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Chapter 32
... happiness is secured by the possession of excellent qualities in her husband, joined to a love of enjoyment.
The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana
It had taken hours to reach the docks because of the snarl of carts and carriages blocking the road.
The afternoon was misty and so were her eyes.
“There’s no use crying like that!” said Alice to herself rather sharply. “I advise you to leave off this minute.” She always gave herself good advice but rarely followed it.
Captain Lear joined her at the ship’s railing. “Nice day for a voyage to India, isn’t it?”
Alice nodded, unable to muster the excitement she should be feeling at the fulfillment of her long-held desire.
“Watching for someone?” Lear asked with a sly smile.
“Of course not.”
She’d been watching for Nick. Hoping to see him galloping along the docks on his big, black stallion. Coming to beg her not to leave. Telling her he loved her madly.
But there was no Nick, and no stallion.
He wasn’t coming.
Of course he wasn’t coming. This wasn’t a romance. It was an adventure story. The intrepid heroine sets off for a lifetime of adventure on the high seas and in foreign climes.
Throwing everything away for some man, even if that man was Nick, wasn’t an option.
“Come below when you’re ready, Lady Hatherly,” Captain Lear said as he left. “It’s starting to rain. Yours is the first cabin to the left.”
A drop slid off her bonnet brim and hit her cheek.
Still no black stallion hurtling down the pier.
Sailors moving, shouting, huge ropes being untied, anchors lifted.
Alice dashed tears from her eyes.
It was ridiculous to stand here and wait for something that would never happen.
She lifted the lid of Kali’s basket. “I was rather hoping he might come after us, Kali,” she whispered.
Kali stared at her indignantly, more than ready to be released from her wicker prison.
Suddenly Alice glanced up, staring at the docks.
They were receding from view.
The ship had begun to move.
And her final hope died.
Her heart plummeting, Alice descended the ladder.
First cabin to the left. She opened the door and stopped abruptly, her heart pounding.
There was a man in her room.
