13. A magnificent bottom

The next day brought a clear blue sky and abundant sunshine sparkling off the white sand of the beach. The sea was flat as a glass panel and Jack flung off his shirt and with a few great loping strides he was waist-deep in the sea. A short, sharp dive and he was under, swimming with powerful strokes until his lungs burned. Then, with a great splash and a shake of wet yellow mane, he broke through the water’s surface. The sun was already blazing, but neither the water nor the sun could purge the roiling, boiling thoughts from Jack’s mind. He hadn’t slept; he’d just stared at the roof of his tent until he thought his eyes were going to fall out.

Cat. A Duchess. The Duchess of Marlborough, to be precise.

God rot his eternal soul and damn it right to hell, his Cat was Catherine Spencer-Russell, Her Grace the Duchess, and he’d kissed her. Kissed her! How was he to face her ever again? This was more than he engaged for, to be sure, much more. Still, his heart was on fire for Cat, sweet Cat with her silky wine-red hair and her green eyes, and her lips, oh, her sweet, sweet kisses…

Jack took a deep breath and submerged once again, trying to clear his mind. He had conferred with Stephen yesterday night, explained to him that Cat’s memory had now fully returned and that as it turned out, their unwarranted guest was royalty. Stephen had lifted an impassive eyebrow and had not seemed so very amazed. He was a deep old file, and a cold one, Jack mused, as he breast crawled from one side of the bay to the other with his powerful arms, splashing about and sometimes swimming under water again.

His thoughts kept returning to Cat. No, not Cat, Her Grace. He would have to give her his cabin once they were ready to set sail again; nothing else would do. But first he would have to come to a decision about the gold. It could not be postponed any longer.

Half an hour later however, Jack emerged from the sea, clean, refreshed and dripping, no closer to the solution to the problem than when he went in. He’d decided though: he’d inform the crew and tell them the truth. Tell them how he’d struggled to think of a solution to keep the gold for them and how he had failed, but at least he would not lie to the Surprises. He would not lie. Perhaps they would turn on him, but he would just have to take that chance, and he’d be taking it with a clear conscience.

A new determination marked Jack’s step as he walked back to his tent. He’d get into his uniform, he’d wear his number one coat and scraper, and his cutlass and his medal and his waistcoat and his boots, and he’d address the men. Cast the die and hope for the best.

To his amazement though, when he had almost reached his tent, the flap of Cat’s tent was thrown back and out came the object of his thoughts and dreams, dressed in a rich loose robe made of silk brocade lined with fur. He could see though that underneath she was still wearing his shirt, and for a silly instant that warmed his heart and he wanted to smile, but then he remembered again. She was not Cat, she was the Duchess of Marlborough. Jack swallowed and made a creditable leg, despite the fact that his upper half was bare, his legs were clad in duck, his hair was untied and the whole of him was dripping wet. ‘Your servant, your Grace,’ he murmured.

Cat stood very still, looking at him.

Jack didn’t dare to stand until she’d give him permission to do so, but he was reasonably sure that she was holding her breath. ‘I do beg your pardon, your Grace,’ he continued, soft and low, daring to look up at her now from under his eyebrows, ‘for the impropriety of my attire. I was bathing…’

‘Captain Aubrey… Jack, please,’ Cat whispered, and she reached out and lightly touched his shoulder. ‘I was wondering if I could beg the favour of having a word?’

Jack stood and harrumphed and blushed from the feather light touch of her fingertips on his skin. ‘I am your servant, your Grace,’ he said, and snapped another quick bow at her. ‘You will forgive me I’m sure, but I do believe I should…’ he looked up again, straight into the sparkling green eyes of her Grace the Duchess, and finished a little dazedly ‘find a dry shirt…’.

