A Tempting Voyage Read online

  Ginny stood and nearly fell over herself curtsying and bowing and looking as guilty as sin for the crime of having tea with her friends.

  “Sit, Ginny, sit,” Albert told her with a fond grin. “Unless you want to head down to the kitchen to see what Harry brought back from Truro.”

  “Harry?” Ginny choked more on the stableman’s name than she did on her tea. Her face went bright red and a distinct sparkle filled her eyes. Domenica had a hard time keeping herself from laughing. “I should go down to the kitchen right away, then.”

  Ginny curtsied, then rushed out.

  “I should be getting home myself,” Millie said, scooting to the edge of the sofa, then working to push herself up. Albert stepped over to put his arm under her shoulders and haul her to her feet. “You newlyweds should have your time alone.”

  “You haven’t finished your tea,” Domenica said. “Are you sure you won’t stay?”

  “Not even to hear all about Lord Dunsford and his new bride.”

  “Who he’s very pleased to be going to fetch,” Albert added as Millie walked across the room on her way out. Once Millie gave them a final wave and disappeared around the corner, he turned back to Domenica. “I thought women loved to gossip about men behind their backs, but your friends ducked out on all the fun so quickly.”

  “They want me to give us all more to gossip about, mi capitán,” she said, sliding her arms around his neck and leaning her body into his.

  Albert chuckled and kissed her. It was the kind of kiss that would lead to other things if she allowed it, and, truth be told, she was very much in a mood to allow it. Albert’s hand slid down her back to cradle her backside. Even though the beautiful, new dress that Lady Patterson had sent her as a wedding present—she’d sent a whole wardrobe full of clothes after their tear-filled reunion in Mousehole the morning after the Kestrel sank—was full of frills and flounces, his touch still excited her.

  “I was thinking,” Albert said as he broke their kiss, “that we should head back to London before Peter and his new wife return.”

  “Oh?” Part of Domenica was eager to meet the soon-to-be mistress of Starcross Castle.

  Albert’s expression grew more serious. “I still have a heap of business to take care of in the wake of the Kestrel’s demise.”

  “At least she was insured,” Domenica sighed, tracing her fingers along the line of his jaw.

  “Partially,” Albert said. “We’re lucky that the company overall has been doing well enough to cover the loss.”

  “And we will have a new ship soon?”

  Albert sighed and shrugged. “As soon as one can be outfitted.”

  “Good.” Domenica nodded. “Because I think I love the sea.”

  “I’m glad of it.” He kissed her again, but it was short-lived. Domenica could sense he had more to say. “It would also probably be best if we left Starcross Castle before William returns.”

  “Ugh.” Domenica would have spit on the floor if they were in Haskell.

  “I know,” Albert agreed with a sigh. “But with Polly or Amy Orvis or whatever her name was gone and the Kestrel sunk, there was no way the authorities could prove he was to blame for any of it.”

  “Did Mr. Sands at least get his five thousand pounds?”

  Again, Albert looked defeated. “Peter paid it, although I begged him not to.”

  “He is a good man,” Domenica said. “I only hope that this Miss Mariah Travers is good enough to deserve him.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Domenica glanced past Albert, eyeing the tea, then peeked at her wonderful new husband. She was hungry, but her kind of appetite would be better satisfied in the bedroom, not the parlor. She slipped her arm around his waist and nudged him toward the door.

  “Now, mi capitán, I think it is time that we take advantage of our own time as newlyweds before the house is overrun by another pair.”

  Albert chuckled, giving her backside a pat. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  I hope you have enjoyed Domenica and Albert’s story! I just want to throw in a quick note before I let you go. In my mind, there has always been a huge blank between the era of wooden tall ships and ships like Titanic. Since this story takes place smack in between those two eras of technology, I had to do a lot of research to know how to accurately describe the Kestrel and its capabilities. I was surprised to discover just how fast a ship could travel across the Atlantic by the end of the 1870s. Thanks to the introduction of steam power and the screw propeller, vessels could make the trip in 10-14 days! And while trans-Atlantic vessels hadn’t reached the opulence and grandeur of Titanic by that era, many commercial liners already incorporated “advanced” technology, like central heating and plumbing. Within a few years of when this story takes place, they had electric lighting as well. Pretty impressive! The transportation industry has always been at the forefront of technological change, though. Although it was true, as Domenica observed in Chapter One, that these modern marvels of ocean-going vessels still had masts up until the 1880s.

  This may be the end of the West Meets East series, but it’s just the beginning of the stories of everyone who played secondary roles in these books! There’s so much more to come in my new series, The Silver Foxes of Westminster! The excitement starts this winter with December Heart. Find out what happens when Lord Peter deVere arrives in Bedfordshire to marry Miss Mariah Travers. Frustrated with being cast as a perpetual adolescent by a society that devalues single women, Mariah has agreed to marry Peter. But will he live up to her expectations? And will Lord William watch passively as his uncle potentially produces an heir to take his place? (Of course not!) Will Lord William get his just deserts?

  And what about Ginny Davis and the handsome, impish stableman, Harry? Yep, you’ll get to read their story and a couple others from downstairs in Starcross Castle too. Each book in the Silver Foxes series will have a couple of accompanying novellas about the lives and loves of the servants of the households and the locals.

  Stay tuned!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  I hope you have enjoyed A Tempting Voyage. If you’d like to be the first to learn about when new books in the series come out and more, please sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/cbaVMH And remember, Read it, Review it, Share it! For a complete list of works by Merry Farmer with links, please visit http://wp.me/P5ttjb-14F.

  Merry Farmer is an award-winning novelist who lives in suburban Philadelphia with her cats, Torpedo, her grumpy old man, and Justine, her hyperactive new baby. She has been writing since she was ten years old and realized one day that she didn't have to wait for the teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something. It was the best day of her life. She then went on to earn not one but two degrees in History so that she would always have something to write about. Her books have reached the Top 100 at Amazon, iBooks, and Barnes & Noble, and have been named finalists in the prestigious RONE and Rom Com Reader’s Crown awards.

  Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer.

  merryfarmer.net

  [email protected]

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  About the Author

 

 

 
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