Although he’d fallen into a fitful sleep for a few hours, he’d awoken to the rapid beat of his heart and the urgency that had been building in his chest all day. And now he could do nothing but toss and turn, growing only more awake and more agitated with every passing second, especially as he reviewed his day.

A medical emergency had detained him from joining Lieutenant Verney aboard the HMS Grappler for the regatta. One of the local surgeon’s assistants, Charlie Danbury, had called upon him to aid in a complicated surgery on a miner who’d been knocked over the head in a tavern brawl. A bottle of rum had been shattered against the man’s skull, leaving a long sliver of glass embedded in his head.

Joseph wanted to help, for he knew the surgery would be more successful with the two of them working together and combining their medical knowledge and skills. And thankfully he and Charlie were able to remove the shard of glass without losing the patient.

As a result of the surgery, however, he’d not only missed the regatta but also part of the cricket game. By the time he arrived at the town green, the match was well under way and he hadn’t been able to figure out how best to meet with Mercy in private. She was surrounded by the other women, and even when he’d overthrown the ball in her direction, all eyes turned upon them. Certainly not the place to have a conversation with her.

Afterward, he’d wanted to race after her, take her hand, and stroll next to her. But his teammates had him hedged in. By the time he realized Mercy had left, a chaperone was at her side and any hope of speaking with her privately had vanished.

Later, when evening came and Mercy had begun her appointments with the men, Joseph stood outside the Marine Barracks hoping and praying he’d be admitted, even though his name wasn’t on the list to visit with the women who were accepting callers. He’d considered announcing his title and pushing his way through, yet the miner’s statement from the previous day had humbled him. “If you think you can come here with all your highfalutin ways and start ordering us about, well, you got another thing comin’.”

For all his talk of being fair and not letting social status stand in his way, he wasn’t above taking advantage of his aristocratic position whenever it suited him. And while he’d been tempted to barge past the other men and shoulder his way inside the building, he held back.