Free Becoming Lady Lockwood by Jennifer Moore Page A

morning. As you can imagine, I am rather unused to company.”
    “Why do you not take your meals in the wardroom then, sir? There is plenty of company to be had.”
    He turned his head to look at her. “It is not my job to be popular, miss. A captain who tries to be friendly with his crew quickly loses their respect. The wardroom is for the officers.”
    “I understand, sir.” She stood and began to walk toward the door. The captain’s life was indeed a lonely one, and she felt a wave of sadness. She knew all too well how it felt to be alone. She stopped and turned back toward him. “Was it so terrible this morning?”
    “Discipline is always terrible.” Captain Drake stood and took a breath then schooled his expression into one of polite interest. “And what did you find to occupy yourself?” He nodded toward the seat she had vacated on the window bench and the book lying upon it.
    “I examined your charts for a time, but I found to my dismay that no amount of study would help me understand them on my own.”
    The captain’s eyebrows rose slightly, and his lips twitched. “Would you like a tutorial?”
    Amelia smiled, glad that she had found a way to shake the captain’s melancholy mood. “If you have the time, sir.”
    ***
    After nearly an hour of instruction, Amelia and Captain Drake leaned over the chart, where he had placed the compass. She concentrated, trying to make sense of the equations they had used.
    “For this exercise, we shall assume that we’ve remained at a constant rate of ten knots for ease of calculation. And so based upon our starting point and our heading indicated by the compass, we now use the dividers to determine—” Amelia and the captain heard a knock at the open door and looked up from the table as Sidney Fletcher entered.
    Sidney paused, blinked, and opened his eyes wide before his face resumed its typical smile. “Please excuse me. I did not intend to interrupt.”
    “Mr. Fletcher,” Amelia said. She took a step away from the captain. Sidney’s presence had made her realize just how close they had been standing and made her feel the need to explain herself. “Captain Drake was giving me a lesson in charting a course.”
    “And how do you get along then, Miss Becket?” Sidney asked, his smile growing as he looked between them.
    “It’s much more difficult than I had imagined.” She set down the dividers she still held. “Perhaps I should have paid more attention to my mathematics in school.”
    “Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Fletcher?” Captain Drake’s voice sounded irritated, and Amelia worried that she had overstayed her welcome.
    “If you will excuse me, gentlemen,” Amelia said. “I have occupied enough of the captain’s time this morning.” She hurried past Sidney and out the door to where Corporal Thorne awaited her. She pondered on the captain’s kindness in humoring her in her attempts to study the charts. He undoubtedly considered it a waste of time for both of them but had taken her request seriously. Not once in their time together—as she struggled to understand the complicated equations and asked endless questions—had he become annoyed or spoken to her in a patronizing manner. In fact, he had been quite pleasant, considerate even.
    As it was nearly time for the noon meal, she walked to the wardroom, hoping that the soldiers would assume her flushed cheeks were merely a result of the sea wind.

Chapter 9
    Amelia sat next to Tobias on the deck. It was the third day she had worked with him, and the two of them had lapsed into a comfortable rhythm as they folded and stitched the seam on a sail.
    She paused for a moment to rub some of the blisters that had developed on her hands. “Tell me about your family, Tobias.”
    Tobias was quiet for a moment. “My son and his wife both died nearly five years ago. I’ve one granddaughter, Anna. She’ll be about your age, I suspect. If you don’t mind my asking how old you are . .