Captain Jones's Temptation - Audrey Harrison Page 0,14

was turning away from herself. She did not like lying, so the more questions she could deflect, or redirect, the better.

“I was brought up by relatives, so I have no idea.” Samuel could have cursed himself. He had never admitted anything of his upbringing to anyone before. Usually, saying one was a younger son was enough to satisfy the curiosity of the person asking. People made their own presumptions when given the briefest of information, but for some reason he had revealed more of his history than he would normally have done.

“What a shame. Although as long as there was love, nothing else matters, does it? Children can cope with all sorts of hardships and strange situations if they are secure of their value and are cared for.”

Samuel knew there was meaning behind the words. He could see it in her eyes. She had not had a secure childhood. There seemed to be a lot more to Miss Hardy than he had first imagined. That was hardly surprising; there had been questions since he had reached the gate and seen the size of the premises. What came as a shock to Samuel was the fact that he was interested and wanted to know more. And more so that he actually pitied the little girl she had been. He hoped beyond hope that she had been happy as a child despite her complicated history.

He was concerned about another living being. That was the biggest surprise of all.

When the ladies stood to withdraw, Isabella whispered to Esther that she was sleepy. Esther and Samuel left the dining room, with Lydia leading the ladies into the drawing room. Matthew was alone with his port, but Samuel was to be on duty for the first watch so could not enjoy the after-dinner tradition.

Esther handed Isabella over to her maid to prepare her for bed. She left the door open between the sitting room and the dressing room that had become Isabella’s chamber.

“My maid knows to keep the door open. The door to my chamber is locked and only I and Dawson have a key, so there will be no opportunity for anyone to approach Isabella from that direction,” Esther explained to Samuel on joining him in the small, square sitting room. It was a room she had used as her own private space until receiving the news about her guests. Strange to have a large, handsome man filling the space, and her thoughts, if she was honest with herself. He was turning out to be a curious mix of appealing, intriguing and frustrating.

“Thank you. I shall read until Dunn replaces me, but one shout or strange noise will bring me running.” Samuel sat on the sofa that had been placed beside the fire, facing the open doorway into the large dressing room.

“If you need anything, Dawson will be the one attending to this room. I did not wish gossip to start as to why you and Captain Dunn would be spending time in here.”

“Would it be a surprise for people to find out that you share your personal rooms with your brother?”

“Not as such, but you are not my brother and it is evening. The less tittle-tattle I generate, the happier I am.” Esther moved to the door.

“I shall keep that in mind.”

“Excellent. I bid you goodnight, sir.”

*

When Esther returned to the drawing room, she noticed that Matthew had joined the ladies. She gave him a slight nod on entering. He acknowledged the message with a smile.

Helping herself to tea, Esther approached Lydia. “I feel quite unsettled, which is strange and a bit of a surprise. We have changed things to protect Isabella, and with the captains here I should feel more relaxed, but it has made it seem a little more real somehow,” she said quietly.

“It does,” Lydia agreed. “Although Captain Dunn doesn’t seem overly concerned.”

Matthew had a captive audience in the teachers, who were surrounding him, listening intently to his tales of battle and life on the road. They were fascinated and bombarded him with questions.

“I think I shall have to rescue Captain Dunn before he is completely overwhelmed,” Esther said. She skilfully asked one of the teachers to ring for more tea, asked another to play on the piano, and encouraged another two to start a conversation with herself, all without causing disquiet that they were being taken away from their swooning before a handsome man.

Lydia smiled behind her teacup, an action that Matthew noticed. When he could extract himself from