It was.
Miranda Cantrell was unlike any female he’d ever met. To begin with, she was completely unaware of her natural, deeply ingrained sensuality. It showed in her elegant manners, her refreshing forthrightness, and her ability to engage a man’s complete attention without appearing to try. Even Wright had been taken with her and he wasn’t a man to be turned by the sight of a pretty face. She fascinated Gabe and he was sorely tempted to indulge in the dangerous game of awakening the grown woman lurking beneath the surface of this innocent child.
She was an enigma, a challenge he found increasingly difficult to resist. Now that they were on board and underway, Gabe wondered if confining himself to a ship with her as his companion for the next few days had been such a good idea.
He pushed such thoughts aside. Her safety was his primary—his only—concern and would require vigilance because Peacock wouldn’t give up on her. It could only be a matter of time before he thought to look for her in Cornwall, and they needed to discover what had Peacock in such a stew before then.
Gabe had never been more aware that he needed to keep his mind on the business in hand and not allow it to take sensual detours. He hadn’t exaggerated when he’d told Darius that he thought her life could be in danger. A man like Peacock wouldn’t invest so much in trying to track her down if he didn’t have a great deal to gain from it. Gabe had saved her life just so she could fall victim to a bounder like Peacock.
Even so, at close quarters with her in this cabin, it was deuced difficult to remember where his priorities lay.
“Please accept the use of the cabin, Miss Cantrell. You and Tobias will be perfectly comfortable in here.”
She raised her brows and focused her piercing blue eyes on his face. “But what of you, my lord?” she asked softly. “I don’t like to be responsible for your discomfort.”
It’s too late for that, little one. “There’s an equally comfortable cabin right next door. Besides, if the wind continues to favour us, we shouldn’t be at sea above three or four days.”
“No, Jessie and I will be entirely comfortable where we are.” Her vibrant smile lit up her features and severely tested his resolve to keep her at arm’s length.
The devil take it, this situation was getting out of hand. What was wrong with him? What was it about the chit that so beguiled him? He’d do well to remember that he was on a mission to avoid romantic entanglements.
“Now, will you give me a tour of the rest of the vessel? I’ve never been on such a large ship before.”
Gabe knew when he was beaten. It seemed Miss Cantrell knew where to draw the line, even if he’d temporarily forgotten all the manners and mores that had been drummed into him since he’d been in short coats. “Very well, but at the very least will you agree to dine with me this evening?”
She offered him a glittering smile that caused considerable discomfort to the fit of his breeches. “With the greatest of pleasure.”
He opened the door faster than politeness dictated, keen to no longer be at such close quarters with her. “Come this way. Let me show you the stove we have on board that keeps it so warm belowdecks. Hal is inordinately proud of it.”
“Yes, by all means. I’d be most interested to see it.”
*
“For the love of God, William, can’t you do anything right? Do I have to attend to every little detail myself?”
“You asked me to go to London and find the wretched child, Father. Unfortunately you didn’t know the names of her friends, so where was I supposed to start?”
“That damned school she went to. They must know something.”
“Very likely but they wouldn’t tell me anything. They were most disobliging.”
“You should have insisted. We’re her guardians. We have a right to know.”
Bill and Luke, standing outside Peacock’s warehouse, listened to father and son arguing at the tops of their voices.
“Glad we’re not the ones on the receiving end for once,” Bill said, grinning.
“We would be if he knew we’d found the chit and then lost her.”
“Yeah, that was unfortunate, but there’s no need for Peacock to know about that. It wouldn’t do no good. Every operation has setbacks. Besides, because we were patient and used our brains, we now have news that’ll make the old blighter’s day.”
“Let’s get in there and tell ’im, then.”
“All in good time. I’m enjoying this too much to hurry.”
“Where the hell can she have got to?” Peacock yelled. “It’s like she disappeared off the face of the earth.”
“She must be in London,” William said stubbornly. “Where else could she remain so well hidden?”
“Which don’t help me one bit. I need her here right now so you and she can get hitched and we can get our hands on that property of hers.” Bill heard Peacock slap his thigh—something he did frequently when he was angry—which meant he did it all the time. “Perdition, opportunities like this one don’t come along every day and I’ll be damned if I’ll pass it up just because she’s got no sense of obligation to her family.”
“We’re not exactly her family.”
“As near as damn it, we are. After all we’ve done for her, the ungrateful little madam. Just goes to show, if you try to be nice to people—”
“Do I really need to marry her?” William asked. “It seems like an extreme measure.”
“Oh, it’s just a bit of paper, don’t worry about that. You can still behave as you like. Besides, she ain’t too bad to look at now she’s filled out a bit.”
“She’ll be a devil to keep under control, though. She’s far too opinionated and thinks herself above her company since she had that fancy education.”
“You’ll soon beat the independence out of her.”
“Wouldn’t mind beating her myself,” Luke muttered. “She’s a feisty piece and no mistake.”
“Come on,” Bill said. “Sounds like the show’s over so let’s make their day.”
