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Quite suddenlyshe reht before and what had happened after the carriage accident She had unthinkingly mentionedthe ship Daniel had heard her and echoedthe word
Valoreehad fully expected himto question her on the matter once they returned to the town house, buthe had not He had merely kissedand caressed her, thenleftBut he had not returned thisfor her ship? Andnow that shewas thinking along those lines, she recalled all thetimes hehad emphasized certain words like uncle or your islandor theCaribbean with so She had paid little attention, and hadwasted little concern over suchto attacha terrible significance tothe to send someone around Mayhap he would not Mayhap he would , sheleaped to her feet and started forthedoor
"Is theresolancedbackblankly at Beecha herself, she ed a smile"Nay, mylord It just suddenly occurred to me to wonder where that tea is that myuncle saidhe wouldhave sent I willnot bea moment, " she assured hi Henry, Pete, One-Eye, Bull, Skully, and Meg Theyall stood there, huddled in conversation, but fell silentand turned to face her asshe closed the door
"What? " she began, scowling Henry held up his hand to silence her
"One-Eye andSkully justgot back from theship, and the crew has voted Ye marryThurborne"
"You ust "You cannot vote on a thinglike that Ishallto the contracts - "
"According to thecontracts, any decision that affects you men andyour life aboardship isup to the vote, " she said shortly "So, aye, mayhap youcouldforce me to marry, butonce I marry and reclaim Ainsley, yourlives aboard ship end Then you become land rats And that means all your contracts are null and void So I will oing to gotellhi on her heel, she threw the door open and thedoor behind her witha slary, she was halfwayacrossthe roombefore she realized that she hadnot told them about Thurborne, and that they wouldstill have to take care of that situation right away Sighing, she whirled reluctantly back, then changed her mind She couldtell thes with Beecha, she returned to her chair and had just seated herself when the door opened and Meg rushed in "Oh Hello, Lord Beechalare as she moved to join them "How are you today? "
"My lady"Beecha to kiss the older wo glares at the wonored
She had no doubt that this wassupposed to preventherfrohad made herself scare every other time that John Beecham had been present Valoree was not sure if it had been becauseshe feared being recognized as his scandalous aunt, or if the sight of hihtback the pain of the rift with her sister Still, whatever it was, Meg had always chosen to absent herself when he was about, leavingHenry totend to the her countlesstogettheed
"How handso herselfbeside Beecha at him widely "You must tell me whoyour tailoris so that Henry can payhi is barely adequate"
"Oh, well, I would be pleased to share his name, " the man assured her quietly "He is quite the best one in town, inmy opinion, Top-quality workata fairprice"
"Oh, marvelous It isso hardto find thatnowadays, is it not? So , " Valoree interrupted inawarning tone, and Meg turned toher innocently
"Yes, dear? "
"I was about to speak of so important with Lord Beechahtenedasthe door tothesalonopenedand Petey entered, carrying atray Henry was hard on his heels "Oh, lookHere is the tea!"
Sighing, Valoree sat backin her seat impatiently and crossed her arms They could delayallthey liked, but she would ri there, Peteyheld the tray silently as Henry lifted a cup of teaand offered itto her
Giving hihtily stare, she reached impatiently for the cup But her pesky crew did notValoree arched her eyebrows irritably "What? "
"Ye have totry it, "Henry announced, adding when Valoree began to frown, "Petey’safraid he her eyes, Valoreelifted the cup toherit out insurprise There was heated spiced ruiving her a hen she glanced up at hi
" ’Tis perfect, " she said quietly, knowing that thiswas Henry’s way of saying he was sorry Froe of eleven, any ti sick or just plain unhappy, Henry had always brought her some heated, spicedrum Of course, Jeremy had not known that At least, she didn’tthink hehad known But just the taste of the warue made her soften toward him affectionatelyAsunlikely as itseemed, this crustyold pirate had been the equivalent of nanny, friend, and tutortoValoreefrom the moment she had become Valerian And he still was her friend, confidant, andeven tutorin soer rather than usingher head; then he always settled her down and helped her to see what she was doing
"Drink up Tea’s good for what ailsye, and there’s plenty of it, "
Henry said cheerfully as he
S the spicedflavor andthe waraveheras it went down
"Thank you, Henry, " Meg her own cup as Henry took it fro it to her lips, shetook asip andsood, isit not? " she asked, s asshe took another s
Valoree knew darned well that Meg’s cupwould not haverum in itDespite the way she had tried to fool them all at first that she wasa drunk, she didn’t drinkelse Of that she was sure, andthe thought of the trickthat she and Henrywereputting over onthe herchuckle aloud
Henry and Peteypaused on the way to Beecha liftedone querying eyebrow
"Sofunny, dear? "