Chapter 9

9

Walkingthrough the hallway of the Admiralty with Calliope by his side, Nathaniel kept clenching and unclenching his fists. Yet again, a woman in his life was in danger—perhaps mortal danger. And she was stubborn and disobedient…and, just like his mama, Calliope wouldn’t let him protect her.

It was hard to walk, as though his legs were made of pure lead. Nervous energy ran through his body like prickly tingles.

“Are you feeling well?” asked Calliope.

He glared at her. How could she look so confident, so serene when someone had just threatened her?

“Am I feeling well?” he demanded, his voice louder than he’d like, echoing against marble floors.

An officer turned the corner of the hallway and nodded to him in greeting, throwing a curious glance at Calliope before passing through one of the many mahogany doors to either side. Nathaniel continued with a lower voice, which took him some effort. “That was a real threat, Calliope. Someone will harm you if you don’t stop. I’m concerned for your safety.”

“I’m concerned for my brother’s safety.”

“How do you not understand? Someone wanted your brother gone. Someone no doubt powerful. Perhaps deadly. Your brother must have stepped on their toes, and now you’re about to do the same. They could do the same things to you.”

She cocked her eyebrow, her face unconcerned. “Let them try.”

What was he doing? After what had happened to his mama, he was marrying a woman who didn’t care if she was in danger. His arms felt heavy, hands aching to grab her and lock her up somewhere away from danger.

But he had to be civilized.

Around the farther corner of the corridor, two male silhouettes appeared, walking towards them, deep in conversation. Nathaniel could hear the rumble of their voices echoing off the walls of the corridor. He recognized the deep voice and the upright posture of one of the men: Admiral Sir Robert Langden. In his fifties, the admiral was of medium height but with a muscular build and a slightly rounded stomach. Even when he was strict, he always had an underlying expression of kindness in his eyes, with the wrinkles of a smile around the corners. He listened to the other man carefully, his arms held against the small of his back as they walked. As they approached, Nathaniel could see the admiral’s navy uniform with golden epaulets bearing intricately embroidered stars.

Calliope, however, gave out a small gasp and a curse he hadn’t expected from her. She grasped him by the fabric of his coat and tugged him behind a column.

“Shh!” She laid one finger on her lips, glaring at him with wide eyes.

“What is it?” he whispered.

“Do be quiet,” she mouthed. “It’s Preston!”

Nathaniel released a quick breath. Of course. Her brother would be continuing the search himself.

He nodded. Footsteps sounded closer to them and so did the voices.

“…so if you would allow me to look through the records of sailors or officers that departed during September, I would be much obliged,” droned Preston’s baritone.

“Of course,” said Langden, “I wish I could grant you anything you need. I cannot, however, allow you to see everything as we are in two wars, sir, and certain information must remain secret. We cannot be too careful.”

“I understand. I am happy to have one of your officers supervise me as I look through them.”

Nathaniel could see them passing by the column now. Calliope, whose breasts were pressed against him, stilled and didn’t breathe. Neither did he—but not because of the admiral and her brother.

Because her scent was so lovely and the warm touch of her body so seductive. And they were hidden in the darkness… If he just lowered his head, he could kiss her.

“I’m afraid I cannot allow that, either, sir. I can, however, have someone look for your brother’s name and report if they see something worth reporting.”

Their voices trailed off as the two of them passed Nathaniel and Calliope and then disappeared from Nathaniel’s vision, probably taking the corridor leading to the other wing.

When Nathaniel couldn’t hear their footsteps or voices any longer, Calliope sighed out a long breath of relief.

“Aren’t you happy you have me?” Nathaniel asked, still relishing the feel of her so close to him. “The admiral will not provide much information even to your brother.”

Calliope gave him back a little smile that made his stomach bubble with some sort of joy.

“Yes, I am very lucky to have you,” she said from under hooded eyes. “And I’m paying a high price for the privilege of your help. Now, come quick. Let’s do what we came here to do before Preston sees me.”

Their destination, the Naval Transport Board, maintained lists of ships and their captains, as well as information about their cargo and destination. They also kept track of departure and arrival dates for ships and their crews.

Nathaniel and Calliope entered a large formal space with tall windows, high ceilings, and elaborate moldings. The walls were adorned with portraits of naval heroes, maps, and other nautical artwork. Clerks and officers sat at polished mahogany desks, talked, or searched through the records of the books placed on the tall bookshelves. The sounds of quills scratching on paper and voices calling out instructions or talking filled the space.

Looking around the room, Nathaniel located a thick man in his forties wearing glasses. He leaned over his desk, dipping his pen into the inkwell and then writing something.

“Come with me,” he said to Calliope and walked to the corner of the large room where Officer Hughes sat. Hughes looked up as they approached, his eyes narrowing as they landed on Nathaniel. His eyebrows furrowed, and his lips pressed tightly together.

Nathaniel knew Hughes, although not very well. It must have been three years ago when, on a drunken night, Hughes had shared with him that he was courting a woman he hoped to make his wife, but she wasn’t responding as well as he’d hoped. Nathaniel had given him advice on how to change that. His courtship had become a success, and now Hughes was a happily married man with a two-year-old daughter.

However, when sober, Hughes, just like Calliope, disapproved of Nathaniel’s rakish lifestyle. Besides, he was a man known for his meticulousness and hated being interrupted.

But Hughes owed Nathaniel a favor.

“May I help you, Your Grace?” Hughes asked.

He glanced at Calliope and his frown deepened.

“Let me introduce my fiancée,” said Nathaniel. “This is Lady Calliope Seaton. Lady Calliope, this is Officer Hughes.”

