“I can think of better ways to introduce myself, but for you, I’ll have to let talking satisfy me.” When he winked again, a host of tingles went through her lower belly and buzzed at the base of her spine. In short order Brand procured the previously mentioned sugared nuts. Once the paper cone was put into her hand, he secured a glass of lemonade for her and a tankard of ale for himself. Then he led her across the meadow and to a stand of oak trees. “Shall we enjoy the shade? This spot looks as private as we’ll get at a fair like this.”
“That sounds lovely.” Elizabeth promptly sat between a couple of large, exposed roots. Once she’d arranged her skirts over her folded legs, he handed her the glass of lemonade and then took up a space nearby, but he didn’t sit. Oh no. The scandalous man lounged on his side, propped on an elbow as if he hadn’t a care in the world, so very close to her legs. Heat trailed through her cheeks. Was this considered a sin, this talking to a man without others around, and in such repose? The rules were quite vague.
“I was in the Navy for ten years,” he began, following the words with a deep swig from his tankard.
She wrinkled her nose against the alcoholic smell of his ale. “Have you always had an affinity for the sea then?”
“No, but I learned to love it.” His shrug was an elegant affair that pulled his jacket tight across his chest. “It was either join the Navy or the church, according to my father. I chose the lesser of the two evils.”
How interesting. “Why were you in that position to begin with?”
His grin would become her undoing if she weren’t careful and kept her wits about her. “Stories of my misdeeds in London reached my father’s ears and he lost patience with me. Said I needed to make something of myself or else he’d cut me off.” He shot her a wry glance. “I’ve a bit of a rebellious streak.”
Oh, how she could relate! Hers was only just beginning to awaken. “Are you someone of import in the ton?” Never would she have guessed at such a pedigree for this man of mystery. “For why else would your parents care?”
Brand snorted. “I’m a third son of an earl. There is nothing important about me.” A touch of bitterness lingered in his voice, and it tugged at her chest.
Shock filtered in her chest even as she knew that feeling all too well. He was connected to the ton! Dear heavens, she’d never known anyone high in society. “Everyone is important in the eyes of the Lord.” Perhaps this was an opportunity to minister to him in a different way than her brother would.
“I have my doubts about that.” He trained the full power of his grin on her, and Elizabeth caught her breath. Amusement flickered in his eye. It flirted with his lips. Goodness, but would he try for a second kiss today? Would she let him? “Don’t waste time giving me a testimony, Lizzy. My soul is a lost cause. And frankly, I’d rather enjoy my life in the way I see fit instead of what some man of the cloth tells me is proper based on arbitrary rules.”
He called me Lizzy.The moniker danced through her mind. A frisson of happiness wrapped about her. No one had ever called her anything except “miss” or “sister” before. The impropriety of it tightened her chest, but the imagined intimacy of it quickened her pulse. “I’ve not given you permission to use my name, let alone give you leave to shorten it.”
He chuckled, and the rich sound reverberated in her chest. “May I have that permission?”
The man seemed so earnest that it would be a crime not to give in. “Of course.” She bit her lower lip. “Do you attend church?”
“As a child, the family did when the whim took us. As an adult, I’m not as proper or stuffy as all that, but I do believe God is an undeniable part of the fabric of life.” His grin faded in intensity. “I’ve seen too many things in my travels to believe that’s not so. However, I think a man is capable of thanking God for his life while out in nature instead of sitting in a confining church listening to a self-righteous man expound on his views or lecturing the worshippers by putting fear in their hearts.”
Those thoughts so closely mirrored her own recent musings that she couldn’t help but lean a tick closer to him. What else did they have an affinity on? “It’s easy to praise the Creator when doing something one enjoys, isn’t it, surrounded by a glorious landscape?”
“Indeed, and now that the sea has become my mistress of sorts, I’ve found I can’t be away from her for too long.” The pleasant timber of his tones captivated her. “Being on the sea never fails to leave me grateful.”
“Does it call to you too?” she asked in a soft voice. Oh, what must it feel like to meet with the sea and the open sky without worry.
“Aye, ever since the first time I stepped foot on a ship, I knew that it was exactly where I was meant to be.” The skin at the corners of his eye crinkled as he renewed his grin. “There’s no feeling like it.” He took another sip of his ale. “I assumed I’d live out my life in the Navy and on the water, reveling in a command. But no matter how much my deeds and prowess were lauded in the Navy while I was active, England was fickle, and I ended up with a court martial that ruined my career perhaps more than the injury.” Briefly, he touched his eyepatch with a finger.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Will you tell me about both of those episodes?” No doubt he’d lived an exciting life full of adventure and daring. “You’re the most intriguing man I’ve ever met.” His attention confused her, made her yearn for something she thought she could never have for herself. Perhaps it was silly and the ultimate folly, but she wanted to investigate why that was.
“Not today, but I will if you wish it some other time.” He stole the cone of sugared nuts from her lax hand. Once he’d popped a few into his mouth and chewed, he met her gaze. “Have you a love for the water?”
Goodness, but if he kissed her now would she taste the sugar of the nuts on his lips? Elizabeth shoved the thought away. Get hold of yourself. “I’ve never had occasion to be introduced to it, but I feel a longing for the sea I can’t explain.” She’d not told those thoughts to anyone, so why now and with him?
“Ah. I think I can help with that.”
“How? Do you live close by?”
“Aye.” His grin turned decidedly rakish. “I have a set of rooms at the Great White Horse Hotel.”
“Oh! William and I eat dinner there every evening.”
“Ah. Pity I’ve never seen you else I’d have introduced myself sooner.”
Heat blazed in her cheeks. “He demands a private dining room,” she admitted softly.
“I see.” For long seconds, Brand held her gaze, his speculative. “My sloop, the Charlotte, is in the harbor. Would you want to go sailing with me? At times I fish. In others, I ferry supplies up and down the coast for a handful of clients. And when my time is my own, I simply sail for the pure joy of it. Returning to Ipswich sunburned and hungry is the best sensation.”
That meant he wasn’t a layabout degenerate without a living, and the enthusiasm in his voice fired her own. “You’re inviting me out on your boat?”
“I believe that’s what I implied.” He ate another nut, and when she didn’t say anything further, he added, “If you wish to come, I plan to fish tomorrow morning just after dawn, as long as it doesn’t rain.”
Oh dear.How could she manage to slip out of the house so early? “I’m not certain I can do that.” Cold disappointment sank like a rock in her belly. She took a sip of the sweet and tart lemonade to hide her expression.
“I see.” Brand shrugged. He then drained his tankard, the strong tendons of his neck working with each swallow.
Goodness, but she knew a powerful urge to press her lips to that neck and discover what that drink tasted like on him… What is wrong with me? Never had she thought such things before.
“Figure out the risk, Lizzy. Weigh it against all the exceptions, excuses, and your fears of what people might think as well as your preconceived notions. Then decide for yourself. I suspect you’ve had little freedom to do so in your life. Now is a good a time as any to change that.” The captain rose to his feet. He brought her to a standing position with him, took her hand and placed a kiss upon the back of it. “Tomorrow, remember. Just when the sun is gilding the harbor, come meet me. I promise an adventure, or two if you’re of a mind.”
Before she could form another word, he’d taken his leave and soon vanished into the crowds. Elizabeth sagged against one of the oak trees. Merciful heavens, he is quite potent. Some of his words bordered on poetic. And clever man that he was, he’d given her only the verist bit of freedom, dangled it before her like a carrot to a donkey. She stared after him with a slack jaw. What should I do now?