hurried into the entry just as the doctor and his guests emerged from the back chamber.
“So you see, Captain Moberly, we make every effort—why, Miss Templeton, what a surprise.”
Dinah gasped. “Captain Thomas Moberly?”
“Miss Dinah Templeton?”
They spoke at the same time, and the entire company laughed. Relief flooded Dinah. This changed everything regarding these men. Or at least regarding the captain.
He strode across the wide room and lifted her hand to kiss it.
“My dear kinswoman, how delightful to meet you at last.” His thick black eyebrows arched and his blue eyes sparkled. Bright blue, like the sky. The fragrance of woodsy shaving balm tickled her nose. Doubtless the officers had visited the bathhouse before coming into the city.
“And I am pleased to meet you, Captain.” Dinah curtseyed, then glanced at Dr. Wellsey, who wore an agreeable smile and showed not the slightest surprise. “Why, doctor, did you plan this?”
Dr. Wellsey chuckled. “I fear I cannot claim the credit, though to be sure, it is fortuitous.”
“Indeed it is.” Thomas released her hand and summoned his officers with an authoritative wave. “Miss Moberly, may I present Mr. Brandon and Mr. Wayland. Gentlemen, this is my sister twice over. My younger brother is married to her cousin, and my sister is married to her brother.”
As the two officers stepped forward, Dinah saw in their eyes the usual look of sailors new in port—as if they might devour her on the spot. She tried not to recoil. This was the very thing she’d hoped to avoid by evading these men. At least when the first officer kissed her hand, he had the grace to temper his expression with respect. “I am honored, Miss Templeton.”
“Miss Templeton.” The other man, a lieutenant who was younger by far than his companions, gripped her hand a bit too firmly. “Who would have thought to find such beauty in this backward colony?” His breathless speech was etched with an aristocratic British accent.
Seeing a storm brewing on the captain’s brow, Dinah gently twisted her hand from the lieutenant’s grasp. “How kind of you, sir.” She honored them with another curtsey before focusing on her kinsman, whose expression now seemed as protective as her own brother’s. How strange that the idea brought on a twinge of disappointment. Strange and foolish. The captain was a seafaring man and as such could never become the object of her romantic interest. Why, she would as soon marry the little merchant as a man who always deserted his wife for the sea. No, this man could be her friend, as he was to her brother Jamie, but no more.
“What brings you to St. Augustine?” Dinah gazed again into the captain’s warm blue eyes. “Have you brought news that the war is over? That the rebels at last have been defeated?”
The other men responded with condescending chuckles, but Thomas’s expression turned grave. “Would that it were so, dear lady. Unfortunately, each time we think we have crushed them, they return like the phoenix.” Sorrow flitted across his eyes, but he seemed to blink it away. “To answer your question, my crew and I have been assigned to join the other two frigates now patrolling these waters and to defend St. Augustine and the St. Johns River from invasion by the Spanish fleet and pirates.”
“Effectively taking us out of the war.” The lieutenant’s tone echoed with annoyance.
“Yes.” Thomas shot him a frown. “And giving us a respite from death.”
“Not to mention—” Mr. Brandon’s brown eyes twinkled. “Giving us an opportunity to enjoy a decent roast beef at one of the fine taverns in this fair city. A man wearies of salt pork and weevil-ridden biscuits.” He shuddered comically, and the other men voiced good-natured agreement.
His remark sparked a scheme in Dinah’s mind. “If you gentlemen will excuse me, I must take my leave. I hope you will enjoy St. Augustine. It truly is a lovely city, and we appreciate the regiment at Fort Saint Marks and the naval ships in our harbor.” She turned to Dr. Wellsey. “Doctor, the lavender is on your desk. Will you see to it?”
He glanced over his shoulder toward his office. “Ah, yes. Thank you, Miss Templeton.”
After the appropriate au revoirs, Dinah added, “Until we meet again, Captain Moberly.”
She restored her hat to her head and paused to re-tie the ribbons and renew her plan. As soon as they left, she would come back and ask Dr. Wellsey where the officers were lodging, then send Thomas an invitation to supper so they could share family news. Perhaps he had information about Jamie, whose merchant ship was always in danger from pirates. And no doubt the captain would like to hear about his sister and brother, who dwelt on a plantation deep in the East Florida wilderness.
Before she could think of how to word the missive, the captain emerged from the building and stopped her with a light touch on her arm. Looking up from beneath her hat brim to see a smile as gentle as his gaze, she stifled the foolish giddiness threatening her composure. Gracious, he was handsome. But how featherbrained of her to think such things. After all, she had heard from his sister that this gentleman was one and thirty, an entire decade older than her own one and twenty years. Another reason not to make him an object of her interest. And with all those marriages between their families, he was practically her brother. Wasn’t he?
“Yes, Captain Moberly?” Could he hear the squeak in her voice?
“Perhaps we can arrange to see each other soon to exchange family news.” Thomas clamped down on the strange wave of feeling that surged through him in response to her glorious smile. This was the lady his good friend Jamie called his “delightful little sister.” But instead of the child Thomas had expected to meet one day, here stood a tall, beautiful young woman in a pretty lavender frock that enhanced her dark-brown eyes. Eyes that exuded kindness and generosity. Eyes a man could get lost in. He mentally shook himself. What foolishness. He’d been too long at sea, too long out of society and the company of lovely ladies.
“Why, yes, I would like that very much, Captain.” Her voice had a pleasing, mellow tone. “Will you come to supper this evening? I cannot promise roast beef, but perhaps something just as tasty.”
The innocence of her invitation gave him pause. No matter how much they regarded one other as a family member, other people might not see the matter in that light.
“You know, of course,” she said, “that I live with my foster sister and her husband. They will be more than pleased to meet a true British naval hero.”
Thomas grinned, feeling foolish. Had she discerned his hesitation? “And I would be honored to meet them. Where and what time shall I come?”
She gave directions and named the time, but while he committed them to memory, he fought the urge to shift his manner of viewing her. Not since his wife’s death had he seen a woman of such innocence and genteel grace. But whereas dear little Ariel had flitted through life without a serious thought in her brain, Dinah’s steady gaze invited confidence in her intelligence.
Guilt stung him for making such a comparison. After four years, he still missed Ariel, still missed the hopes he’d held for the infant son she could not safely deliver. In time, he had come to think it best for a naval officer not to marry, for service to his father, his king and his God—in that order—took precedence over one’s personal interests. But even if he found his heart engaged by some winsome lady, Thomas had no intention of emulating his sister and
