Miss Whittier Makes a List (45 page)

He smiled finally, and touched her under the chin.
“
I never anticipated that a wife would be so economical!
”
He got to his feet and stretched.
“
Well, at least allow me one indulgence.
”

“
What?
”
she asked, her eyes merry.

“
Let me have an engagement party within the week to introduce you to your neighbors.
”

“
Well
 
...
.
”

“
You need to know them, considering that you will be falling back on their society when I am gone.
”
He watched her face.
“
What, my love?
”
he asked, his voice gentle.

“
Nothing,
”
she murmured, wondering at the chill that settled around her heart with his words so casually spoken, even as the window glass warned her back and promised a sunny day.
“
I suppose I am just hungry.
”

He nodded.
“
Mrs. Paige has breakfast waiting for you. Get dressed and I will join you. Then it
’
s off to the bookroom to compose a letter to my solicitor.
”
He paused in the open door.
“
Mama will come into her own here, my love. No one plans a party better. Lively now.
”

If Lady Spark was disappointed with her son
’
s news of his engagement and im
pending marriage,
the carrot of a party dangled before her eyes took away any misgivings.
“
It will take two heads to have everything ready by Thursday.
”
She shook a warning finger at her son
,
who was finishing his coffee by the window and grinning at her.
“
That means Hannah is my property until this party is over! Now, go on to the bookroom and write your letters.
”

Hannah was composing invitations in the bookroom as soon as luncheon was over and Daniel returned from the village. He scooped her out of the chair pulled up to the desk, sat down
,
and pulled her onto his lap as she shrieked and made a grab to hold the inkwell as it teetered over a completed invitation.

“
Thee is a sore distraction,
”
she exclaimed as he moved the inkwell out of her reach and took the quill from her hand.

“
Then pay some attention to me for a few minutes, Hannah!
”
he insisted,
nuzzling her neck at that junction by her jaw where his lips seemed to fit so naturally.
“
Much better
,
”
he said after a moment. He rested his chin on her shoulder.
“
I mailed that letter and also spoke to my solicitor here. He said that once we have that writ of chancery, we can even be married by special license, and waive the banns.
”

She nodded, her eyes closed, and rested against him, wondering how it was that someone as hard and unyielding as Captain Spark on his
quarterdeck
could be so soft to lean upon.

“
Do you suppose we can find a Quaker preacher to marry us?
”
he asked.

She shook her head.
“
Thee does not perfectly understand, Daniel. When I said I would marry thee, that also means that I am severing ties with my church. They will read me out of Meeting at home when my parents learn of this.
”

Her quiet words hung in the silent room. Daniel got up and set her back in the chair, sitting on the edge of the desk so he could look at her
,
his face serious.
“
I had no idea, my love. You
’
re giving up everything you hold dear for me, aren
’
t you?
”

She nodded,
unable to speak for a moment
.
She composed herself, but could not look at him.
“
Now,
if thee was to become a Friend someday, then we could be welcomed into Meeting again.
”

He shook his head.
“
I do not think the Friends would have much patience with a man who deals in death.
”
He took her hand and kissed it.
“
I hope I am worth all this.
”

“
So do I
,
”
she said and picked up the quill again.

The invitations were mailed the following morning. Spark braved his mother
’
s threats to take Hannah with him in the gig to the village to post the letters.

“
I promise to return her promptly,
”
he said as he dumped the invitations in Hannah
’
s lap and gathered up the reins.

“
You had better,
”
Lady Spark insisted.
“
If we are to sit thirty at dinner tomorrow night, I need Hannah more than you do!
”

“
Thirty? Do I have that many friends in
Dorset
?
”
he teased.
“
Very well, Mama. If I had known what a lot of trouble this was going to be, we would have
eloped
to
Scotland
and married over the anvil!
”

Lady Spark delivered such a stem look
at
her son that he shuddered elaborately when she was out of sight.
“
You
’
ll need to take a look in my bedroom and tell me what you want changed,
”
he said as they rode along.
“
I have an even better view of the sea, and the bed is wider.
”

She blushed.
“
Does this mean I cannot keep my little room?
”

“
I was thinking it would make an excellent nursery.
”
Eyes on the narrow lane, he lifted her hand to his lips.
“
I do
not plan
to come home from sea and find you down the hall from my bed. God knows, as it is, I
’
ll be away from you too much to suit me without having to knock on your door when the mood strikes. There would be a regular trough the wood to your door.
”

Thee needn
’
t be away from me at all, she thought as she se
tt
led against his shoulder. She looked at him to speak, but he shook his head.
“
I know what you
’
re going to say,
”
he said.
“
It doesn
’
t bear thinking on, because I will not leave the sea.
”

The day passed quickly enough, following Lady Spark
’
s orders as she polished silver with Mrs. Paige,
arranged
autumn bouquets in vases, and accepted the replies that poured back from the invitations. Who are these people, she thought as she fingered the notes with their unfamiliar names. Will they like me? Will I be too quaint
for them
? If, as Daniel suspects, our countries will soon be at war, will they turn their backs on me? She gazed at the notes, a frown on her face, until Lady Spark dragged her away to another task.

It wasn
’
t until the house was quiet and the dowager was in bed with a headache that she found solace in Daniel
’
s
arm
s. How is it, she thought as he held her close, that thee can kiss away my fears and leave me so shaky with love? She clung to him, knowing that the smallest gesture from him would send her over the top and into his bed without a single regard for everything she had been taught since childhood.

She spent a restless night more agitated than the one before and woke long before dawn, bleary-eyed and discontent
.
She sighed and tried to return to sleep, burrowing deep into the mattress and knowing that it was hopeless. She would only toss and tu
rn
, filled with desire and worry, until Daniel came into her room with tea and confiden
ce enough for them both. She firm
ly resolved to be sitting in the window seat when he came in. The pleasure in his eyes on se
e
ing her in the morning had been replaced by something much more intense now. There was a hunger in his gaze that made her gulp and hope the chancery writ would not be long in coming.

She heard a carriage on the gravel drive and got up, hurrying to the window to look out. It was the Spark carriage, and not the gig used for everyday trips into the village. As she watched out of curiosity, Mr. Paige carried out the new sea chest Daniel had bought the day before, and on which she had stenciled SPARK in large letters only last night.

“
No,
”
she said out loud. Hardly darg to breathe, she threw on her clothes, ran a comb through her curly hair tousled from a night
’
s agitation, then hurried down the stairs without her shoes or stockings.
“
No,
”
she said again, louder this
t
ime, as she ran to the open door.

Daniel, dressed in his un
iform, stood by the carriage, speak
ing to Mr. Fu
tt
rell. He looked at her with rea
l
delight and grasped her by the shoulders, nearly lifting her off the ground.

“
My love, this is too famous! Mr. Fu
tt
rell brought such news last night after you went to bed.
”