we?” He gestured toward inside and followed Miranda. She settled onto one end of the settee and he at the other before he picked up the journal and continued to read aloud.
The pages were filled with arguments with his brother and the growing love for Grandmother.
“My brother reminded me once again that my selfish actions may have ruined a peace that has been in place for two centuries. He is correct, but if Hester is in agreement, which I believe she is, it can be renewed once again.”
“Oh, why doesn’t he say more about the treaty,” Miranda complained.
Wesley wished he would as well, since so far, Captain Vail had only mentioned that the agreement existed.
“Hester came to my quarters this evening.”
Wesley looked up. “Quarters? Was Captain Vail on his ship? I’d thought he was remaining here.”
Miranda shook her head. “My great-uncle refers to these rooms as his quarters, even though they are in a manor.”
Refers instead of referred? Though he wished to ask why she spoke in the present, Wesley did not, and returned his attention back to the journal.
“I’ve kept her from visiting me here, just as I’ve avoided her set of rooms, and continued my courtship in the common rooms and in the gardens of Hollybrook Park. I knew that the temptation would be too great if we were alone in such an intimate setting.”
Wesley’s face began to heat. He understood the captain’s dilemma when desire for a woman was so strong. Though, it was discomforting to be reminded that the woman was his grandmother and that he wasn’t reading a fictional novel.
“I was correct in my concerns. I was unable to deny my desire, nor Hester. Her beauty, in the moonlight, the soft cascade of her hair, and when she stood before the windows, the light reflected from beyond made her nightshift appear nearly sheer and any will to behave as an honorable gentleman disappeared. Hester had come to seduce me, and she succeeded.”
Wesley closed his eyes and massaged his temples. These were not facts he wished to know about his grandmother. Further, nothing had ever shocked him so thoroughly either.
“Goodness, Her Grace was bold.”
Wesley glanced up to note the blush staining Miranda’s cheeks. He probably shouldn’t have read that section aloud, especially since it had nothing to do with the reason they were reading the journal in the first place.
He cleared his throat. “I just pray that none of my sisters take after her, and they never learn of Grandmother’s earlier behavior.”
“Go on.” Miranda nodded to the journal.
“I did secure her promise to be my wife. Further, she confessed her love and I was set free to voice mine for her. As the words were exchanged, I stopped fighting my desires and swept Hester up in my arms and carried her to my bed.”
Bloody hell, he should have read ahead, silently, before sharing these details with an innocent miss. And for that very reason, Wesley did read the rest of the entry to make certain that the good captain didn’t reveal details that nobody should know about another couple’s intimate encounter. Thankfully, Captain Vail kept those details to himself.
Wesley continued to read about the courtship, the negotiations and plan for the wedding, to take place in Laswell before the residents, to set their minds at ease, and the day Hester left Hollybrook Park on her brother’s ship. Captain Vail had stood from the balcony above and watched her ship sail, first while standing near the railing, and then through the telescope until it could be seen no more.
The last entry was of Captain Vail preparing to sail to Laswell, to spend the remaining fortnight before his wedding at Hester’s home. He needed to make his apologies to the residents and come to know her family. And though he was concerned that a storm was coming in, he was confident that he and his ship would make it through the storm unscathed as they’d often sailed through similar storms without harm and soon, he’d be with Hester again because he could not remain away from her another day. He just hoped that with the new agreement with Laswell in place, there would be no price to be paid for his actions.
Wesley closed the journal and looked up, an unexpected sadness filling him. During his reading, Miranda had turned her body so that she faced him, and her knees were drawn up beneath her skirts and lavender slippered feet peeked out from beneath the folds.