Chapter Twenty-Four
“Answer me,” Judith demanded when Nathan stood there without saying a word.
He said instead, “I wonder what Artie and Henry are arguing about.”
“You’re changing the subject?” she said incredulously. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
Exasperated, she followed his gaze. “You’ve been on the ship long enough to know those two are always arguing about something. It means nothing. They actually enjoy it. What you may not know is they are not only The Maiden George’s first mates, but Uncle James’s butlers at his house in London. Yes, they share that job, too. They’re also best friends, though at times, like now, it appears otherwise. They used to sail with my uncle. When he retired from the sea—”
“He used to sail regularly?”
“When he was young, yes, for about ten years. But as I was saying, Artie and Henry retired from the sea with him and became his butlers.”
“Two butlers? Is that normal?”
“Not at all normal. But my uncle James isn’t a conformist. Artie and Henry were going to draw straws to see who’d be first mate this trip, then decided to just share this job, too. Now—”
Nathan interrupted with the guess “The captain used to be a pirate, didn’t he?”
She gasped. “How—did you arrive at such a ridiculous notion?”
“Something I heard Artie say about blasting things out of the water in their day. And you just admitted your cousin aspired to be like her father.”
“I said nothing of the sort! Do not put words in my mouth.”
She couldn’t believe he’d guessed so accurately, but that was one thing about her family that was kept strictly in the family and was going to remain that way. James’s days of being Captain Hawke, gentleman pirate, as cousin Regina liked to refer to his former profession, were long since over. He’d even faked Hawke’s death when he finally returned to England to make peace with his brothers, though that run-in with the pirate Lacross a while back had let a few of his old cronies know he was still quite alive and well. But Nathan wasn’t going to be told any of that.
She demanded, “So you think of pirates instead of the military? Yes, of course, a smuggler would.”
“Keep your voice down.”
“Then don’t make statements designed to enrage me. If you want to know about my uncle, ask him yourself—if you dare be that bold. But first, you’re going to answer me. Why were you sad the night we first met?”
He sighed. “I wasn’t. Disappointed, yes, and if I’m admitting things, a little angry, too. My maternal grandmother had just passed on. I didn’t know her well, hadn’t even seen her since I was a tyke. She lived alone in London, I lived with my parents in Cornwall. My father and she didn’t get along, and she wanted nothing more to do with us after my mother died. So I was surprised when her solicitor tracked me down to hand me a deed to that property.”
“Are you saying you actually do own the manor?”
“I told you that when you were a child. If I had been there this other night when you intruded yet again, I would have done the same thing—simply told you to get out, that you were trespassing.”
“I’m to believe this now? You had your chance to make the claim of ownership when I asked before. You didn’t because it’s obviously not true.”
“It’s a bleedin’ wreck of a house.”
“One that comes with a lot of land. My cousin Derek would even pay you a fortune for it, so you’d never have to work again.”
“Maybe I don’t want to sell it.”
“Maybe because you don’t really own it!”
He suddenly raised a brow at her. “Why so angry, darlin’? Because you found another trespasser in that house, or because you didn’t find me when you hoped you would? Are you angry that I’m not your ghost?”
She almost sputtered, but took a quick, deep breath instead. She wasn’t even sure why she’d just gotten so angry. Merely because he hadn’t confirmed sooner that he was related to Mildred Winstock, who was an aristocrat by birth?
But he wasn’t waiting for her to answer him. He continued with a shrug, “It’s nothing to be proud of or boast about that I own a house that’s falling apart.”
“You didn’t know it was a ruin until that night, did you?” she guessed.
He barked a short, bitter laugh before he said, “No, I actually went there to take up residence. It was just after the fight I had with my father, which I’ve already mentioned to you.”
“Which led to your leaving Cornwall, yes, but you never said what that fight was about.”
“I’d rather not talk about that. It’s painful enough that I never saw my father again before he died.”
Was that true, or was he just being evasive again? She glanced at him to check the expression on his face and got distracted by how handsome he was. He wasn’t wearing a bandanna now, and with the sun shining brightly, his hair looked pure white again as the wind blew it every which way, including across his face, which he didn’t seem to even notice.
Something in his expression was angry, but mixed with melancholy, too, which compelled her to finally say, “I’m sorry.”
