“Of course, the rum, a vital necessity foryou,” she teased, opening a basket. “Needles and threads. I canimprove my wardrobe if there is any fabric.” She flipped throughthe last trunk and sighed. “Naught. Did you find a chest of fabricin the lean-to?” she said hopefully.
“Nothing.” He lied smoothly. Did he have anyremorse? No. As far as he was concerned, the sheer Irish linenshift she wore, as revealing as a cobweb was just fine.
Her shoulders dropped. To take away herdisappointment, he said, “There is another structure we need toinvestigate.” He didn’t need to look back, perceived her footstepsin his wake. They worked together pulling vines off a small domedstructure. He frowned. “What is it?”
Her mouth tilted into a smile. “My fathertold me of such a device. A beehive oven used for cooking outsideto spare the heat in the house.” She pointed to the lower cavityscorched with soot. “Wood is fired in the lower chamber, heatingthe closed area up above to bake breads. There is an iron shaft forturning meats to roast.” She swung a bar back and forth todemonstrate, and then studied the mysterious door in the back, herface lighting with approval.
“This oven is more sophisticated than I haveseen. You can divert the smoke from the fire to a back chamber forsmoking meats.”
“We can preserve meats?” he said and watchedher scan the unchecked vegetation that rioted across theterrain.
“Oh,” she said breathlessly. “All of thiswas once a well-tended garden.”
She bent to pluck a green plant and sniffed.“Rosemary. I can use this in stews.” She traversed the grounds,growing more excited, pointing and naming everything. “Mangos,papayas, lemons, oranges, limes, tomatoes, sugar cane, licoricepods, bananas and plantains. Some of the fruits are varieties I’venever seen. Everything will have to be trimmed and cut down toallow sunlight for our gardens.”
His leg brushed against spikey plants and hecursed.
“Nicholas, you have found us pineapple, andit is ripe.” She twisted and twisted until the fruit cracked andraised her trophy in her hands. Dinner.”
He strode to the front. A great many feetbelow, palms fringed like a green necklace along a stark, whitebeach, and a frothy creaming of waves broke upon an outer reef.Nicholas was again struck by the soft, compelling beauty of theseseas. “Whoever built this dwelling did well to conceal itslocation. There is a fair view of the sea beneath, the angle andheight of the cliff, obscures the house from the sea and hostileintruders, yet offers the inhabitants a clear vantage point ofanyone who comes close.”
Curling a lock of hair around her finger sheconsidered what he said, and then took a breath. “I wonder wholived here and what happened to him.”
“He probably died.”
Fists plunked on her hips, she said, “Mustyou always be so cheerful?”
He grinned. “Why? When you will guarantee alist of sunny optimisms.”
“You are smiling, Nicholas, and I’ll remindyou that to tug that smile out of you has been a colossaleffort.”
He smiled and it felt good. She ran into thehouse, retrieved two buckets. “The stream I passed through may befar away but at least it is a source. Please, get water so I maystart cleaning, and don’t tell me you have to look in thelean-to.”
Alexandra commenced dusting and sweeping,and putting things to order. Starting from the top down, she tookthe broom and standing on a chair, brushed the cobwebs from therafters. Remembering Lord Rutland’s reaction when she had given himthe broom to sweep, she laughed. How his lips had twisted with thekind of grimace that made her feel she was an unwelcome guest at aparty and couldn’t find the door.
With certainty, he was accustomed toservants attending him. Cast ashore with nothing, he’d have tolearn to endure and work with his hands. A little humility was goodfor him.
A breeze blew in from the sea, lifting herfilthy chemise. She heard the slosh of water from behind, felt himstaring at her. He must think her a ragamuffin. Or worse. He hadassumed on the ship she was a thief and a loose woman, and now withher lower legs exposed, she must have confirmed the foulest of hissuspicions.
She dropped the broom and stepped down fromher chair. Nicholas placed the buckets filled with water on thetable. He peeled a banana, taking overlong to eat the fruit. Herpalms sweated and the fluttering behind her ribs increased until itfelt like a hundred hummingbirds were trapped there, desperate toescape.
She straightened, swept back the damp hairfrom her face.Be calm, Alexandra.Be dignified.“Ifthe wind hadn’t blown I would never have seen the house.”
She stopped midstream, rag held in her hand.Even she had possessed uncertainties about their future, but hadhidden her fears from Nicholas. Now all those doubts wereerased.
“Very lucky,” Nicholas said with a smile, asmile with enough quiet charm to send every single young lady inLondon to dreaming.
She plunged the rag in water. “Not luck.Providential. Fate brought on by more than coincidence. Think aboutit. We have survived the evil of theSantanas. We havesurvived a hurricane when seemingly not one member of the crewendured. We were spared from being smashed against sharp rocks,delivered to a sandy beach, and have found shelter when we neededit the most.”
She took the quilts outside and shook themfree of dust, laying the bedding on top of brightly colored crotonsto air out in the sunshine. She returned to the house, perusingwhat else had to be done. “Never in my wildest imagination did Iexpect to have nearly all the pleasures of home and I vow to bejudicious of what has come into our possession.”
From an opened chest, Nicholas lifted atelescope, hooked his leg over the window frame and perused thesea, looking for nonexistent ships. “Tomorrow I will travel to thebeach to retrieve my coat.” He restored the scope in the trunk, andper her instructions, lifted the heavy feather mattress off therope bed, placing it on a huge boulder outside.
She followed him outside. “Why do you haveto perform an insignificant task when there is so much to do? Ineed your help weeding out the extra vegetation.” With the broom,she beat the mattress free of dust, pretending it was hislordship.
“There is no pressing need to be anywhere.While I’m at the beach, I will build a pile of driftwood to set asignal fire in case I see a friendly ship.”
That was the real reason. Stubborn man.“Ships sailing by are not as frequent as they are on the Thames andI doubt if we shall see a ship for a month.” She angled her head tothe overgrown garden. “We need to start there.”
