They found Eli in precisely two minutes.
He’d been cornered by Bertie, who spotted Jane and began waving her over, his motions too enthusiastic to ignore. So much for her plan to discuss her club before they found him. When he caught sight of her, Eli stiffened, his jaw growing tight.
If Jane had known she would meet him again with Lady Eleanor watching, she might have parted ways on a better note.
“I’ve been lookingeverywherefor you,” Bertie gushed, heedless of her reluctant approach. “Where have youbeen?”
“I was just admiring some of Cecily’s artwork.” She tried not to look at Eli as she made her excuses, but it was quite impossible. Her uncle was so excited, he hovered over him like a bee on a honeycomb.
“Look who it is! Isn’t thisremarkable?”
Though one might presume that Bertie would harbor some dislike for the man whom he’d surprised in the hedges with his only daughter five years prior, one would be wrong. Jane had been a reluctant party to many conversations between Bertie and Cecily in the course of her cousin’s engagement, and the tone of their discussions (prior to his reported death, at least) was always one of unbridled glee.
Cecily is to marry a lieutenant! How jealous your friends shall be. When will he get shore leave for the wedding, my dear?
And so on, and so forth. For the better part of three years.
Uncle Bertie knew no greater desire than to see his charges married, and Eli had won him over by agreeing to perform the task within a neat ten seconds of having been caught with his hand upon Cecily’s décolletage.
“Quite remarkable,” Jane agreed. By this point, she couldn’t keep track of whether she was meant to feign shock or joy. She hurriedly presented Eli to Lady Eleanor and Mrs. Duff so that they mightprovide a distraction. They were all too eager to take up the task, spouting breathless questions and forgetting Jane entirely. With each one, she felt her chances of getting them alone again to discuss her club slip further from her grasp.Drat. Eli had ruined everything.
Barely a minute had passed when Cecily burst into their circle on the arm of an older gentleman with a large, handlebar mustache whose tips defied gravity. “Here he is, you see? Oh, Lady Eleanor, how good to see you again. May I present Captain Powlett?” She narrowed her eyes when she finally noticed Jane. “And you’re here as well, darling.”
The mustachioed man greeted each of the ladies in turn before he explained, “Retired captain, lately of theLibertas. I never thought to lay eyes on this one again after how I saw him last.”
Eli’s former captain. That’s right, Cecily had mentioned inviting him.
“I couldn’t believe it when Lady Kerr told me you were here,” he said. “How the devil did you survive?”
All eyes turned to Eli expectantly. He shifted in his evening jacket, looking ill at ease.
“I was just telling Mr. Bishop that the story really isn’t as interesting as you might expect.”
He’s stalling.
Jane wasn’t sure if it was the crowd or Eli’s nearness, but there didn’t seem to be enough space for all of them. He was close enough that she caught a faint hint of his scent: something woodsy and clean—cedar, perhaps—with a warmth at its core. It flooded her senses with longing, at once familiar and unexpected. How had she forgotten that scent?
“Nonsense.” Cecily reached out and laid a hand lightly upon Eli’s forearm. “You’re being too modest. We’re hanging on your every word.”
Where had her husband got to, anyway?
“Well, you must already know that theLibertaswas wrecked in pursuit of some pirates off the coast of Greece.”
Captain Powlett nodded along, his brows drawn together as if revisiting the memory.
“The last of the crew was still boarding the lifeboats when the wave hit and I was pulled under,” Eli continued. “I managed to get hold of some flotsam and make it to an island, but when I tried to signal an English ship, the pirates spotted me first, so…” He shrugged, as if this was a complete explanation for his absence.
“Soooooo…?” prodded Cecily.
“They took me captive. I spent my time watching for a chance to escape, and then I finally did, and here I am.”
After nearly ten seconds of silence, it became apparent that this was the end of the tale.
Mrs. Duff shot an accusatory glance at Jane.
“And the pirates just…kept you. For two years.” Jane broke the silence, as no one else seemed inclined to.
“I can’t evenimagine!” Cecily gripped Eli’s arm again, as if she feared rampaging pirates were likely to invade her town house. Why did she have to keep clinging to him? “Would you describe your confinement as a harrowing ordeal, or would that be going too far?”
