“Not at all, Signora,” said Marcato, but his dislike for her was apparent in his reply. He then looked back to Fleur.
“I’ve had far worse from my own mother.” That got a smile from her, Li and me.
“If you are all set, I have business to attend to,” he said, tipping his hat as he always did before parting.
“Of course. Thank you so much for your assistance,” I said, and Rex and Rupert nodded to the Captain before he left.
I handed off the fabric to Bernadine, giving her a look that an angry, but amused mother might give a child she just scolded, then I put my free arm through Fleur’s as we continued on.
“You know, I do believe you have an admirer,” I said. Fleur blushed and looked at the ground, but not before I saw a smile touch her lips.
CHAPTER 20
Our time in Portugal was exciting, to say the least. Fleur was visited nearly every day by the Captain, to Bernadine’s dismay. The Hammonds’ mansion was colorful and beautifully decorated with many fine objects from all over the world. Their housekeeper was Portuguese, and she spoke only a little English so Julian did most of the talking to her, but Bernadine and Fleur seemed to get on well enough with her even through the language barrier.
The evenings were much more relaxed than they were at Hilbourne. We did not dress for dinner often and the meals usually consisted of things that I had never seen or heard of, so each appearance at the dinner table was an adventure in itself. The men also never separated from the women after the meal. Instead, we all moved into a large room with high ceilings that Rupert called ‘
the arcade
’ to enjoy loud and often hilarious conversation and ridiculous word games. I was certain Aunt Emmaline would be appalled.
One night, we had the Captain to dinner. The group was louder than usual, a side effect of the wine. Captain Marcato told us his first name was Alfieri. After some erroneous pronunciations from the room, he finally said that most people simply called him Marcato, so that is what we did. There were raised voices, and I turned my attention to Julian, who was deep in conversation with Rex at the head of the table. Leo appeared to be intent on the conversation, trying to understand what was going on and Li was talking to Rupert at the other end.
I caught a bit of heat in Julian’s voice and realized that Rex was trying to talk Julian into selling part of the land at Punam Estate so that the Hammonds could expand their imports to tea. They were back and forth and the discussion was becoming elevated. I looked at Leo and he was staring at me with a confused smile on his face. He shrugged and shook his head. I smiled at him. It felt like we were losing touch with one another since his marriage to Li. I remembered the day in the field with the rain.
Later in the evening I overheard Julian and both of the Hammonds deep in conversation again but Leo was sitting quietly by, trying to follow the conversation, unsuccessfully. Li had gone to bed, and I had settled for staying and listening to the banter between the gentlemen. Marcato was telling me a story about when he was a young man at sea with his father, who was Captain on the Coragiosso before Marcato. I excused myself from him, and he said that he’d best be going and he made his ‘
farewells
’ to the room.
I sat down beside Leo, and I asked him about what I gathered of the conversation between Rex and Julian.
“Do you think it wise to sell a portion of Punam to Sir Hammond?” Leo sighed and thought out his answer.
“They have talked of it many times. I don’t know that Julian will ever sell.” I nodded slowly, and I wondered if Leo would have it otherwise.
“Do you not have a say in the matter?” I asked, placing a hand over Leo’s. I caught sight of Julian staring at me out of the corner of my eye and turned to face him, letting go of Leo’s hand. Rex was talking at him, and he waved a hand at a remark, turning back to his duel.
When Julian and I readied for bed, I boldly asked about his thoughts on selling a portion of the land to the Hammonds. He was quiet for a moment, and it seemed he was not sure how to answer my question. He also scowled at the thought of the heated dinner conversation.
“The Hammonds have wanted Punam for some time. They have made many offers, some very substantial, to buy the whole plantation. I’m not so sure I’m ready to let it go, even a piece of it,” he said, crawling into the bed next to me.
“Why do you suppose they want it so badly?” I asked.
