“If you are eager to be on land, tell me which hotel will be your temporary lodging. I will pledge to wait on you there as soon as possible.”
“Our plans are not settled?—”
“What if you and Sir Mark were to accompany me to the consulate? You would be at hand for the return of your property, and it is just near the heart of the city. You would have ample accommodation near at hand.”
Lady Marston looked temporarily non-plussed. She needed the search to happennow,when she, Sophia, or Sir Mark could apprehend the letter that must not reach Lisbon.
“Captain Smythe, I understand your position,” said Sir Mark, unexpectedly entering the lists, “but I am fed up with this nonsense! All you will say is that the bags ‘are not to be opened.’ Well, theyhave been opened, my good man! Humbug, that’s what it is. I insist we finish this! Send for the bags!”
Captain Smythe looked plaintively at Captain Wentworth and Colonel Fitzwilliam. Caroline and Anne had joined them during the argument.
Caroline raised her hand. “Surely I am not the only one agog with curiosity! Is that wrong to say? We are all desperate to know, so may we compromise, Captain Smythe? Please?”
Richard supported her. “You have ample witnesses here, Captain. I do not think that your duties involve keeping stolen property from a baronet who has entrusted himself and his party to your care.”
Captain Wentworth nodded. “You would be within your rights to refuse, Captain Smythe, but I don’t feel you are incumbent to do so. I will back you if needed.”
The captain sighed, defeated. “As you say, sir.”
He was the only one so affected. On everyone else, including Sophia herself, the news was like a jolt of static electricity from a Leyden jar. She looked once more at Mr. Belvedere’s door and wrung her hands.
20
Caroline placed two extra whale oil lamps on the table, while the four that swung from the ceiling of the dining room were lit. She did not say anything else, for she did not want the captain to change his mind.
The three bags were roughly the size of a satchel or knapsack that a laborer might carry on his back. Each had two leather straps buckling the flap closed, and when those were opened, there was an inner bag cinched with cords.
The cords were waxed and knotted, and Caroline picked at one of them, but one of her smooth nails snapped.
“Ow!” She spread her fingers and plucked the hanging nail, wincing as it went a little into the quick. “I must leave that to you,” she said to Richard.
He and Captain Wentworth and Captain Smythe made short work of the three bags. Lady Marston and Sir Mark sat at the table, but Sophia hovered nearby.
“You, ma’am,” the captain said in cold accents to Sophia, “will keep your distance from the table. You have done enough.”
Sir Mark took one of the bags and unceremoniously dumped it out on the large rectangular table. Folded and sealed lettersslid in every direction. There were wax seals of every color, some quite bright. Many letters were written even on the outside, the paper lined and crossed with slanted handwriting to save on paper. Some were clearly business circulars in formal writing with proper folded envelopes. Some were thin, only a single page, while others were thick sheaves bound by thread into nearly a book. Small parcels, less than a fist in size, also slid out, along with a few fancier parchments rolled and tied up with ribbon. Some of the parcels were leather or cloth bags, with the address and direction indicated on a tag tied to the exterior.
“Sir!” Captain Smythe exclaimed. “There is no need for such careless—violent?—”
“I’m not going to roll in the stuff.” Sir Mark laughed, sorting through the larger pieces. “But let us cut line, man!”
Caroline kept one portion of the pile from sliding off onto the floor, moving several handfuls back toward the middle. She also looked at each addressee as she stacked letters. While they were ostensibly looking for the necklace, she was also curious to find the infamousWrit of Arrestthat supposedly doomed Mr. Belvedere.
Lady Marston and Sir Mark also sorted through quite industriously, although none of the flat letters, circulars, and bulletins could contain a necklace.
“If any of these bags do not have a tag,” Caroline commented, “they could be the necklace. We do not know if Mr. Belvedere attempted to disguise it.” She couldn’t imagine thrusting an heirloom anywhere without wrapping it in cottonwool to prevent snags or breakage or loose stones from being lost. But of course, he was a brute, so perhaps he had not done that.
“I don’t think it’s in this one,” said Sir Mark. He dumped the next bag.
“We have not even sorted through this one yet!” Captain Smythe protested. He handed the third bag to the second mate. “Hold onto this. I insist we do this in an orderly fashion.”
“I’ll do it as orderly as ye like,” said Sir Mark, pawing through the now rather gargantuan pile of oddments like it was a dragon’s hoard. “Perhaps all the letters over here, small packages there, bags just there for the captain to check…?”
Sophia watchedwith quivering knees that barely held her. She understood Sir Mark’s strategy, but it was dangerous. As soon as Sir Mark “found” the stolen necklace, the mail would be put away posthaste. They needed to confuse the issue long enough to find the letter. He or Lady Marston must find it first,thenhe must produce the necklace.
With only her eyes, since she was not permitted to approach the table, Sophia studied the scattered mail. The letter they searched for would be small, only a page or two of hot press paper at most. It would be directed from Sir Mark’s London solicitor, a Mr. Pitcairn, to the expatriate solicitors in Lisbon, Messieurs Thompson and Tiddlethwaite. It was they who oversaw the fortune of Sir Mark’s late uncle.
TheLady Marycontinued to rock; the lamps to swing. The shadows from the people gathered round the table swung likewise, and the light wanted to confuse her eyes, but Sophia was desperate. They would not have long. Captain Wentworth and Anne were content to watch the proceeding without touching, but Caroline carded through it all with a guilty sort of fascination. The maids had come out to watch, and the second mate stood in the corner with wide eyes.
