The coach slowed, and she glanced out the window, her face lighting up at whatever she saw out there. Well, he knew it wasn’t another gentleman; her desperate kiss had made it more than apparent that it had been as long for her as it had been for him, if not longer.

“I will see you at ten o’clock tomorrow,” she commanded as the coachman swung the door open for her to alight. “To hunt for your first mate as well as Sarah’s husband.”

“Good evening, Lady Della,” Griffith replied, but she was out of earshot long before, bounding up the steps to her house in clear excitement.

He saw the ladies peering out from the door; Mrs. Wattings and two small girls. One of them was obviously Mrs. Wattings’s child, while the other one must belong to Lady Della. Or Della, he should think of her; it wouldn’t do to address her so formally when he was about to embark on a clandestine relationship with her.

Unless she wished to be formally addressed: May I ravish you, Lady Della?

You may, my lord Handsome, she might reply in that peremptory tone of hers.

Her proposal was making his being an heir to a dukedom rather than aboard his own ship much more pleasant. Although eventually the affair would pass, and he would be left on shore with responsibilities and steady land under his feet.

Still, it would do for the moment.

“Why do you look like that?” Sarah asked. They had gotten the girls to bed at last—Nora and Emily had peppered Della with questions about the party because parties were not a usual part of their lives.

That hurt. Not so much because she was missing out on the parties, she didn’t care one way or the other, but that her reputation and situation made it impossible to be social. Although the tiny town they’d lived in until about six months ago, Haltwhistle, didn’t have any kind of Society to speak of anyway, so even if Della’s reputation had been pristine, there wouldn’t have been anywhere to go.

They were sitting in the small parlor where they took their afternoon tea. It was cozy, and much more pleasing to Della than her father’s enormous town house.

Or that could be because of all the love and warmth she had here as opposed to what she had felt there.

“Look like what?” Della replied, knowing her friend would not be deterred.

“As though something happened.” Sarah narrowed her eyes as Della tried to repress a reaction. Even though Sarah knew her better than anyone, sometimes better than Della knew herself. “Something did happen! You have to tell me everything.”

Della exhaled and looked away from her friend’s face. “Uh—I might have accidentally kissed Captain Enormous.”