Page 93 of Heiress Gone Wild

“That’s the way we came when we arrived in England,” she said, pointing toward the sea as she crossed to the stone balustrade. “TheNeptunesailed right past here, didn’t it? We couldn’t see anything that day,” she added, smiling as she stared out over the water. “All that rain and fog.”

“Look down there,” he said, pausing beside her, pointing to a snakelike trail of murky green leading in from the sea. “That’s the Beaulieu River. We’ve got a quay and a boathouse, so whenever Henry and Irene take theMary Louisaor theEndeavorout on the Solent, they can come up the river, dock at the quay, and—”

“And visit us,” she finished in delight as she turned toward him.

“Or fetch us, if we want to go along. We can even have a yacht of our own, if we wish.”

That made her laugh. “I thought things like yachts were a waste of money,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist as she reminded him of his words aboard theNeptune. “You said I couldn’t spend my money on frivolities like yachts.”

He grinned. “Yes, well, I think I might be changing my mind about that.” He paused, nodding to their surroundings. “Do you like the house? If not, we can look for something else.”

“No, no, it’s—” She broke off, happiness clogging her throat, making it hard to form words. She swallowed hard, glanced around, then looked at him. “It’s perfect,” she whispered. “Absolutely perfect.”

That pleased him, for his smile widened, creasing the edges of his mouth and the corners of his eyes. “I’m glad.”

“Shall we look at the rest?” she asked. “We haven’t looked at the kitchens, or the servants’ hall, or any of that.”

He hesitated, then shook his head. “We can’t, not today. There’s something else we need to discuss, something important, and we don’t have much time.”

That was his second mention of time, and as he drew back from her, his arms sliding down so that he could take her hands in his, Marjorie felt an odd shiver of apprehension, but she shoved it aside, telling herself not to be silly. “Why are you so concerned about time today? Is your day so very full?”

“It is, actually.” He cleared his throat, looking down at their clasped hands. “Do you remember what I told you at the ball? Why I wanted to bring you here?”

“Yes. You said you wanted to show me the house you bought for us. And you have. And I love it.”

“I also said I wanted to tell you what I’ll be doing with my life.” He looked up, meeting her gaze. “You know Clara wanted to make a place for me in Deverill Publishing, and I turned it down because it wasn’t my dream anymore. I knew I had to find a new dream, and—” He broke off and took a deep breath. “I have.”

“That’s wonderful!” she cried. “What is it?”

“A month or so ago, I met the Marquess of Kayne. Rex introduced us. Lord Kayne owns a company called Hawthorne Shipping. They build cargo ships—big, steam-driven transatlantic cargo ships, right here in Southampton. Kayne wants to build passenger liners, too, but can’t do it alone. I met with him yesterday, and we agreed to form a joint venture for the project.”

“You’re going to build ships like theNeptune?”

“Yes. We’ll be based right beside Hawthorne Shipping.” He let go of her hands, put his hands on her shoulders, and turned her around so that she was facing northeast, toward Southampton, then he stretched an arm over her shoulder, pointing. “Right there, at Hythe, across the port from where Cunard docks its ships.”

“So, you’ll sell the ships you build to Cunard, and White Star, and such?”

“Not exactly.”

There was an odd inflection in his voice, and for no reason she could identify, Marjorie felt another pang of apprehension, and when he turned her around to face him, it deepened into fear, for his countenance was graver than she’d ever seen it before.

“We’re going to build our own ships,” he said, once again taking her hands in his. “We’ll be competing with Cunard and White Star, not selling to them. To do it, we’ll have to arrange routes, get the moorings, study the competition...” He stopped and took a breath. “That’s my part.”

“What are you saying?” she asked, but even before he replied, the sick feeling in her stomach gave her an inkling of what he was going to say.

“I’ll have to travel, Marjorie. A great deal, especially in the beginning.”

Her worst fears confirmed, she felt suddenly cold, and she jerked her hands from his. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Marjorie, listen to me, please. This is the first thing I’ve found since Deverill Publishing that excites me, the first thing in a decade that makes me truly want to settle down.”

“But you won’t be settled, will you? No wonder this excites you. It’s the perfect way for you to go where you want and do what you want. Meanwhile,” she went on, overriding him as he opened his mouth to reply, “I’ll be alone, in this lovely house you bought for me, waiting for you to come back, the same way my mother waited for my father? Is that it?”

“No!” he cried, grasping her arms as she tried to turn away. “I won’t be gone all the time, and when I do have to go, you’ll come with me.”

“And do what?”

“See the world, of course. For God’s sake, Marjorie, you spent most of your life cooped up inside a school. There is a huge, beautiful world out there, and you’ve never seen any of it. Don’t you want to? Don’t you want to see Venice, or Gibraltar, or the Greek isles? Don’t you want to walk with me through a copper bazaar in Tangier, or stand under the cedars of Lebanon, or take a tour up the Nile?”

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