“Yes, very good, well said—but what do you intend todowith the necklace? Do you mean for it to be found before we reach Lisbon? Is this merely to teach the old dragon a lesson in manners—or do you intend to run off with it in Lisbon? It could fetch a tidy sum if it is as fine as she says, but you have to know your way around a fence.”
“Doyouknow your way around a fence?”
“I could hardly admit to it, could I?” He momentarily assumed his usual manner. “Why, I’ve had to spout my watch on occasion at a pawn shop, but I’ve never playedJack-in-the-box.” He laughed. “Come, Sophia, what’s your plan? The necklace, I understand, but the mail? What was the goal?”
“You are delusional.”
“Was the mail nonsense perpetrated by someone else? Ah, and you just used the cover provided by the rumpus to take the necklace? Clever.”
“How oldareyou?” Sophia demanded. It was perhaps not the most pressing question of the hour, but somehow she couldn’t go forward without an answer. The difference in his manner was marked.
His mouth twitched. “Twenty-nine.”
“No.Really?”
“Yes, I didn’t lie about my face confusing people. I can pass for much younger, and people look with more lenience on an overgrown, bumbling youth, than a large, unknown gentleman.”
“And—areyou a gentleman?”
“By some definitions of the word, ma’am! Can I in turn ask if you are a lady?”
“Yes, I am. Bymostdefinitions of the word.Didyou go to Cambridge?”
“Lived there for four years. And were you really married?”
“Yes. Seven years.”
His countenance fell a little. “Oh. Iamsorry, I thought perhaps that was part of the ruse.”
“There is no ruse, but you needn’t be sorry; I am better off.”
“In that case…” He deliberately took her hand and placed it back on the gunwale, covering it with his. “You mustn’t lose your grip in these rising waves. The deck is wet and slick.”
“Mr. Bel—is you name even Belvedere?—you have greatly mistaken the matter. Do you intend to accuse me of thievery to Colonel Fitzwilliam and Captain Wentworth? I don’t think they’ll believe you.”
“Oh no, far be it from me to throw stones. Glass houses and all that.”
“Is this—some sort of blackmail? If you think I’ll allow what I haven’t before just because you threaten me?—”
“Good saints, Sophy, I might play a role, but I’m not a villain. I would never coerce a woman like that.”
“Then…” She wiggled her hand under his questioningly.
He sighed. “If you will go about being beautiful and clever and cunning—and not wearing gloves—you really ask too much of me. And I thought, in all seriousness, you might need to know you have a friend on board.”
“Sir Mark and Lady Marston?—”
“If they are your friends, I’ll eat my cravat.” He threaded his fingers through hers. “I may be a schemer, but I’m not a rakehell or a peep-of-day boy—I’ll help you if I can.”
“Do you think I’ll split the money with you—if therewasmoney?”
“Well, if you’re offering?—”
“There is no theft! You’ve mistaken the matter. And do you thinkthisis in the nature of comforting a friend?” She flipped her hand to hold his, and her thumb stroked over the palm of his hand once.
His eyes—still so appealing despite his suspicions of her—flickered in excitement. “Well?—”
“I’m not sure you’ve had many friends, if you think they act like this.” She removed her hand from his firmly. “Thank you for the offer of help. I suppose if I was as lost to all morals as you think, it would be welcome—but you are fully mistaken. You say you didn’t steal the necklace, and I believe you. I wish you would extend me the same courtesy.”
