Page 32 of Unearthing the Smuggler's Heart
The inn rose up before them as they turned into the drive, a tall building painted a calming blue, which had once been a boarding house for guests of a more permanent nature. In the years since, the ground floor had been gutted and modified into something of a lounge, where locals could drink to their heart's content and then, conveniently, pay for a bed abovestairs to sleep off the stupor.
The owner was a friend of the Silver Leaf, and a particular intimate of the Olivier family. Mathias's hope was that if they reached an impasse in their attempts to untangle Pauline's cryptic instructions, that Monsieur Petetti would be able to offer additional insight. He hoped he would not have to ask.
He had never had to properly stay here before, but with Charles having arrived in their stead some days earlier, he hoped that everything was already reserved and awaiting them for a comfortable and secure night's sleep.
He did not dwell on the thought of Charles himself.
The last time he had seen the man had been rather contentious, and Charles Monetier did not seem the good-natured type, who could shrug off moments of disagreement easily in favor of lighter spirits. Mathias dearly hoped that Charles had somehow picked up a smidgen of sporting forgiveness in the years since their last encounter, as he did not want to have to devote time and energy to nursing bruised egos or mending old bridges.
He wanted only to focus on what was important. And Jade was what was important.
That thought gave him a bit of a pull in the pit of his stomach, a discomfort he could not quite name. Perhaps he was only hungry. He had gotten so accustomed to those damned scheduled breakfasts that now, if he didn't eat by the designated hour, he found himself impatient for food. His mind and body had decided that they rather liked the dependability of a feeding schedule, he supposed, and he wasn't sure how long it would take to break them of the expectation again once she was gone.
She had tied her hair back again today, and he had noticed that instead of her usually glossy black ribbon, she had used twine to secure the bottom of the braid instead.
He frowned, his flirtatious moment of spontaneity suddenly giving him a pang of guilt. Had that been her only ribbon? Perhaps that moment had not landed quite as well as he'd hoped. What sort of girl only owned one ribbon, and a black one besides?
Well. He supposed with Zelda as a guardian, one might end up that way. Nell had dressed like a battered shipping package before she'd married Nathaniel, under Zelda's particular taste regarding women's fashion.
The carriage finally jerked to a halt, shaking him from thoughts of ribbons and breakfasts in a sudden blast of sunlight and breeze. His eyes focused on the blue building, and as he leapt from the back of the cart, he took a deep and indulgent breath. The French air was fragrant, earthy notes from the springy grass blending beautifully into the sweetness of burgeoning flower blossoms. This, at least, felt familiar.
He raised an arm to assist the ladies from the cart. Isabelle, however, grabbed her skirts up around her knees and jumped out quite on her own, releasing a squeal of delight as she barreled toward the inn door, unconcerned with her alarmed compatriots standing in her wake. Leaning expectantly against the door jamb of the inn was Commandant Charles Monetier, an indulgent smile on his face. He caught his cousin into a colliding embrace and spun her around for good measure, apparently having anticipated the reunion just as much as she had.
The cousins separated, Isabelle's voice chattering away at speed while Monetier smiled and nodded and answered the questions she fired at him.
A clearing of the throat to his left reminded Mathias that there was, in fact, another lady in the cart. One who might actually appreciate a hand down. He turned to her with an apologetic smile and proffered it.
Jade placed her hand in his and allowed him to put the other to her waist to swing her down from the platform. He noted with some satisfaction that the color rose in her cheeks as he did so, setting her down on the dewy lawn perhaps a little closer to his body than was strictly necessary.
She blinked up at him, those dark green eyes as unreadable as ever, and he thought perhaps he saw the ghost of a smile threatening to emerge from her lips.
Before it could, however, Isabelle was shouting their names, waving them over to the doorway, where she was eager to make introductions. He stifled the urge to grimace and nodded at the other man, offering Miss Ferris the crook of his arm as they turned to make their way over.
From what he could see, Charles was more interested in everything about them than he was in Mathias, and that did ease some of the tightness in his chest. From here, he could smell the aroma of breakfast, calling to him like a damned siren from beyond the walls of the inn.
His stomach grumbled again and he sighed, shaking his head. If they were alone, he might inform Miss Ferris that such discomfort was directly her fault, and then, when she rose to the bait and began to argue, he could kiss her again. He could coax out the exquisite firebrand she hid so carefully behind those big eyes.
But they were not alone, and so Mathias plastered on his most polite smile and allowed himself to be reintroduced to the man who had punched him in the face. If nothing else, it promised to be an unusual sort of day.
* * *
The inn was mostlyempty at this time of year, which meant each of them would have their own rooms tonight.
Mathias wondered, given his new bodily expectations, if he'd have trouble getting to sleep without the snores, grunts, and other delightful accompaniments of the men in the ship's berth. Why, it might even smell pleasant in his room. Would he be able to drift off with such alien surroundings?
The slow season also meant that the innkeeper had been able to devote all of his time to their comfort, including preparing a truly lavish breakfast feast. The four of them had spread out around a perfectly square wooden table, and while the others talked among themselves, Mathias had eaten his fill. He heaved a contented sigh.
Now that his belly was full, perhaps he'd think up something to add to the conversation. Although, at present, he was perfectly content to observe.
He leaned back in his chair and sized up his company.
Isabelle had given Charles a litany of current events regarding herself and her father and their lives in England with their English spouses. If Monetier had any negative opinions about said life, he did not express them, instead listening to her with a faint smile on his face that lingered between curiosity and affection. Once she had completed that, she had drawn Jade into the conversation, and explained to Charles all the sordid details of her fugitive parents and the secret inheritance they had come to collect.
Privately, Mathias had to confess to himself that he, too, had become very damned curious about this inheritance item awaiting Jade Ferris in the Marseille armory. Recounting the conditions of the Oliviers' flight from England had made him wonder what it could be. He could only imagine wealth as some matter of apology for their freedom when the Ferrises had suffered captivity. But, as he'd said to Jade some days prior, if it was only simple wealth, she would not have needed to come collect it in person.
He was clasping his hands together beneath the table, holding between them the imaginary urge he was fighting to suggest that he join them on their trip to the armory this afternoon. He knew there was absolutely no reason for him to do so, and that furthermore it would be explicit folly, considering how well known he was to certain important authorities in the city. Still, it was an itch at the center of his throat, begging to be set loose so that Miss Ferris would not go off alone with the charming commandant who listened ever so avidly to every word she spoke.
In fact, he'd found himself growing a bit irritated by that curiosity, disliking the way Monetier drew his chair a bit closer to Jade's, and the way he watched her face when he asked her questions about her life and her experiences so far along this adventure. Jade was flushed and flattered in an exceptionally evident way, and readily answered every question he asked.
