Anna did not miss a beat. “I should like to go and watch you fish.”
I lowered my voice. “You realize he’s talking about taking you out on a boat, in the middle of the sea.”
She narrowed her eyes. Yes, apparently, she did.
I continued, “As entertaining as Morton is, it’s a rough start and a new feeling for some. I can’t promise you’ll enjoy it. I’m not even certain your father would allow it.”
Oof. The look she gave me at the mention of her father could have killed an army.
“Do you have a weak stomach, Mr. Everett?” she asked. “Perhaps I should fetch your sisters instead.”
“I—” A patient breath escaped me. We stared at each other for a long, tenuous moment. She wouldn’t like it, but she needed a distraction, and if she wanted to try ...
“Are you in the hogboat tonight?” I asked Morton. A nice fishing boat, large enough, but flat and uncomfortable. It wouldn’t do for a seaside excursion.
“Just the jolly. But she’s got room enough for three. And she cuts smooth through the waters.” Then he muttered, “Anhour or so for a shilling.” He sniffed, then looked about, having made his offer.
“You have yourself a deal,” Anna declared, reaching into her reticule. “You can come with us, Mr. Everett, or you can stay on the beach and watch.”
“Oh, he’ll come,” Morton said with another show of his teeth. “I happen to know Mr. Everett loves to fish. We’ve had an excursion or two of our own, haven’t we?”
I silenced him with a look. We had fished together before, but that was because I was of different upbringing than Anna. This would not end well. I stopped Anna’s searching, reaching in my jacket for my coin pouch to pay him. I’d hadn’t spent so much money in one week since we’d remodeled Highcliffe House. But this was business: encouraging, obliging, gifting, showering prospects with everything to suit the lifestyle of theton. Or, as was my current goal, attempting to court a woman as fine as Anna Lane.
A worthy investment.
Morton led us closer to shore where his jolly boat awaited us. The craft was of a smaller size, with forward, middle, and back thwarts. He’d already stocked the boat with fishing supplies for his catch but asked us to wait a moment while he ran into a nearby bathing house. A few moments later, he returned with blankets in hand and a brown paper sack. He’d done this before, I had no doubt, and he knew as well as I how to exceed someone’s expectations. How to leave them wanting more.
Morton laid the blanket out on the front thwart of the jolly boat, where Anna would sit, then he called us over.
Anna’s face was unreadable, her shoulders stiff, determined.
“Are you nervous?” I asked her.
“No.” Her voice sounded unusually tight, small.
Had I ever seen her nervous before? Uncomfortable, sure. But Anna always hadsomethingto say. She seemed to have recovered some after Lennox, but I wasn’t entirely sure she was thinking with a sound mind.
Morton stood with one leg in the water and the other inside the boat as he offered her his hand and hoisted her up, then over the side. The boat rocked, and Anna sucked in a breath, swaying on her feet, eyes as wide as saucers. Morton’s strong hold kept her steady.
“Take a seat there at the front, Miss Lane,” he said, holding fast to her hand while she settled.
Once seated, Anna’s knuckles were white, holding fast to one side of the boat and the bench as though she’d instantly regretted her decision. The muscles in her neck were taut, jaw set, eyes still round with worry she refused to voice.
“Should I take the back thwart, or—” I started.
“No.” She did not budge an inch, frozen as she was. “I’d like you here, please.”
The bench was so small, I’d barely fit in the narrow space beside her, but those simple words, and the weakness in her otherwise steady voice and demeanor, did something to me. A compulsion to simply be near her. Unexplainable. Unavoidable. Urgent. The very fact that she’d forgiven me, trusted me still, set my feet in motion. I braced myself on the other side of the boat, threw a leg over and hopped in, but the subsequent rocking motion seemed to turn Anna’s worry into terror.
I sat down beside her, my leg brushing hers, and I placed my arm along the trim of the boat. Her shoulders relaxed atouch, and I realized how tight my own chest had become. With every breath she took, my muscles relaxed. My senses softened. Like we were connected.
“Are you sure about this?” I whispered. Then, more teasingly, “We could abandon ship.”
Anna would not meet my gaze. Staying was so obviouslynotwhat she wanted to do. “You’ve already paid Morton.”
That she even considered my money meant more to me than a wasted excursion. “Don’t worry about that. We paid for an experience, and however long that lasts, it is well worth it to me.”
She looked up then, a worried crease between her brows, as though she measured my sincerity.
