An Undeniable Passion Ch. 14

That night as she lay in bed, the memory of Drake's visit to her home in Liverpool kept interrupting her thoughts. She hadn't thought about that day for quite some time. Usually when she thought of him she remembered events that happened on the ship. She recalled what Violet had said to her after he had left that morning 'I don't think he's in your head Virginia. He's in your heart.' How right she had been. She hadn't even realized that she was already in love with him. That's why she hadn't told him that she was engaged that day they got stuck in his carriage during the storm. She had probably fallen in love with him the moment he grabbed her to prevent her from falling in the snow. The moment she had looked into his warm amber eyes for the first time.

Now Thomas, a very nice, attractive man, was showing an interest in her and all she could do was compare him to Drake. Why couldn't she break free from his spell? Why did she still yearn for him? Maybe another man was what it would take. She tossed and turned agonizing over whether it was fair to begin a romance with a man while still in love with another. Another who may very well show up again in a few months. With that thought she finally drifted off to sleep only to awake once again, breathless, from dreams where all she could remember were his eyes. Eyes that were burning with passion and promise.

Virginia was intrigued by Thomas' remark about the house once being owned by privateers. That must be where all the fabrics, sugar, spices, rum and wine came from, she thought. And why the attic looked as though it had been ransacked. There was also the chance that something of real value could still be hidden in the attic. She suddenly recalled the comment that Otis made as he walked away with her ring, 'Only treasure I'll ever see.' He must have heard the rumors and had been looking for hidden treasure. It was obvious that he hadn't found it and that was why he had sold the farm.

After breakfast the next day they put on their cleaning clothes and went up to the attic. The sun was shining in through the windows so they didn't require any lanterns. They began by searching through all the trunks. They found household linens and old velvet drapes, smaller rugs and carpets. After awhile, Virginia removed the lid of a crate and gasped loudly.

"Billy, come quickly!" she called out.

Seeing her shocked face as she stared into the open crate in front of her, he rushed over. As he neared her side he could see that it was divided into two parts. The larger side held about 40 muskets and the smaller side held musket shot.

He let out a whoop and picked up one of the muskets and tested its weight in his palm.

"Billy, put it down," Virginia said sharply. "I don't want these in the house," she said firmly.

"Ginny, considering how it is just us in the house and you are sometimes alone, it might not be a bad idea to keep a few of these around and for you to learn how to shoot one."

"You must be joking!" she cried out in alarm. "I am not going to learn how to shoot a pistol! They're dangerous!"

"It's for your own protection. We can sell the rest," seeing her disapproving look he continued, "or turn them over to the sheriff in town. But we're going to keep a few along with the shot." He began looking around at the nearby crates. "I wonder if there's gunpowder in any of these."

"You can keep them and shoot them, if you like, but I want nothing to do with them," she said walking away from the crates. "I'm going to see what's over on the other side of the room."

After removing some items off the open top of another crate, she again gasped loudly. "Billy, I found more weapons," she called out to him, rolling her eyes.

He rushed over and saw that the crate was full of bayonets. "They must have been privateers," Billy said as he picked one of them up. It flashed in the sunlight from the windows. He sliced it quickly through the air a few times before returning it to the crate. "I guess we should turn these over to the sheriff as well."

"Unless you can think of something to do with them..."

"All right, all right."

Virginia couldn't help but chuckle. "Do all boys want to be pirates?" she asked.

"We just want to pretend to be," he said. "I think the stories we hear sound very dramatic and romantic but I'm sure that in reality it's pretty awful. That was one of the reasons I became a sailor; adventure on the high seas." The last he said very dramatically. "Cap'in Stratford's ship is the only one I ever worked on. I liked it enough but after a few crossings I just wanted solid ground under my feet for awhile."

"For awhile?" she asked.

"Well, at first I thought just awhile, mostly because I didn't really know what was waiting for me here. Whether I would like it or not. But I like sharing the house with you and now that I've met Elizabeth..." he trailed off smiling and sighed heavily. "I think I'll be staying," he said still smiling.

Virginia nudged him good naturedly and they continued searching for lost treasure in their own attic. They didn't find anything else of great interest and by noon were once again reminded of the time by their growling stomachs. After a quick lunch they returned to the attic to resume their search.

Virginia was delighted to discover a complete and very large set of fine china and silver ware. The silver was in dire need of polishing and she hoped that none of the pieces were ruined. "We'll have to get some silver polish, Billy," she said to him. "A good reason to visit the mercantile tomorrow, I think," she teased.

He smiled happily and hefted open the lid of yet another trunk of linens.

At the end of the day, after they had changed into clean clothes and eaten dinner, they sat in the library talking about what they had found that day.

"Too bad we didn't find any gold or jewels, or bags of pearls and ivory" Billy said wistfully.

"I think we've done quite well for ourselves. We got all this for one diamond," Virginia replied sweeping her arms about. "This house with all its contents, the barn, the stables, the farming equipment, and 150 acres. Not a bad bargain, I think."

"You're right, Ginny. Just a boy's imagination running wild again," he said with a laugh.

"I think Mr. Green had heard the hidden treasure rumors as well," she said. "I'm guessing that's why the attic appeared to have been ransacked."

"Well, perhaps, Mr. Green wasn't quite as strange as we thought," he commented.

That evening, Virginia sat down and wrote to Violet. She had so much to tell her. The house and farm, Billy and Elizabeth, and all about her budding romance with Thomas Ogilvy. She made it sound a bit more exciting than it really was, if only to help herself believe it as well. She also told her the stories of privateers once owning the house. She wrote of what they had found in the attic and cellar and that Billy wanted to teach her how to shoot a pistol. The letter was quite long and it was rather late by the time she was finished. She addressed and sealed the envelope and placed it on her desk before she went to bed. She would find a ship delivering mail to England during her trip to town to have lunch with Thomas and Doris.