Stormy Persuasion by Johanna Lindsey

interested
     in them.
    He trained the eyepiece up and down the wharf as far as he could see. He was meticulous,
     stopping to peruse faces, making sure he didn’t recognize any. He didn’t expect to
     see any of Grigg’s men this soon, but Grigg might show up himself looking for them.
     And if he spotted the man, he couldn’t say if he would risk losing The Pearl to get his hands on him now.
    Jory had decided to send Nathan away five years ago to protect him. Despite how angry
     Nathan had been because of it, he’d still loved the man. He felt angry to this day,
     but for a different reason: because he and his father had never made amends and it
     was too late to now. But that had been Jory’s decision, too. No communication at all
     was to pass between them that could lead Grigg to Nathan, who could then be used against
     Jory. But settling that score for his father was his decision. And even with the ship soon to sail, he still had that on his mind.
    As Nathan continued to scan the wharf with the spyglass, he found it a bit disconcerting
     to come across a fellow with a spyglass of his own trained right on Nathan. No one
     he recognized, well dressed in a greatcoat, a gentleman by all accounts. The man gestured
     to his head, as if tipping a hat to Nathan for having discovered him spying on The Maiden George. The man was even smiling before he put his spyglass away and got into a rowboat that
     took him out to one of the other ships.
    Many ships were anchored in the river, unable to dock yet. Southampton’s port was
     crowded, too, but nothing like London’s. Weeks could go by before a ship could get
     a berth in this town, or so he’d been told.
    “See anything interesting, Mr. Tremayne?”
    Nathan glanced at the sailor who’d come up next to him. He’d said his name was Walter.
     Nathan knew him in passing from Southampton, but then the whole crew had been hired
     out of Southampton.
    “No, just someone a little too interested in this ship. He actually had a spyglass
     trained on us.”
    Walter shrugged. “So? Just looking for someone.”
    “I suppose.” Nathan glanced down at the stretch of water between the ship and the
     dock.
    The longboat was halfway back to the ship, and it wasn’t full of passengers after
     all, just four men and five ladies, not counting the sailors rowing them. He figured
     a few of those people could be ladies’ maids and valets. Most of the people he’d seen
     on the dock must only have been there to see their family or friends off, because
     they were now getting back into carriages.
    “There don’t appear to be many passengers,” he said.
    “Well, it’s a privately owned ship designed to accommodate family comfortably. The
     captain had her built to his specifications. All of the main cabins are like rooms
     in a fancy hotel.”
    Nathan knew how lavishly appointed the cabins were. He hadn’t mentioned it to anyone,
     but he hadn’t been able to resist inspecting The Maiden George when he’d been docking The Pearl next to it for the last year.
    “You’ve sailed on her before?” Nathan asked Walter.
    “A few times over the last decade, and I’m glad of it. I actually gave up the sea,
     but I’m always up for a voyage on The Maiden George . It pays too well to turn it down, and it’s never boring. Did you not wonder why
     the purse was so high for this crossing?”
    Nathan hedged. “Well, this is my first time across the Atlantic, so I had nothing
     to compare it to.”
    Walter chuckled. “It’s triple the standard, mate. A pity she leaves her berth so rarely,
     or I’d be rich by now.”
    “If she doesn’t get much use, why does the owner even keep her?”
    “Because he can.”
    “Merely for convenience?” Nathan said. “That isn’t normal, is it?”
    “Not even close to normal. But then, neither is the captain. That’s him there, Viscount
     Ryding, just one of many titles in his family.”
    Nathan followed Walter’s gaze back to the approaching