“They are hard pressed to expand their business to whatever they can find. Tea is a growing industry. Look at how often it is drank back home. I only want to make sure I get all I can from it before I pass it on to someone else,” he said.
“What does Leo think of all this?” He sighed.
“Leo knows so little of the business at Punam. It is why he is coming to India with me. He would not know how to handle a transaction of that size, let alone the business of running that plantation.” He blew out the candle.
“Perhaps you should at least ask his opinion?” I asked, and he did not answer.
I felt upset for Leo, being left out of such an important issue. He tried, unsuccessfully, to see what his brother was saying at dinner, but the exchanges were so quick that it was too difficult for him to follow. It seemed like Julian was holding onto Punam recklessly when he had a rather large offering already on the table.
“Julian?” I asked, but he was already asleep.
* * *
Before I knew it, we were packing our things and would be on
The Coragiosso
embarking on the next leg of our voyage. While I adored Portugal, I was swept up in the excitement for finally seeing Punam. The anticipation was growing, though we would be stopping at a few more ports along the way and still had several months to go before arrival. There would be Cape Town, South Africa and then a brief stop in Mozambique. After that, we would make our way to our final port in Cochin.
Fleur was spending more and more time with Marcato. In fact, she was spending tea time with him every day. Bernadine wound up serving us our tea in our rooms so that Fleur could go to Marcato on deck. He invited us to all have tea in his quarters one day and this led to a dinner invitation, as well. It was easy to see that his affection for Fleur was becoming serious, and I wondered how she would handle it when we got to India, and he had to leave.
We did not stay in Cape Town for long and spent even less time in Mozambique. There was less for the ship to take in trade from these ports, and it was important that we move on if we were to make it to India by September. Our voyage would be four and one half months by the time we arrived at Cochin, five including our month in Lisbon.
By the final months of our voyage, Li and I were both not feeling well. At first, I thought that the seasickness had finally caught up to us and with a vengeance, but Bernadine kept saying how strange that we were so recently married and that we were both now feeling ill. It was not difficult to see what she was insinuating. Li was delighted at the prospect of having a child, but I was not so sure, though I was no authority on the signs of pregnancy.
When I finally told Julian Bernadine’s theory, his excitement was apparent, and I did not want to spoil it with my own theories that I really was just ailing. I often went up on deck for the fresh air to soothe the nausea, but Li seemed to be handling it much better than I. She told me her symptoms were only in the morning, while my own lasted throughout the day, though they were far worse in the evening. Julian was worried about me and for our child, as well. We both longed for dry land.
The Captain had a few draughts in his quarters that he kept on board in case he or any of the men were taken ill. He gladly offered several different mixtures to me, explaining what they were meant to do, hoping to help me through my indisposition. After some coaxing, I finally agreed and settled on a small brown vial filled with a thick liquid to be swallowed by the spoonful at night. He insisted that I keep the bottle, though I could not be sure that it was really helping at all.
One month before we were to port in Cochin the very worst of the illness set in. I was confined to my bed and sometimes Li would sit with me, but more often it was Fleur who stayed by my side. Julian became increasingly concerned for me, but he tried to comfort me by talking about Punam and saying that we would be there soon. I was sincerely worried that if I was pregnant, I was losing the child.
We managed to avoid storms for most of the trip until the final weeks when it rained for several days straight. An angry sea jostled us around and it was particularly hard on me. What little food I ate, I was not able to keep down. My body ached and my head was constantly pounding.
I lay in bed one evening, unable to rest. Everyone had gone to dine with the Hammonds, and Fleur had fallen asleep in the chair beside my bed. I felt hot beneath the blankets and sat up, moving them away. Fleur did not rouse from her sleep and I wanted fresh air, so I wrapped a dressing gown around me and slowly went for the door. I turned to look at Fleur, who was still sleeping soundly before I left the rooms.
