breath. “My lord,” she said, “the life I was raised to has not turned out to be as satisfactory as you imagine. I had far rather take this chance than stay at home and continue as I have always done.”
Melville looked at her for another long moment. He extended his hand. “Then I welcome you to the Royal Navy, Miss Pembroke.”
Admiral Pentstemmon threw up his hands and turned away. Stanhope also extended his hand to shake Elinor’s. “Admiral Stanhope,” he said. “Your talent is remarkable. Can you do it at any time?”
“I can,” Elinor said, “though I have had it only four months and have yet to discover its limits.”
“Remarkable,” Stanhope said. “I would like to see the looks on those villains’ faces when they come up against you.”
Elinor smiled, though now that she’d achieved her goal, her certainty wavered. Not her certainty that she had made the right choice, nor that she could endure shipboard life; she feared she had made these men promises she would not be able to keep. She lit the ship’s lamp once more and gave that flame space in her mind. Yes, if she chose, she could feed it until it broke free and encompassed the room. Whatever her limits might be, burning a ship was not beyond them.
“I think concealing your presence will give us an advantage in this fight. We shall proceed as quickly as possible, so word of this has no time to spread,” Melville said, removing paper and ink from a drawer next to his seat. “Your word as an Extraordinary is binding in itself, but I think a short document outlining our agreement will be a valuable surety for both our sakes—if you’ve no objection to these gentlemen witnessing?”
Elinor nodded. It was probably a good idea to define exactly what actions on her part would qualify as benefiting the Navy, in case the penny-pinching First Lord thought to cheat her later by saying she had not performed to satisfaction. Even so, she did not think the talentless Melville would dream of cheating an Extraordinary, however much political power he wielded. She read the document twice, signed, and handed the pen to the First Lord to do the same.
He swept the nib across the paper with a flourish and waved the paper in the air to dry it. “Excellent. Miss Pembroke, how soon can you be ready to leave?”
“Tomorrow,” Elinor said, feeling certainty return. She had only to pack her clothing and bid farewell to Selina—why
had
her sister never appeared at the ball?—and, she supposed, tell her father she was leaving. The temptation to simply leave him a note was profound, but she refused to be a coward any longer.
“Excellent. Fortunate all around you came today, Miss Pembroke. The need for secrecy prohibits my putting you under the command of the Navy Board, as we do our Speaker corps, so instead I will assign you to Captain Ramsay. It is better, I think, that we keep you outside the chain of command. You will answer directly to him, though I expect you to treat the other officers with respect.”
The captain had come to full attention as Melville spoke, and almost before he was finished, said, “You want her to serve on
my
ship, my lord?”
“Do you have a problem with that, Ramsay?”
Captain Ramsay fixed his eyes on a point some five inches above Melville’s head. “Wouldn’t Miss Pembroke’s talent be better applied closer to home, sir?”
“I want those pirates dealt with. We need those American trade goods, and we need the merchant fleet to regain its confidence in us, after all those losses we’ve sustained. Let the ships of the line protect the Peninsular convoys. Unless you are telling me
Athena
is not up to the challenge?”
Ramsay shook his head. “No, sir.”
“You are already acquainted with the young lady, and you are the man on the spot. If I assign her to another ship, I will have to inform yet another man of the secret. I will already have to tell Admiral Durrant, and he will…at any rate, I think I need not
Melville looked at her for another long moment. He extended his hand. “Then I welcome you to the Royal Navy, Miss Pembroke.”
Admiral Pentstemmon threw up his hands and turned away. Stanhope also extended his hand to shake Elinor’s. “Admiral Stanhope,” he said. “Your talent is remarkable. Can you do it at any time?”
“I can,” Elinor said, “though I have had it only four months and have yet to discover its limits.”
“Remarkable,” Stanhope said. “I would like to see the looks on those villains’ faces when they come up against you.”
Elinor smiled, though now that she’d achieved her goal, her certainty wavered. Not her certainty that she had made the right choice, nor that she could endure shipboard life; she feared she had made these men promises she would not be able to keep. She lit the ship’s lamp once more and gave that flame space in her mind. Yes, if she chose, she could feed it until it broke free and encompassed the room. Whatever her limits might be, burning a ship was not beyond them.
“I think concealing your presence will give us an advantage in this fight. We shall proceed as quickly as possible, so word of this has no time to spread,” Melville said, removing paper and ink from a drawer next to his seat. “Your word as an Extraordinary is binding in itself, but I think a short document outlining our agreement will be a valuable surety for both our sakes—if you’ve no objection to these gentlemen witnessing?”
Elinor nodded. It was probably a good idea to define exactly what actions on her part would qualify as benefiting the Navy, in case the penny-pinching First Lord thought to cheat her later by saying she had not performed to satisfaction. Even so, she did not think the talentless Melville would dream of cheating an Extraordinary, however much political power he wielded. She read the document twice, signed, and handed the pen to the First Lord to do the same.
He swept the nib across the paper with a flourish and waved the paper in the air to dry it. “Excellent. Miss Pembroke, how soon can you be ready to leave?”
“Tomorrow,” Elinor said, feeling certainty return. She had only to pack her clothing and bid farewell to Selina—why
had
her sister never appeared at the ball?—and, she supposed, tell her father she was leaving. The temptation to simply leave him a note was profound, but she refused to be a coward any longer.
“Excellent. Fortunate all around you came today, Miss Pembroke. The need for secrecy prohibits my putting you under the command of the Navy Board, as we do our Speaker corps, so instead I will assign you to Captain Ramsay. It is better, I think, that we keep you outside the chain of command. You will answer directly to him, though I expect you to treat the other officers with respect.”
The captain had come to full attention as Melville spoke, and almost before he was finished, said, “You want her to serve on
my
ship, my lord?”
“Do you have a problem with that, Ramsay?”
Captain Ramsay fixed his eyes on a point some five inches above Melville’s head. “Wouldn’t Miss Pembroke’s talent be better applied closer to home, sir?”
“I want those pirates dealt with. We need those American trade goods, and we need the merchant fleet to regain its confidence in us, after all those losses we’ve sustained. Let the ships of the line protect the Peninsular convoys. Unless you are telling me
Athena
is not up to the challenge?”
Ramsay shook his head. “No, sir.”
“You are already acquainted with the young lady, and you are the man on the spot. If I assign her to another ship, I will have to inform yet another man of the secret. I will already have to tell Admiral Durrant, and he will…at any rate, I think I need not
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