Chapter 16

Ihad nearly given up on Gage returning that evening. It had been a tense afternoon with most of us confined to the house because of the rain. All except Lord Gage and Bevil, that is, who had both taken themselves off somewhere—presumably separately—in a fit of pique. This left me with the unenviable task of trying to mitigate the awkwardness that had followed the heated accusations and arguments flung by both sides.

Not being known for my charm or social skills, I keenly felt their lack, struggling along as best I could. Fortunately, when I brought Emma down to the drawing room after her nap, her adorable grins and playful exclamations made up for any number of my deficiencies. She even managed to smooth away the frown lines I'd begun to believe would permanently score my father-in-law's face when I brought her down for one more visit after dinner.

Lord Gage had returned to Roscarrock House just in time to join us at the table, though his hair was still damp. I wasn't certain traipsing about in the rain all afternoon had been the best thing for him. It was evident when he rose from the table that his leg was aggravating him. But I kept my concern to myself, knowing he'd not thank me for it.

It didn't take much discernment to guess he'd been searching for Branok. I could think of few things that would drive him so stubbornly out into this weather. It was also clear his mother's family was perfectly aware of this fact as well. They eyed him with either reticence or open hostility. Had he not elected to retire early, I would have taken him aside to suggest he do so. I would have done the same myself if I'd not been worried for Gage.

The clock ticked ever closer to ten, and I'd begun to convince myself he must have taken a room somewhere for the night to escape the weather, when a commotion in the passage leading from the back parlor alerted me to his arrival. I abandoned the yarn I'd been winding for Amelia and hastened to greet him.

"What an abysmal journey you must have had," I exclaimed at the sight of him, wet and bedraggled, dripping all over the rug as he struggled out of his greatcoat. He was soaked and almost certainly chilled, but I exhaled in relief to find him whole and hearty and safely returned.

"I almost stopped for the night near Wadebridge," he replied before turning to Joan, who had followed me from the room. "I do beg your pardon, madam. I'll change out of these wet things just as soon as I may."

"I've sent for your valet, and I'll have a warm hip bath sent up to you when the water is heated," she told him.

"Thank you," he said as I began to hurry him up the stairs, anxious to see him made comfortable and to hear whether his journey had been worthwhile. There was also much for me to impart to him.

Once inside our room, I helped him out of his frock coat and brushed away his icy fingers to begin on the intricate draping of his cravat. He smiled down at me. "Perhaps I should hire you as my valet. No offense to Anderley, but you're far prettier to look at."

I offered him a coy little grin in response. "I suspect I would make you late for everything."

"Why is that?" he asked as his damp hair dripped onto the linen.

I arched a single eyebrow, allowing him to deduce what I meant.

"Ahhh," he answered, his pale gaze growing decidedly warmer. He reached up to clutch my upper arms, crushing the puffed sleeves as he drew me closer. "Yes, you would."

We were unceremoniously interrupted by a rap on the door, one that was too tentative to be Anderley. I backed away from Gage, lest I shock the Roscarrocks' staff before calling for them to enter.

A footman entered carrying the hip bath and a stack of towels while a pair of maids followed behind carrying buckets of water. I directed the footman to set the bath by the hearth while the maids set the buckets on the floor and swiftly departed. The footman then dumped the water from each of the buckets into the tub as swirls of steam rose toward the ceiling, before squaring his shoulders to face my husband.

"We couldn't find Mr. Anderley. But if it pleases ye, sir, I could attend ye."

A sinking feeling filled my stomach as a frown creased Gage's face. Even so, he dismissed the young man with a light voice. "That won't be necessary."

I stood holding Gage's soiled cravat between my fingers as the footman shut the door firmly. "I wonder where Anderley is?" I ventured, uncertain whether I wished to draw Gage's attention to it at the moment and risk upsetting him. He had been very angry with his valet the prior evening.

But Gage appeared relatively untroubled. "Undoubtedly off investigating one thing or another," he replied as he sat to remove his riding boots, demonstrating his apparent trust in Anderley. Trust that I prayed he still deserved.

I watched for a moment as Gage struggled with his Hoby boots. He usually required Anderley's assistance to remove them, particularly after a hard day's ride, and I pondered whether we should recall the footman to help when the first boot loosened, sliding from his foot.

"Was all your discomfort at least worth it?" I asked, draping his cravat over the back of the chair.

"Trelawny wasn't there," he said, and I might have responded with commiseration if not for the glint in his eyes. "But his family was. And they had plenty to say." He set the boot to the side before beginning to tug at the second. "Father was correct. Despite all the government's efforts, the smuggling has never truly stopped. Oh, the Martello towers they built to protect the coast during the war with Napoléon helped, and the large number of smuggling vessels captured and sunk by the Royal Navy during the Peace of Amiens certainly hindered the free traders. And the recent reorganization of the preventive services has undoubtedly proved a more effective deterrent. But the smugglers have simply altered their methods in order to circumvent all that."

"Including the Roscarrocks?"

He grunted as the second boot came free. "If the reports the Trelawnys' have heard are to be believed." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he wiggled his toes. "Rather than risk their own vessels, they now charter French ships because the revenue cutters can't impede them as long as they remain outside territorial waters. The smugglers send agents over on the mail packet to France, and various other countries, to secure their contraband of brandy or silk or sugar or tobacco—whatever products prove profitable to avoid paying tariffs for—and then hire a ship and crew. Once completed, the agents sail back to England with the vessel, commanding them where to either sink the goods in tubs offshore to be collected later by locals in smaller fishing boats, or directly meet the locals who take the contraband off the ship into their boats."

