Page 119 of A Castaway in Cornwall
“Never fear. I am well on my way to a full recovery.”
“I am glad to hear it. Do sit down. Don’t stand on my account.”
“Very well.” She reclaimed her seat and gestured to the one near it.
He sat in the low chair, his knees high, his long legs looking decidedly coltish.
“And I am glad to see you have not been arrested,” Laura said. “What happened with the revenue cutter?”
“They never searched that cove, thankfully. To be safe, however, we hid our tools of the trade in a nearby field, most of which the locals carried off. It will be costly to replace them.”
“Then, perhaps you should not. Perhaps this is a sign to you. A chance to choose a new path.”
He looked down, again twisting his hat brim in restless fingers.
She changed tack. “How did you find me?”
“Was not difficult. I knew you were coming to St. Helier, so I asked around the harbour until I found someone who had seenyou or Captain Carnell. A ship owner who’d met the captain directed me here.”
“It was kind of you to seek me out.”
He shrugged. “I wanted to assure myself you had made it to Jersey as you’d intended. I still feel terrible I was unable to deliver you myself.”
Was that the only reason he had come? Laura wondered. Or in hopes of something else?
“There is no need to feel bad.”
“It is a relief to find you safe and whole and ... in at least reasonably good health. I would have come sooner, but the men and I decided it would be wise to wait for a time before we made another attempt to cross the Channel.” Treeve glanced around the small parlour. “Is ... the good captain not with you?”
Laura hesitated, for in truth she did not know where he was. “He was here in St. Helier, but we have not seen him in a few days.”
Treeve, she noticed, watched her carefully. Laura hoped her expression did not reveal her disappointment. She added more brightly, “I imagine he is busy trying to find a ship to take him to France.”
Treeve winced apologetically. “I’m afraid I can’t volunteer for that duty. Our narrow escape had a sobering effect on us all. I believe Dyer would mutiny if I suggested he sail into enemy waters, and I would not blame him.”
“Nor I,” Laura agreed. “After all, he has a family at home. As do you, Treeve—don’t forget.”
“But Dyer has a wife, and I do not.” He shifted uneasily in his chair. “Had I a wife encouraging me to get out of smuggling as Dyer has, it might be easier to do so.”
Laura slowly shook her head. “Don’t change for a woman, Treeve. Change because it’s the right thing to do. To live insidethe law and your God-given conscience. I know you said your family is facing financial hardships, but imagine the far worse hardship and heartache if their eldest son and heir were to be imprisoned.”
Again he looked at the floor, and regret stabbed Laura. “Forgive me. I did not intend to speak harshly or to judge your actions. It is not my place.”
He looked up at her through blond lashes. “It could be.”
“Oh, Treeve.” Laura’s heart thumped and her stomach knotted. “Thank you. I am flattered truly, but you and I are not suited. Besides, I could not bear the thought of my home and livelihood being supported by ill-gotten gain. To worry every time my husband sailed away that he would be arrested.” She shook her head and attempted a teasing tone. “Once an up-country lass, always an up-country lass, I suppose.”
She leaned forward. “But there is a woman worthy of your admiration and respect who knows what you are involved in and cares for you deeply even so. She too might demand you stop, but she would happily marry you. You have been fortunate indeed to win Miss Roskilly’s regard. I hope you will be mature enough not to disdain her for the flaw of admiring you. I daresay if I had flirted with you as devotedly as she or Eseld had, you would disdain me too.”
He managed a dry chuckle. “Sadly true. Aware of my faults as I am, I can’t respect any woman who admires me.”
She studied his vulnerable expression. “You have always seemed so confident, but I have wondered if that was truly the case. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We all lack assurance in some areas, and we all have flaws.”
“And what possible flaws have you, Miss Callaway?”
“Many. I have been proud. I have stood in judgment of my neighbors because their ways seemed foreign and wrong to me.I have felt superior to them, and at the same time, unworthy of their acceptance. I have been unforgiving and resentful. Oh, and let’s not forget my red hair.”
A shadow of a grin flickered over his lips. “And is Carnell aware of these so-called flaws of yours? He clearly admires you anyway.”
