Redeeming the Rogue (22 page)

“I’m surprised to see you alone.” Phineas slipped into the empty chair across from him. “After your late-night rescue, I thought you’d have company for breakfast.”

Upon receipt of Rafferty’s harsh glare, Phineas’s smile faded.

“Nothing happened last night,” Rafferty said. “Lady Arianne returned to her cabin intact and untouched.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t have assumed otherwise.” Phineas averted his gaze.

“There’s no need to assume. You didn’t see anything, understood?”

“Understood,” Phineas said, chastised.

They sat in silence with their coffee for a few moments. Around them tablecloths was changed and a finer set of china was placed on the sideboard for the use of the passengers. A wider selection of foods was added to the staples already present. Rafferty doubted many would venture from their beds to take advantage of the meal this morning.

Phineas slipped over to the sideboard and returned with toast points, jam, and butter for the both of them. He broke the silence with an angled smile. “I thought you should know that your wife did not pass the evening alone.” He buttered a piece of the bread and tossed it into his mouth.

“My wife? You mean Eva?”

Phineas nodded, chewing contently. He followed with a sip of coffee before he continued. “When I checked on the other passengers last night, I heard a distinctly feminine voice in Mr. Barings’s cabin. As I had verified the presence of the other women aboard, that left only Eva.”

“If Eva is the lady in green, that would explain Mr. Barings’s misplaced attitude,” Rafferty mused. He reached for a piece of toast.

“It would explain a few other things as well, such as why she volunteered for this endeavor.”

“She volunteered?” Rafferty paused in the process of buttering his toast.

Phineas cringed. “I’m sorry, Rafe. You were in such a hurry to chase Toomey that when Eva offered, I thought . . .”

“We’d only decided the day before to look for an actress. How did she even know of our need?”

“I had made some general inquiries at the Bard and Bull shortly after your meeting with Lord Henderson. I assumed word had spread that I was looking for a woman to travel abroad and that I would pay handsomely,” Phineas said. “I never considered she received information from another direction. Was she at that diplomat’s reception?”

Rafferty shook his head and consumed the buttered toast. “I don’t know. I was so certain that note was intended for Lady Arianne that I could have missed Miss St. Claire.” That reception seemed so long ago. So much had happened since. He looked at Phineas. “I do know this. It’s time to stop playing at being a gentleman and learn the truth of what’s going on. I believe it’s time to talk to Eva.”

“What about Barings?”

“If he’s with her, we’ll talk to him as well.”

They rose in unison, but Phineas stopped to fill his pockets with apples and oranges.

“Is that for practice, later?” Rafferty asked. Phineas filled some of the breaks in his stage act with a little light juggling. It wasn’t his forte yet, but Rafferty was certain that with time, it would be. Phineas was like that.

“No. I’m still hungry.” Phineas tossed an apple to Rafferty.

Rafferty caught it in one hand and laughed. He turned to leave the saloon and stopped. Lady Arianne stood an arm’s length away watching the boyish play with the apples. A flush rose on her cheeks when he faced her.

She recovered first and nodded her greeting. “Good morning, Mr. Rafferty. Phineas.”

Strange that she always addressed him with the formal salutation. To his best friend, she offered the familiarity of his first name. Phineas made a pretense of returning to the sideboard. Rafferty sought out her gaze. “Did you sleep well?”

She shook her head. “Not much at all.” She dropped her voice to an intimate tone that only he would hear. “But it was a pleasant evening, nonetheless.” Her lips turned slightly at the corners like a secret smile.

A warmth spread through his veins that he couldn’t attribute to the coffee. She was not furious with him over the liberties taken. He let his eyelids drop, so that only her beautiful face filled his view. “Yes.” He nudged his bandaged knuckles against her soft, refined ones, wishing that his aim could be higher, to the beckoning swell of her blouse. “It was.”

They stood that way for a minute, but a sound behind him broke the intimate moment. Her eyes widened. “You were just leaving. I shouldn’t stop you.”

Rafferty made a show of looking over her shoulder, though he knew her shadow hadn’t accompanied her. “And you are alone.” He stepped aside to usher her into the saloon. “Would you like us to stay to keep you company?”

She smiled, the warmth filling her eyes and him as well. “I came to collect some light dishes to take back to Mrs. Summers and my maid. They’re much recovered this morning, but I hope something light in their stomachs will help even more.”

