Page 66 of The Nature of a Lady
“You’re growing tiresome, Elizabeth. Whatkindof silver?”
“Coins.” Though this was true, her voice shook just a bit. He couldn’t blame her—his would have been shaking if he were approaching a gunman too. Even if he had exactly what the other wanted.
A growl rumbled its way out. “Whatkindof coins?”
He could imagine Libby picking through the answers they’d devised to the possible questions. This one among them, or close enough. “I can only give what I have, sir. Now I’ll thank you to let me uphold my end of the bargain so that you can uphold yours and end this nonsense.”
Her voice was stronger that time and nearly sounded like Beth’s.They’d schooled her a bit in his sister’s intonations and phrases over the last two weeks. Just in case whoever met her tonight relayed her words to someone who actually knew Beth.
If only they really were capable of upholding whatever bargain Beth had struck.
But the man in the cave didn’t seem amenable anyway. His voice emerged cold and cruel from the shadows. “If those are modern coins, you’ll pay the price for your deception. You know well we want Mucknell’s hoard. Nothing less.”
Blood pounding, Oliver slid his foot forward again.
Libby dashed the change purse to the ground in the exact fashion Beth would have done, with the right snort of exasperation—they’d made her practice the move that Beth was famous around the islands for. “You don’t want it? Fine! I’ll keep it myself, and you’ll either shoot me and lose all hope of recovering the rest, or you’ll give me the time I asked for!”
Thatshoot mepart hadn’t been rehearsed. They hadn’t known there would be a gun involved. And though he was proud of her for the improvisation, he couldn’t quite believe how offhandedly she’d tossed that part in.
“Think you’re indispensable, do you?”
Given the shift of Libby’s head, she must have lifted her chin. “I know I am, or you wouldn’t be here. No one else knows these islands like I do, sir. Not now that you’ve killed Johnnie.” Also true, if she were who they thought.
The man took a step forward. Not so far that the splash of light fully reached him, but enough that Oliver could make out his general form. He frowned. The fellow Libby had described from the road to the Wights’ was tall, thin. This chap was average height at best, stocky. Either she’d been wrong in her description—which he doubted—or it wasn’t the same man.
Which meant what? That the other was lurking somewhere too? Or just that he’d sent someone else to do his dirty work tonight?
“Let me make this clear, luv. If you’re going to fail me anyway,then it doesn’t much matter, does it? Dead or alive, you’d do me just as much good. Only, making you dead would be considerably more entertaining than just showing up again empty-handed at my employer’s. So, you get me the silver the buyer wants. Or I make you dead. Yeah?”
The man couldn’t honestly expect Oliver to stay still at that. He surged over the ledge and landed quietly on the rocks, though he was careful to keep his arms out once he landed, proving he had no weapon. “That’ll be enough of the threats. She said she’d find what you want if you gave her the time, sogive her the time. Artifacts don’t exactly wash ashore at the behest of men.”
“I don’t recall inviting you into the negotiations, brother dearest. And now that you’ve got me irritated again, I’d also like to point out that I don’t much appreciate the obvious trap you two were trying to set. I’m thinking a nice bullet to the leg might teach you a lesson.”
“Do it,” Libby interjected at once, “and you’ll be arrested in a heartbeat. We know these caves far better than you, sir. And we have people stationed at the only exit—they may not have been here when you came in, but they’re there now, I promise you. Hurt us, and this whole game is over.”
Silence echoed. But the man edged backward again. “Do that and you can kiss your commission good-bye.”
This was about money? But why? Perhaps Truro wasn’t bringing in enough to pay for a house in London for a Season and perhaps they’d been a bit strapped when they were paying for Morgan’s treatments, but it provided all their needs, didn’t it? And now that they were able to save again, even some of their wants.
“Then it seems we had better strike a quick bargain, sir.” Libby edged back a step too. “You give me more time to find the silver you actually want. No one gets hurt. We leave, you leave. Have we an agreement?”
It wasn’t what they’d been angling for tonight. They’d wanted to arrest this fellow—but then, he wasn’t the fellow they’d expected. And Oliver had a feeling that someone who spoke of the “entertainment”of murder wasn’t the sort to spill to an island constable the details about who he was working for or with.
It would do. He would deem tonight a success if no one else got hurt.
The man apparently agreed. “The original date, then. Or I’ll be back, and I’ll take it out of whoever I must. Your brother. Your grandmother. Your spitfire cousin. Understand?”
“I understand.” She bent low and scooped up the coins again. “I’m going now. We’ll have everyone cleared from the entrance within a few minutes.”
“That’s good. Because if I don’t report in by twelve thirty, the rifleman aiming through dear Grandmama’s window will pull the trigger.”
Libby spun at that, flying over the slippery rocks now at a pace that proved her earlier one had been deliberate. She clasped the hand Oliver held out to her the moment she was near enough, accepted the boost up to the ledge above, and they ran together from the mouth of the cave. “Are they here yet?” she whispered to him. “The constable’s men?”
“They were just approaching. We’d better hurry.”
They ran, hand in hand, up the beach path, and Oliver was a bit surprised to see the entire group still gathered in a knot together. But then, Casek and Mabena had been moving slowly, and the exchange in the cave probably hadn’t taken half as long as it felt like it had. They joined the group within a few minutes, breathlessly sharing what had just happened.
Constable Wendle’s frown was back in place. “I don’t like this. Men like that on Tresco . . . we won’t intercept him, but you can bet we’re going to see if we can spot him. And ask around to see what incomers are here who match the description. First, though, we’ll be visiting any house with a view of yours, Mr. Tremayne. You can rest assured of that. Nothing will happen to your grandmother.”
