The Spells of Paradise

Chapter 14: Intimate Decay

Chapter 14: Intimate Decay

On the road to Portsmouth

Lucy watched as the sky grew darker and darker, but she hadn't counted the hours. Ross assured her that his ship would be there waiting for them when they arrived in Portsmouth and, during that conversation, she began to consider ventures farther from this godforsaken place. Perhaps going to Belmoran wasn't enough. Maybe it would have been best to keep going farther and farther away.

After all, she had never run away before. What if she was going about it all wrong?

"I had a friend back in London named Pippa," Lucy said, trying to keep her tone steady. "I didn't know her for long, about two years into school her father married her off to a rather wealthy family in Nantucket, around the time the trades in whale oil began to rise. She was fifteen then. I envied her for going, I remember wanting to go with her."

"Nantucket is a fine town, I don't blame you," Ross replied. Not for the first time, Lucy admired his knack for keeping up with her even when she shifted the conversation entirely. "It never appealed to me for to long, it always reminded me of home whilst I was seeking something else," then he gave her an odd look. "Why the change in subject?"

"It's just..." She cleared her throat. "I mean no offense to you, Ross, truly. I believe that you have done so much for me already, and I do not deserve any of it."

Ross chuckled. "Lucy, we've been over this. I am only trying to help you. I can see you're in distress, but you don't want to talk about it. As long as you're safe, then I am wiling to help in any way I can."

"Even so, I was thinking..." Lucy licked her lips. "Maybe it would be best for me to take a leaf out of Pippa's book and maybe find out if there's any vessel en route to America. From Portsmouth, that is. Maybe that's where I should be starting over, not Belmoran."

Ross looked at her like she was cracking a very bad joke. "Lucy, please don't be foolish."

"I am not!" She protested. "Ross, I want to get as far away from here as I can possibly go."

"Belmoran is far enough out of the way," he assured her. "And it is close enough still to where if you think you are ready to return to your life, you can."

"No chance of that happening any time soon, I can assure you!"

She knew it was unfair of her to be asking him for so many favors and not giving him a reason. It was awfully kind of him to not force an answer out of her, and she was pushing it with these new suggestions she was making. Perhaps she would make her grand escape to America after arriving to Belmoran, and leave Ross out of it entirely. He had already gone through the trouble of finding a place for her to stay with a good and trustworthy family. She needed to be more grateful. Maybe, just maybe, she would decide to stay put in Belmoran after their arrival there.

"I'm sorry," she said finally, meaning it. "I know what you must be thinking of me... You've done so much. I was just wondering out loud."

"No more wild suggestions, then?" He asked with a smirk.

She nodded. "No more."

"If it's coming from nerves, I assure you that you need not worry," he said kindly. "Samuel is a very good friend of mine, he will see you well taken care of."

He can't solve all of my problems for me, unfortunately.

"You're right," Lucy laughed. "It's nerves. That's all. Just... Nerves."

"It comes with big changes," Ross assured her, and he looked like he wanted to continue, but then he took a glance out the window and grinned wide. "We're here."