Peacock’s head shot up when Bill knocked on the office door. “News?” he asked curtly. “There had damned well better be, otherwise why are you here and not out there still looking for the baggage?”
“Yes, sir.” Bill pulled the cap off his head, the picture of deference, and cleared his throat. “I believe we have good news.”
“Out with it then, man. What have you got for me?”
“We’ve been patrolling the coast these past few days, just like you told us to, asking questions in all the villages along the way.”
“Waste of time,” William muttered.
“We were beginning to think so too, but this morning we started out early, not wanting to waste time when you were paying us to be vigilant.” William grunted but remained silent. Bill shot him an evil glance and continued. “We thought, see, that if anyone was moving about without wishing to be seen, they’d most likely do it at first light, especially on a day like today when the weather’s so god-awful.”
Peacock nodded impatiently. “And?”
“We stayed in the Boar at Denby overnight and at first thing we went outside, just to have a look around. There was a commotion, see. A carriage arrived and there was a lot of activity that needed checking out.”
Bill was being economical with the truth. They slept off a bellyful of beer in a loft they stumbled upon over the mews. No point shelling out for accommodation when they could make alternative arrangements. Bill had the headache from hell and was dead to the world when the carriage arrived. It was Luke who happened to see it when he got up to relieve himself and kicked Bill awake, but Peacock didn’t need to know that.
“We noticed a young lady—”
“Was it her?” Peacock rose from his chair, baring yellowing teeth as he glared expectantly at Bill. “Why the devil didn’t you grab her, man?”
“She was too well protected, sir.”
“Protected? What in the name of Hades are you talking about? She’s just a chit of a girl. She
don’t have any friends around these parts.”
“She does now, sir. She was with a gentleman. She had a maid with her and all, and several rough-looking sailors.” Including one Bill had a score to settle with. “We couldn’t have got to her and thought it better not to show our hand.”
“So instead we asked some questions in the inn, found out who she was with and where she was going,” Luke added.
“Was it definitely her?”
“No question. She had that dog with her.”
“Where did she go?”
“They got in a wherry and rowed out to a ship.”
“A ship?” Peacock shook his head, looking totally dumbfounded. “This isn’t making a lick of sense.”
“We were told that the carriage belongs to the Marquess of Denby.”
Peacock fell back into his chair and shook his head. “Denby? Then it can’t have been her.”
“It’s common knowledge that he keeps a ship anchored behind that tavern in Denby, Father,” William said.
“Yes, but he just got married. He’ll be in town for the season. And even if he wasn’t, why would he be taking Miranda on board his ship?”
William snorted. “Use your imagination.”
“Did she appear to be going willingly?” Peacock asked.
“Oh yes. And it wasn’t the marquess as was with her. It was one of his brothers, Lord Gabriel.”
“What the devil…” Peacock stood again and paced the office. “How the hell did she meet him?”
“I’ve no idea, sir. I just thought you should know.”
“Has the ship left Denby?”
“Yes, sir. As soon as they boarded it weighed anchor.”
“Bound for Cornwall,” Luke added.
“Then Forster must know about the Wildes and the opportunity there,” Peacock said. “Why else would he take an interest in a nobody like Miranda?”
Luke turned a chuckle into a cough.
“Don’t be ridiculous, man,” Peacock said, obviously reading his mind correctly. “Women are ten a penny to men like Forster. If he’s taken the trouble to go to Cornwall in the dead of winter, he must know there’s brass to be made from it.”
“Only if he marries the girl,” William pointed out. “She don’t have any control over the property until she reaches her majority, unless she marries, when it would become his. But the way I heard it, all the Forster men were well provided for financially by their father. The family are rolling in money. They don’t need any more.”
“People like them have never got enough,” Peacock sneered. “No, Forster will have thought of some way to get his hands on that property, you just mark my words.”
“I’d still like to know how she finished up with him,” William said, scowling. “To think she’s been here all this time, right under our noses. She’ll pay for leading us such a merry dance once I get my hands on her.”
“I found out something else that might explain her reason for being in Denby,” Bill said, deliberately keeping the best until last, intent on earning himself a decent payday for once. “I happened to see a young cove in the village the other day and recognised him from somewhere. Couldn’t think where so I asked around and was shocked to discover he’s the lad who works for your solicitor, sir. That Matthew Blake.”
“Are you sure, Fisher?” Peacock asked intently. “What business would Blake have in Denby?”
Bill took his time responding, intent on ensuring that Peacock viewed his part in the discovery favourably. The truth was, he’d happened to see Blake waiting for the cart to take him into Dover, and his mother had been there to wave him on his way. He’d overheard Nesbitt’s name pass between them and put two and two together without getting the total wrong. Sometimes things happened for a reason and Bill was never slow to grab such opportunities with both hands. God helped them as helped themselves had always been his motto.
“That’s what I wondered, so I made some more enquiries.” Bill sniffed, pausing to ensure that he had Peacock’s complete attention. “His mother lives in the village and he comes down once a month on his days off to visit her.”
