a gentleman.”