Lady Marston latched the door and sank onto the edge of the bed. She kept her voice low. “If that was a ploy, it was stupid.”
“It was not, ma’am. I was genuinely—overcome.”
“Ugh. This generation is so sensitive. Next you’ll be quacking yourself. You didn’t retrieve the letter yet?”
“No, Caroline and her husband were there—you heard.”
“I thought perhaps they were mistaken. The hold is dark and crowded?—”
“They were right in front of the door. There was no chance.”
Lady Marston sighed through her teeth in frustration. “We have less than a week until Lisbon! Must I do this myself?”
“If you think you can, please do.”
“Sir Mark and I offered you part of hisinheritanceif you would do this one thing…”
“Only the most dangerous andcriminalpart of your scheme. Did you know that you can be hanged for tampering with the mail?”
“Keep your voice down.”
“What could possibly be so important? I’ve wracked my brain, but I cannot think of anything that would prevent Sir Mark from taking the inheritance. I can think of nothing that would be worth all this. And Donny’s parrot—was that you?”
“It would wake the boy any time you went to the hold. It was necessary.”
“How dared you? That was cruel—it was wrong.”
“Don’tthink to judge me—a Haymarket slut like yourself.”
Sophia’s cheeks kindled, but she didn’t rise to the insult. There was no love lost between Sophia and her mother.
Lady Marston continued, quietly, “I’ll allow that was quick thinking to use Mr. Belvedere. The captain will relax with him caught. You’ll have a chance.”
“That wasn’t right—I shouldn’t have done it.”
“Nonsense. They were ready to believe it; you only confirmed their suspicions.”
“But he might behanged?—”
“That is his own business. Stick to yours.”
“Are you going to ‘find’ the necklace among his things now?” Sophia asked. “I know you took it yourself, but you mustn’t do that. The necklace would damn Mr. Belvedere even further.”
“Perhaps. It would tie everything up neatly for the captain. I only hid the necklace to distract from the mail.”
“Where was it all this time?” Sophia asked wearily. Lady Marston’s rather flat bosom—the time-honored place for ladiesto conceal something—didn’t seem likely. “Did you make Sir Markhold it?”
“Ugh, don’t speak to me of Sir Mark. It is bad enough I have to share quarters with him—and a bed! He snorts and smokes and complains night and day. You would think he is a child rather than a man of sixty—but he was always so.”
“But the necklace?”
Lady Marston shrugged. “At least he has capacious pockets. Do not worry about that. With everything wrapped up, surely you will find an opportunity. No more mistakes. You were very careless that first time or we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“I know.” Lady Marston had not hesitated to vent her spleen at Sophia’s first botched attempt.
Sophia had gone to the hold and gotten the mail bags open. How her fingernails had ached from picking the knots of the waxy ropes! She had begun to sort through, looking for the letter from Sir Mark’s solicitor, when she’d heard the parrot and a great clatter from the seamen’s portion of the lower deck. She hadn’t been familiar with the hold yet—not as familiar as she now was—and she hadn’t realized how sound traveled oddly with the low ceilings and thin walls. She probablycouldhave finished her task that very night, but she panicked when the boy got up and fumbled around. She had left the bags open. Lady Marston could not be more frustrated than Sophia had been with herself.
“It’s not as easy as it seems,” Sophia added. “There are always interruptions. I even tried during the storm when I felt like death.”
