My Dearest Friend (Books We Love Regency Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

you will draw attention to yourself.”
    “On the contrary, it will be easier to travel if I have only myself to consider. Now stop your fretting, I will manage quite creditably on my own.”
    “But think of the impropriety of traveling alone, miss,” the maid insisted, trying her utmost to convince her employer.
    “ I have no time to consider the proprieties when Harry has need of me,” replied Jane, becoming irritated with the maid’s doggedness and wishing only to be gone.
    The coach was ordered to be brought to the front and the portmanteaux were hastily loaded. She was determined not to miss the tide, not even the thought of traveling to Portsmouth on roads lit only by a fitful moon deterring her from setting out immediately. Clad in a serviceable traveling dress of blue merino, a plain bonnet and a heavy woolen cape she stepped into the coach.
    Pulling the cape tightly around her slim figure she made herself comfortable in the corner of the vehicle as it set forth on its journey.
    Sleep was out of the question. Had not the jolting of the coach kept her awake, thoughts of Harry rendered repose impossible. She had evolved no firm plan; indeed, she knew not what to expect of the journey into Portugal, but now that the journey had become a reality she determined to do all that lay in her power to rescue him.
     
    ***
     
    The horses’ hooves clattered over the damp cobbles of the quayside just as dawn was beginning to break and the groom brought the carriage to a halt beside the moorings of The Mistral. It started to rain as Jane alighted and supervised the removal of the two portmanteaux but she appeared not to notice, her whole attention being concentrated on the craft lying at anchor before her.
    At the sound of her arrival, the deck of The Mistral became a hive of activity as she was prepared to sail and two of the crew came down the gangway to assist with her luggage.
    “ You are to come aboard, ma’am,” said the taller of the two, as throwing one of the trunks easily onto his shoulder, he prepared to lead the way.
    Pulling up her hood against the rain, she held her skirts clear of the gangway and followed the two crewmen onto the yacht.
    All was noise and bustle as they reached the deck and she had to raise her voice to be heard above the commotion of setting sail. “Would you please take me to Captain Storey immediately,” she asked the sailor who had shouldered the first trunk.
    “We are to take you below ma’am and show you to your cabin,” he replied, pushing open a hatch door and leading the way down a narrow companionway into the belly of the vessel. “The Captain will join you as soon as we have cleared the harbor mouth as he is needed topside for the present. ”
    The door to one of the cabins stood open and the sailors took the portmanteaux inside, indicating that Miss Chandler should follow. Once having installed her luggage, with a brief salute, they left to join the other members of the crew in their preparations.
    Left alone, Jane removed her bonnet and placed it on a small table set in the center of the cabin. Loosening the strings of her cloak she shook the rain drops from it and hung it on one of the wooden pegs by the door. She could hear the captain barking out orders on the deck above and the sound of the sailors’ feet as they set about his bidding. The planking beneath her feet rose and fell with the swell of the tide as she surveyed the interior by the light cast from the lantern that swung precariously from the rafters.
    The lantern cast flickering shadows over a curtained bunk set against the ribs of the vessel and a large leather chair at its side into which she gratefully sank. The journey had taken its toll and her bones ached with the constant jolting of the coach, but she felt a great relief at finally being aboard and on her way. She thought briefly of her benefactor, but try as she might, in her present state of weariness, she could recall little of their conversation.