‘Indeed she does,’ Collingwood said. ‘She makes up for her husband’s faults by cooking excellent meals. You’ll never starve in this house.’
‘We should manage quite well,’ John said. ‘Admiral, I am…we are…forever in your debt for your great kindness to us.’
The admiral became their tour guide. ‘There are four bedchambers on this floor,’ he explained. ‘Yours is the grandest. Allan and Pru seem to have commandeered two of the other rooms. On the ground floor, you saw the sitting room, library and dining room.’ He looked around conspiratorially. ‘The kitchen is the Durands’ domain. Invade it only on pain of death.’
‘We will happily leave that part of the house to them alone,’ John said. ‘As for me, I will be content to eat whatever comes out of the kitchen, and enjoy the view from these magnificent windows in the sitting room.’
‘And the verandah beyond,’ Collingwood said, sounding wistful to Anna. He brightened. ‘Actually, I would like to install a telescope on your bedchamber balcony above us. Think of what I could see!’
Downstairs again, while the men kept their heads together in the business of war, Anna found herself at home in thedining room as Hermione explained the workings of the house, women’s business.
‘We have been practically idle here,’ the chatty woman said as she poured tea. ‘It is a bore to merely keep the place tidy. I am glad of your company.’ She leaned closer. ‘There are two maids in a house nearby, lazy but amiable. They live with their mama and papa. I use them occasionally.’ She looked around. ‘Their papa is a smuggler, so if you need anything, only say the word.’
‘The Captain tells me that the islands are in Spanish hands after years of English rule, and here you are of French extraction. Smugglers, too?’
‘But of course! Don’t tell me that no one smuggles in your England.’
‘If they do, I don’t know them,’ Anna replied, feeling out of her depth and more naïve than usual, aware she had been sheltered from so much.
‘No fear, Madame Beattie. You need only to remember this: we are Menorcans first. French, Spanish? Bah! Who cares? Not we of the islands.’
As she spoke, she rattled the keys on the chatelaine around her waist, then looked down, as if noticing them for the first time. ‘Madame Beattie, do you wish to wear the household keys?’
Anna happily begged off that responsibility. ‘No,madame. I consider myself a guest in the admiral’s house. You are the housekeeper, not I.’
‘You do not know how long you will be here?’
‘I have no idea.’ She stopped, knowing better than to say anything about John’s purpose here. ‘My husband is subject to the demands of the service, and that is that.’
If dinner was any test of Madame Durand’s ability to concoct a highly edible meal at short notice, Anna felt herself relaxing, even in this strange environment she never could have imaginedherself living in, until John had knocked on her door. The admiral ate with them, beaming at the children, pleased with himself, which pleased her. Allan ate everything in sight, which made Madame Durand smile. Pru watched them all in her careful way that touched Anna’s heart.
‘Pru watches over all of us,’ she told John later that night after he came out of Allan’s room, and she said goodnight to Pru in her room. ‘She reminds me of Madame Durand.’
‘Turn around. I know my duty and your dress needs unbuttoning.’ He chuckled. ‘Madame Durand does watch. She insisted on remaining in the dining room after the admiral cleared all of you out because he wanted some time alone with me. “But you might need something,” she insisted.’ Another laugh. ‘He assured Madame Durand that he outranked her and was perfectly capable of spelling out war plans without her help.’
‘I believe we are in good hands here,’ she said, her breath coming faster, because John Beattie had a way with not only buttons but her petticoat, too. Since she had already decided that drawers were optional—Menorca was warm—matters moved along quickly.
His clothing might have come off fast, but John took his time, exploring her thoroughly with kisses until she took matters into her own hands—so to speak—and guided him where she wanted him. He appeared to be of the same opinion, and she swiftly found herself enveloped by a man as eager as she was. He didn’t object when she pressed her hands so hard against his back and they moved in rhythm that she remembered from aboard theSwallow, a sweet-sailing ship.
Once was good, and a little later, after some conversation that she found almost as pleasant as love-making, so was twice. She sank into that wonderful mattress, since her bones had turned to jelly. She slept well then, and so did he.
Morning came and with it the pleasure of more love-making, but this time accompanied by the reality of parting soon. He lay beside her so peacefully that her mind wandered to Shakespeare’sRomeo and Julietand that stupid line about parting being such sweet sorrow. Nonsense. Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of days ahead with no warm spot in the bed beside hers and, even worse, the fear that she might never see him again. There was no sweetness to this sorrow.
‘No tears, Mrs Beattie,’ she heard in the depth of her misery. ‘You’re sending me off whole and hearty. It’s been years since I’ve been this contented.’
‘I wish I could come along,’ she said, then remembered she was a practical woman. ‘No. That would be folly. I know better than to ask what you will be doing. Will taught me that.’
‘You read my orders. TheSwallowis to rove and see what we can find out in this part of the Mediterranean. We’ll report to Admiral Collingwood as appropriate.’ He pulled her close, tucking her head against his chest, where she heard his steady heartbeat. ‘I will anchor here whenever possible. I’ve showed you where the strongbox is, so you will never want for money. Madame Durand told me there is an Anglican parish. The Reverend is an old dear, she says, and he recently acquired a schoolmaster mere weeks ago. Madame Durand said she will see that you meet the teacher. Apparently, he lives there at the church.’
She nodded, pleased at the idea of school. ‘I’ll see that both Allan and Pru attend.’
‘That’s my girl. The Durands seem solid.’ He smiled. ‘I must warn you: Admiral Collingwood said something last night about possible guests here. It seems that the French have played merry hell among some of the Italian houses of nobility. You might end up hosting Italians. My experience says they are a noisy and dramatic bunch who might drive you crazy.’
She raised up on her elbow to give him the full benefit of her stare. ‘You realise that before I met you, my life was orderly and tidy?’
‘What a bore.’ He cocked his head. ‘I hear children. I wish the war would wait, but war waits no better than tides do.’
He dressed and went down the hall, calling to Allan. Anna took her time, making the bed, then shaking out John’s nightshirt and hanging it in the side of the closet he’d claimed. She stopped to see that drawing of Cathy she had noticed first on theSwallow.
