Page 21 of Bella Darcy is on the Run

"I am happy here," Lydia continued. "I have built a good life, I have good friends and I like to think I do a little good too. But perhaps I might have liked to marry again, or have children, and after my first marriage, none of that ever seemed possible." She glanced at Bella. "You must remember that, my love. Wanting to be responsible for your own happiness is no bad thing, but every action has consequences, and the consequences of yours could have been very dire indeed."

With that, Lydia walked on briskly, leaving Bella to hurry after her.

✽✽✽

After they had visited the printer and a few other shops where her aunt had errands to run, they made their way down to a street close to the harbour where there was a tea shop Lydia favoured. A hazy cloud had covered the sky and Bella marvelled at the way the shifting light was reflected in the water. Earlier it had appeared a clear azure blue, while now it had taken on a darker, almost inky hue.

As she was peering down towards the harbour, she noticed Captain Harwood standing a few yards away. His light hair blew in the sea air and the fine, chiselled planes of his face were taut with concentration. The man beside him was, in a word, filthy. He wore a tattered coat and his face was streaked with grime. A pipe was clasped between too few yellow teeth as he listened with rapt attention to whatever the captain was saying. When Captain Harwood passed him a small envelope, the unkempt man grasped it quickly, tucked it inside his coat and turned away towards the harbour.

"Are you coming, Bella?" her aunt Lydia called from behind her, one hand already on the door of the pretty tearoom.

The establishment seemed almost comically out of place on a street otherwise made up of shipping offices and warehouses. Its bow window was painted a cheerful lemon and filled with little cakes beneath glass domes, while a hand-lettered sign above the door announced it as The Kettle & Keel.

Bella tore her eyes from the captain and turned to her aunt. Whatever had he been about? Surely nothing respectable. The man was skulking about with an obvious n’er do well and handing him what? Money? Instructions? Government secrets? Her mind jumped quickly from treachery to piracy and/or smuggling as she tried to reconcile what she had seen. She heard a noise behind her and realised with a jolt that Captain Harwood was moving in their direction.

Lydia spotted him and let out a squeal of delight. "Captain Harwood!" she called through the open doorway, waving with enthusiasm. "You must come and join us."

The captain looked towards them and, for the briefest moment, appeared as though he might pretend not to have heard. Lydia, however, was not a woman easily ignored.

"Captain!" she called again. "Do stop skulking about the harbour and come and have some tea."

This time there was no escape. George crossed towards them, one brow slightly raised, and Bella found herself suddenly very aware of his height and the taut line of his shoulders stretching his coat. Could this man be a dangerous criminal? There was certainly something about him that made her skin prickle uncomfortably.

"Mrs Bennet," he said as he reached them, making an elegant if slightly stiff bow.

"Lydia, please. You make me feel ancient when you call me Mrs Bennet. And you remember my niece, Miss Bella Bennet, of course."

His eyes moved to Bella and one eyebrow twitched. "How could I forget?"

He took her hand and bowed over it. Even through the fabric of their gloves, the touch of his fingers seemed to leave a patch of warmth behind that made her want to rub the spot he had touched once he released her. There was something about the low rumble of his words and the intensity of his gaze that made her suddenly conscious of her own body, and she looked down at her slippers in an effort to escape it.

"Well, come along then," said her aunt Lydia. "We cannot spend all day standing in the street. I am dying for a good cup of tea and a currant bun. Come now, Captain, you may escort me."

Captain Harwood looked between the two women before him and, with the smallest sinking of his shoulders as his only sign of his resignation, offered Lydia his arm. Bella followed them into the little shop, trying to dampen the ridiculous impulse to turn around and leave the establishment before either of her companions noticed her escape.

They settled at a small table covered with a pretty cloth, and Lydia immediately monopolised the conversation, flitting from subject to subject and speaking of people Bella had never met. Captain Harwood nodded and offered the occasional remark in all the right places, but said very little of consequence, while Bella sat quietly picking dainty pieces from a slice of lemon cake and sipping a steaming cup of Earl Grey. Her mind continued to turn over the exchange she had witnessed outside the shop, however, and eventually some rebellious part of her decided that it could no longer live in ignorance.

She interrupted her aunt's diatribe on the current state of the local postal service to say, "And what is it exactly that you do, Captain, now that you are no longer in His Majesty's service?"

His green eyes fixed upon her, watchful and assessing. "I am of service where I can be, Miss Bennet."

He released each word carefully, giving his speech a slightly staccato quality that made Bella suspect he was choosing them with great care. She tipped her head and continued to observe him, doing her best to keep her expression bland and neutral.

"That is a very imprecise answer."

"We are only just acquainted, madam. Would you have me impart all the details of my private business?"

Lydia's eyes widened. "My dear Bella, he means no harm. And Captain, you must forgive her. She is a little too inquisitive for her own good. Rather like her dear Mama, I fear." She turned to Bella. "Darling, that was rather rude. Please apologise."

Bella felt heat creep into her face. "I apologise for any offence given."

Captain Harwood's expression softened and, to her surprise, he stretched one hand across the small table and touched the back of hers lightly. It was the briefest contact, hardly enough to be considered improper, but once again her skin seemed to heat beneath his fingers. He appeared to feel something of it too. His eyes widened almost imperceptibly before he withdrew his hand and rearranged his features into their former calm.

"No offence taken, Miss Bennet."

The air between them felt different somehow, and Bella could not bring herself to meet his gaze again.

After another moment, he pushed back his chair. "I thank you both for the company, but I do have some urgent business to attend to. I shall wish you a good day."