Page 62 of Avenging the Earl's Lady
“You would allow that?”
“I’ve said so.”
“Allow me to profit from my theft?”
“Your diversion kept the painting out of the hands of the thieves who assaulted my men on the road to Cransdall.Think of it as a commission.”
A commission?She could perhaps pay off her son’s debt, perhaps even arrange enough income that Quentin could someday marry.
But a public auction?“What if the Duque shows up to bid on it?”
“If the cost to the Duque is high enough, I might consider allowing him to attend.”
“Surely, by now, he suspects as you do that there’s no treasure to be found.”
“He’s a powerful opponent, but not the wisest of men.Do you remember Captain Llewellyn, the sea captain who threatened Graciela?”
“Yes.”She had heard the story of Captain Llewellyn’s villainy, though perhaps not all of it.
“He was allied with the Duque whilst pretending to be a friend to Graciela’s father, Captain Kingsley.And Captain Kingsley spends part of his time hunting for sunken Spanish treasure and pirate caches.”
“As well as privateering,” she added.Graciela had brought a fabulous dowry into her marriage from Captain Kingsley’s efforts.“You said he copied the coordinates.”
He nodded.“Captain Kingsley presented me that painting years ago.Taken from a ship bearing treasures pillaged by the Duque de San Sebastian during one of his sojourns in New Spain.”
Her breath caught.“He robbed the Duque of his treasures?Good heavens.”So, the feud was a very long-standing one, with many players and tentacles.
“He relieved a great villain of his stolen booty.And I paid for that painting.”
“And the treasure map.”
His lips quirked.“I never believe such stories.”
Well, and the Earl of Shaldon had treasures aplenty.No need to dive into the waters of the West Indies.“Has the Captain arrived back yet?”
“Not yet.I have a man in Portsmouth waiting to escort him here as soon as he comes into port.”
Bringing Captain Kingsley swiftly to London would be a great kindness to Graciela, but there were probably other reasons, reasons of state, to convey the captain to London so quickly.
These men and their endless plotting—her head ached thinking about it.And, no matter that Shaldon insisted otherwise, Quentin would become enmeshed in their games, her son who was reminding her so much of the father who had managed to get himself killed.
“You didn’t tell me what sort of position you had in mind for Quentin.”
“There are a few possibilities.What do you recommend, Jane?”
She’d had regular reports on her son, yet…what sort of man was he?“I don’t think I know him well enough to say.But…out of London, certainly.”
“Out of England?”
She sat up.If Quentin took a position out of the country, could she go with him, or at least live nearby?
The carriage turned a corner and she recognized the terrace of homes on Gerrard Street.
Shaldon said he’d enjoyed their tryst very, very much.Though he’d done no more than put an arm around her and hold her hand tonight, he would want to come up.
She wanted that also.
It seemed she’d lost control, not just of the painting, but of her good sense.
