‘Another round of ale for my brothers! On me!’, Hugh said. Sounds of anticipation and gratitude filled the air as the men seated around his table banged their empty mugs on the table.
‘Have Rosalie bring it!’, Hugh added. Rosalie was a very lovely wench, with her red hair and blue eyes—blue enough to make a man stare. She was a perfect little figure of eight, and she was the reason he had been coming to the Mughouse Tavern for the past two years, but she rejected him at every turn. He uses every opportunity he has to have her around him.
Hugh Banks was a very successful trader, and he was also popular for his good looks. He was known everywhere along the docks. He is never the type to chase women, except for Rosalie. He never remembered if he ever had parents, and he grew up on the streets on the south side of London, earning his keep doing menial jobs. As luck would have it, his fortune changed when he became a cabin boy at the age of fifteen on Captain Wholler’s ship. He worked for Captain Wholler for 15 years until he could afford his own ship, which he named Lady. And since then, he has traded in silk and tobacco shipped from the west. Tonight, he looked around the table at the members of his crew who have become like brothers to him. His best friend is James, who is also his first mate. He would've never felt a sense of kinship without them.
Hugh felt tired. He wanted to have a family of his own. A woman to love and children to adore. He wasn’t getting any younger. He wanted to belong to someone.
‘Here you go, boys’, Rosalie interrupted his thoughts as she brought mugs of ale to their table.
He grabbed her hand as she was about to leave them and took her outside the tavern. ‘We need to talk’.
Outside, he told her, ‘Rosalie, let me be your husband. I have been asking you for almost two years now. A man is bound to get tired at some point’.
He looked at her face and was met with silence.
‘What do you want, Rosalie? I will do anything for you just to get you to be my wife’, he said.
‘Anything?’, she asked.
‘Yes. Anything’, he replied, looking at her hopefully.
‘Alright. Bring me the finest treasure you have ever seen. Once I have that, I will marry you’, she said.
He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and by God, her lips were soft. He drew back and looked at her. Seeing her eyes cloud with need, he kissed her again, and this time it lasted minutes. He could keep kissing her all night.
‘I will get you what you want. I promise you’, he told her as they went back into the tavern. Cheers of laughter rose up at them as they entered. Hugh had more ale with his brothers. It was a long night.
Hugh spent the next day going around to find information on the finest treasure he could gift to someone he wanted to marry. His efforts on the first day were futile. He spent over seven days searching, and still no one could tell him where he could find such treasure. He decided on the ninth day of his search to sail out to find it. He sailed out on the tenth day to an island. The island was unknown to him, but he had heard of it—the Druid Island. He also heard that the people there were of a different race and had unique and beautiful ornaments and crystals.
He was confident that he'd find a very fine treasure there. They had spent twenty-one days at sea when he stood over the flying bridge and saw an island, which he believed to have passed by six days ago. He took his spyglass and looked at the island again. He was sure that they had passed it. He called James to take a look.
‘Aye, Captain! We were by this island some days ago’, James confirmed.
‘Are we going around in circles then?’, he asked. ‘Have the maps checked!’, he ordered.
For the rest of the day, the sails were brought down because they were trying to figure out where they were. By dusk, the wind had picked up. And by night, Hugh knew there was a storm coming.
The storm hit at midnight. Shouts of ‘raise the sails’, filled the air as the crew ran all over Lady to prepare her for the storm. It was one of the fiercest storms Hugh had ever seen. For six hours, the winds blew hard, the rain fell heavily, and claps of thunder and bursts of lightning shook the entire ship. Prayers rose up to Mary, the mother of mercy, all over the ship.
Hugh prayed that this storm would pass. He just wanted Rosalie; he had to try. And the storm indeed passed by daybreak. And by this time, he had chosen to sail to the island they had seen the previous day to fix Lady, as she had been damaged in the storm. It was pure luck that Lady didn’t drown along with them. It was also possible that Mary had heard their prayers.
They spent a few more days on the island, and while they were there, Hugh spent the time thinking about where he would find the finest treasure. His life was at stake, as was that of his men. At the end of their time on the island, he decided to sail back home to London. It took almost a month to find their way back home.
The first thing he did when he got to London was to find Rosalie. When he saw her, he hugged her and kissed her.
‘So, have you found what you seek?’, she asked.
‘I couldn’t find anything, my dear Rosalie’, Hugh told her.
She looked disappointed.
‘But I have something to give you’.
‘What is it?’
‘It is my heart and my life. They are the most important things to me, and they are my greatest and finest treasures. You can have them and do with them as you please’, he said.
She laughed, and it was beautiful to see. ‘It took you so long to realize this, Hugh’.
Hugh was shocked. ‘I thought-’.
‘There’s no treasure greater than life. As you’ve given yours to me, so will I give mine to you’, she said.
‘Does that mean you’ll marry me?’, he asked.
‘Yes, I will’. She smiled at him.
He then carried her and kissed her with everything he had to seal their promise.