Throat thick, he nodded. He’d let it all fall out of order. Her father had told him, over and over. Thom’s place as a husband was to support his wife, support any children. And not to come back until he had something worth bringing.
Go on, Thom, and make yourself a man. I’ll look after her while you’re gone.
But her father hadn’t. And Thom shouldn’t have relied on anyone to help him. He’d been so focused on trying to do what a man should, on trying to make her happy, that everything had lost its place. Georgiana had been supporting herself, while Thom had come home with nothing.
And she wouldn’t be arguing with him, he realized. Not his strong, practical Georgiana. She’d see all the wrong here, too, and let him go.
With a sigh, she took her seat again. “The money you sent was appreciated.”
“It wasn’t much.”
“It was enough.” Her steady gaze held his. “What are your intentions now?”
“I’ll be going again.”
“Without a ship?”
Without anything. No home, no work. But he’d been there before. He’d left England with nothing, and had found everything here.
Now it had gone all wrong. Even if he found work, found a place to sleep, Thom didn’t think his life would ever be right again. It didn’t matter where he went, what he did.
But he had to give some kind of answer. He picked the name of the nearest town. “I’ll try to find work in Fladstrand. Maybe on the docks.”
“Not in Skagen?”
“No.” He made himself say it, though the ache in his chest felt like it would rip open and swallow him whole. “It’ll be for the best. I’m hardly a husband to you. Never bringing you anything worth having. Not doing what makes you happy.”
For a long second, Georgiana didn’t react. Just looked at him. Finally, she nodded. “We’ll go into town and see the magistrate together, then, and set about drawing up papers of separation.”
“Papers?”
“Legal papers, Thom. Marriage binds us together by law. Those ties have to be dissolved.”
He hadn’t even known there’d been anything official to it—he’d thought the marriage had just been a ceremony and a promise. But she’d been tied to him by law. Something as real and as solid as the emotions that were choking him. And no sooner had he learned of them, those bonds were to be broken.
The ache in his chest burrowed deeper, threatening to overwhelm his control. But he wouldn’t let pain be his master.
Jaw clenched, he gave a sharp nod. “That seems sensible.”
“We’ll have to decide how to divide the money and property.”
Thom didn’t want any of it. “What I have is yours. Though it’s not much. I never made much.”
And when he had, he’d lost it all.
She slowly nodded. Then her gaze fell to his gloved hands. “You made enough for those arms.”
Which would have cost more than Thom had earned in four years, if he’d bought them. But he hadn’t paid anything for the prosthetics, except for the time he’d spent helping a blacksmith build a better diving machine.
He could imagine how it appeared to Georgiana, though. Sending her tiny bits of money, yet coming home with arms fit for a king.
“They were a gift,” he said.
“From Ivy Blacksmith?”
A new note had entered her voice, something hard and trembling. No surprise, that. He’d kept notorious company when he’d helped Ivy.
“Yes. You know of her?”