I moved a step closer. "And this is what the Roscarrocks do?"

Gage spread his hands wide. "According to the Trelawnys."

I considered all this. "If that's true, then Bevil lied outright to your father."

"That, or he's indulging in obfuscation."

I turned to him in question.

"They're not Roscarrock ships or crews. Maybe the agent isn't even a Roscarrock. In fact, he probably isn't. If the enterprise is of any significant size—and it must be to make such an undertaking profitable—then they may be only one of several families involved."

"And if that's true, if practically the entire community is involved, then that makes it all the more difficult to convince any of them to share what they know." I felt like we were back in Yorkshire, confronted with the silent collusion of an entire village yet again.

Gage nodded dourly, bending to remove his stockings. "Though I may have a plan to circumvent that."

Before I could ask what this meant, he shifted topics. "But what of here? Were you and Father able to uncover anything?"

"Were we," I muttered with a wry laugh, drawing his gaze. I quickly recapitulated the days' discoveries, including Dr. Wolcott's failure to note rigor mortis and the fact that Morgan had let slip that her dissenter husband and Branok had avoided each other. Gage seemed to think little of the fact Bevil and Mery had exchanged heated words, but I had saved the biggest revelation for last.

"We met Tamsyn Grenville Kellynack on our way back to the manor. Did you have a chance to meet her last night?" I queried, recalling that Gage hadn't been a part of our conversation in the garden.

He stood, stretching his arms over his head as he squinted his eyes as if trying to remember. "A woman about my father's age with dark eyes and dark hair going to gray? Yes, we were introduced."

"Well, she was Jago's cousin. Your father's friend who was killed. And apparently she was also quite close to your father."

If Gage read anything more into these words than their surface meaning, he didn't indicate it, instead unfastening his waistcoat and discarding it on the floor before starting on the buttons of his fine white lawn shirt.

"We've been invited to tea on Monday, incidentally. By Jago's mother."

Thissucceeded in capturing his interest. His eyes flared wide, correctly interpreting how fraught the visit might prove to be for both parties. "Then I'm glad I didn't postpone my journey to see Trelawny until then," he remarked, resuming his disrobing.

"Tamsyn also informed us of something a bit more…alarming." I licked my suddenly dry lips, uncertain why I hesitated. "She claimed she saw Branok along the coast near Doyden Point."

"The day he died?" Gage asked, lifting his shirt over his head.

"No. This morning."

Gage's fingers slipped, nearly dropping the shirt into the hip bath. "This morning?" he repeated incredulously.

"Yes." My gaze dipped momentarily to the musculature of his chest before returning to his face as his shock dissolved into skepticism. "Claimed?"

"She admits he was at least one hundred and fifty yards away, too far to make out his features, but she insists she recognized him from the way he moved."

"Did Father believe her?"

I arched a single eyebrow. "What do you think?"

Gage turned away with a softly muttered curse, scraping a hand back through his damp hair.

"He insisted on confronting Bevil and the others, who denied it, and then went traipsing off in the rain. Presumably to search for his uncle. Leaving me to try to soothe a lot of frazzled tempers."

Gage's gaze softened with empathy.

I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling suddenly exposed. "As you know, that is not my strong suit."

He pulled me toward him, and I allowed myself to melt into his embrace. "Has Father returned?"

I nodded against his bare shoulder. "Just in time for dinner. Though he retired early."

"Leaving you alone again." He bowed his head; his exhaled breath stirred the hairs at my temple. "I wish I'd been here."

"I do, too," I admitted. "Perhaps you would have been able to talk some sense into him."

His voice turned wry. "I doubt it, but at least I would have been here to lend you support."

I pressed closer. "Then you don't believe Tamsyn?"

He lifted his head to look down at me, but rather than answer, he turned the question back on me. "Do you?"

I retreated a step so that I could see his face more fully. "It seems improbable."

"But it's troubling none the same."

"I can see no good reason why Tamsyn would lie." I frowned. Unless it was to widen the rift between Lord Gage and his mother's family. But I didn't share this out loud. "She must simply be mistaken. But if she isn't…"

Gage's brow furrowed, echoing the same confusion and apprehension I felt.

"Why would they lure us here with such a pretense? What could they hope to gain?"

If they'd wished to reconcile with Gage's father, this certainly wasn't the way to do it. It would cause an even bigger breach than before.

"I don't know," he admitted, lifting his hand to cradle my cheek. "Mrs. Kellynack simply must be mistaken."

Having felt the iciness of his fingers, I grasped his hand between mine. "Enough of this. It can wait. Get in that hip bath before the water cools completely."

A teasing smile hovered on his lips, which I was surprised hadn't turned blue. "Aye, m'lady."

I turned away to search the clothespress for the nightshirt he'd claimed Anderley had packed him, only to have him draw me closer, pressing a kiss to my lips.

When he pulled back, it was to gaze down at me with earnest eyes. "We'll sort it out. Together. Like always," he assured me.

My heart swelled with love for him. "Of course we will."

A glimmer of mischief lit his eyes. "And if I should require additional warming?"

Some impish impulse overtook me as I began again to turn away. "I shall ring for more water." I grinned as he pulled me back once more.

"That's not the answer I was hoping for."

"It isn't?"

He arched his eyebrows at my coy remark.

Pressing my hands to the bristles dusting his jaw, I allowed him to see my full affection for him in the depths of my eyes. "I shall always be here for you."

I paused, noting that my words had affected him as deeply as I'd hoped. Perhaps too deeply for this moment. "Now…" I whispered, pausing for dramatic effect. "Get in the bath."

He smiled, and this time he obeyed.