Chapter 60

CAPTAIN HANCOCK LEFT Nora on the deck when Jack appeared. Her Warrior looked tired. She felt cautious and still mildly irritated. They had gotten along so well on the voyage that she was afraid Ben’s edict would drive a wedge between them. He leaned up against the rail, putting one hand on either side to brace himself. Still, he did not speak.

“For God’s sake, Jack, would you please say some-thing?” Nora demanded.

He held out a hand to her, and she walked forward and took it. When she stood before him, she brought her hands up to his face. “Once upon a time, my father was going to allow me to marry for love, Jack,” she said softly. “Unless the king ordered otherwise, I was not to have an arranged marriage. He wanted to ensure at least one of his children did not marry out of obligation. If you don’t wish to marry me, then I will say I refuse. But if you care for me, as I believe you do, then it is acceptable to want the union, even to look forward to it.”

Jack turned his head and kissed the inside of her wrist, then moved forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “The marriage is not distasteful to me.”

“Oh, Jack, your pretty words have turned my heart all aflutter,” she said dryly.

Chuckling, he pulled her into his arms, burying his face in the crook of her neck and sighing deeply. “I’m only afraid I am not capable of giving you what you want.”

Nora closed her eyes and ran her hands up his back. Should she tell him now? Should she tell him that she knew he was capable of it because Fox had told her it was so?
Somehow, the time didn’t seem right.

“There is time for that, Jack,” she said instead. “Don’t rush yourself. One day, you will believe in yourself as I do. And when you do, everything else will fall into place.”

Jack pulled away and looked at her, gently brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “Such faith you have, Nora. It is overwhelming and a comfort at the same time. In the beginning, I refused to care about you. I was afraid to. I stand by what I said about not knowing if I can give you what you want, but I do care about you.” He suddenly leered at her and continued, “And I do love what you do in bed.”

“Oh, Jack!” Nora stepped back, blushing, and slapped his arm. “Trust you to turn a moment with your outrageous tongue!”

“I greatly look forward to showing you again how outrageous my tongue can be.” Jack laughed as Nora squeaked in re-sponse.

Despite her relief in his decision, Nora couldn’t understand why her hands would not stop shaking. It couldn’t have been nerves. After all, she knew that she and Jack were
destined for this. She certainly knew what to expect on her wedding night. So, why should she be nervous? Jack had admitted that he cared for her, but something just didn’t feel right.

If she told him what Fox had seen of them, she didn’t believe it would put his mind at ease, so she continued to keep her silence. And perhaps that was the problem. She was keeping more secrets from him. Shouldn’t a man and woman go into a marriage with no secrets between them? Her parents had only truth between them.

However, she also knew that he was keeping secrets from her as well. She knew he had disturbing dreams, and he refused to share them with her. Oh, he had one time, but afterwards he immediately pulled away from her. What were they about? Did they mean something? He dreamt her death, and so, they must. How would she die? When would she die? Would her duty be fulfilled when she died?

Nora wasn’t overly afraid of her death—at least, not the way Jack seemed to be—and perhaps that was what held him back from sharing the dreams with her. If that was the case, then he cared about her a great deal more than he admitted to.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

On their last evening aboard the ship, Nora examined herself in the looking glass Captain Hancock brought into the cabin she shared with Jack. She wore the dress she had gotten from the seamstress in Philadelphia. She had purchased it with the thought that they may need to attend a party or dine at a restaurant that would require nicer, slightly more formal attire. It was a soft butternut yellow with white lace and cotton for the under-skirts and lace overlay on the back skirt. The fabric flared at her elbows, as was the style, and white lace poked out around the cutout on the bodice. The dress wasn’t overly low-cut, and pearls lined the trim of the neckline.

Not having a lady’s maid, she would need help with the buttons in the rear. She brushed her hair until it shined and tied it back with a length of white ribbon.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so elegant,” Jack said from the doorway.

Nora glanced at him over her shoulder. “Would you mind doing up the back? It’s my maid’s decade off.”