“By gad, that must be it!” Peacock punched his desk with a clenched fist. “She’d gone to see Nesbitt and must have met Blake then. Nesbitt told me she was asking about returning to Cornwall before reaching her majority, but I just thought it was a young girl’s foolishness. I didn’t take it seriously.”
“So she fled our house and went direct to Denby to see Blake.” William, not the sharpest of wits, scratched his head and scowled. “Why?”
“When Nesbitt told her that the terms of her father’s will forbade her to return until she was twenty-one she asked to see it. Naturally he refused.”
William made a scoffing sound. “A woman reading legal documents? Whatever next?”
“I assume she batted her lashes at Blake and he offered to find out for her. Anyway, Nesbitt can question his clerk and find out what she now knows, if anything, about our scheme.”
“Nesbitt won’t have confided in his clerk,” William said with assurance.
And Peacock hadn’t seen fit to confide in Bill, but he’d make it his business to find out what was going on. Unless Peacock had changed the habits of a lifetime, he wasn’t so keen to get his hands on the Cantrell chit because he was concerned for her welfare. Oh no, this was some sort of highfaluting money-making scheme Peacock and the solicitor had cooked up between them, and Bill wanted his share. He’d earned it, hadn’t he? After all, it was him who discovered the link to Blake.
“Nesbitt won’t talk,” Peacock said with assurance. “I figure that Miranda came here specifically to see Blake and somehow fell in with Forster.”
“Wonder what she had to offer him to secure his protection,” William said with a disdainful sniff.
Yeah, Bill thought, like you’d turn her down yourself, you pompous young windbag. He hated his employer’s son even more than he disliked and resented Peacock himself. William strutted around, living up to his surname, but hadn’t done an honest day’s work in his life.
“Anyway, the answers aren’t here so we’re for Cornwall,” Peacock said.
“That won’t help us if she’s got influential protection,” William pointed out.
Peacock’s expression turned smug. “Oh, but it will. Lord Gabriel has abducted my ward and thinks he’s got away with it because no one’s looking out for her interests. But that’s where he’s wrong. I shall demand that he either returns her to my care or marries her. I very much doubt whether he’ll do the right thing by her and so—”
“That’s very clever, Father,” William said, grinning. “Forster thinks no one knows he has Miranda and has probably devised some devious plan to get his hands on the property. Rich men can do all sorts of things the rest of us can’t simply because they have the power to make them happen.”
“Quite right,” Peacock replied. “But unfortunately for him, we’ll be there to put a spoke in his wheel.”
“Don’t forget you have that client coming down from London tomorrow to examine the silk we just got in,” William said. “We can’t easily put him off. He’ll go elsewhere if we do. Do you want me to stay here and deal with him?”
“No, you’re needed in Cornwall. Once Forster turns tail and runs at the thought of having to marry Miranda, I need you there to make a decent woman of her. She’ll be feeling hard done and you need to haul her before a parson before she gets any more fancy notions about independence.” Peacock paused. “This might all turn out for the best. When Forster leaves her literally at the altar, she’ll be heartbroken and you can step in and be her knight in shining armour. She’ll see you in a very different light then, my boy.”
“If I must. Although why I should take another man’s pickings—”
“You know very well why.”
William grimaced. “Indeed I do. Nothing else on this earth would induce me to take the brat.”
“We can delay our departure for a couple of days, it won�
��t be of any consequence,” Peacock said, ignoring his son’s litany of complaints. “In this weather it will be slow progress on a ship if the winds don’t treat ’em fair. Besides, I hear tell here’s another squall forecast. They’ll have to put into port somewhere until it passes. We might even catch up with them before they get there.”
“If they get there. It’s foolhardy trying it at all in this weather,” William replied. “Perhaps they’ll be lost at sea.”
“We couldn’t get that lucky.” Peacock turned to Bill and Luke. “You’ve done well and I won’t forget that. How do you fancy a trip to Cornwall?”
Bill fancied it very much indeed. It would beat working. Besides, he still had a score to settle with that damned sailor and he wanted his share of whatever this was all about.
Chapter Eleven
Miranda eyed the stove in The Celandine’s galley with fascination. “I’m surprised it doesn’t set the entire ship on fire, especially when the weather’s rough.”
Lord Gabriel smiled. “It’s rough now, in case you hadn’t noticed, and yet the stove continues to do its job.”
“How does it work?”
“The cooking fire’s contained in the hearth, and the smoke goes up that chimney through a funnel to the weather-deck. Cooking can be done in the oven but I believe meat is more commonly boiled in those round pots that sit in the deep holes on the top, which are totally secure, isn’t that right?” Lord Gabriel addressed the comment to the sailor manning the galley.
“As a rule, m’lord. But given the weather, we won’t be serving hot food tonight, begging your pardon.”
“Quite right too,” Miranda said, seeing all the dire consequences Jessie had filled her head with coming to fruition. “It wouldn’t be at all safe.”
Lord Gabriel laughed. “The fire’s contained in a sheet-iron stove, which has several ovens and strong, cast-iron doors. There’s no possibility of the fire escaping, even in the roughest weather, since the catches on those doors are solid.”
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