A smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he turned to his friend. "You've put on a few stone the last few years." His amused gaze traveled over Tobias’ portly frame.
"Insolent upstart!" Tobias glared at him, but there was a definite twinkle in his eyes. "So, you don't think anyone will recognize me, eh?" He passed a hand over the stubble on his chin.
"It's not likely any of us will be recognized. We're different men with different identities. Exactly as it was when you and my father first went to Sydney."
"You could be right there."
Zach nodded. "You'll notice when you go topside that I took the liberty of changing the colors.Tamarisknow flies the flag of Spain. I thought it a safeguard against too many questions."
"And you think we can fool the bloody boys in red?"
Zach winked conspiratorially. "I've been lucky so far." He grinned and, crossing the cabin, slapped a hand on Tobias’ back.
"The British fleet is far too busy searching every harbor town in New South Wales for the Raven. They'll not be concerned with the likes of us."
"Yer too bold, lad." Tobias shook his head. "Sometimes I think you like playing games with the devil."
Zach threw back his head and roared with laughter. "Why, Tobias, don't you know?" His silver-gray eyes narrowed dangerously. "I am the devil." Then he sobered and went back to his small desk. "Now, we must make a plan for you to go ashore. You have some memory of London, whereas I have no knowledge of it whatsoever."
"I don't like it," Tobias complained, shaking his head.
"But you will go," Zach informed him gently.
"Aye, I'll go. But only because I know if I don't, you'll do it yourself and probably end up in some kind of trouble. London is no town for a stranger." The old man sighed resignedly. "What is it you want me to do?"
Zach sat down at the desk, opening the journal. "I need information." He pushed back thoughtfully in the chair, his fingers lightly drumming the worn pages of the leather-bound volume. "I need to know everything about the Barrington family, particularly Felicia Barrington." His voice hardened. "And find out what you can about Barrington Shipping. It's time to corner the lion."
Tobias shook his shaggy, gray head. "Yer always reading that damned journal. I wish I'd never given it to you. Felicia Barrington has become an obsession with you. For God's sake, it all happened over thirty years ago!" He waved an arm in frustration. "You don't even know if she's still alive! And what are you going to do when you find her? She's a Barrington, remember? They'll not exactly roll out the red carpet for us!"
Zach sighed, his gray eyes traveling back to the open porthole with an expression of inexplicable longing.
"I don't know," he whispered, lost in his own thoughts.
She was out there, somewhere. He could feel it, but even he was at a loss to understand his obsession with a woman his father had once known.
"Aye, Tobias," he agreed, "she has become an obsession." He picked up the sparkling pendant, twirling it in the sunlight that poured in through the porthole. The rays invaded the stones, reflecting deep hidden facets, hinting at other secrets concealed within. "A magnificent, elusive obsession. And I won't rest until I find her.”
* * *
"Suck it in, my dear," Katy managed from between clenched teeth as she pulled hard on the corset strings.
"You're cutting me in half," Elyse gasped, trying to breathe.
"Yer dressmaker said we have to get it down to seventeen inches for that dress to fit." Katy pulled harder.
Elyse clung to the post of the large bed, eyes closed painfully. Behind her, Katy wound the strings of the corset more tightly around hands reddened from pulling.
"Just a little bit more," she coaxed.
Elyse groaned. "A little bit more and I won't be able to walk."
"It's necessary," Katy gritted out, pulling the strings, a fraction of an inch tighter.
Elyse's cheeks drained of all color. "Enough!" She swore inaudibly under her breath. Then, jerking away, she swung around, drawing a deep breath as the strings loosened and the garment gaped open down her back.
"No more!" she warned with an outstretched hand. "I refuse to be trussed up like a Christmas goose." Determination glittered in her brilliant blue eyes as she backed away from the maid. "Eighteen inches will just have to do." She tossed her auburn hair defiantly over one bare shoulder.
Katy sucked in her cheeks. "Madame Duquesne won't like it."
