The Beauty of the Mist (8 page)

“Andrew Maxwell, m’lady. What’s yours?” The boy paled suddenly. “Oh, begging your pardon, ma’am. I’m probably not supposed to be so forward.”

“That’s all right, Andrew,” she nodded with a smile. “My name is Maria. And how old are you?”

“I’m nine—well, next year I will be.” He straightened his back. “But I am as strong as ten.”

She couldn’t help but smile as the boy scuffed his foot across the planking of the deck. “And what’s your job?”

“I do whatever needs to be done, m’lady. I am the brother to the ship’s navigator.”

“I thought since you were helping the physician on his rounds, you must be his assistant, at least.”

“That I’m not,” Andrew said at once, flashing a look of defiance. “The reason that I help the man is because Sir John has ordered me to. He says that by giving a hand to all who call for it, I’ll learn more than just sailing.”

Maria nodded seriously in agreement. “That is a wise course.”

“But when I grow up, I’m going to be a pilot, like my brother.” Andrew paused. “But it’s hard work to learn so much.”

Maria appraised the boy, her eyes thoughtful.

“Aye. But I’m certain you have what it takes, Andrew.”

John Macpherson concurred with his navigator’s suggested route. They still had two weeks before their appointed audience with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles, at the end of March, but there was no way to tell when the fog would lift. Going by David’s calculations, if they remained fog bound for more than a week, then they should take their chances and try to capture some of the light breeze that occasionally sprang up and work their way eastward toward the Danish coast. From there a messenger could be sent overland through Friesland and the Netherlands to Antwerp and the Emperor’s palace with news of their whereabouts. With a fast horse, the man should be able to reach the court in less than a fortnight. The last thing John wanted was to have the upcoming marriage muddled by a bout of bad weather.

“I guess if we need to sit tight, a week won’t ruin us,” John grumbled, rubbing his hand over his chin.

David nodded in agreement, but John couldn’t avoid noticing the grin that tugged at the corners of his pilot’s mouth.

“What is it now?” he snapped.

“A week. A whole week, with not a thing to do.” The young man’s large brown eyes could not hide his mirth.

“We’ve been stranded like this many times in the past,” John said, trying not to rise to the bait. “We’ll just have to make do.”

“Not like this, m’lord,” David chirped. “I don’t believe
you
have been stranded like this before.”

“What do you mean
me
? What is the difference between this fog and any—”

“A great deal of difference, m’lord!”

John glared threateningly at his pilot as the latter leaned over the maps.

“Would you care to clarify that statement,” the Highlander growled. “Or are you just happy to rile my temper with riddles?”

“I would say more, if you were not in such bad humor,” David complained wryly, busying himself with his measurements once again. “Aye. Considering the circumstances, just forget I said anything, m’lord.”

“And you can go to hell, you mouse-eared marmoset,” John cursed. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve taken too many blows to your head, drunk a wee bit too much seawater, and bedded a few too many harbor whores. But whatever’s caused it, I think you’ve lost your mind at last.”

David’s pained expression was comic, indeed, but John kept the fearsome glower on his face.

“Thank you for your words of support, Sir John.” The navigator grinned. “But you know I don’t drink seawater.”

“Aye, I’ll give you that,” his commander growled. “I’ll even grant that you’re not much for the women dockside. But if you think you’re going to taunt me...”

“Well, m’lord. It’s just that, in
this
fog, even a ship as vast as the
Great Michael
seems to grant you no more protection than a long boat.”

“You are daft, Davy, lad! Protection from whom?”

“Perhaps I am daft, Sir John,” David conceded, shrugging his shoulders. “But from what I can see, too many are wanting you, m’lord. Just too many. Your hard won reputation is simply to be your undoing, in the end.”

“Wanting me...?” John snarled impatiently.

David straightened from the table and faced his commander. “Well, m’lord, there’s that married lady below, the poor thing, sitting in her cabin, doing little else but dreaming of you and pining away her loss. That is, when she’s not tormenting her husband.”

“I’m finding it hard to believe that Lady Caroline’s been sharing these thoughts with the likes of you.”

