Page 56 of The Cornish Widow

Jack pulled up a chair and helped himself to several pastries and a slice of crusty bread.

“Shall I pour you a coffee, Cap’n?” Theo asked. He had a milky mustache from the glass he’d been drinking.

Jack nodded. “As a potential cabin boy, I think that ought to be one of your duties. Thank you. And good morning to you both.” He eyed Harriet. “I trust you both slept well?”

Theo beamed. “Like a log. I didn’t even wake up when Mama came up. Can we stay here a few days?”

“I’m sorry, but no. We have to take our cargo back to Cornwall this morning. After breakfast we’ll row out to The Fly. We should be back home by nightfall, if we’re lucky with the winds.”

Theo pulled a disappointed face but kept on going with his food. A wonder the boy was so small and skinny, but Jack wasn’t so old that he couldn’t remember being constantly starving as a boy himself. He was probably on the verge of a growing spurt, and all the fresh air of the Cornish coast and sailing was making him hungrier than normal.

“Will the crossing be as rough as yesterday’s?” Harriet asked, sipping her coffee, the eyes that regarded Jack over the top of the cup wary. Probably wondering if she’d get a revisitation of her breakfast later, if the sea got rough.

He shook his head. “A little lumpy, but hopefully nowhere near as bad. And if you remain on deck in the fresh air, you should be less affected.” He wanted to ask her about last night; if she was all right, how she felt now she’d cried it out of her, but he didn’t dare. Not in front of Theo, at any rate. He drained his coffee cup and poured a second, noticing the furrowing of her brow. “I’d drink a couple of glasses of water, if I were you. It’ll help your headache.”

Her eyes flew to his. “How do you know…?”

He grinned. “An easy guess after last night.”

Color rose to her cheeks. “I must apologize for my unseemly behavior.”

Theo pushed the last of his bread into his mouth. “Might I get down now, Mama, and run down to the harbor to look at the boats?”

She looked a question at Jack. “Will he be safe?”

Jack nodded. “Plenty of English sailors down there if he gets into any trouble.”

She nodded. “Very well. But don’t go too near the edge. Don’t talk to any strangers. And don’t get into any trouble.”

Theo planted a kiss on his mother’s cheek, saluted Jack, and was gone.

Jack stood up. “We won’t be far behind him. I’ve just to settle up my dues with Mrs. S, then we can leave.”

Harriet’s blush deepened. “Oh no. I hadn’t even thought of having to pay for our room and breakfast.” The hunted look returned with a vengeance. “I have no money with me. A nightgown does not lend itself to carrying one’s reticule.”

Jack felt his own cheeks warm with the realization that he’d put her in an embarrassing situation. “I’m sorry. I should have said that I would be settling this myself. I don’t expect my stowaways to pay for themselves now I’ve virtually kidnapped you to France.”

Relief flooded her face. “Thank you.” To be followed by what looked like the realization that having a strange man pay for one’s accommodation in a foreign inn probably wasn’t the done thing. “Oh no. I would rather you didn’t.”

Jack reached his hand across the table and set it on hers. For a moment, she tried to snatch hers away, but he hung on. “Harriet. I promise you that no one will ever know that I paid for your billet. Let me do it and we’ll have you back home in no time. This will all be a bad dream for you.” Only it had been anything but a bad dream for him.

She raised her eyes to his. “You are sure? You will not tell your mother? I should hate for her to know. She might think I was…” Her voice trailed off. She probably didn’t want to put into words what she thought his mother would think. Even though she was well aware his mother herself was not of the most respectable in Cornwall.

He rose to his feet and pulled her up with him. Impulse seized him and while he still had her hand in his, her lifted it to his lips and pressed a kiss to it. “Have no fear, Harriet. I have nothing but the most honest of intentions.”

Her look of relief was fleeting. No doubt she was pondering his words.