The Year Without Summer by G. S. Wiley

Author:G. S. Wiley
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: M/M Historical, Source: Amazon
ISBN: 9781615814404
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2010-03-24T00:00:00+00:00

MARIA wore a black gown to Mrs. Doyle’s masque. It was trimmed with lace and had a matching black velvet mask. At her age, Maria still had a fine figure; even a man as unfamiliar with women as Robert could see it. He occasionally wondered whether his sister was faithful to the ever-absent Captain Burke-Henry, or whether they adhered to the naval adage that every sailor was a bachelor and every woman a merry widow the moment her husband’s ship left port. Robert had never been sufficiently interested in Maria’s affairs to ask her. As John had once told him in some other context, “We must allow women their secrets, Robert, or else they will never permit us ours.”

“Are you certain I cannot prevail upon you to attend?” Maria asked when she came into the drawing room in her party finery. “Your presence would please a good many ladies.” It was still cold and wet outside. Robert sat in his usual place in front of the fire, a blanket tucked around his lower half to keep out the chill.

“I am afraid they are destined to go unpleased, madam.”

Maria shook her head. Her hair was done up in a design even more extravagant than usual. She looked to Robert as if she belonged on the prow of a ship. “As you wish. I’ve given most of the servants the night off, so if you have any difficulty, you will need to send the kitchen maid next door to Mr. Enbridge’s.” Maria leaned down in a cloud of sweet-smelling perfume and lightly kissed the top of Robert’s head. She seemed about to say something more, but Robert fixed his eyes steadfastly on the book in front of him. His sister contented herself with placing a brief hand on his shoulder, and then she was gone.

It had been difficult for Robert to re-accustom himself to the solitude of life on shore. Aboard ship, one was never alone, at least not in the physical sense of the word. To go from being surrounded by men at all hours of the day and night, the days strictly regimented and run on an iron-clad series of bells and whistles, to being utterly alone was a difficult adjustment to make. Even now, after an hour of quiet reading interrupted only by the occasional creaking of the wood in the fireplace, Robert began to feel uneasy.

The rain pounded against the drawing room windows. Robert imagined how miserable it would be aboard ship at that moment, with everything from the rigging to the berths sopping wet. On nights such as those, when he and John were both lieutenants aboard the Dauntless with the unimagined luxury of shared quarters, they would huddle together after one returned from watch and before the other set out for it. Although his greatcoat was speckled with ice and his fingers were white and stiff with cold, Robert had never warmed as quickly as he had with John’s arms around him.

Robert did not last long aboard the Rose after John left.

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