“Nay, m’lord. Though I do hear a few things from her sweet-faced stepdaughter,” David answered. “The darling Mistress Janet.”

“Ahh! Of course. And Mistress Janet shares it all with you.”

“Of course! The poor Lady Caroline was once, as everyone in Scotland knows, an active woman. But now she sulks and sighs and flies into rages, cursing the
Great Michael
and all who sail on her, and putting Mistress Janet out of their cabin for no reason at all. Och, it’s a terrible fierce thing, I would imagine, newly married to one man, but wasting away for another.” David shook his head. “Truthfully, though, I feel for Mistress Janet—caught in the middle and no where to turn.”

“Except to you.” John nodded skeptically, but he knew deep down that, aside from the badgering, David’s words contained a strong possibility of truth.

“Aye. Who else could the lass swing her bow toward? She only began to confide in me when she decided to find out for sure—from someone close to you—that the lady’s affections were only one sided. Janet doesn’t have the heart nor the courage to discuss any of this with her father, but still she feels an obligation to do something about it. Nay, it doesn’t look good. Only two months of wedded bliss and already second thoughts.”

David moved over to the window and sat on a high stool, leaning back against the window casing. John knew he wasn’t finished and drummed the table with his fingers impatiently.

“What else, pilot. Out with it.”

“Well, m’lord,” the younger man continued seriously. “Only that you should be at ease knowing I represented you and your feelings truthfully to the lady. I assured Janet that you are not just happy for Lady Caroline, but delighted that she should have chosen as fine a warrior and as upstanding a man as Sir Thomas. I told her that you harbor no regrets, nor longings of any kind for the woman.”

“That’s very good of you, David. Though I don’t think you need to be speaking for—”

“It was a pleasure, m’lord,” the navigator interrupted.

“Aye, I’m quite sure it was, all things considered. But—”

“But there’s more still, Sir John.”

“Oh, is there, now? Don’t tell me, you are giving up your trade and taking over the vocation of confessor on this ship?”

“That I am not.” David paused for a moment. “Though I’d be willing to wager there’d be a fair profit to be made selling indulgences to the lot we’re carrying this—”

“Will you continue?” John growled.

With a nod, the younger man started again. “Well, you know the stalwart Sir Thomas is dogging you whenever you’re anywhere to be found. But did you know that you have the good gentleman spending the rest of his day stewing about on deck and trying to find crew men that he can bribe to keep him informed of your whereabouts.”

“My whereabouts?”

“Aye, m’lord. At all times.”

“He doesn’t.”

“He does,” David said matter-of-factly.

John pushed away from the table and stalked to the window.

“The suspicious scoundrel!” Never mind the fact that John would never choose to be alone with Caroline. But he was stunned that the old devil would even imagine he could get John’s own crew to betray their leader. “To think I felt badly for the man. I hope the men are taking his gold. I hope they take all of it.”

“That they are doing. By the bag full.” David nodded. “But that’s not all of it.”

“Come now, David,” John said exasperatedly. “What more could there be?”

“Well, perhaps I won’t burden you with tales the men are collecting of all the other young women aboard, unmarried
and
married, swooning and collapsing at the very sight of you.”

“By God, I surely am happy to provide entertainment for my men, as well as a lucrative side occupation in Sir Thomas’ employ.”

“They do appreciate it, Sir John.” David paused for effect. “But perhaps, most important, the bonny, green-eyed lass staying in the Queen’s cabin also speaks of naught but you.”

“Maria?” John asked with surprise. “How, I’m afraid to ask, do you know that?”

“The serving woman we left with her last night had other duties early this morning, so Mistress Janet, from the goodness of her heart, took it on herself to see to those two.”

“I gave instructions that none of the passengers were to barge in on them yet.”

“We’ve seen to it that your orders were followed to the letter—quite nearly,” David acknowledged. “But I knew that surely you couldn’t mean Janet Maule. I’ve heard you say yourself that she is not like the rest of
them
. And someone had to see to their needs this morning. With the younger lassie’s hand bound up as it is, how could we expect her to so much as change her clothes without a wee bit of help? Never mind seeing to the older woman. Unless...unless
you’ve
been planning to go back and see to...?”

