Yes, do consider us in your will, if you wish.” He couldn’t help a quiet laugh. “Why do I have the feeling that you already have a pen poised over just such a document with your solicitor?”
She joined in his laughter. “As soon as his office opens tomorrow! As one Scot to another, you are wise beyond your years!”
One Scot to another. In that humorous moment, Able knew in his bones that he belonged to this woman whom he should have met years ago, as well as to the wife beside him, their baby she carried, and their boy Ben. To his undying delight, Able Six knew he had become one of the families he used to envy on his lonely walks. The knowledge gave him the confidence to make a request.
“On the other hand, I know something you could do right now that would prove of great benefit to the recipient and this nation,” he said. “Scotland, too.”
“Say on, Able.”
He glanced at Meri, who knew him so well. She mouthed “Davey?” and he returned the slightest nod. “Grandmama, there is a St. Brendan’s lad who has a sure touch with medicine. You met him tonight, Davey Ten.”
“I liked how the others stopped and listened when he spoke,” Mrs. Munro said. “I believe you said he is apprenticed to a pharmacist’s mate at Haslar Hospital.”
“Aye. He’s my surgeon aboard the Mercury. In a few years, he will be sixteen. He should attend a good medical school, which I know is found at the University of Edinburgh. He could be a surgeon, I have no doubt, or even a physician, should he choose.”
“The university is certainly well-known for medicine,” Mrs. Munro said. “Would you like me to sponsor him and pay his tuition?”
“I would, most emphatically,” Able said, and tested his luck further. “There will be other lads like Davey. One of mi…ours is already learning the engineering of machinery from his adoptive father.”
Meri tugged on his sleeve. “Able, I forgot to tell you. John Mark told me before you returned last from sea that he will soon be apprenticed to Henry Maudsley himself.”
“That is good news,” he said. “You see, Grandmama, we at St. Brendan’s have discovered that our workhouse brats have talent enough for other ventures.”
“I can help your Rats, too,” his grandmama said quietly. “I will.”
“And that is that,” Meri said, after they waved goodbye to Mrs. Munro. “I hope Smitty will let himself in quietly when he returns, because I want to be in bed with you.”
Smitty did; she was. When Meri finally slept beside him, content, Able lay awake a little longer, doing nothing more than breathing in and out and savoring the bliss of total relaxation. Nothing raced through his brain except his vast love for Meridee Bonfort Six.
On a whim, he placed his hand on her bare belly. He had noticed a thickening of her waist, and she had complained about never getting back to her original shape. He loved her this way, all mutterings aside. He knew it was too soon to feel movement, but as he kept his hand on her belly, he could have sworn… He pushed lightly with his index finger and waited.
There it was, the tiniest answering, finger to finger, his own Sistine Chapel. He knew the acknowledgement was between him and his daughter alone. A daughter was it? Why yes, Able Six, a daughter. He wasn’t sure which of his mentors spoke, but he did not question. He knew he would never mention the matter to Meri before they sailed. She knew it was too early, and so did he. This was his secret.
Chapter Thirty-four
Wind and tide took them smartly away from Portsmouth. Able faced the shore as long as he could, enjoying the last glimpse of his wife and son as Smitty took them into the Channel with a sure hand on the wheel, plus Witticombe’s able handling of the sail. Davey had gone aft to quietly vomit in peace, Avon was already below plotting the first meal at sea, and Tots was lifting the sextant from its velvet-lined case. It was business as usual aboard the Mercury. He hunched his neck down against October’s chill.
The day before, he had spent a quiet hour by the stone basin with Mr. Ferrier, discussing his students and Grace’s, too. Able’s former sailing master had nothing but praise for Sir B’s widow and her intensity in the classroom. “I dare any lad in her orbit to not excel. She takes