When Two Hearts Meet (Brightmore #2)

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

After dinner that evening, Cole and Rhys retired to his drawing room to partake in a much needed nightcap. Danielle and Oriana had been informed that the gentlemen had important business to discuss, but Cole doubted he was of a mood to partake in any substantial conversation. Rhys had issued instructions upon his arrival and Cole now had time to spare and enjoy at his leisure. The next shipment would only be available for delivery in several days, until then he hadn’t much else to do other than corrupt innocent debutantes.

Cole cradled his tumbler of brandy in his hands and stood at the vast window. The night was dark and he was unable to determine anything other than his own reflection in the glass, amber in hue and strangely soothing.

“You could settle here, you know,” Rhys said from where he reclined in his high wing-backed chair near the hearth. “You do not have to see to every shipment personally anymore.”

Cole did not turn to him. He knew what Rhys was referring to and truthfully, it had been a consistent thought on his mind. At his age, Cole was fortunate enough to have amassed a small fortune; a sum large enough to support him and his sisters comfortably for years to come. He had Rhys to thank for this largely, but he would not simply stop his labours because he was able. Rather, he’d manage the shipments from England, employing able men that he trusted to accompany the product to various shores across the globe.

Rhys encouraged him to do so at every occasion, but Cole was not certain he could be contained to one country for a sustained period of time. He enjoyed the excitement of travel, the heat of negotiation and barter, the variety of language and customs one came across throughout the world. If he were to relinquish all that for a life in England… he couldn’t imagine being susceptible to the lifestyle for very long. No doubt he’d grow restless, agitated at being confined to England- to his sisters. It was not something he had ever longed for before.

Although Cole was uncertain of his mind, he could fancy what his life would be like were he to remain in England. He could take a wife, perhaps start a family of his own- a notion that had never crossed his mind until recently. He had always believed the sea to be his only mistress, but now…

Oriana.

Would it be feasible to marry the girl? Better yet, would she even be susceptible to such a notion? A well-bred lady as herself would no doubt hesitate at committing to a lowly sea captain such as Cole. He had no titles, no notability among the peerage other than a reputation borne of his astute business relationship with Lord Ashcroft. The only benefit Oriana would have marrying him would be the stability he could offer her financially. Although Cole wasn’t exorbitantly rich, he had enough money saved to ensure that he could sustain any of his family comfortably for years to come, and many wise investment with the aid of Rhys’s counsel ensured that his income would increase as the years progressed.

Indeed, there certainly did not seem any need for him to continue such vigorous labours in order to earn his way. Any other man would leap at the opportunity to forgo a life of servitude to one of leisure.

“Cole?”

Unwillingly, he extracted himself from his private contemplations and turned to his companion, noting that Rhys’s tumbler was empty of any liquid. How long had he been lost in his own thoughts, staring into the dark oblivion outside the window? “Forgive me,” Cole murmured. “I was thinking.”

“About staying in England?”

Cole toyed with the glass in his fingers, absently swirling the amber liquid around the bottom. It would not set his mind at ease, not tonight, but he tossed it back anyway, allowing the warm burn to settle in the pit of his stomach and begin to warm him from the inside out. “I cannot say it hasn’t crossed my mind before,” he mused aloud.