“So am I. At the time, I was angry enough to break ties with him and live on my own, but only because I thought my grandmother had left me the means to do so. What a joke that turned out to be.”
“Surely not intentional.”
“No, I doubt she ever stepped foot in that house herself and didn’t realize she was leaving me nothing but a shambles. It had belonged to my grandmother’s grandmother, but according to my mum, my grandmother had been born in London, raised in London, and never left London. It was probably just a nice excuse for why my grandmother never came to visit us in Cornwall, instead of telling me the truth, that the old bird hated my father.”
Judith was inclined to believe him, which warned her she probably shouldn’t. He might be making all this up to elicit her sympathy. He hadn’t admitted to owning the house the first time they’d spoken on the ship. And he hadn’t mentioned it in any of their earlier conversations. Then she realized she could confirm whether what he’d just told her about the house was true.
“What was your grandmother’s name?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Actually, it does. I know who the last owner of record was. If you don’t, then—”
He glanced at her sharply and demanded, “Are you this suspicious with everyone?”
“Just smugglers,” she said without inflection. “And I notice you’re not offering up a name.”
He snorted. “Mildred Winstock. And now you can tell me how you know my grandmother.”
She was surprised how relieved she was to have proof that he was telling her the truth. Now their earlier encounters in Hampshire were beginning to make sense to her. His owning the house explained the lock on the door and his claiming to know the house better than she did, even the cot that he’d added. Only his telling her not to say she’d seen him there was odd. And his accosting her. That wasn’t how a property owner behaved. Or that he didn’t want the lantern lit again so she could see who he was. So try as she might to exonerate him in her mind, she still couldn’t, not when so many clues pointed to illegal activities.
“I didn’t know your grandmother,” she explained. “My cousin Derek tracked down the identity of the last owner of record so he could buy the house.”
“Why?”
She was hesitant to tell Nathan the truth, but he had to realize what an eyesore his property was, sitting next to a grand ducal mansion. So she said in a roundabout way, “He wants to give it a proper burial.”
“It’s still standing.”
“Barely.”
“I know better’n anyone the condition it’s in, but I’m not selling it just so your lordly cousin can tear it down. It’s the only thing I have left from my mother’s side.”
She tried to sound cheerful for him as she suggested, “Then repair it.”
“I intend to.”
“Really?”
“Why do you sound surprised? It’s the only reason I mastered carpentry.”
Her eyes widened. Derek would probably donate whatever Nathan needed, anything that would improve the view from the back of his home. “You’ve had five years to get started. If it’s a matter of materials—”
“It was, but not anymore. I’ve been stockpiling what’s needed, stashing materials in that hidden room so no one would run off with them when I’m not there. I just wasn’t in a hurry to get started with the repairs until recently. I did some work on the roof, I just haven’t tiled it yet. I could redo it all in cheap slate, but slate doesn’t belong on a house like that.”
“You want to match the clay tiles that are currently on it?”
He nodded. “What’s left of them. Just didn’t realize how expensive clay is. And didn’t expect this trip to add to the delay.”
“What changed recently to prompt you to start repairing the house?”
“I’m not alone anymore.”
Her eyes flared. “You have a wife!?”
He burst out laughing. It drew a few eyes their way, Georgina’s and Jack’s in particular. Jack even slipped up because of it, giving Andrássy his first chance to take the offensive. Jack’s sound of exasperation could be heard across the deck.
Nathan noticed, too, and said uncomfortably, “I should leave.”
“What you should have done was tell me you’re married prior to kissing me,” Judith said furiously. “I despise unfaithful husbands!”
He raised a surprised brow at her, but only briefly. He was still glancing about the deck to gauge the damage done from the attention she’d drawn to them. But he said, “That’s a bit heated for an assumption, darlin’. Jealous?”
“Not in the least!”
“Then stop yelling at me and look away,” he warned, but then suddenly hissed, “Bleedin’ hell. Meet me up in the crow’s nest tonight and I’ll explain why you’re mistaken. But I’m not staying for this.”
This was James and Anthony. They had just appeared on the quarterdeck and were standing with Georgina now, one on each side of her. But neither was watching the fencing match. They were looking directly at Judith and Nathan instead.