“And what if it has been impounded?”
“Then you and I shall flee for the border and try to enter Virginia by land.”
“And get shot by one army or the other, no doubt.”
“No doubt.”
It took them some time to find a cab in this residential district; Katherine felt they must have walked halfway to the docks before they came upon one. After they finally got the cab, it did not take them long to reach the docks. Matthew quickly jumped out, but when Katherine started to follow suit, he stopped her.
“There may be guards around; there could be trouble. And I don’t want you involved in it. So you stay right here until I come back. And if I don’t come back in a reasonable time, you leave, and head straight back for Boston. Understand?”
“But, Matthew—” she began to protest.
“Katherine, I mean it,” he said firmly. “I shall never forgive myself for the danger I have put you in already, and I refuse to expose you to any more than is absolutely necessary.”
Her lips twitched angrily, but she managed to refrain from arguing.
Hampton gave a low chuckle. “Ah, Katherine, you have learned restraint.”
He vanished into the darkness of the docks. Katherine waited anxiously, her ears straining to hear any sound. It seemed ages before she finally heard Matthew’s returning footsteps. He was smiling, and she quickly jumped out of the carriage and paid the driver. Matthew picked up the bag and cheerfully guided her across the docks.
“I found it,” he said. “There was one Yankee watching it and I crowned him. Then I went aboard and talked to Josephs. Thank God he believed me and is even now preparing to sail. Katherine, I think we—”
The words stopped in his throat as suddenly a soldier loomed up in front of them, pistol in hand.
“Stop right there.”
“What the devil!” Matthew snapped, managing to sound like an outraged citizen.
“I saw you leaving the Sea Nymph,” the stranger said accusingly. “And I just found the guard I was to replace out cold and trussed up in an alley.”
“Guard?” Matthew asked innocently. “I fail to see what that has to do with us. Nor do I see why you have been spying on me.”
“I think you see perfectly well. And there’s certainly no harm in my taking the two of you back to headquarters to explain why you are carrying baggage to a ship that is carrying contraband.”
“Contraband! What nonsense!” Matthew growled.
“Oh, no, whatever are we to do!” Katherine wailed. “Now Papa will discover us and send me off to my sister’s in the country, and we shall never see each other again! Oh, Corporal, you don’t understand! I have the most terrible, sternest father, and he won’t let me marry Henry. And so we were eloping. Only you are spoiling it all!” She burst into tears, and the guard looked a trifle uneasy.
“Now, miss—” his voice was placating.
“Oh, I can tell that you are a kind man underneath. Oh, please, please, help us!” She flung herself upon him in supplication, and with both hands shoved hard against his gun hand.
Hampton immediately threw himself upon the luckless soldier and sent him sprawling; the gun went flying off through the air. Katherine scrambled after it, but when at last she found it and turned to aim it at the soldier she found that Matthew had just effectively dispatched him with his fists.
“Oh, God,” she said, and the gun slid from her trembling fingers.
“Quick, help me tie him,” Matthew hissed as he dragged the body into a dark doorway.
She followed and knelt beside him, her shaking knees giving way. Hurriedly they pulled off the man’s belt and tied his hands. Matthew tied his feet with his own belt as Katherine gagged him with her scarf.
“Come on now, let’s go.” Matthew pulled her to her feet, grabbed their bag, and hurried her across the docks to the waiting ship.
Once on board, Katherine refused to go below. She could not bear to sit in fear in a cabin, with no idea of what was going on. Instead, she leaned against the railing, gripping it tightly, scarcely daring to breathe as the ship slowly edged away from the docks. Quietly, stealthily, they unfurled the sails a little at a time as the ship drifted out to sea, until at last they were in full sail. The lights of the city began to dwindle, and now a good breeze caught their sails and sent the ship skidding across the waves.
“We are off,” Matthew’s voice sounded behind her and she jumped. He had been helping the sailors to slip away from shore.
“Are we safe?”
“I think so. Even when they find the guards, I don’t think they will give chase. A half-loaded merchant ship is not that important.”
“Matthew.” She leaned against him in relief, and he folded his arms around her.
“My brave, good girl,” he said and kissed the top of her head. He was filled with tenderness for her as he thought of the way she had risked everything to help him. Tossing aside pride, country, reputation, she had helped him to escape, put her very life in danger, while asking nothing in return. When she had saved him from Perkins, she had not even thought he loved her; in fact, she had thought he had scorned her. And even now, she had not asked him for any commitment.
“Katherine, I love you,” he breathed against her ear.
They made their way down toward their cabin. When they reached it, Katherine began to dig in their bag, pulling out something she would not let him see.
“I have been thinking,” he began, and she looked at him inquiringly. “Tomorrow, I think that I shall have Captain Josephs exercise his power and marry us at sea. Or would you prefer to wait for a proper minister?”
She stared at him, her eyes shining. “Matthew, do you mean it? You don’t have to, you know; I mean just because I—”
He laughed. “Do you still not know me enough to know that I would not marry out of a sense of duty?”
She laughed, tears sounding in her throat “Oh, Matthew. Yes, I will marry at sea, or anywhere else you want. I love you.”
“Keep looking at me like that, girl, and I may find myself ripping the clothes off you—again.”
“Oh, no, you don’t. I have a surprise. Turn your back.”
He raised his hands in mock resignation and obeyed. “I thought that you had lost your girlish modesty.”
She giggled. “Just wait.”
He heard the swish of her petticoats hitting the floor and smiled to himself.
“All right; you can look now,” she said, and he turned. He gasped at the sight of her, unable to speak.
She stood clothed in the filmy white nightgown he had bought for her; the soft material clung to her, revealing every lush line of her body, and the slit sides teasingly parted over her smooth flesh. He felt a trembling begin within him.
“Girl, you are a marvel,” he said huskily.
He crossed the space between them and swung her into his arms. Laughing, she clung to him as he carried her to the bed.
*
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Gregory, Lisa Page 35