Jack grinned and closed the door. He crossed to her and took up position behind her. Clad in simple tan breeches, knee-high boots, and a white shirt, she was startled to see him dressed more like a gentleman than the Indian-gypsy attire he favored out of necessity. He ran his hands up to her shoulders.

“I’m only going to take it off again,” he smirked, leaning down and kissing her bare skin.

“Be that as it may,” she smiled at him in the glass, “I would prefer to be fully attired at my wedding.

Jack’s face fell, and he bent his head to the arduous task of closing all the little clasps that ran up her back.

“What is it?” Nora asked, having noticed the change in his mood. “Have you changed your mind then?”

“No,” Jack said, head still bent. “I just think you deserve more. Something grander than an impromptu ceremony aboard a ship performed by an eccentric captain.”

“And what of you?” she countered. “Do you not believe you deserve more?”

“Where I am from, I would not have had a grand wedding. It would have been a small affair. I would not have had an estate and money. My wife and I would have worked with the rest of the tribe, slept in our family’s hut. My surname is not even my own.”

“The one you have suits you,” Nora said. “You have a keen sense of right and wrong, even when the wrong may justify the right. You fight hard for what you believe in, Jack, and I am honored to be your wife. Now, leave, so that I might finish get-ting ready.”

Jack met her eyes in the glass and with one last smoldering look of promise, departed the cabin.

Nora’s smile fell when she looked at her image in the glass. Her father should be giving her away today, and her brother should be in attendance. Her father was a different man now, and Fox, well, she hadn’t had any contact with him in decades. She missed him desperately. The size of the ceremony itself didn’t bother her so much as the absence of the people who should be there to bear witness. The people she loved, who did not know her groom. What would they think, she wondered, when they did finally meet Jack?

She pinched her cheeks to add some color then made her way to Hancock’s cabin. It was too cold and windy to be upon the deck for the ceremony, but as she entered the cabin, she could see the sun setting out the porthole. Ironic, she thought. The sun set on her life alone and would rise on her new one with Jack. There was a bit of poetry in that.

The men were waiting for her. Ben and Hancock sat and enjoyed a brandy. Jack paced, making Nora smile. Her Warrior did not like to be idle. They all looked up when she entered, and Ben and Hancock rose to their feet.

Ben put down his drink and crossed to her with his arms open. “My dear, you are a vision. I’m as proud today as I was when my dear Sally married.”

Nora kissed Ben on both cheeks and hugged him. “You have been like a second father to me, Ben. I have enjoyed our time together. Your thirst for knowledge reminds me of some-one I care very much about. Your wisdom has been invaluable. I will never forget you, and I am a better person for having known you, sir.”

“It has been my singular pleasure to aid you in your quest, Eleanor. You are stronger now than you were when we met, you are better organized, and have lined up many resources. You have taught me much and brought magic into my life. You are in good hands with Jack. Progress has been made. Always work together. Play to your strengths and cover each other’s weaknesses. We leave each other in the morning, but I will do what I can to aid you, even when I’m gone.”

“You have already done so much,” Nora said, her eyes filling with tears. She would miss this man dearly. He had been such a guiding force for her since the day they met. He believed in her absolutely. The resources he brought to her had been invaluable. She would always cherish their easy friendship. He played a dangerous game with his colleagues and their rebellion against the crown, but that could not be her concern. All she could do was pray for them and hope her friends survived.

“Shall we get started?” Hancock asked, downing the rest of his liquor.

Nora reached for Jack’s hand and they stood before Captain Hancock. There was no arbor to stand under, no rhyming couplets or flowery prose from her groom, no musicians playing softly in the background—nothing she’d dreamed as a girl that her wedding would be.

But at the same time, it couldn’t be more wonderful. Simple and to the point, that was her Jack. Hancock didn’t drone on as she thought he might—she had learned the man could be quite verbal when he had an audience. When Hancock an-nounced Jack could kiss his bride, she expected a chaste peck, since Ben and the captain were looking on, but the passion behind it made her knees weak. The heat of the kiss consumed her and left no question in her mind what Jack’s plans were for their wedding night.

No, her wedding day wasn’t anything like she’d dreamed it would be as a girl, but that didn’t mean it was any less perfect.