She snuggled against him and nodded. “Horrible night,” she admitted. “I kept trying to swim to you but kept getting pulled away. It was awful. I kept losing you.”
“I’m sorry, love. That’s why you were crying out in your sleep.”
“Yes. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. That’s what I’m here for.”
He was her wonderful protector, and now he had her cradled in his arms. “Octavian, I’ve come to a decision.”
“You have? What decision might that be?” Although he sounded calm and revealed nothing in his expression, she felt his body tense and understood he was worried about what she was about to tell him.
“No separate bedchambers for us in London. We stay together, for you are my husband and I am your wife. Whatever our fate, we must face it together. You said last night that you cannot be apart from me. It is the same for me concerning you. This is what my horrible dream was about, the agony of not being with you.”
“Blessed saints, Syd. Dare I ask? Are you ready to make this make-believe marriage real?”
CHAPTER 14
OCTAVIAN REALIZED THEYwould be married slightly over a month by the time he and Syd returned to London. Their trip home necessitated several detours, the first being a three-day stopover in Glasgow to confirm the navy ships awarded under previous contracts were properly underway and no unauthorized changes had been made to their designs.
Glasgow was a dingy, rainy city, but one would think it was clear skies and sunshine the way Syd chirped about the city and itsenlightenedresidents. “You will never believe what I did today, Octavian,” she told him while they dined in the privacy of their guestroom later that evening in Glasgow’s fanciest hotel, The Harley. It was quite a change from the simple Seafarer’s Inn, for it was far grander in size, had marble floors and crystal chandeliers, and larger beds. But Syd still managed to paste herself to his side during the night, something Octavian did not mind at all.
“What did you do?” he replied between bites, eager to hear what had Syd’s eyes alight and a beaming smile on her pretty lips.
“Well, first I went…”
The simple question turned into a twenty minute recitation, but he leaned back, sipping his wine and devouring a most delicious roast duck in plum sauce while he listened in good cheer. Syd was happier than he had ever seen her, chattering like a magpie between bites of her salmon and potatoes. “Can you believe it, Octavian?”
While he spent his time at the navy shipyard, Syd frequented the Glagow museums and medical school where she waspermitted to observe the medical students in their studies. “Did you really observe the students dissecting cadavers?”
“Yes, and the professor let me lead the class when he learned I was involved in research projects at the Huntsford Academy forensic laboratory. He begged me to give an impromptu lecture.”
Octavian chuckled. “Of course. Why am I not surprised?”
“It is not surprising at all,” she insisted, taking a sip of her wine.
He motioned for the wine steward to pour him another glass, then turned to respond to her. “That’s what I said, Syd.”
“Thank you, Octavian. If I were a man, I would be renowned in the field of forensics by now,” she insisted. “London society believes I am quite the ghoul. But everyone here accepts me as quite the scholar.”
“I know that. I am glad they have realized it.” He leaned over and kissed her on the hand while she was in the middle of expounding on her achievements.
“Stop giving me those steamy looks or you will make me forget what I was saying.” She sighed and cast him a loving look, a sign she did not really mind his warm regard. “Afterward, the dean of the medical school gave me a private tour of their classrooms and laboratories, and asked if I had any suggestions for their improvement. Can you believe it?”
“Yes, I can. I keep telling you that you are a treasure. See, others believe it, too. Did you give him any suggestions?”
She rolled her eyes. “Have you ever known me to keep my mouth shut?”
He laughed.
“I gave him at least a dozen. He thought they were very good and promised to implement them.”
“That’s my girl.”
“Are you truly proud of what I did?”
The question surprised him. “Syd, do you still not know me at all? I am tremendously proud of you. If I had wanted a goose-brain for a wife, I would have settled on Lady Clementine. Who, by the way, is a vicious goose-brain, so I probably would not have chosen her under any circumstances. Tell me about the museums you visited. Did you stop running around at all today?”
“I will admit to being exhausted now. But we have so little time here and there is so much to see and do. The museum director afforded me the same courtesy as the medical school dean had done.” She cleared her throat. “I might have let slip that I was the sister-in-law of the Duke of Huntsford and could put in a good word with him about their museum.”
