Free A Gentleman of Means by Shelley Adina

manage any ship, any engine. That is what I see for you, Claire, if you can only be patient.”
    What could she do but nod, smile at him with affection, and squeeze his arm in thanks for his encouragement?
    It was consequently a very good thing that he did not see her once she regained her own bedroom, where she flung a cushion at the wall with such energy that it split all along the seam. Feathers drifted gently to the floor.
    They had not the means to fly any longer, either.
     

7
    Restless and dissatisfied, and unwilling to take the customary Sunday afternoon nap, Claire walked out to
Swan
. Andrew had gone to call upon a colleague, and the girls were walking along the river with Tigg and Jake. The walk across the park did her good, and she was able to board with something approaching calm, if not good humor.
    “Claire,” Alice said with some surprise, coming along the gangway from the saloon, having clearly felt the slight dip and recovery in the ship’s trim that told her someone had boarded. “I didn’t expect to see you—I thought you might go with Lizzie and Maggie.”
    “And provide an unwelcome fifth wheel to that merry gig? I think not.”
    “I hardly think you’d be unwelcome.”
    “I’d rather spend a little time with you. How is your patient?”
    The corners of Alice’s blue eyes pinched a little, and Claire felt a dart of anxiety. “Come and see for yourself.”
    Ian, while dressed in trousers, clean shirt, and waistcoat, was sitting on the edge of his bunk, gazing at something invisible on the floor beyond the hands that hung between his knees. He looked up almost with relief when Claire peered in.
    “Claire. You look like an English garden.”
    Surprised, she smoothed her green walking skirt with its wide band of floral embroidery at the hem. Perhaps her color was a little high, both from emotion and from exercise. “Thank you, Ian. I have come to ask Alice to take a turn around the park with me, but perhaps you are pining for gardens yourself and would like to join us?”
    “Around the park?” The expression of gallant politeness he wore cracked so suddenly that Claire saw it for the sham it was. “You ladies must go. A gentleman can only be an intruder in such a party.”
    “Not likely,” Alice said. “You need to get outside, Ian. You’re beginning to frighten me.”
    “I do not wish to go,” he said stiffly. “I have—things to take care of here.”
    Alice’s chin firmed in a way that almost made Claire feel sorry for the poor man. “Nothing will happen to you in broad daylight. If two ladies can walk around the park, then you can, too.”
    “I do not fear something happening to me.” He almost sounded like the old Ian.
    But he was not.
    Claire knelt next to him—for he had not risen on her entrance—and laid a hand on his knee. “Please, Ian. I have a matter to discuss with Alice, and I would value your opinion also. It is a lovely day—and who knows how much longer this weather will hold?”
    In his eyes, she observed that his fear had a death grip on all the rules of gentlemanly behavior. Valiantly he struggled, silent and still, until generations of good breeding won out. “Very well. Give me a moment to locate my jacket and I will join you in the saloon.”
    Alice gripped her hand silently as they retreated down the corridor. “Thank you,” she breathed when they reached the main saloon, which would have comfortable chairs and possibly even a dining table some day. “He hasn’t been off the ship since that night. I’m at my wits’ end.”
    “My dear friend, I am so sorry.” Claire stood with her in a warm beam of sunlight falling through the viewing port … which had the unfortunate effect of showing her just how little sleep Alice must have had. “I’ve left him entirely to your care and have been so wrapped up in my own concerns that I’ve hardly spared a thought for anyone else’s. I am ashamed.”
    “You have nothing to be ashamed of. He’s a