Page 13 of Miss Wylde and the Wynd

“They are under strict orders not to engage misses. Yet, when they are away from the ship, there is little I can do, nor can I punish them for their actions unless I am informed.”

She supposed that it was no different from any other group of bachelors being allowed to visit local towns unsupervised. If nobody was there to keep a watchful eye on them, and if their friends did not report improper behavior, there was little that could be done.

“I will leave you to your duties.” Damian turned and marched away with Georgie hurrying after him to catch up.

“That is all? You are not going to demand where Fisher may be or question the other sailors?”

“I have no intention of disrupting the sailors or pulling them from their duties,” he answered.

“We need to find him!”

Damian stopped and fisted his hands on his hips, blue eyes filled with irritation and he glared at her. “I have a listing of where each employee lives when not on a ship back at the office. I intend to consult it then pay a call on Mr. Fisher.” He then once again marched away.

Yes, well, she supposed that would be more expedient, not that she wanted to admit so, especially since she was certain that Damian was trying to leave her behind, or ignore her, given that his strides were even more purposeful retreating from the ship then they had been on their arrival and she could barely keep up. Yet, Georgie offered no complaint because she did not want to slow down the progress that would help them locate Grace, even if she was left running behind.

Once they reached the building that housed the Trade Wynd offices, Damian took the stairs two steps at a time while she fell further behind. Most men would wait for a woman, but Georgie also believed Damian’s rudeness was deliberate because she had defied his order to remain behind.

However, she would not, under any circumstances, allow him to find Fisher, and hopefully Grace, without her.

By the time Georgie entered the office, Damian was already behind the desk and opening a ledger of sorts and turning the pages. She hurried to the desk and noted that many of the pages within were marked with a different letter of the alphabet. He stopped at F then ran his finger down the list of names. Behind each was an address, then the name of the ship they were assigned.

He then flipped the page and finally found Harold Fisher halfway down the page. Damian appeared to study it, then closed the book, and marched from behind the desk and toward the door. He said nothing to her, the Earl of Wyndham, the child, or the woman. She assumed it was the countess since she was the one who had called out to Damian asking about the earl when he was taking her back to Trade Wynd.

However, Georgie did not take time to greet anyone because she needed to follow Damian who halted as soon as he reached the door and turned so abruptly that Georgie nearly ran into his chest.

“You are not going with me,” he told her.

“I most certainly am.”

“Have you no concern for your reputation?” he asked. “You cannot call on a bachelor in his set of rooms while accompanied by another bachelor.”

She supposed he was correct, but finding Grace was far more important. “Nobody knows me here and it is unlikely anyone in Carrara will ever learn and I must find my sister.”

He fisted his hands on his hips, a habit of his that only served to irritate her further, and stared at her for the longest time.

“I forbid it.”

She took up a similar stance. “You cannot forbid or allow me to do anything,” she reminded him. He was not her father, brother, or husband.

“Then I will remain here until you see reason. The longer it takes, the more time there is for your sister to disappear, or Fisher, for that matter.”

Yes, well, she did not need him to take her anywhere and with that thought, Georgie returned to the desk and opened the address ledger, found Fisher’s name, then memorized where he lived. “I will go on my own.”

“You most certainly will not,” Damian nearly yelled. “Fisher keeps a set of rooms in an area known as Sailortown. It is no place for a female. In fact, it would be downright dangerous for an innocent miss, such as yourself.”

“Which makes it just as dangerous for my sister,” Georgie yelled back. “I go with you or I go alone!”

Damian planted his feet and blocked the only exit from the office.

“The area is filled with boarding and lodging houses near the docks for sailors who live more on a ship than land to sometimes keep a room,” he explained. “Most for temporary accommodations between sailing. The area also attracts those who lean toward the criminal and women who…”

Likely lightskirts, Georgie surmised. They were hardly a danger to her. “If they are temporary accommodations, how do you know that Fisher is not somewhere else and never informed you?”

“It is a possibility,” Damian acknowledged. “But, even if he lives somewhere else, there will be someone who knows him and where he can be found.”

As Damian would not move and she could not get past him, she mimicked his stance, lifted her chin, crossed her arms over her breast, and stared him in the eye. If anything, she was stubborn, and Georgie would outlast Damian in the battle of wills.

Chapter Five