Brightly Burning(43)
“I do remember that Bianca lady,” Jessa whispered to me. “I didn’t like her. That’s why I didn’t talk to her.”
“You’re a smart girl.” We shared a conspiratorial smile. Then we sat through two more songs from Bianca, three moderately less enjoyable attempts from Lucy, through which at least Hugo demonstrated some improvement on the keys. I hated that he played for them but had never played for me, like he’d promised. But then I shook the thought away. We’d had our dreaded reunion, and it was basically a big fat nothing. I tapped my comm piece and asked Rori for the time, and she confirmed my suspicions.
“It’s past your bedtime,” I informed Jessa, who, as if on cue, yawned.
We slipped out as another young woman, a cousin, I guessed, sat down to the piano and I saw Bianca pull Hugo into a dance. It was usually not my role to put Jessa to bed, but I had no desire to disturb Orion or Xiao. I talked her out of watching a movie, got her into her sleep clothes, and made sure she was in bed with the lights out before retreating upstairs to my own quarters. I was nearly there, counting the steps until I could sleep, when my comms buzzed.
“Captain Hugo Fairfax calling,” Rori announced in my ear. I nearly tripped over my own feet. Why would he be calling me? Hugo had never used comms to hail me the whole time I’d been here. With a shaky voice, I accepted the connection.
“Hello?”
“Stella, why did you leave?” a brusque voice demanded.
“I had to put Jessa to bed.”
“Oh,” he said as if the thought never occurred to him. “Well, then, come back if you’re done. I want you here.”
“I’m quite tired.”
“Nonsense,” he insisted. “The night is young. I’ll see you in five minutes.”
The captain had given me a direct order, so back to the drawing room I trudged. I sat myself quietly in my love seat again, observing how the mood of the room had shifted since I’d left. The whole party was at least four or five drinks in, and Hugo was finally getting to play his precious poker. I found him holding court at a round table, half his face hidden behind a spread of cards. Bianca and several people I didn’t have names for yet were playing along. No Poole or Hanada.
Whisper-soft, Lizzy ducked in through the door and took a seat next to me. “I’m here to collect the missus when the time comes,” she informed me, indicating Mrs. Ingram, whose face was now bright red, her tiara half-slid down her head. I pointed her toward the poker table.
“Who is everyone? Other than Bianca. I’ve already met her.”
“She’s a peach, right?” Lizzy’s grin was wicked. “Next to her is her older brother, Braxton, who likes to put his hands in all sorts of interesting places, so watch yourself. And over there”—?she pointed to a sour-faced young woman with an unfortunate snub nose watching the poker game from the sidelines—?“is his wife, Justine. She came to us from the Versailles, speaks mostly French, and the captain and Mrs. Ingram are quite put out that after nearly two years of marriage, she’s not yet produced an heir.
“The mousy brunette is cousin Cecily, who has nothing much to recommend her except that she’s always game for a round of poker, and next to her is the captain himself.”
I looked him over and found a man who matched his wife in his audacity. Taking the captain title rather literally, he was dressed in Old-World naval attire, complete with gold aiguillette and cap. “Did he think this was a costume party?”
“Good one, Stella!”
Only I hadn’t been joking. Lizzy continued to give me the gossip I didn’t ask for. “The captain has spoiled his precious children rotten at the expense of his ship, and so here we are, throwing ourselves at the Fairfaxes.”
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t know? I thought the Rochester crew was all cozy. Guess not. Captain Ingram is here to discuss a merger with Captain Fairfax. Combine ship crews and resources so we can stay in space a bit longer. The Ingram’s on its last legs, though they’d never admit it.”
“Does Captain Fairfax know?” I asked, watching the poker game with renewed interest, especially noting the way Captain Ingram deferred to Hugo—?I was sure he was letting him win—?and how Bianca batted her eyelashes just so.
“Of course,” Lizzy said. “They’ve been going back and forth on it for years. But they wanted to wait until Bianca was older, and just between you and me, Captain Ingram has been taking meetings with several other ships in the hopes of finding a less . . . risky match.”
She leaned close, practically whispering in my ear. “Rumors are that he spends most of his time drunk, gambling away favors, and partaking of the company of various men and women on the pleasure cruisers. And then there’s what they say about the family curse.” Lizzy dangled her gossip like fruit, pausing a moment, clearly expecting me to urge her on. I did not, and she continued, regardless. “His mother wasn’t well at the end, and everyone wonders whether it may be genetic. But Bianca’s rejected everyone else. Too old, too ugly, the ship wasn’t nice enough. So here we are, in the middle of nowhere with Captain Crazy.”
“He’s not crazy,” I mumbled, though my heart wasn’t quite in it. I was distracted by a leaden feeling in my stomach and the view of Bianca leaning into Hugo’s shoulder, whispering something in his ear that made him laugh.