Chapter Thirty-Four
“Just let me at him for a bit,” Anthony said to his brother as he paced the floor of the captain’s cabin. “I’ll get the location of his hiding place out of him.”
James raised a brow at him. “I thought you were done with that grudge.”
“He robbed my daughter. It’s back in spades.” Anthony looked over his shoulder at Judith, who was sitting on the sofa between Georgina and Jack, being consoled by them.
James’s arms were crossed and he was leaning back against the door in a relaxed stance. But he was obviously blocking the exit, his not-so-subtle way of letting Anthony know James wasn’t going to let him rip anyone apart just yet.
James said, “Artie is getting the rest of the ship searched, though considering our thief is a carpenter able to create his own hiding places, that’s likely a useless endeavor. But I’m still going to give Tremayne a few hours to figure out that the only way he’s not going to rot in an American prison is if he cooperates by returning the jewels and appealing to our mercy.”
“No mercy, James,” Anthony warned. “Jewels back or not, he’s still a thief and deserves to rot. And he’s a smuggler. He’ll be lucky if he ever gets out of prison.”
James chuckled. “The Yanks aren’t going to imprison him for thumbing his nose at English revenuers. They’re more apt to pat him on the back for that. Besides, our smugglers aren’t a cutthroat lot, they’re merely a result of high taxes, protesters as it were. You could even say they are revolutionaries. They’ve taken up the gauntlet to help others. Jewel thieves are a different breed. They steal just to help themselves—or when they have no other choice.”
“What the deuce does that mean?”
“Kindly recall that Danny, my daughter-in-law and your niece by marriage, was a thief. So you are aware that extraordinary circumstances can force someone to do something they’d rather not do.”
Anthony snorted. “That is not the case here. The man’s not a pauper. He’s got his own bloody ship and a rich property in Hampshire.”
“Exactly.”
“Eh? Now what are you getting at?”
“Settle on one or the other, Tony, not both. If he’s the thief—”
“If?!”
“Then everything else he’s said about himself is likely a lie,” James continued. “Consider this, a thief who gets easy access to wealthy people’s homes because he is a carpenter. He hears about our trip and that four wealthy families will be on board and a carpenter is needed. Rich pickings all in one place. Sounds like a thief’s dream come true, doesn’t it? And free passage to a new continent where he can rob some more before he returns home to England. All plausible. But what isn’t plausible is that he’s gentry and a thief. The man’s a damn good liar though. You realize he would never have come under suspicion if that ring hadn’t fallen out of his stash without his noticing before he hid the rest. Foiled by a bit of carelessness. Bloody rotten luck, that.”
“Makes me sick to my stomach that he lied about The Pearl,” Boyd put in as he came over to join them. “Well, a ship he even invented a name for. And, no, I’m not seasick again,” he added testily before one of his two standard ribbers thought to mention it. “I was looking forward to helping him recover his ship in New London.”
“Am I the only one who wasn’t gulled by him?” Anthony demanded.
“Give it a rest, Tony,” James said. “Tremayne—if that’s his real name—is not a stupid man. He wouldn’t have done what you’re thinking.”
Anthony didn’t deny his other suspicions. “Wouldn’t he? He had the gall to rob her, so I can’t believe that’s not all he stole from her.”
“Ask her,” James said simply.
“The devil I will,” Anthony replied uncomfortably, glancing behind him at Judith on the sofa. “That would be Roslynn’s department and she’s not—”
“George,” James called out. “Ask her!”
“George doesn’t know what we are discussing,” Anthony hissed.
“Course she does,” James replied. “You mean to say Ros can’t read your mind as easily as George reads mine?”
Judith had heard them well enough. When her father was angry, he was rarely quiet about it. “The only thing he seduced out of me was my friendship—and trust,” she said hollowly. “He convinced me of his innocence when he’s not the least bit innocent. I should have followed my instincts. I never should have trusted him.”
