Shipmate: A Royal Regard Prequel Novella by Mariana Gabrielle Page B

and his investors. I will be out of
my father’s reach forevermore.”
    Slowly, Charlotte returned to the bed,
tucking her legs underneath her and leaning against the headboard.
“Do you have wounds that need tending?”
    Bella stretched her stiff shoulders. “No.
Nothing out of the ordinary.”
    “You should tell Papa and Lord
Holsworthy.”
    “Everyone will discover the Smithsons are
here in the morning, if they turn up for breakfast, and I daresay
Lord Holsworthy will uncover my bruises before the ship reaches
open sea. By then, it will be too late for him to return me as
defective.”
    “Defec—? You. Are. Not. Defective.”
Charlotte hugged Bella tightly, inadvertently pressing against the
new bruises until Bella hissed a breath through her teeth.
Charlotte jerked back. “I’m so sorry, dearest. I wasn’t
thinking.”
    “You will say nothing to anyone, for I will
not have my only chance to escape them cry off at the last minute.
Especially when it will make my father want to take his lost funds
from my hide.”
    Charlotte smoothed Bella’s nightrail. “Are
you not… well… you do not seem nervous. I was anxious as a cat, and
so is every bride I have ever seen.”
    Bella let her head fall onto her cousin’s
shoulder. “I am resigned, Charlotte, and not unhappy. Lord
Holsworthy is kind and thoughtful and will be a good husband. He
believes I have some unfulfilled promise, which is an appealing
notion, though I don’t really credit it. And he removes me entirely
from my father’s sphere.” She grasped Charlotte’s hand. “You, on
the other hand, will still be very much nearby. Be careful,
Charlotte, and make sure Lord Firthley knows how low the Smithsons
might sink. Jeremy does not drop a grudge.”
    “Do not be ridiculous. I will be perfectly
fine. My husband has drawn your brother’s blood once; he will tear
Jeremy’s throat out should he take one step toward me, and my
father and Bow Street are no longer looking the other way where the
Smithsons are concerned. Soon enough, all of your male relatives
will be in Newgate or hung.”
    Bella dropped her face into her hands. “They
cannot have believed their schemes would prosper forevermore. I
have been blessed to be raised more Amberly than Smithson, but it
is by God’s grace I will be married and away from here, not dragged
to prison by association. Is it wrong I should feel my marriage a
reprieve?”
    “Not wrong! Exactly right. Lord Holsworthy
is a relative unknown, to be sure, but you cannot do worse than
remain under your father’s control. He is a good man, by all
accounts, and he has done well by you in the settlements,”
Charlotte reassured her, though Bella needed no reassurance about
her course. “The worst anyone can say is he is too puritanical, but
I will not feel sorry for wishing you, of all people, a husband
free of vice. I have never been happier about anything than Lord
Holsworthy needing a bride.”
    Bella nodded. “I am… more contented than I
would have expected, given the circumstance. And grateful. And
while I want children with all my heart, I do not relish a return
home for my confinement. I hope to never see England or any
Smithson male again.”
    Charlotte let out a tiny, ladylike giggle.
“Do you know, we did manage the impossible. Or so my mother would
say.” Bella raised a brow. “We both snared husbands before your
wretched father and brothers found a way to destroy the entire
family.”
     



Chapter Eleven
    May 27,
1805
    On Board the Amelia
     
    Watching the pier grow smaller by the
league, the Effingales, Firthleys, and Amberlys almost too small to
see, waving, Bella stared over the side of the Amelia, the ship
that was now her home, fingers curved tightly around the railing,
grasping at any last semblance of balance. Beside her, Lord
Holsworthy—no, Myron—placed his hand over hers, squeezing the
fingers gently. Neither said a word, but when a tear rolled down
her cheek, he brushed it away with his