Page 110 of Miss Wylde and the Wynd

The weather had been excellent, but she wasn’t knowledgeable enough to know if the wind was making their passage faster or slower, and she hoped it was the latter so that she could have more time with Damian. They could arrive in Dublin tomorrow, which would set them on their one-day journey to Tullamore and another to her sister.

Their time was short and she hated that she’d foolishly allowed herself to become sunburned enough that it was painful to be touched.

When Damian returned with a covered tray, he was followed by a sailor who held a second tray with a teapot and cups. Georgie quickly pulled the blanket to cover her from her neck down.

Damian set the tray in the center of the bed then took the other tray from the sailor, dismissed him, and then closed the door.

“Would you like your cup of tea now?” Damian asked after he placed the tea service on the table bolted to the floor. In fact, everything in this room was bolted down, which she assumed was for safety in the event of a storm.

“Now, please.” She was parched and it would be difficult to enjoy the bread, cheese, fruit, and dried meats without tea first.

“The doctor also provided additional Dover’s Powder in case you need it for pain.”

Georgie shook her head. “Not at the moment, but I will keep it here in case my headache returns.” Oh, she hated the bitterness of the medicine, but it had helped her yesterday. Or so she assumed because she had managed to sleep often.

After she drank half a cup of tea, she settled it on her knee, still holding onto the handle and reached forward with her other hand for a piece of cheese. However, when Damian settled on the side of the bed where he had slept, she quickly grabbed the tray to steady it so that their breakfast didn’t spill from the dip in the bed.

“We should visit the shops when we arrive in Dublin,” Damian announced.

“You wish to shop?” Had he enjoyed their strolling the streets of Liverpool and looking in shop windows so much that he wished to do so again? They had only done so before because they were waiting with little else to do. Once they arrived in Dublin, they would need to find a mode of travel to Tullamore. They were not there on holiday; except she also hoped that arrangements could not be made too quickly. Now that she knew Grace was safe, the urgency was no longer present.

Though, she did appreciate that they’d had much luck in not being delayed in their travels thus far. But Grace was safe so there was no longer a need to rush to her rescue.

“I want to visit a bookshop,” he announced.

“Do you wish to have something to read on the ship on your return to Southampton?” Just a reminder that they would be departing soon tore at her heart no differently than if a dagger had been plunged into it.

“Not for me, though I may purchase some for myself. I have decided you do not have enough books to keep you entertained from Dublin to Carrera, therefore I’m going to purchase more books”

“You do not need to do so,” she argued.

Damian grew serious and stared into her eyes. “I do not need to do anything, Georgie. I want to.”

“I could refuse to take them.”

“You will not,” he returned with a grin.

“I have three already,” Georgie reminded him. “Four, actually.” If she counted the one half read, but she would only finish it if she became desperate.

“I have calculated the distance from Dublin to Carrera, which bodies of water that will need to be crossed and the time of the year. And, while I cannot predict weather, wind, or currents, I do believe that it will take you approximately two months to reach your home. It could be shorter, or longer, I am averaging the time, but I do know that you will be at sea at least six weeks and so three books are hardly enough to chase away the boredom.”

“I will be with my sister so I will not be alone or lonely,” Georgie reminded him.

“You plan to converse with your sister every day, all day long and into the evening?”

No doubt they would soon run out of topics to discuss, though they could share their tales of travel, but there were not enough stories to fill so much time at sea. “I will visit a bookshop and if I find a book that I wish to read, I will purchase it myself.” She could not continue to accept gifts from Damian. He had already purchased so much for her. He had spent far more on her than she had brought with her, of that Georgie was certain. Then the most dreadful thought crossed her mind. “Is it because we have been intimate? Are you buying me gifts because we are lovers, as you would purchase for a mistress?” If that were the case, she was going to be ill. She thought theirs was a mutual understanding, not her being his possession, or being rewarded.

Damian’s blue eyes widened and grew hard as he learned forward.

“Never would I disrespect you in such a manner. We became lovers, yes, but I care for you, Georgie. This is not some temporary arrangement that I purchased until I grow bored.” He pulled away, his face once again relaxed. “You have become a friend to me, and as I know you enjoy books and because I know how long you are likely to be on the ship avoiding the sun, I wanted to purchase more books so that you were entertained, as a friend, and not because you are my lover.”

His explanation soothed her concern of what she feared that she had become to him.

“Thank you,” she said after a moment.

He considered her a friend while she was coming to love him.

It was not practical to have developed such deep emotions for a man that she had known for so short a time. She had always promised herself that she would never be so foolish again, yet, here she was, in love again, and this time it wasn’t infatuation masked as love, but real. Of that, she was certain no matter how impossible it should be.