“So, will you be sailing for the South of France, or perhaps Italy?”
He laughed. “No, I won’t be that close by. I will be sailing to much warmer climates than that. I will probably find an island in the Caribbean, though which one I haven’t decided on. Please excuse me, Duchess.” He bowed again. “I see our host for the evening and I must go speak to him.”
“Of course,” she said. “I wish you Godspeed wherever your journeys take you.”
As the captain turned away, so did Susannah. Where was Race? She had been at the party for at least two hours, and there had been no sign of him or Sir Randolph. She was beginning to worry that something was wrong with Race or the winner of the fight.
She was anxious to tell Race about Captain Spyglass’s plans to leave. Even though Race had runners watching the Captain’s every move, he would still want to know the man intended to exit London soon.
“Your Grace, how wonderful to see you this evening. Your eyes are so bright they could light the night sky.”
Susannah forced a smile and said, “Thank you, Lord Snellingly. How are you?”
“Never better now that I’m looking at your fair face,” he said, holding a piece of paper as well as a handkerchief in his hand. “It just so happens I have a poem here that I wrote for you a few days ago. It’s not long. Only four lines. May I please?”
Maybe if she let him read the poem, he would stop pressing her about it. “All right, Lord Snellingly, please do.”
He cleared his throat and sniffed as he looked down at the paper and read:
“Mere words are inadequate
When candlelight graces your face
I long to tell you of my love, dear one
With a fierceness that clutches my heart like a summer wind.”
Susannah stared at him, speechless, searching for something nice to say about his dreadful poem, when suddenly a man’s hand slid in front of her and gave her a glass of champagne. Susannah turned and saw Race standing so close to her she could feel the warmth of his body.
He smiled, and her heart fluttered excitedly. All her earlier frustrations melted away.
“Excuse us, Snellingly,” Race said and ushered Susannah away from the poet.
“Thank you for rescuing me. He was reading me a poem that was positively dreadful.”
“I’ve heard his poetry and I agree. But it seems you have been busy tonight. You were talking with Spyglass.”
She gave him a teasing smile. “Well, you know better than I what Lord Chesterfield said about ‘while the cat is away.’”
Race moved closer to her, and in a low voice said, “The mice will play. And yes, thanks to my grandmother, I know Lord Chesterfield’s poppycock better than I know the back of my hand, and that saying did not come from him, but I do think it fits you perfectly right now.”
“It’s so easy to attribute everything to him, don’t you think?”
“Yes, whether he said it or not.” Race took a sip of his champagne. “Now, tell me, what did Spyglass have to say?”
“As it happens, the captain told me something very interesting. He said this would probably be his last party as he will be leaving London soon.”
The humor left Race’s face, and his eyes narrowed. “That could mean he is already preparing theGolden Pearlto set sail.”
“My thoughts exactly. Mr. Bickerman is going to have to make haste with his plans if the pearls are on his ship, as we suspect.”
“I’ll talk to Bickerman later tonight and tell him about this, if he doesn’t already know about Spyglass’s plans. He’s keeping a tight watch on the ship. But don’t worry, Susannah, I’ll see to it that Captain Spyglass’s ship doesn’t leave port until it has been thoroughly searched, even if I have to get the Thames Police to detain it. Now, I don’t want you worrying about any of this. Bickerman will take care of everything. Understood?”
“Race, I trust you completely.”
His gaze swept lovingly across her face. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”
For reasons she didn’t understand, Susannah suddenly felt shy. “I was watching the entrance for you. I didn’t see you come in.”
