Adeline was glad that her mother was up and about. Often, she was unable to get out of bed and face the day. Sometimes for weeks or months at a time. Her loyal maid, Louise, kept vigil at her mistress’s side during these dark periods to prevent her from harming herself as she had attempted many times in the past.
Adeline glanced around the large room. “Where is Louise?”
“I gave her the day to go visit her sister. Now stop avoiding my question.”
The Hannover boy, as her mother had couched him, was actually the Earl of Hannover. He had danced with her one supper waltz a month ago, and she had never spoken with him again. Her mother always believed that gentlemen were seeking her out when truly the only reason he had danced with her was because her brother had asked him to. Not that Adeline was supposed to know that.
She patted her mother’s hand. “No, he wasn’t for me. But I did dance with a nice gentleman at a party this past weekend. The Marquess of Kingsbury. George knows him from when they were younger.”
“Oooh, tell me all about him.” Her mother’s eyes gleamed with interest.
Adeline leaned back against the pillows and let the sunshine warm her face as she told her mother about Lord Kingsbury. “Well, he is rather impertinent, but in a way that makes me laugh. And he asked me about the books I was reading while we danced.”
“Well, now that’s one to keep an eye on. Hmmm, the Marquess of Kingsbury; we used to know the family a long time ago.”
“He is in the Royal Navy, a captain, or did George say commander? Anyway, he has been in the service since he was fifteen. The rumor mill says he is in town looking for a wife. But he seemed reluctant to talk about why he was in London.”
“Adeline, men never feel comfortable speaking about matrimony.” Her mother patted her knee. “I cannot wait to meet him at the Janson ball.”
“I don’t even know if he will be there, Mother.”
“If he is, he will want to dance with you again, I am sure, and then I will get to meet this impertinent fellow. It will give me something to look forward to this week.”
Adeline leaned her head against her mother’s shoulder. Everything was topsy-turvy in her world, but she wouldn’t share the disturbing things she’d overheard and upset her mother when she was clearly having a good day. It was enough to spend time with her in this sunlight-filled room and discuss the happy minutiae of life.
Adeline would figure out what to do about the artifacts and her suspicions that her father was embroiled in something dangerous, and not for the first time. She bit back a sigh. What she really needed was to find a way out of her father’s house. Someone safe and reliable to marry. Someone with broad shoulders and bright green eyes? She sighed. A girl could dream.
Chapter Eight
Malcolm stared downinto his glass of whiskey as the noise of the tavern swirled around him. He should be paying attention to the conversation at the table between Seb and Captain Horn, but the amber liquid in his glass reminded him of Adeline Amberley’s eyes. Those eyes spoke volumes to the lady’s feelings at any moment. Yesterday, they had been filled with shock—the kind that left one frozen—sitting on the staircase. During the course of their conversation, he had seen wariness, sadness, a brief moment of humor, and resignation. How did she manage all those emotions in one short span of time?
He had long since learned to keep his emotions held tightly inside. You learned quickly to develop a thick outer skin on board ship. Life was hard, and plenty of bad people were waiting to take advantage of those they saw as weak. He had learned that showing your emotions made you a target.
“Commander?” Seb’s voice broke his reverie.
Malcolm looked up to find both men staring at him. “Sorry, what?”
Captain Horn frowned. “I have the ship’s manifest as you requested.”
“Thank you.” Malcolm accepted the piece of parchment. Looking carefully through the list, he frowned. “The missing artifacts are not listed here. How did we know they were missing items if they were never included in the manifest?”
Horn frowned down at the manifest. “I don’t rightly know. I was told verbally about the missing crate.”
“By whom?”
“Admiral Daniels. He came to see me saying that Lord Bellamy had given him intelligence from the foreign office about the stolen artifacts.”
Hmmm. He supposed that made sense. But why did they suspect the crate had been aboard this particular ship? “All right. We are not privy to this intelligence, so I guess we shouldn’t question the foreign service office. It just seems strange, eh?”
Seb met his eye and nodded.
Captain Horn shrugged and took a long swallow of his ale. “It’s been a pain in the arse, is what it has been. They made us search through the entire inventory we confiscated. Nothing but a bunch of tea leaves and fancy bolts of silk.”
“Thanks, Horn. I have been asked to find the missing crate. Good to have it confirmed that it is not with the rest.” Malcolm tipped his glass and downed the whiskey in a long swallow that burned pleasantly down his throat. He stood and extended a hand to the captain. “Tell that pretty wife of yours hello from me.”
Captain Horn stood and shook his hand with a smile. “I certainly will not. Get your own girl already.”
Sebastian laughed low. “That’ll be the day.”
