Chev’s heart thudded in his throat.
Smugglers. The unseen. Smuggling had dwindled, not stopped. The goods could even have come from the ship Emmaus had spoken about.
And, from the path the men had taken up from the harbor, they would have had to walk right past Sir Jerold’s militia.
Then again, why should he be surprised?
Officers and smugglers often worked in consort. Most of the time, the only way a man ended up caught smuggling was if he went against his own.
The men passed by in groups of two—one man in front, one behind, a chest between each pair. Two, four, six, eight.
One of the men stumbled and cursed.
The line came to a halt.
“That’s the last time, I tell you.” A man spoke.
“You whine like a woman.” A second man said.
Penelope’s spine stiffened.
“I almostdiedback there,” the first man spoke again. “Could’ve been you and you know it. There’s no way an inexperienced man could climb down that cliff.”
“Shut it, would you?” A third man called. “Itoldyou they won’t be going down that way.”
“Then how—”
“I said”—the third man lifted a flintlock—“shut it.”
Silence fell among the group.
“Now,” the third man said, “let’s get these to the storerooms, shall we?Quietly.”
The line of men moved slowly across the field, not bothering to hide themselves in the least.
“Looks like we’ll be here for a while,” Chev whispered into Penelope’s hear, “you had better get comfortable.”
Penelope nodded, turning her face into his chest.
He held her head beneath his chin as he considered what he had just heard.
Why would one of the smugglers complain that the cliff was too difficult for an inexperienced man to climb down?
The smugglers only transported goods.
Or were they planning to transport men?
Chapter Fourteen
PENELOPE RETURNED WITHChev—as the captain—late the night before. On the way, they’d discussed everything they’d seen and heard.
Smuggling had returned to Ithwick, with the cellars beneath the castle ruins being used to store the goods.
Pen and Chev had come to the same conclusion—there was only one way smuggling could have resumed, and that was with Anthony’s express permission.
The smugglers had also unwittingly provided the answer that had been troubling her for some time—the reason for Anthony’s courtship.
If Anthony gained control of both Pensteague and Ithwick, he could reopen the tunnels the duke had destroyed. Concealed within the earth, they could smuggle even more. More goods. Morepeople.