John’s fierce glare silenced his man. “Nay, I was not.”

“Of course not, m’lord. I never thought so for a moment.” David measured for the twentieth time the distance between their position and the Danish coast.

“At any rate,” the pilot continued without looking up. “Mistress Janet told me that the elder woman is a bit feverish, but all in all she seems to be bearing up quite well. In fact, the physician arrived shortly after Janet did this morning and saw to the old woman’s wound again and gave her some more of his sorcerer’s brew. So, in the meantime, Janet...er, Mistress Janet got a chance to chat with the lass. From what she said to me after she left their cabin—”

David stopped abruptly, looking up and shaking his head.

“I’m sorry, m’lord. I am boring you with this idle prattle.” He leaned over the maps with a grim expression. “In weather like this, it’s so damned easy getting off course.”

John filled his chest with air and clenched his jaws. He would not wring his friend’s neck, as much as he deserved having it wrung. He knew what the rascal was up to.

“I think Mistress Janet and I need to have a talk,” he said at last.

“Aye, m’lord? What about?”

“About keeping her confidence with bilge-dwelling sea rats that seem to have taken over this vessel,” John retorted. “About not falling prey to her sympathies for every ugly dog and flattering tongue that she stumbles across.”

“You surely couldn’t mean me?” David asked in false horror.

“I mean no one else, you scurvy rogue! In fact, if I—”

The hard rap on the door quickly brought the two men up short. With a few short strides, David reached the door and opened it. The look of surprise came over the younger man’s visage, but behind him the Highlander barely concealed a look of disdain.

“Lady Caroline!” David announced, turning with a short bow.

The tall woman stepped into the cabin, breezing past the navigator without so much as a look of acknowledgment.

David turned and glanced at his commander questioningly.

“Stay here, David,” John ordered sternly. “And continue with your work. If I’m not mistaken, this shouldn’t take long.”

The Highlander swung around and faced the young woman now standing across the table. “What can I do for you, Lady Maule?”

“I wish for us to be left alone,” Caroline whispered in a hushed tone. “This visit regards a private matter. It is not for the ears of...well...”

“I am afraid not,” John responded curtly, his face now an expressionless mask. “A private interview in my own cabin is impossible. There is naught that we can discuss that David cannot be privy to. He is my second in command on this ship.”

The flash of anger colored the woman’s face. Caroline Maule’s eyes were like daggers as she pondered John’s words. She stared a moment longer at the Highlander’s blank expression.

“Very well,” she said at last. “If this is the way you see fit to treat me, then let it be.”

John remained where he stood and watched as a familiar pouty look crept into the face of the visitor. It seemed to be eons ago that he’d thought that look charming. “Is there something specific you need to see me about, Lady Maule?”

Caroline looked away from him, her eyes playing over the chart on the table. With a toss of her head, a skein of golden hair cascaded down over one of her high, round breasts, a glimmering contrast to the dark blue velvet of her dress. Yes, Caroline Maule was an extremely beautiful woman. But—somewhat to John’s surprise—the woman no longer stirred any of the old carnal feelings in him.

“David and I must continue our work here,” John said at last. “So if your visit is of a social nature, I have to request—”

“I am not here on a ‘social’ visit, John,” she retorted at once, interrupting him.

John nodded curtly and waited. But her words and her eyes conveyed different messages. As he waited patiently for her to continue, he watched Caroline’s fingers trace the edge of the table while her gaze traveled the length of his body. When her eyes reached his face at last, it occurred to him that her look was calculated to be clearly seductive.

He was not game. “What do you want, Caroline?” John asked shortly under his breath.

The hint of a smile showed coyly on her face. He knew she’d wanted to get a reaction from him, and she had succeeded.

“Well, the reason for my visit here is that, several hours ago, I took time out of my morning’s activities to pay a visit to our two new arrivals.” She glided to a chair beside the table and sat down with a comfortable sigh. “But I wasn’t permitted in their cabin.”

John moved as far away as he could in the room, then turned and faced her. “Is that the reason for this visit?”