“Lady Calliope.” Hughes nodded. “Pleased to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine, sir,” said Calliope.

“Hughes, I require your assistance,” said Nathaniel. “I need to know which ships were docked in London on September 3, 1812, and when they sailed off.”

Hughes looked at him over the rim of his spectacles. “Why?”

“I’m afraid I may have misplaced a document assigning navy officers to the ships, and this information will help me find it.”

“Right,” said Hughes, as though that was exactly what he’d expected of Nathaniel. “The admiral must be quite displeased with you.” He stood up, walked to the bookshelf behind him, and searched through the large leather books in neat rows. “You never bothered about a document you misplaced in your life.”

Nathaniel’s jaw tightened, and he balled his fists at his sides, willing himself not to lash out. Part of him wanted to be pleasing to Calliope, even though he had no reason to. He glanced at her, and she met his gaze with an amused expression, her eyebrows raised.

“No, not until now,” said Nathaniel.

“Which date did you say?” asked Hughes.

“September 3, 1812,” said Calliope.

Hughes removed a large leather-bound tome. “I am not certain why your fiancée needs to be present to locate a document…” he mumbled and set it on the desk in front of them.

“Here you are.”

Calliope’s eyes practically burned as she laid her hands on it. “May I?”

Hughes frowned with an expression as though he was about to refuse her. “I’m afraid it’s not for laypeople—”

Nathaniel interrupted him. “How are your wife and daughter doing, Hughes? Are they well?”

Hughes paled and swallowed. “They are. Thank you.”

“Hughes has quite a story of how he courted the young woman, do you not, Hughes? Being much younger than you, she almost refused you, or am I mistaken?”

Calliope watched the two of them with a suspicious frown. “You’re quite right, Kelford,” said Hughes with a suddenly pleasant expression. “But this is the Admiralty, not—”

“It’s so fascinating to think that had it not been for her change of heart when you gave her that book of Shakespeare’s love sonnets, she may be married to someone else now and your daughter wouldn’t have been born… Do you ever feel thankful someone gave you that idea and encouraged you to try again and again?”

Hughes swallowed and nodded. “Quite right, Kelford. That someone was indeed quite helpful, and I will forever be thankful. I see you found a good future wife, too. Clearly, she will keep you organized. Please do look at it, Lady Calliope.”

Nathaniel gave him a satisfied nod. “Excellent, thank you. Do you, perhaps, need to confirm something with Peterson over there?”

He tipped his chin to the other corner of the room where several clerks and officers sat at desks with their backs to them and wrote or talked quietly.

“Indeed I do. Nothing will happen to important navy records with an officer present,” said Hughes with a drop of sweat forming at his forehead. “I’ll leave you to it.”

As he left, Calliope looked at Nathaniel with an amused smile. “I can only imagine what that was about, but I see that I’d never be able to access this without you. You did a nice thing for him back then, did you not?”

Nathaniel cocked his head in agreement.

She smiled. “Glad to know being a rake can lead to something good, after all…”

Something cracked and warmed in his heart at seeing her beautiful smile and sparkling eyes directed his way.

She opened the book, and Nathaniel watched over her shoulder as she flipped through pages of tables with dates, ships, and lists of names.

“Here it is,” she said, her finger pointed at the date.

“‘Departed on September 3, 1812,’” Calliope read.

Below was the list of the ships and Calliope’s finger slowly moved down. “Five navy ships were docked in London: Titan, Concord, Minotaur, Hector, and Aeneas. But nothing else.” She looked at Nathaniel. “Is there information in here about where they eventually sailed and when?”

He nodded and reached over her shoulder, suddenly very aware of her gorgeous back and her buttocks being almost pressed against his front. He sucked in a breath, trying to ignore the warmth of her and how heat rushed through his entire body.

He flipped through three more pages.

“Here,” he said and took a step away from her.

Heavens, conceiving a baby with this woman would be the easiest task ever. He didn’t know how he would ever be able to keep his hands away from her.

“Ah, here’s Minotaur and Titan,” she muttered, “sailed to France two days later. But Concord, Hector, and Aeneas shipped to America the very next day!”

“It could be any of the five,” he said. “What are the names of the captains?”

“White for Minotaur, Lawson for Titan, Dean for Concord, Ross for Hector, and Barker for Aeneas. One of those captains might have Spencer on their ship. Is there a list of sailors?”

“The most accurate list of sailors is kept in the captain’s log,” said Nathaniel. “But it may also be in the Navy Board as they keep personnel records for payment. We might find something there. I know just the man to talk to.”

The man to talk to was Officer Bartholomew. He had no leverage on Bartholomew, though, who was notorious for his strict discipline and tough character.

Hughes came back. “Have you found what you were looking for?”

“Quite,” said Nathaniel. “Thanks, Hughes. My warm greetings to your family.”

As they walked out of the room, Nathaniel’s inner vision filled with the memory of a moonlit night in the woods, his mother’s body lying on dark grass, blood flowing from the bullet hole in her chest. Their rich carriage stood nearby, horses snorting softly, three-year-old Hazel’s pale face peering from the carriage window. Poppy and Violet were inside, still babies.

He imagined Calliope like that. Dead and cold, blood oozing.

Because he wouldn’t be able to protect her, like he couldn’t protect his mother.

He knew he needed to act fast and act alone. The sooner he knew Calliope was out of danger, the better he would sleep at night.

But as he glanced at her determined profile walking at his side, the sense of unease grew stronger in his bones. How would he be able to keep her out of danger when she was so determined to jump right into it?

Perhaps he’d bought more than he bargained for with this woman.