Forgotten Fragrance Read Online Free Page A

conduct your business.’
    Christian loosened his fingers from the wheel and gazed up at Windy perched at the top of the mainsail in the crow’s nest before answering the pompous fool. ‘As captain of this vessel it’s my decision as to the cargo and the passengers I carry, Mr Wainwright. I’ll thank you not to interfere.’
    â€˜My dear young man, there is no need to react so aggressively.’ Marcus pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders and thankfully turned his back, studying the rapidly diminishing coastline of Van Diemen’s Land.
    Charlotte truly believed Marcus had her best interests at heart. She would never forget he’d saved her from all sorts of horrors when she arrived in Van Diemen’s Land and for that reason alone she owed him her obedience and her allegiance. He’d rescued her as surely as any knight on a white charger, and now he was taking her away to begin a new life. She had to keep that foremost in her mind. Transitioning from servant to wife was bound to be trying. Marcus’ intentions and concern for her welfare were simply proof of his regard. As yet he’d never professed any affection for her, never so much as touched her other than to guide her; that part of their relationship would come in time.
    Caught in a sudden blow the sails filled and the ship lurched. Lost in her thoughts, Charlotte’s foot slipped and she fell to one side. Reaching out to regain her balance she sank onto one of the hatches. With a giggle she swung her legs clear of the deck and latched her fingers through the open timber frets, swaying with the movement of the ship.
    Well out of sight of Marcus and the Captain she settled back to enjoy the sensation of skimming the waves. A fine dark line on the horizon was all that remained of Van Diemen’s Land and the past six years. What Jamie would have given to be part of this adventure!
    No matter how many times she read the surgeon’s report and no matter how often she’d demanded the story recounted, she couldn’t believe the nimble-footed, agile youth had fallen to his death. She studied the swaying mast. Climbing the ratlines or the mainmast would have been a game to him. The boy who had shimmied his way up the spire of St Martins-in-the-Fields for a dare and clung to the cross in a parody of the crucifixion wouldn’t have fallen. If only they had travelled together…if only.
    Marcus’ investigations on her behalf had been more than thorough. He’d even spoken with the captain and surgeon of the Lord Petre . There was no doubt Jamie had fallen to his death. As Charlotte looked out at the darkening ocean the terror of being swallowed by the waves and carried down into their swirling depths churned her stomach.
    Pushing her morbid thoughts aside, back into the hidey-hole of the past somewhere beneath her heart, she clenched her fingers tightly around the timber frets and let out a huge sigh — a final farewell to Jamie and all that might have been.
    As the Zephyrus rounded the lofty cliffs and basalt columns of Cape Raoul, grouped like crumbling Roman ruins, the shadows lengthened and an eerie stillness descended. The drop in the wind silenced the snapping canvas and a mournful wail hung in the air. She shuddered; reliving the memories of the despondent women cramped below decks on the Atwich .
    In a matter of moments the cries from the deckhands chased away the remnants of the past as a fresh southerly squall filled the sails, and casting one last glance at the Derwent Estuary she pulled herself to her feet to walk to her cabin.
    As she stood a pitiful moan reverberated through the ship, twisting her heartstrings, a ghostly reminder of the past. She peered down through the latticed hatch to the hold. The fetid stench of bodies filled her nostrils and a wave of heat lashed her as she relived the hell of her first nightmare voyage. The moan echoed again, louder. She shook her head.
    What