Page 87 of The Swan Syndicate
He poured her a double and ignored the crossbow.
“What will they do about Cheval’s body?” Her voice sounded stronger to her ears.
“Jamie will send a message to the magistrate at our next port.”
“Wouldn’t his crew do that?”
“Doubtful. Too many questions would be asked. If Jamie has a problem, he’ll provide Hensley’s name and that will be that.” He glanced at her lap. “Did you want to tell me about your souvenir?”
She grinned. “You know how I like to bring one home from every vacation.” He smiled in return. She’d kept a silk purse—more like a pouch—she’d taken from one of Gemini’s several trunks when she’d first been kidnapped. It now hung over a standing mirror in their bedroom in Baywood. It was a pretty purse with a light floral print. One day she’d pack it away with her other treasures from the past.
They sat in silence for fifteen minutes, holding hands, calmed by the gentle sway of the ship. When Jamie joined them, Lando and Fitz followed him in. They each glanced at the crossbow asthey walked past her. Fitz poured everyone a glass of whiskey and refilled Stella’s glass.
Jamie swallowed his down and took a moment to savor it. “Now that theDaphneis underway let’s do a quick recap. We can talk more at dinner tonight.”
“Is the other ship alright?” Stella asked.
“It’s sure to have a fair bit of damage, but nothing that will prevent the crew from getting it to a port,” Fitz answered. “What did you use to get it started?”
Jamie held up his hands. “Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?”
Stella sipped the whiskey and let the blanket slip off her shoulders. She was finally warm inside and out, and though she kept one hand on it and could feel its weight, she glanced down to confirm the crossbow was still there. Beckworth placed a hand on her arm, and she wasn’t positive which of them the action was meant to comfort.
“I imagine Lando told you about the men who seemed to be waiting for us.” She glanced around. “I saw Michelson rowing the dinghy. Where’s Thomas? Is he alright? And Lane?”
“Thomas is on his way back to Waverly. Lane is fine. Michelson’s hit on the head was more grievous, but as you saw, he wants to work. Although, I think he still suffers from a headache.”
She nodded. “I have some medicine that might help. Anyway, I remembered the swans and managed to drop one when we were surrounded and obviously outnumbered. I slipped more out when I could.”
“Fitz saw them take you aboardThe Horseman,” Jamie said. “Go on.”
She told them about waking up someplace dark and then someone giving her water, but she’d realized too late they’d put something in it. It had smelled sweet but tasted bitter.
“Laudanum,” Lando said. “Opium. It would have made you sleepy.”
“Yes, the man said that was what the captain wanted, and it definitely did the trick.” She continued her story and told them about Cheval’s paranoia over his crew’s loyalty and how he always sent a second spy because he didn’t trust the first. For some reason, that seemed important to Jamie and the others. She finished with how she started the fire, her daring jump off the ship, and then finding the crossbow, the only instrument available to stop Beckworth from being strangled.
“Did Cheval ask you anything about England or suspect you had other motives?” Jamie asked.
She considered the question, not sure why he asked it, then she understood. “You want to know if my cover was blown?”
“In so many words, yes.”
“No.” She straightened in her seat, pulling the crossbow closer. “He was interested in the French rifles. He wanted to be the only source feeding the weapons to MacDuff. It sounded like there might have been a mole on MacDuff’s ship. Let’s see. Oh, this is important, I think. He said MacDuff’s network was larger than his, but he had plans to take whatever MacDuff owned. Wait. You coming to my rescue means you lost where MacDuff went.”
“Nay, lass,” Fitz said. “We have plenty of information to take back to Hensley. We know MacDuff has a network, Cheval is no longer a problem, and as far as anyone knows, there’s a mysterious smuggler of French weapons called Lady Swan.” His laugh was one of those diabolic ones and everyone chuckled.
“I suppose.”
“That’s enough for now,” Jamie said. “Get some sleep. If the winds are kind, we should be in Bristol by tomorrow afternoon, and while you’ll miss dinner, you should be sleeping in your own bed at Waverly.”
Beckworth pushed Stella toward their cabin. “I’ll follow in a few minutes.”
She nodded and pulled the blanket up as she trudged down the passageway. The blanket fell when she opened the door and she kicked it into the room, refusing to let go of the crossbow. It was silly. She knew that. But she wasn’t ready to let it go.
She’d killed a man. It hadn’t been her first. That had been Gaines, who had been ready to shoot Beckworth at close range. It would have killed him. She’d had no choice. Just like this time.
She jumped when Beckworth used his foot to push the open door she hadn’t closed all the way. He had a bucket of water in one hand and a coffee pot in another. She gave him a smile in an attempt to disguise her whirlwind emotions. If he noticed anything strange, he didn’t say anything.
