Page 59 of Only Scandal Will Do

He sighed and touched his wife’s cold cheek. She looked so vulnerable. To leave her thus wrenched his heart. At another fiercely whispered “my lord!” he rose, leaned over and kissed the clammy forehead then strode out. As soon as they were outside the cabin he tried to take command once more. “Go on to my cabin, Margery. You can’t nurse her if you are exhausted.”

The maid sighed but stood her ground. “She doesn’t want you tending her, my lord. And I can understand that. She’s probably embarrassed to have you see her like this. I’ll manage. I’ve done sickroom duty before and survived. I’ll snatch some rest here and there. Hopefully she’ll come out of this soon. Ask the captain how long before someone gets over seasickness. If anyone would know, he would.”

He nodded. “What can I do to help?”

“Can you send someone with a bucket of clean water? And some cloths so I can wipe her face? They need to take away the slop bucket as well.” Margery wrinkled her nose in distaste at the thought.

“I’ll talk to the captain and get a crewman assigned as your assistant. He’ll do whatever you need done.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

“And, Margery,” he said, grimly determined to regain some control over the situation, “I’ll want a report given to the lad every hour on my lady’s condition. If she ever falls into a deep sleep, let me know and I’ll take over while you rest.”

Margery nodded. “Thank you again, my lord.”

He stopped, eager to do anything that might alleviate Katarina’s suffering.

“I’ll tell her you are seeing to her comfort. She should know of your concern.”

“Thank you, Margery.” It had taken a crisis of major proportions, but at last he had made a favorable impression on Katarina’s maid.

He tore up the gangway, into the brilliant sunshine of a morning that had lost its appeal and hurried to the bridge, to Captain Stratton.

“Seasickness affects everyone differently, my lord,” the captain said. “Some get it from the moment they set foot on a ship ’til the moment they’re back on dry land. Others have a quick bout, then find their sea legs. Some are sick only when it’s stormy. Right now we’re still in the channel and there’s a good bit of chop. That may be what’s the matter with her ladyship.”

“Why is there no physician on board, Captain? You were given full authority to hire whomever you needed.” If he could have burned a hole between Stratton’s eyes with his glare, he would have.

“I’ve never needed one before, Lord Dalbury. And seasickness is not something a physician can treat. It generally just runs its course.” The captain’s tone was civil, but a trifle condescending for his taste.

“So, when we get out of the channel the water will be calmer? She’ll recover?”

Captain Stratton called to a passing sailor. “Larraby.”

The young man stopped and raised his face respectfully toward the captain. Duncan judged him a lad of perhaps sixteen, but his face and arms were the bronzed complexion of a seasoned crewmember, his hair already bleached tow by the sun.

“Her ladyship is having a bout of mal-de-mer, Larraby,” the captain informed him. “Go to her cabin and see what you can do for her maid. Whatever the lady needs, you’ll get, understand?”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Good lad. Off with you, now.”

“I want a report, Larraby!” Duncan called as the sailor sped across the deck at a run. “In my cabin in ten minutes!”

“Yes, m’lord!” The nimble boy swung out of sight into the corridor.

Arms crossed over his chest, Duncan leaned against the rail at his back and fixed the captain with his trademark haughty stare, designed to make men quail. “So, Captain Stratton, you were saying that once we get out of the channel the choppiness will disappear and Lady Dalbury will recover?”

The captain waited a moment then sighed and shook his head. “Probably not, my lord. Once we clear the channel we will be sailing in the Atlantic, and the ocean is anything but calm waters. We can hug the coastline all the way down, which may help matters, but that will extend the voyage by a week or more.”

“And there’s no way to tell how long before Lady Dalbury recovers from this affliction?”

“No, my lord. She could be fine by tonight or not until we dock in Italy. Has this happened before?”

“She mentioned nothing of it before we sailed. I’d hoped she would have told me of a problem this serious.” But would Katarina have confided in him? “My wife crossed to England from the colonies early in the year, so she would have known.” What he wouldn’t give to be able to ask his brother-in-law right now.

The captain sailed in silence for a while then glanced at him. “Begging your pardon, my lord, but Lady Dalbury is not expecting a child by any chance? The motion of the ship could have aggravated morning sickness.”

A snort escaped him. “No, Captain. I can assure you that is not the case.”