“It’s not your fault, sweetheart,” Georgina assured her. “He fed you a tale designed to appeal to your kind nature, so of course you’d believe him.” Georgina added pointedly to James, “We all did. And he’s had enough time to stew. Wrap this up, James, so we can put it behind us.”
? ? ?
The ship’s brig was more a cooling-off room for members of the crew who got into fights or just needed a mild reprimand. It wasn’t set up for an extended stay. It could only be called a brig because its door was made of iron bars. It was actually a tiny room, one of four, in the hallway by the galley, where the cook had been storing sacks of grain.
Corky was using one of the smaller sacks as a pillow for his head, not that either of them was sleeping. Two narrow shelves or benches were built into the walls on either side of the five-foot-square room. But what they couldn’t be called were cots. Yet they’d have to serve as such. There was nowhere else they could sleep other than on the floor.
There wasn’t even room enough to pace in, though Nathan felt more like smashing his fist through a wall. He’d never been so angry at a woman in his life. The rest of them had behaved no differently from what he’d expect of nabobs, but Judith? After what they’d shared, how could she think he’d steal from her? From her! Being falsely accused didn’t even compare to what he felt over that betrayal. But it was his own fault for trusting an aristocrat. Now he might have to spend the rest of his life in prison because of that error in judgment.
“I’d like to know who set you up so we know who to keelhaul afterwards.”
Corky wasn’t taking their incarceration seriously yet, but then his attitude was based on their innocence and the certainty that they’d be released with profuse apologies as soon as the real thief was caught. But there was evidence, which meant people were not going to look any further when they believed they already had their man.
“I don’t think there’s going to be an afterwards, at least, not for me,” Nathan said, gripping the bars in front of him and giving them a hard shake, but he got no satisfying rattle out of them. “You, they’ll have to let go. They don’t imprison men for confessing to friendship.”
“At least Artie left us a lantern. Surprised he did, after that angry look he gave you. Speaking of which, have you made an enemy you failed to mention?”
“Other than Lord Anthony, you mean? No, not that I know of. And as much as I don’t like that lord, he wouldn’t set me up by placing a missing ring under my bed. He’s more direct, favoring revenge with his fists.”
“He prefers Sir Anthony.”
Nathan turned around. “Who does?”
“Sir Anthony does. He’s the son of a marquis, so of course that makes him a lord, but according to the second first mate, he prefers to be called Sir Anthony, since he actually earned that title himself.”
“I don’t give a bleedin’ damn what he prefers.” Nathan sat on the bench across from Corky. “I was more likely picked as the culprit because aside from the two first mates, I’m the only other member of the crew who claimed a bed away from the main quarters. Planting that bauble in the communal area wouldn’t have fingered anyone in particular as the thief. But planting it in my room points a finger directly at me.”
“I’ve gotten to know the men,” Corky said in a thoughtful tone. “Was feeling them out to see if any might want to join us on the trip home. Never would have guessed one of them could be cunning this way, much less be a bleedin’ jewel nabber. If I had to make a guess—”
“Don’t bother. Nothing short of finding the trinkets on someone else is going to get me out of this. Quiet!” Nathan cautioned, standing up and gripping the bars again when he heard footsteps. “Someone’s coming.”
“Or just passing by on their way to the galley,” Corky said with a snort. “You’d think they’d put a brig in the bowels of the bleedin’ ship, not close enough to the galley that we can smell food cooking.”
Nathan didn’t reply when he saw the captain was paying them a visit. Malory glanced around to locate where the key was hung before he continued down the hall. Nathan almost laughed. Where could he go if he could reach the key? But he couldn’t. Even with a shoe to give him an extra foot’s extension, he couldn’t stretch to the front of the little hallway. But the captain’s not knowing where the key was hung proved this room wasn’t used often. Nathan wouldn’t be surprised if Malory had had to get directions to it.
James stopped in front of the cell. His expression wasn’t indicative of his mood, but his words were. “I’m disappointed in you.”
“The feeling is bleedin’ well mutual. Anyone could have put that ring under my bed and you know it. Obviously the thief did. The real one. Yet here I sit, framed for something I didn’t do. A smuggler does not a thief make—not that I’m confessing to either charge.”
