Page 26

“There’s more. When they leave for the holiday, Will gives each a drink of brandy. His way of thanking them.”

“No wonder they like working here.”

“In the summer,” she added, “Will has casks of ale delivered to the shops on hot days.”

“Again, I am impressed.”

“Will and I learned the importance of treating our workers well from Father.”

She took him to the blacksmith’s and then to the joiners’ shops. Like the main shop, each was clean and neatly kept. He couldn’t help thinking that was at least in part due to her influence.

“Shall we go to the office so you can see the drawings of the Ossian?”

“I was hoping you might suggest that,” he said, returning her smile.

With Nash at her side, Ailie drew her cloak tightly around her and took the path to the office. As they entered, she was surprised to find the iron stove well stoked and the room warm.

“Will must have asked the servants to keep the stove going.”

“So this is where you created the Ossian,” he said, taking off his greatcoat to reveal his dark blue tailcoat and buff breeches. Any woman would think him handsome. “And where you work?”

“Much of the time.” She slipped her cloak from her shoulders, laid it over her chair and reached down to open the drawer that held her most favored drawings. “I am sometimes in the shop with Mr. Ferguson. But it was here I first began the Ossian’s design.” She lifted the drawings to the top of her desk. “It’s been some time since I looked at my design. Our orders are for more ordinary ships.”

Would she ever see the Ossian in the water?

Nash took a pair of spectacles from his pocket and came to stand beside her, his shoulders mere inches from hers. She could feel the heat of him as he leaned over the drawings and detected the faint scent of sandalwood.

He took off his spectacles and turned to speak to her.

She was already facing him when their gazes met. Neither looked away.

In the moments that passed, Ailie felt the room grow overwarm and she began to feel awkward so close to a man she did not really know.

She stepped away from his intense gaze, her heart thudding in her chest.

“Tell me about the Ossian,” he said a husky voice.

Without looking at him, she traced the lines of the schooner on the drawing and began to explain something she had never told anyone. “I saw the ship in a dream, its sleek black hull and its billowing white sails against a blue sky, as its bow cut through a wind-tossed sea. ’Tis stamped on my mind like a part of me.”

Emotion gathering in her voice, she raised her gaze from her desk to the ships outside the window and the North Sea beyond, seeing again what she had first experienced in the dream. “I could feel the schooner rolling through the waves and the salty spray whipping my hair across my face as my heart raced in my chest.” Then turning to face him with tear-filled eyes, she said, “I was there, Nash. On the ship. And somehow, I knew one day it would be real.”

For a few seconds, he said nothing, just stared into her eyes. Had she revealed too much to a man she barely knew?

He nodded slowly. “I believe it, too, Ailie. One day, you will sail on her and I would dearly love to be with you when you do.”

She cleared her throat, blinking back tears as she glanced down at the drawings. “You are kind to humor me.”

“I’m not humoring you.” In his voice she detected only sincerity and maybe, just maybe, admiration. “I believe you will see your ship built one day.”

“’Tis a pleasant thought.” Forcing her eyes away from his penetrating gaze, she glanced out the window. “If we want to be in on the Yule log hunt, we’d best be going.”

On the way back to the house, she realized she had identified a difference between Nash and Robbie. Nash wore spectacles but she’d not seen them on his twin.

Robbie managed to reach his chamber without being seen. There, he changed back into the breeches and dark green tailcoat he had worn before setting off to the town. He pulled on his polished tall boots and tied a simple cravat before joining the ladies in the parlor, where he hoped to find a warm brandy and a warmer fire.

Both were soon forthcoming.

He relaxed into one of the gold wing chairs set before the fireplace, nursing the glass of brandy cradled in his hand. Time passed as he pondered what he had learned.