Page 65 of Beauty and the Rake
“What’s that?”
“Arthur thinks we scared our ship seller off because both the ships we were talking to him about have suddenly left London. He goes on to say that offices are closed up and any of the dockworkers were as surprised as Arthur when he asked about the ships and their owner.”
“Is there anyone who might know?”
“Possibly, if he didn’t bribe them. We’ll get to the bottom of it,” Graham said.
“It’s a good thing your transactions never went any further.”
Graham walked over to a sideboard and poured two whiskeys. One for him and another for his bride. “We’re not going to give up. There’s an excellent chance he knows what happened to your parents.”
She accepted the glass and took a sip. “I would continue. He’s going to slip up again. Someone will come forward with information about where he is.”
“If he hasn’t left for the Continent. It’ll just take longer to locate him.”
A light knock on the door reminded them tea had been ordered. Graham went to the door and accepted a small trolley which even held sweets and tiny sandwiches for them to nibble on. He placed it near the desk and stood back to allow Roxanne access to fix things as they both wanted.
“Come and take what you want to eat. I’ll fix your tea.” She looked down at the tray while he picked up a plate and began to fill it.
He took his plate and found a place to sit where he could spread out. Food in front of him, tea to the right. Roxanne placed his cup down and walked back to retrieve her own. He had just taken a huge bite out of an egg sandwich as she sat down next to him. “You’re certainly hungry.”
“I am,” he replied. “I’ve got an idea. Would you like to hear an idea I came up with? And I promise you it has nothing to do with business.”
“Yes, do tell.”
“There’s a new production of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ playing at the theater. We could go afterwards and have dinner. I thought it might be nice to get out for a few hours.”
“I would love to go. And as much as I’ve loved spending all this intimate time with you, I know we need to get back to reality.”
“We do. I thought we could go to Kent when I’ve got things taken care of here.”
She reached for a slice of seed cake. “Just let me know and I’ll get everything prepared.”
*
Graham found itimpossible to sleep, even with having made love twice to his bride. Oh, he had fallen asleep for about half an hour, but sleep eluded him for the rest of the night. Looking over at his bride, he sighed and rolled onto his back. How could she sleep so deeply and calmly?
He flung his arm over his head, thoughts still dancing through his head. Ever since he and Roxanne had spoken about Arthur’s missive of the missing two ships and the seller scarce as well, he had not been able to shake off a gut feeling about the man. He was sure he’d seen the man somewhere else but could not place where.
Was there any truth to the news that the man somehow knew what happened to Roxanne and Arthur’s parents? Perhaps Arthur’s decision to go through his father’s correspondence might shed light on this. It didn’t sit right that he couldn’t figure out where he’d seen the man before. He tried to recall all the places he’d been over the past month. Nothing and no one stood out. Perhaps he saw him in passing and nothing more.
Shutting his eyes was of no consequence. He couldn’t begin to sleep. Quietly, he got himself out of bed. Waking his bride would not be good. She needed her sleep as he’d kept her awake until the early mornings since their wedding. Naked as the day he was born, he found his way to the sitting area andpoured himself a brandy. Perhaps one would help slow down his thought process.
He sat down at his desk and picked up Arthur’s missive, rereading it for the umpteenth time. He wanted to try and make logical sense of what was on the page. The ships having left was the most troubling. On the other hand, they may have simply been emptied of their cargos and sent elsewhere for maintenance work. There were a good many shipyards in England and Ireland, and it was quite common to make sure a ship was seaworthy after a voyage. He made a note of it to discuss with Arthur.
The office being locked up and appearing empty was disheartening. It might have been a temporary office and had been relocated. Something else to check out. He was making everything sound logical, and Arthur had seen warning signs. He would make sure the two of them talked. They weren’t detectives and wondered if they shouldn’t find one better than they already had.
As he took another sip of brandy, the mystery of where he’d seen Crenshaw came to him. This had to be it. It was logical; he just hadn’t seen the connection. The man was none other than Roxanne’s mysterious bookstore stalker. He wore a beard and moustache at the time and had since shaved to disguise himself. He had certainly been interested, what with all the questions Roxanne said he’d asked. He’d been in plain sight all along, and if he or his family had anything to do with Arthur and Roxanne’s parents’ disappearance, he would find out. Now that he had a name to go with the elusive man, he felt better.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been sitting here all night,” Roxanne said lowly. A sheet wrapped around her was the only thing she wore, and the sight stirred him.
“Okay, I won’t. Truth is, you’re right. I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep, so rather than toss and turn, I made thedecision to come out here and see if I couldn’t figure some things.”
She was behind him, her hands on his bare shoulders. “Did you figure anything out?”
“As a matter of fact, I did. You remember the stranger at the bookstore?”
She nodded. “Yes. You know who he is?”
