The Charlotte Series: Book 3: The Pretender's Gold

12

Photo was taken In 1878 Paris, France at the Exposition Universelle at which the head of the future Statue of Liberty was displayed.

Chapter 12

"Oh, you mean my stay at this lovely inn." She chuckled and low throaty sound rippled through him stirring feelings completely inappropriate for strangers at the dinner table. "I am going actually."

"Oh." He shifted slightly in his seat and disguised his action by reaching for the wine to fill their glasses again. "Where are you going, if I might ask?"

"Just across the channel. I am bound for the Exposition Universelle* in Paris."

"I've heard tell of the Paris Expo. I hear it's even grander than the Centennial Exposition* was in Philadelphia two years ago." he shrugged as he set his glass down and leaned back to allow the waiter to set their plates in front of them. "I see you've ordered."

"Mrs. Beeslee, actually. I told her I had no wish to be accosted by the young ninnies that were circling around but that I didn't particularly care to dine alone. She mentioned a friend of hers had just come to town and assured me you were entirely respectable and I would not be accosted."

"Ah. Mrs. Beeslee. She and Henry are like parents to the lot of us Captains. They fuss and bother over us when we come to port."

"Sounds rather like coming home."

"I'm afraid I can't relate. My father was a sailor and he took me to sea with him when I was a lad of eight. I'm afraid my visits home over the years might number a few dozen if I guessed on the high side." He gave a guilty shrug.

"That is the life of a sailor, I suppose." He nodded his response as he lifted another bite to his mouth and she continued. "You must never have regrets over that life. I spent my life home and it was positively stifling. I would have given my right arm to be free to ..."

Stuart failed to suppress the chuckle that rumbled through him.

"You disagree?"

"No. I have no regrets...well not often anyway. I've enjoyed life at sea. It's only that you think it was some frolic and adventure and that I was free to come and go. I was very nearly a slave for the first ten years at sea. I earned my keep by my work. I earned no wages and I worked hard from before sunup until well after sundown. I had no choices."

"But surely..."

"My father was washed overboard in a storm when I was 14. My father's good friend Mr. Bricker tucked me under his wing. He became my dearest friend and the father that I lost. I don't regret my years at sea...but it wasn't so grand as you seem to imagine."

"Well." Her delicate eyebrow rose as she slouched back in her chair. "So, the sea made a man out of you."

She fixed on him a look that began to make his collar feel tighter. Had he really thought she was just three and twenty?

"You certainly grew up well enough."

"Aye." Stu cleared his throat and chose to misunderstand her implications. "I was taller than Bricker when my father died. I've been doing a man's full share since I was ...twelve maybe."

"I must remember to thank Mrs. Beeslee." She tipped her head as she regarded him and he saw the tip of her tongue as she wet her lips.

"Dinner is rather delicious." He agreed as he quickly turned his attention to his dinner as he speared another bite.