Lady in the Mist - Laurie Alice Eakes [95]
“Because he’s English?”
“Because he’s above himself and an interloper. And what about him having a knife like that. Seems . . .” His eyes crossed with his effort to think of the right words to describe the inappropriateness of a bondsman in possession of a knife not much less than a pirate cutlass.
“You should come in, son.” His father’s voice was gentle. “This much sun can’t be good for you with that injury to your head.”
“I’m all right.”
Another lie. He wasn’t all right. His head ached. His jaw ached. His stomach ached.
“Giving yourself a brain fever isn’t going to bring her back.” His father sat on the edge of the jetty beside Raleigh. “She’s made her choice for now. It’s an unwise choice. He can’t marry her.”
“But it is my fault.” Raleigh straightened and looked his father in the eyes, the same blue eyes that he saw in mirrors. “If I hadn’t accused Cherrett of being the one to hit me, she might not have chosen to feel sorry for him.”
“You know it goes back further than that, Raleigh.” Father’s mouth set in a stern line. “You abandoned her without a word. A woman doesn’t get over that kind of hurt and humiliation easily.”
“No, but I’ve—”
He stopped before he said he’d changed. He wanted to believe it. He wanted to be that man the ship’s chaplain said he could be. But he proved again and again that he was untrustworthy for man—or woman—and, worst of all, not good enough for God to take care of him.
“I think I would have had a chance if not for Dominick Cherrett.” Raleigh pounded his fist on the rough planks of the jetty. “What does she find to attract her in that man?”
Father laughed. “Ask your sisters. I believe he holds a certain manly charm.”
“I didn’t know I was so ill-favored,” Raleigh grumbled.
“I can’t say, since you favor me.”
Raleigh chuckled at that and felt a bit better. Sobering, he asked, “What can I do, sir?”
“You know we have to leave things up to God. When we try to take matters into our own hands, it only causes trouble.”
“Oh, yes, I know that all too well.” Raleigh scrambled to his feet. “So how do I win her back?”
“Start courting someone else.”
Raleigh stared at his father. “Make her jealous? Does that really work?”
“If it doesn’t, then you didn’t have a chance to win her back in the first place.” Father grinned. “And if it does, you’ve shown she’s just trying to make you jealous, or maybe punish you, for leaving her. After all, didn’t she get friendly with this bondsman after you returned?”
“Well, yes.” He and his father headed off the jetty and up the sand toward their house. “But who? Not many females around here would make Tabitha wonder if I’m serious about them instead of her.”
“Mrs. Lee?”
Raleigh snorted. “She’s a rich widow from a fine family. She’d never look at a fisherman.”
“She was certainly looking at a bondsman.”
“He was the hero of the moment.” Raleigh shrugged. “Tabitha was looking at him the same—” He stopped and caught his breath. “Do you think he put that snake in there so he could display his skill?”
“And risk Tabitha’s life? I don’t think so.”
“Maybe he didn’t know the snake was poisonous.” Raleigh warmed to his notion that the entire incident was a ploy by Cherrett to win Tabitha’s attention. “They don’t have many poisonous snakes in England.”
“It’s a possibility.” Father looked thoughtful. “But he didn’t seem like he needed that kind of risk to—but never you mind all that. Whatever the reason, it’s behind us. It was likely a terrible coincidence that the snake got into the basket. If it was mere heroics that won Tabitha’s attention today, it won’t last for long. She’s a practical woman, and you’re a man of some property, as my son.”
And he’d have more if his mission succeeded, property he’d intended to use to lure Tabitha back to him when the time was right. He’d thought the time was right when he’d learned some men on the council thought she should lose her license to practice midwifery in the district. She needed a man to support her. Cherrett couldn’t do that. He couldn’t even marry her, and he would leave when his indenture