The wind was cool and calming, and the sea gently rocked the boat, but it was still raining a little and the deck was slippery. I leaned against the wood and let the rain cool me. It was not long before the wind began to pick up and the thunder clapped so loudly that I felt it in the pain of my temples. I made my way back to the door and reached for the handle. I pulled, but the door would not budge. The boat rocked over increasingly larger waves. My legs felt too weak to hold me, so I went to the railing and held on to steady myself.
The rain began to fall hard and it stung as it found my bare cheeks and feet. Stumbling back toward the door, my hands found the handle and pulled hard but the wetness caused my fingers to slip, and I fell backward with a thud. I held my belly hoping that if I was still pregnant that the child was safe. I scrambled to my feet just as a huge wave rocked the boat so that I lurched backward. I gripped the railing as tightly as I could. When I gained my balance, I pushed myself against the door and called out, hoping someone might hear me. My voice seemed muffled against the hard rain, crashing waves and thunder.
I banged my fists on the wood, calling out for help but there was no answer. The next nearest door was Marcato’s and I was not sure that I could reach it without taking another fall. My eyes went back to the railing and while I wanted to stay as far from the open water as I could on a boat, it was the only thing that I could grab ahold of to keep steady.
The rain stung my eyes as I reached the railing again, and I began to move toward the Captain’s quarters, but I was overcome with the sickness in my stomach and leaned over the side of the boat, holding tight with both hands. When I had emptied my stomach, my legs gave out beneath me, and I slumped down onto the deck. The motion of the waves rolled me onto my side, but my arms were too weak for me to lift myself. My face was pressed against the slick wood, my body too tired to move.
Suddenly, there were hands on me and I was being lifted up. Barely able to hold my head up, my eyes found Leo’s. The waves rocked us and he nearly lost his footing, but he would not let go of me. He tried the door but it would not budge for him, either. I heard Julian’s voice.
“My God, what the hell happened?” he said as he made his way toward us. My voice was weak but I managed to speak.
“The door is stuck.”
Julian looked at Leo and said, “Let me!”
Leo stepped aside and Julian pulled hard as he could on the handle but it held tight. The boat slanted, and we slid backward against the rail again. I felt pain creeping up from my stomach begging for release. Julian called for help at the door, banging his fists against the wood. Leo put me down as gently as he could and stood behind me as I leaned over the side of the boat again. My legs seemed to slip out from under me but Leo held me up.
The weight of my head seemed to be too much for my neck and I leaned back against Leo. Looking up, the sky was black, as though we were trapped in the belly of a whale. When the force of the waves calmed enough, Leo picked me up again.
“Come on, this way.” Julian was before us, waving to Leo. We made our way toward Marcato’s rooms and were thrashed against the rail one more time before we made it. Julian was beating on the door, calling for Marcato and there was finally a voice from within as the lock was released.
“What the--” Marcato yelled, but he beckoned us in.
Marcato led us to his room where he told Leo to put me down. Julian wrapped me in blankets and wiped the soggy hair from my face.
“What happened? What the hell were you doing up there?! Tam?!” He held me against him but I felt my consciousness drifting and before I could answer I was out. My mind was a jumble of nightmares filled with the faces of those I’d lost.
My eyes burned as I tried to open them. I awoke in my own bed with Julian a disheveled mess in the chair beside me. The boat was still. He leaned toward me as I blinked my eyes to rid them of the blur. His hand was on my face.
“Tam?” he said quietly.
“Where’s Leo?” I asked.
“He’s right here.” I heard Li’s voice from across the room. There were footsteps and Leo appeared with Li behind him.
“Fleur said she fell asleep and when she woke up, you were gone,” Julian said as my eyes found his.
“Don’t be cross with her, it was my fault, I should not have gone up there on my own,” I said.
“It’s alright, no one is upset. We are just glad you are alright and Leo found you when he did,” Li said.
“You’ve been sick for days, slipping in and out. I tried feeding you, but you couldn’t keep anything down. How do you feel?” Julian asked.
“Tired,” I whispered.
“Then just rest.” he said softly, but my eyes were already closed.