Harlequin Historical February 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Janice Preston

Author:Janice Preston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

‘And this is the Capità’s cabin,’ the first mate announced in a heavy Catalan accent, motioning the visitors inside with a flourish that would have been comical if the room had not completely justified it.

Emily gave a gasp of appreciation which Genny echoed silently. It was the loveliest room she’d ever seen on board a ship. Kit certainly knew how to surround himself with the good things in life.

It was larger even than her room at Carrington House, with a wooden table at its centre covered in maps and books, and many more books filling the shelves along one wall. The floors were covered with carpets in deep, earthy colours that contrasted with a trio of watercolours of birds and mist-shrouded mountains.

There was also a bunk.

She’d thought that the bunks in the cabins assigned to them on the Hesperus for the short voyage from London to Portsmouth were quite generous compared with other ships she’d sailed on with her grandfather, but this…

This bunk should not in all fairness be called a bunk at all. It was far longer and larger than most beds at the Hall, and made even more imposing by a deep wine-coloured silk covering and tasselled brocade cushions the colours of a sunset. The light from the windows made the fabric shimmer, as if at any moment they might dissolve into warm liquid and spill towards them.

It was a bed made for pleasure.

And it had probably served that purpose well and often.

She turned to look at the paintings instead. If Kit lay against those cushions these were what he would see—the slight, light, almost wistful lines of birds and mountains. The sybaritic setting should have overwhelmed their fragility, but they were powerful counterpoints to the sensuality of the bed and the earthy tones of the carpets and the heavy furniture.

It was a disorientating room in more ways than one.

Just like its owner.

‘Well!’ Emily announced. ‘That is the last time I shall feel sorry for Kit when he is on a long voyage. I would love a room like this—wouldn’t you, Peter?’

Peter looked rather less enthusiastic than Emily, but perhaps that was due to the rising motion of the ship as it slipped out of the Estuary and into the Channel.

Mary sat down heavily in a chair, her hands tight on the armrests.

‘Mary…?’ Genny asked and Mary gave a wan smile.

‘Perhaps I should have travelled by carriage with Serena and Lady Westford, after all.’

‘Oh, no, Mama,’ Emily protested. ‘You know we have been wanting to see Kit’s ship for ever and ever. It is not a long voyage to Portsmouth. We shall be there tomorrow.’

Mary’s smile wobbled and Genny glanced at the first mate.

‘Perhaps some fresh air would be a good idea, Mr Fábregas?’

Mary smiled with relief and Emily hurried to take her mother’s arm. Peter followed, a little unsteady himself, and Genny and the first mate brought up the rear.

‘You are feeling well, Mees Maitland?’ he asked solicitously, and she nodded.

‘I was used to sailing often with my grandfather between England and the Continent.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.