Page 6 of The Spinster's Secret Scoundrel
“Before you make any rash decisions, Miss—”
“Stop right there.”
“Do you prefer I call you Adeline, then?”
“Ipreferyou park your bottom on that chair and remain there until help arrives.”
“Help.” His smile turned into one of genuine amusement. She could not tear her gaze away as he spoke. “You strike me as the last woman who needs help, Adeline.”
Words that disarmed her faster than force possibly could. Words that sent her heart thudding against her ribs.
She. Independent. Respected. By a man as handsome and clever as Le Fantôme.
By a criminal.
Inhaling sharply, she jerked away, confused by her conflicted thoughts. Her fiancé had been glib and clever, too. She fell for it then, but Ada was wiser now.
“You’re right. I don’t need help.”
“I, however, do.” His gaze flicked briefly to her egged shoe, then back to her face. “I confess, you pegged me correctly. I see little point in continuing to attempt to persuade you that I am anyone other than Thierry Desmarais, captain of theSpectre,the most prolific smuggler to sail the English Channel.”
“I knew it!”
“Yes, you’re very smart, Miss Naughton.” He caught her by the chin. Ada should jerk away. She should resist. She absolutely should not lean in fractionally, much less stand here calf-eyed thinking about kisses.
“In forty minutes,” he continued, “An entire shipment of rare and expensive cognac will be destroyed by the incoming tide. My objective this morning in cutting through your goosy yard to get to Viscount Prescott’s was to secure assistance in moving it to safer quarters. As your interference has cost me valuable time, I offer you a bargain: help me move the goods, and I promise to reward you.” Thierry leaned closer. Close enough that his final word puffed over her lips like a kiss. “Handsomely.”
Ada swallowed. She thought of the money hidden in a stocking in her drawer, and how the purchase of this awkward little house would permanently secure her a place in Cavalier Cove. If she owned it, she would no longer be at her uncle’s mercy. The Riders were disliked. It wasn’t uncommon to see them beaten and sent out of town. She loved Uncle Patrick, but she didn’t want to be associated with his work.
She would do anything for a permanent home in the town where she’d found a tiny sliver of acceptance, however small.
With a deep, shuddering inhale, she said, “How handsomely?”
THIERRY
A TRIO OF TERRIBLE IDEAS
“How do I get myself into these predicaments?” Ada muttered upon surveying the problem Thierry had created.
“A question I frequently ask myself,” he grinned. “It seemed like a logical solution at the time.”
Her sidelong glare of pure exasperation was worth the self-deprecation.
Miss Naughton seethed visibly as she gestured to dinghy’s barely-visible stern as it bobbed in the entrance to the cavern. Each subsequent wave pushed the boat against the walls like a leaf swirling in a filling bucket. Inside, his precious cargo, so carefully transported across the channel, clinked audibly, despite being packed in crates.
Cornwall’s coastline was dotted with such caves. Large, small, or in-between, smugglers used them to conceal contraband, hide boats and as secret passageways into villages. It took about four hours to sail from here to France. A fast ship could make the trip there and back again overnight.
TheSpectrewas the fastest ship of its class in the channel. He and Rémy were co-captains, running as many as four trips a week. Predictability meant interception, so they were careful to constantly plan new routes. They’d learned to vary their routines the hard way—by almost being caught and having to sink Her Majesty’s ship to escape.
“How, Thierry?” Miss Naughton said, exasperated. “Under what circumstances would pushing your boat into a tiny cave, with the tide coming in, seem like anything other than an excellent way to ruin a great quantity of valuable brandy?”
Ada using my given name seems like a promising development,he mused. “Cognac,” he corrected, which earned him a withering glare.
“I was nearly caught by the Waterguard. The crown’s pests patrol these waters. I left my crew to steer theSpectreinto the harbor at Polperro instead, while I rowed the most valuable merchandise to shore in this dinghy. I intended to secure the load in the—”
He bit off. If she didn’t know about the tunnels leading to Caden Bullock’s tavern, he wasn’t going to be the one to inform her.
“I went slightly off-course and needed to get out of sight to avoid being caught,” Thierry sidestepped. “With the tide coming in, it wasn’t so difficult to get the boat into the cavern. But now that the water has risen, getting it out again will be a bit of a challenge.”
