The Riverboat Mystery (Jenny Starling #3)(33)

Dorothy smiled, a shade unconvincingly. ‘I’m feeling a bit . . . iffy, really,’ she said, a shade embarrassed. ‘I expect it’s morning sickness. Although the doctor didn’t say anything about getting it in the middle of the afternoon!’ She tried to make a weak joke out of it, making Lucas’s heart swell at her pluckiness.

He abruptly put down his darts and walked across. ‘Can I get you anything, love?’ he asked anxiously. ‘You really do look dicky. I can ask Francis if there’s anything in the medicine cabinet for jippy tummies.’

‘I don’t think that she should take any medication that hasn’t been specifically prescribed for her by a doctor, not in her condition,’ David said sharply, and Lucas, to do him justice, looked suitably appalled.

‘What? Oh, right you are. No, of course she mustn’t. You can tell I’m a bachelor boy, can’t yer, born and bred. Got no sense, ’ave I, eh, girl?’ He guffawed and winked at Dorothy, who managed a rather wan smile in return.

‘I think I’d better go upstairs to the . . . er . . . bathroom,’ Dorothy said, her eyes assuming a wild, helpless look.

David quickly took her by the arm and helped her upstairs. After that, the darts match was naturally abandoned. Having no wish to stay in the same room as Gabriel Olney, Tobias quickly excused himself to go to the bridge. He went smartly along the port deck and shut the door firmly behind him. There he looked at his watch. He was sweating now. He would be glad when it was all over.

Blast that cook! Where was she? Suddenly he had the intense desire to be on the move again.

Upstairs, Jasmine Olney stiffened as she heard footsteps and voices, but opening the bedroom door a crack and peeking out, she saw only the Leighs.

Dorothy paused outside the bathroom. ‘David, why don’t you go to our room and finish up those papers you brought with you? I know you wanted to get them done before we docked,’ she urged him, with typical patience and understanding.

David shook his head stubbornly. ‘They can wait.’

Dorothy put a hand to her stomach and swallowed hard. Her eyes became very wide and appealing. ‘Please, David, I’d rather you didn’t hang around out here. It’s . . . well . . . so embarrassing, being sick and everything. I’d rather you didn’t, well, have to hear me, and so on. Besides, I think I’ll be here for quite some time. And it’s nice and cool inside. There’s no point in you hanging around out here — it’s not as if there’s anything you can do, you know, darling,’ she added, cupping his face in her palm. ‘I’ll be all right, you’ll see. And I’ll come straight to our room as soon as I’m sure this bout of sickness has passed.’

She gave his hand a squeeze.

David nodded at once, sympathetic and anxious to please, and gave her a quick peck on the forehead. He turned, still obviously rather reluctant to leave her, but after a moment’s hesitation walked on into their room.

Jasmine, afraid of being spotted, quickly pulled the door shut. She heard the bathroom door open and close, and breathed easier. It wouldn’t do for the sickeningly cooing couple to notice when the engineer came to her bedroom door!

Downstairs, Gabriel wandered out onto the starboard deck. It was the first time he’d been on that side of the boat for quite some time. He stood watching the view of the deserted riverbank with a pleased smile on his face.

All was peaceful and quiet on the Stillwater Swan.

*

Jenny looked somewhat guiltily at her watch, and knew she must have held the boat up a little. It was nearly three o’clock. She stepped on board, made her way to the bridge, told the somewhat disgruntled Tobias Lester that she was back, and made for her galley.

There she found the parrot raiding her bag of raisins. She eyed the bird, which had been caught red-handed. Or rather, red-clawed, with one bit of fruit already in his beak, and the split bag open on the worktop.

Jenny walked forward, left the spilled raisins on the side — after all, she could hardly use those now — and folded the bag back into some semblance of order.

The parrot watched her, head cocked to one side. ‘’Ere, what’s your game then?’ he demanded, in Lucas’s wide, cockney drawl.

Jenny paused, looked at the bird, and fed it another raisin. Really, it was extraordinarily uncanny the way the bird could come out with apt phrases at just the right time. You could almost be fooled into thinking you could hold a normal conversation with it.

She removed the various meats from the fridge and set them, in various sauces, to cook in the oven. She took a veritable mountain of vegetables from the tiny cold cupboard next to the fridge and set about chopping, peeling, dicing, mincing and shelling. It was a task that would have daunted many a lesser person but only served to fill the cook with a sense of peace.

*

Upstairs, Jasmine Olney still waited in vain for Brian O’Keefe. She was beginning to get right royally angry. When she heard the engines turn over, and she knew it would be impossible for him to leave the engine room now, she left her post by the door, yanked the handle open, and marched out onto the landing. Although she could hardly go straight to the engine room and tell the oaf off, she would certainly think of a way to make her displeasure felt.

When she thought of him, sniggering away in his cubbyhole, imagining her waiting for him up here, all hot and bothered, she felt like she could literally kill him.