She smiled at him, and Jack almost stumbled back into his tent. He rummaged around in his sea chest, but was so rattled that before he could think, he roared out: ‘Killick, God rot you, you son of a whore, where is my shirt?’ and immediately after sank on his cot in despair when it became apparent to him that he wasn’t in his cabin, and his words would have carried through the sailcloth walls of his tent and straight into the tent of the lady he so desperately wanted to impress with the appropriateness of his behaviour. ‘I am doomed,’ he whispered to himself, ‘aye, doomed; a lee shore if ever there was one.’

Killick did have a clean shirt handy though, and only minutes later, Jack stood in front of Cat’s tent, thinking he should probably knock, but on what? After some deliberation, he just simply opened the flap and entered, and stood there awkwardly, looking at Cat from his half-bow.

‘Captain Aubrey, thank you,’ Cat softly said with her melodious, rich voice. ‘Please sit, erm, here?’ She laid an elegant hand on the cot beside her. ‘It isn’t the morning room at the Marlborough residence at Grosvenor… and it isn’t the paragon of propriety, what am I saying, it is highly irregular…’

‘Damned irregular,’ Jack concurred softly as he carefully sat beside her. ‘Oh, I do beg your pardon, your Grace…’

Cat dismissed his apologies with a graceful move of her hand. She looked up at him. ‘I suppose we will simply have to make do, do we not? Captain…  Jack…’ her voice grew softer still, ‘I think I really do prefer to be here, now, like this… to being in the morning room…’ She looked up at him sitting beside her and for a moment seemed unsure how to continue.

Jack cleared his throat and turned towards her a little. ‘Oh come now, your Grace. You are not speaking in earnest. I will personally ensure your safe journey back to England, you will have the full protection of his Majesty’s Royal Navy and you will be back at Grosvenor before you know it…’

Her eyes were very big and very green, and she leaned against him a little. Jack found it difficult to breathe. ‘May I beg you, your Grace, to tell me how I can be of… service…’ He spoke softly. She leaned in a bit more.

‘Jack, I don’t mean to presume to know anything about sailing, but I think I may have found a solution for your quandary…’

‘You have? Upon my word, Cat, I mean your Gr…’

It was very quiet when their lips met, and lingered. Jack’s arm crept around her waist and he pulled her closer to him as he gently explored her lips. She was the most beautiful, the sweetest, the most enchanting… She whimpered softly and opened up to him a little, and Jack had a heavenly taste of the inside of her lower lip.

Much later, neither of them knew exactly how much later, they surfaced from the dreamy river flowing that was their kiss and they looked at each other in wonder. Jack did not know what to say and quietly sat, unable to tear his eyes away from her face, his hand softly stroking her back.

‘Jack… How much gold is there in the Surprise?’ Cat whispered.

‘Tell you the truth, Cat, I don’t exactly know.’

‘Would it be enough to repair the Surprise’s bottom?

‘Well I, I suppose it would be, aye… We could certainly put it to good use, I presume…’

‘Jack, do you not see, you can repair your ship and bring the gold back into England unseen! It is perfect!’ Cat’s eyes shone with excitement and she put a hand against Jack’s cheek.

‘Yes, yes, it is a magnificent plan, but tell me, Cat,’ Jack closed his eyes for a second and enjoyed the feeling of Cat’s soft palm on his cheek, ‘how will we remove the gold, once we are in England?’

‘Jack, Jack…’ Cat smiled enigmatically. ‘Did I not tell you that Marlborough has a shipyard?’

Jack nodded, and then his nimble mind comprehended.

‘I am Marlborough now, am I not?’ Cat said, still with that Mona Lisa smile playing on her lovely face. ‘We will take the Surprise in, and out of gratitude for my rescue, I will see to it that you may refit at the Marlborough yard. It is a very… discreet place.’

‘Cat… A magnificent plan indeed,’ said Jack with a brilliant smile, ‘a magnificent plan for a magnificent ship.’

Cat smiled back just as warmly. ‘And she will have the most magnificent bottom!’

Chapter Fourteen

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