Expectations: The Transformation of Miss Anne de Bourgh (Pride and Prejudice Continued), Volume 1 Read online

  ***

  Mr. Allenden glanced up from cleaning the sanguine smears off his boots as Harrison returned to the stateroom. “I got most of it, I think, Harrison. Maybe I could make a decent servant after all.”

  “Leave that to me, sir,” his valet insisted.

  Allenden put down the boots. “How soon do we leave?”

  “We may be delayed. A large party has arrived, and they have more baggage than the ship’s master will accept. There is no room in the hold for it, and their quarters are too small for both them and their possessions.”

  “Are they arguing?” Mr. Allenden asked.

  Harrison shook his head. “The lady is repacking her trunks.”

  This did not sound like any English lady Allenden knew—what a sight that would be. He accompanied Harrison up to the deck.

  Keeping an eye on the flow of humanity passing the ship for anyone looking for him, Allenden slipped behind the quarterdeck’s mast to watch the activity. To his surprise, he recognized the two women who stood by the bent figures attending to the trunks. At the masquerade last night, the younger observer had been dressed in men’s clothing, and the other had been dressed as something verdant. Both were companions of that delicate woman who had summoned all her courage to dance in front of her peers. He studied the two women working on the baggage. Even though they faced away from the ship, he knew the one on the right could be no one other than the brave dancer.

  Now the good luck of their stateroom felt entirely selfish. “Harrison, our quarters could handle all those trunks.”

  “I do not think the ladies would surrender their belongings to strangers, sir.”

  “Indeed they would not. We should surrender our stateroom to them. Would that disappoint you?”

  Harrison smiled at his master. “Not at all, sir. A very gallant gesture. But are you certain? We did book our passage first, and it will not be a short voyage.”

  Allenden frowned as he watched the baggage struggle continue. “If the women in my family found out about this and knew I could have prevented it, I would never live it down.”

  Harrison nodded. “May I say, sir, the dowager countess raised a very fine son.”

  Allenden eyed his servant as he hid a smile. “Harrison, I am afraid the vagaries of this assignment have changed our relationship. I find it hard not to think of you as a friend. I cannot have a friend as a servant. I may have to let you go.”

  In solemn tones, the valet begged his pardon and said he had no intention of compromising his situation. Allenden acknowledged his statement with a nod.

  Harrison asked, “Sir, shall I make the offer to the ship’s master?”

  “Yes,” Allenden replied. “But make sure you say we are still waiting for our companion to arrive.”

  Harrison nodded and went in search of the captain. Allenden watched the women sorting the contents of the trunks. Yes, his mother, sister, and aunt would surely rake him over the coals for not coming to the assistance of a gentlewoman. Let this be the brave dancer’s reward for last night’s intrepidity. He went below decks to pack up his possessions.