same country cousin you ran away from only six months ago?”
“After all that has happened, I think I ought to listen to the advice of my uncle, who has always had my best interest at heart.” Angelica made her reply as steadily as possible. “I’m afraid I have been guilty of acting upon caprice.”
“Caprice?” A roguish and broad wink followed. “Oh, for shame, Miss TenBroeck! That was more than caprice in my arms.”
She began to protest, but he only laughed again, his merry, infectious laugh. “Don’t you know better than any uncle who you should marry? I tell you true—marrying for duty may not always be the sure high road to misery, but it is often the sure high road to boredom and puny, if any, heirs.”
“You presume a great deal! How—how—”
“Crude.” He chuckled as he finished the sentence.
Angelica blushed. She was speechless now, her breath quite taken away.
“You are right to scold me, miss, for something very important is lacking.”
Jack sank to one knee to the deck. With a graceful flourish, as if removing a nonexistent hat from his sandy head, he proclaimed, “Miss TenBroeck, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
“Sir!” Disbelieving, Angelica stared, her cheeks on fire. Nearby, a couple of sailors were elbowing each other.
“This is not a joke!”
“I assure you, I am in earnest.”
“I must have the approval of my guardian, exactly as I told Major Armistead.”
“What?” he exclaimed, leaping to his feet. “Is my request, most properly and politely framed, to be met with a pitiful attempt at evasion? And—” He was beginning to laugh again and tease her. “— after so much encouragement last night!”
“Please! I cannot answer.”
“Why?” This question came softly. “Because you are out of the frying pan and into the fire?”
“Yes! No. Not exactly. This is too—too—sudden. And—and I suspect your motives.”
“Ah, well, in spite of the last, this gives me hope. I thought,” he said, gazing thoughtfully at her, “that your long sleep would be strengthening, but instead you are full of doubt. I really don’t believe a word of this nonsense, Angel TenBroeck.”
For a moment she gazed at him, framed in the tossing blue of the river. Wind whipped his sunny hair, and those astonishing eyes seemed to be looking right through her.
“No matter how I feel, sir,” Angelica answered with simple dignity, “I cannot marry a Tory.”
“It may, eventually, be to your advantage and to the advantage of your family to have a Tory in it.”
“The exact words of George Armistead.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Angelica was sorry.
“Is that a fair comparison, miss?”
Finally, it seemed, she’d irritated him.
“No.” Angelica was now beset with an impossible longing—to go into his arms. “But we are on opposite sides in a war.”
His beautiful cool eyes fixed her. “Man to woman, Miss TenBroeck, we understand each other very well.”
“I’m ashamed of myself, sir.”
With a wink and a grin, Jack quoted the captain’s rude Dutch, saying, “Shut your mouth.” A hand, the touch of which, in spite of her words, she very much craved, reached for hers.
Angelica took hold. How handsome that strong hand was. How like the rest of him!
“I apologize,” he said solemnly, “if my haste alarms you, miss. Still, allow I’m a little older and have had a few more lessons in life. One I’ve learned is that golden opportunities are rare. We must be quick if we want to seize them.”
Warm fingers sent the unmistakable gentle pressure of affection into hers. “I promise not to speak of this again,” he said, “until I am standing at your side in the presence of your Uncle TenBroeck.”
She looked up at him, feelings of desire and despair, of love and uncertainty, at war in her heart.
“Thank you.”
His fair hair in full sunlight was indisputably blonde, blowing around his head like a moving corona. Those
“After all that has happened, I think I ought to listen to the advice of my uncle, who has always had my best interest at heart.” Angelica made her reply as steadily as possible. “I’m afraid I have been guilty of acting upon caprice.”
“Caprice?” A roguish and broad wink followed. “Oh, for shame, Miss TenBroeck! That was more than caprice in my arms.”
She began to protest, but he only laughed again, his merry, infectious laugh. “Don’t you know better than any uncle who you should marry? I tell you true—marrying for duty may not always be the sure high road to misery, but it is often the sure high road to boredom and puny, if any, heirs.”
“You presume a great deal! How—how—”
“Crude.” He chuckled as he finished the sentence.
Angelica blushed. She was speechless now, her breath quite taken away.
“You are right to scold me, miss, for something very important is lacking.”
Jack sank to one knee to the deck. With a graceful flourish, as if removing a nonexistent hat from his sandy head, he proclaimed, “Miss TenBroeck, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
“Sir!” Disbelieving, Angelica stared, her cheeks on fire. Nearby, a couple of sailors were elbowing each other.
“This is not a joke!”
“I assure you, I am in earnest.”
“I must have the approval of my guardian, exactly as I told Major Armistead.”
“What?” he exclaimed, leaping to his feet. “Is my request, most properly and politely framed, to be met with a pitiful attempt at evasion? And—” He was beginning to laugh again and tease her. “— after so much encouragement last night!”
“Please! I cannot answer.”
“Why?” This question came softly. “Because you are out of the frying pan and into the fire?”
“Yes! No. Not exactly. This is too—too—sudden. And—and I suspect your motives.”
“Ah, well, in spite of the last, this gives me hope. I thought,” he said, gazing thoughtfully at her, “that your long sleep would be strengthening, but instead you are full of doubt. I really don’t believe a word of this nonsense, Angel TenBroeck.”
For a moment she gazed at him, framed in the tossing blue of the river. Wind whipped his sunny hair, and those astonishing eyes seemed to be looking right through her.
“No matter how I feel, sir,” Angelica answered with simple dignity, “I cannot marry a Tory.”
“It may, eventually, be to your advantage and to the advantage of your family to have a Tory in it.”
“The exact words of George Armistead.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Angelica was sorry.
“Is that a fair comparison, miss?”
Finally, it seemed, she’d irritated him.
“No.” Angelica was now beset with an impossible longing—to go into his arms. “But we are on opposite sides in a war.”
His beautiful cool eyes fixed her. “Man to woman, Miss TenBroeck, we understand each other very well.”
“I’m ashamed of myself, sir.”
With a wink and a grin, Jack quoted the captain’s rude Dutch, saying, “Shut your mouth.” A hand, the touch of which, in spite of her words, she very much craved, reached for hers.
Angelica took hold. How handsome that strong hand was. How like the rest of him!
“I apologize,” he said solemnly, “if my haste alarms you, miss. Still, allow I’m a little older and have had a few more lessons in life. One I’ve learned is that golden opportunities are rare. We must be quick if we want to seize them.”
Warm fingers sent the unmistakable gentle pressure of affection into hers. “I promise not to speak of this again,” he said, “until I am standing at your side in the presence of your Uncle TenBroeck.”
She looked up at him, feelings of desire and despair, of love and uncertainty, at war in her heart.
“Thank you.”
His fair hair in full sunlight was indisputably blonde, blowing around his head like a moving corona. Those
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