Page 48 of Bella Darcy is on the Run

Kate had risen from the settee and now appeared to be observing George with the steady curiosity of a scientist examining some new and interesting discovery. "How do you do, Captain Harwood?" she said carefully, looking from him to Bella as though attempting to piece together some puzzle in her own mind.

Finally her father spoke. "Captain Harwood. How interesting to see you again. With my daughter. In my sister's home at..." He pulled out his pocket watch and consulted it. "A quarter past ten at night." His gaze moved towards the door. "I do not recall hearing the knocker."

"Captain Harwood was outside. I let him in," Bella said quickly, hoping that would suffice as some sort of explanation, although even as the words left her mouth she knew they sounded weak and would stand up to no interrogation.

Luckily, her mama looked at her with soft eyes for a moment before placing one hand lightly upon her father's arm, halting whatever he had been about to say. "It has been a rather unusual few days," Elizabeth Darcy said calmly. "What is one small aberration more? Come and sit by the fire, Captain. Bella, you will sit too."

George took the chair nearest Bella, although he took pains to move it several inches so there was not the slightest possibility of their knees touching. She might have laughed under other circumstances. Her father noticed it too. Bella saw his gaze travel briefly from George to the small space between their chairs before he settled back more comfortably beside her mother, looking every inch the master of Pemberley.

For several minutes the room fell into an uncomfortable quiet. Mina returned to her sketching, though Bella noticed she was doing far more looking than drawing, while Kate had abandoned all pretence of reading and was observing George over the top of her book. Aunt Lydia, meanwhile, seemed to be vibrating with the effort of containing herself.

Eventually it was Lydia who rescued them. "Well, this is much nicer. Everyone together and nobody missing. I have had quite enough excitement to last me until Christmas."

Bella's mama gave her sister a look, but the tension in the room eased by the smallest degree.

Mina tilted her head as she studied George. "Were you really a naval captain?"

"I was, Miss Wilhelmina."

Mina’s nose crinkled at the formal address. "Did you fight pirates?"

"One or two in my time. In the Mediterranean mostly. Though those skirmishes are rarely as exciting as they are portrayed in novels."

"Mina," her father said mildly.

"I have never met a naval captain before, Papa."

"You met Admiral Croft."

"Yes, but he was ancient and spent all of his time speaking about his digestion. Uncle Richard told me he had never actually been to sea and spent all of his time behind a desk being pompous."

"Well, perhaps we can leave that particular subject where it is for today."

George coughed lightly and Bella suspected he was trying to disguise a chuckle. She felt some of the tightness in her chest ease. He was here, amongst her family, and the world had not fallen down around their ears yet.

Kate closed her book properly and set it aside. "Did you spend much time in the Mediterranean, Captain Harwood?"

"A good deal towards the end of my service."

Her expression brightened. "Did you ever see flying fish?"

George looked momentarily surprised by the question, but answered with complete seriousness. "Many times."

Kate immediately asked how far they could travel above the water, and before long George was attempting to describe the movement of flying fish while Kate listened with rapt attention. Bella watched the exchange with fondness and noticed her parents’ eyes on the pair too. He did not laugh at her serious sister's questions or speak down to her, but answered thoughtfully and drew her out with his own remarks and queries.

"And what will you do now, Captain?" her mother asked when Kate had finally exhausted the subject. "I understand the business with Mr Trevethan has rather altered matters for you."

George shifted in his chair. "The Customs Office has offered me a more permanent position. I would travel between ports where smuggling is proving particularly troublesome and assist with investigations."

Her father sat forward in his chair. "You intend to accept?" he said with a terseness that earned him a reproving look from his wife.

"I am giving the matter great consideration," said George, his eyes shifting to meet Bella’s. "But it is not my first priority."

Bella’s heart beat faster and she felt the world drop away as he offered her a look so tender that it felt physically painful to receive. The room settled into silence once more and she decided she could bear no more.

"Papa, Mama, might George and I speak with you privately?"

Mina's head came up at once. "Why?"