The Captain's Christmas Family by Deborah Hale Read Free Book Online

to an examination of his spiritual beliefs? Never before had he confided in another person his doubts about the value of prayer.
    As captain of his ship, he had often been required to lead his crew in Sunday worship. Though he’d read many prayers aloud, and knew the Our Father by heart as well as any man, he had not uttered those sacred words with any particular expectation that his Creator was listening. The last time he’d truly prayed from his heart, he’d been a child imploring the Almighty to spare the life of his beloved, ailing mother. Of course his pleas had fallen on deaf ears.
    Uncomforted by the words of the funeral liturgy, he’d watched them bury her poor, wasted body. Then he’d been wrenched away from everyone and everything familiar and sent to sea. The harsh conditions and the gnawing ache of loneliness had been almost more than he could bear. But somehow he had borne them, and the experience had made a man of him. Gradually he’d come to know and love the sea. In the end he’d dedicated his life to it and to the defense of his country. Those things had helped to fill the emptiness in his heart and give him a sense of purpose.
    Was it possible that had been an answer to his unspoken prayer? Gideon dismissed the thought.
    “What’s for pudding, then?” he asked the young footman who collected his empty dinner plate.
    “Plum duff, Captain. It’s one of Mrs. Wheaton’s specialties.”
    “And one of my favorites,” Gideon replied.
    Since the lecture they’d received from Miss Murray, the two footmen seemed a good deal less sullen. What she’d said must have made an impression. Could it have been gratitude for her unexpected defense of him that had made him let down his guard with her? Or had he somehow sensed a connection between them based on a common experience of loss?
    As the footman set a generous serving of pudding in front of Gideon, a series of soft but determined taps sounded on the dining room door.
    “Come through,” he called as if he were back in the great cabin aboard HMS Integrity.
    In response to his summons, the door swung open, and Miss Murray entered. “Pardon me for disturbing your dinner, Captain, but I wanted a word with you concerning the girls, if I might.”
    He did not care for the sound of that. She was supposedto be tending to the children’s needs, not pestering him with them.
    Yet Gideon found himself strangely pleased to see her all the same. “Very well, Miss Murray. I was just about to sample Mrs. Wheaton’s plum duff. Would you care to join me?”
    His request seemed to throw her into confusion. “I couldn’t…that is, I already had some when I gave the girls their supper. It was very good. I have no doubt you’ll enjoy it.”
    “Surely you could manage a little more.” Gideon was not certain what made him so eager to have her join him. Perhaps because it would be awkward to converse with her standing there while he tried to eat.
    Sensing she was about to protest more strenuously, he decided to try another tack. “I’d be grateful if you would oblige me, Miss Murray. It can be tiresome to dine night after night with only my own company.”
    His appeal seemed to catch her as much by surprise as his original invitation. She glanced from him to the footman and back again. “Very well then, Captain, if that is what you wish.”
    At a nod from Gideon, the footman pulled out a chair for Miss Murray, to the right of his place at the head of the table.
    “Only a very small helping for me, please,” she murmured as she slipped into the chair.
    Acknowledging her request with a mute nod, the footman headed off to the kitchen.
    “Now then,” said Gideon. “What was this matter you wished to discuss with me?”
    Miss Murray inhaled a deep breath and squared hershoulders. “Well, sir, tomorrow is Sunday, and I hoped you might accompany the girls and me to church in the village.”
    Gideon’s eyebrows rose. “In light of what you know about my attitudes