“Let’s be clear, Tremayne. It doesn’t matter to me what you used to do, only what you’ve been doing since you boarded my ship. All that remains now is for you to fess up to where you’ve hidden the rest of the jewelry.”
“So you’ve already searched everyone on board?”
“And the point of that would be? What was taken was from four separate jewelry boxes, and some of it quite bulky—necklaces and tiaras that don’t bend, far too much bulk to conceal on a person.”
“I’ve never stolen anything in my life, but if I did, I sure as hell wouldn’t be dumb enough to hide it on a ship that hasn’t sighted land yet. I would have waited until an escape was within view.”
“But you’re a carpenter, dear boy.”
“So?”
“So who better to fashion a hiding place? You could have built a cubbyhole in any wall, floor, or ceiling and concealed it from view. A simple task for a carpenter of your skill. I’m going to be quite annoyed if I have to rip my ship apart to find your cubbyhole. Exceedingly so.”
“I would be, too.”
James actually laughed at that reply. “Yes, I suppose you would be—if you were telling the truth. Unfortunately, my family has been robbed, so I’m not inclined to believe the number one suspect just now. Proof, on the other hand, speaks for itself. I’ll give you some time to think about your current situation, but not too long. I expect to see land tomorrow north of our destination, so we could be in Bridgeport late tomorrow night. Volunteer the location so the jewelry can be recovered and I might be able to calm my family down enough to let you go.”
Nathan snorted. “We both know that’s not happening if I’m guilty, but since I’m not, I can’t very well tell you where the stash is, now can I?”
James shrugged. “Who knows what my family’s sentiments will be once the jewels are recovered. But right now I know exactly what they are, and it’s just your blood they want.”
“You mean your brother does.”
“Well, yes, that goes without saying. You managed to inveigle his daughter’s trust. If you went a step further and bedded her just to get her on your side for this bit of pilfering, I’d kill you m’self. Did you?”
“You think I would say so after that statement?”
“I suppose not.”
“Why don’t you just ask her?”
“Oh, we did. But the darling chit has a way with words that can boggle the mind. If she gave a definitive answer, I’d have to say it only seemed so.”
Corky joined Nathan at the bars. “If you’d stop barking up the wrong tree, Cap’n, you might open your eyes to other motives. Grudges, revenge, even jealousy, or just simple anger. I’ve seen a man break a priceless heirloom in a rage. Deliberately. And cry like a baby afterwards. And wouldn’t take much to toss a sack of baubles over the rail, now would it? They’d be gone in an instant. Too late to regret doing it. You see my point?”
“You’re talking about a fortune, a bloody king’s ransom. No one in their right mind—”
“Exactly. Who’s in their right mind when they’re enraged, eh?”
The captain was shaking his head. Corky gave him a look of contempt and sat back down. Nathan hadn’t thought of motives yet, but he did now.
“My friend’s suggestions are a little far-fetched, but here’s one that isn’t. There was a stowaway who didn’t have time to do any obvious damage, but was picked up by a ship that was on our arse. That was planned, and being so, one or more of the crew could have been in league with them all along. Just because there hasn’t been another sighting of that ship doesn’t mean it’s not still following us.”
“To hurt me or my family?”
“No, for what you just admitted is a king’s ransom. That stowaway could have put the jewels in a crate that could float and lowered it over the side and then signaled that ship to look for it. The jewelry could very well be on that ship. That’s what they were after all along.”
“Or you could be the one in league with them and could have done exactly that,” James said as he walked away.
“This nonsense is going to cost me my ship, damnit!” Nathan growled after him. “No bleedin’ baubles would be worth that to me!”
He waited for a reply but there was none, which had him furiously shaking the bars again. Still not even a little rattle from them. He and Corky weren’t getting out of that cell. His ship was going to end up sold. He was going to see the inside of a prison despite his pardon. Even if the Malorys didn’t have an enemy out there on the high seas, they had one now aboard their ship.