“Do you need assistance with the dishes? Phineas and I would be happy—”

“I can manage.” She glanced at Phineas but returned to him. “There is one thing that you can do for me.”

Odd that being of service to her in some small fashion had precedence over unmasking a traitor or determining the livelihood for a full crew and the ship. Yet it did. He eagerly awaited her command.

“I understand you have a library of sorts?” She blushed anew, probably remembering that silly repartee they’d exchanged about reading. The memory widened his smile.

“Yes, I do. Though I’m sure it’s not up to the standards to which you’re accustomed.” He thought he heard Phineas mutter something behind him.

“I wonder if you’ll allow me to see it? I realize we’ve almost reached our destination, but I’ve exhausted the material that I brought for this journey. If I could borrow a volume . . . ?”

“Of course you may. Perhaps after this afternoon’s lesson—”

“I don’t believe we’ll have an afternoon lesson,” Arianne interrupted. “I imagine after the turbulent night we could all use the time to repose.”

“Yes. That would be wise.” He searched her face, noting the deep purple shadows beneath her eyes. He wanted to say something witty, something personal, something that would let her know what last night’s experience meant to him. But they were not alone, not like last night. “My library will be at your disposal whenever you find the need.”

“Good day, gentlemen.” She nodded.

After they had left Lady Arianne and the dining saloon well behind, Phineas audibly sighed. “You must admit, your conversations with Lady Arianne were much more interesting before nothing happened last night.”

Rafferty glanced askance at Phineas. “I won’t even pretend to know what you mean.”

RAFFERTY POUNDED ON BARINGS’S CABIN DOOR. “Let me in, Barings. I need to talk to the both of you.” They could hear movement inside, but no reply. Rafferty glanced at the hinges . . . rusted. Just like everything else on the
Rose
. He called again. “Don’t make me break the door down, Barings. I will if I have to.”

After a minute, the door opened a crack. “I don’t know what you mean. I’m the only one here.”

“We know better,” Rafferty said before applying a shoulder to the door. It swung open, banging on the inside wall. Behind Barings, Eva stood in a wrapper belted loosely at her waist, one wing of her tattoo clearly visible.

“How dare you!” Barings yelled, backing up to shield Eva.

“How dare you fraternize with an unmarried woman in your quarters?” Rafferty countered. “Especially one who is supposed to be my wife?”

Barings laughed, a cruel sound. “Don’t confuse acting with reality, Rafferty. Eva would never marry you. The thought of pretending to be your wife turns her stomach.”

He raised his brows in her direction. “Really? You certainly seemed enthused when you had your hand on my thigh.”

Barings rushed forward, but Phineas stopped him. “Don’t be a fool, Barings.”

“I was acting,” Eva spat. “I needed the money, and I did what I needed to get it.”

Rafferty glanced back to see Barings struggling against Phineas. “Let him go. I don’t mean either of them any harm. I came here to talk, nothing more.”

Phineas released Barings, who retreated to stand by Eva. For all his defiance of Rafferty, he was protective of Eva. Even his expression softened when he looked at her. Rafferty imagined he would act similarly if the woman he cared for was threatened.

“I take it that Miss St. Claire means something special to you,” Rafferty said with new insight.

Barings sighed. “I booked transit on this rust bucket solely because I learned my Eva was to be on it.” He picked up her hand and held it tenderly in his own. “She’s carrying my baby.”

“You’re pregnant?” Rafferty looked pointedly at her stomach.

“It’s early,” Eva said, defiantly. “I knew I had a limited period before it became obvious. As your wife, it wouldn’t matter if I was in the family way. I could put the money aside to use for my child when my role was finished.”

He couldn’t argue with her logic. He glanced at Barings. “You’d allow her to pretend to be another’s wife even though you cared for the woman?”

“I didn’t know that she’d accepted your offer until it was too late.” He averted his eyes. “Then when I heard of the money involved I thought, why not?”

Phineas looked to Eva. “You didn’t simply accept our offer. You approached me about our need. How did you know I was searching for someone to play Rafferty’s wife?”

“I was with a . . . benefactor at the Bard and Bull when May Tadworthy told me you were looking for an actress.” She dropped her voice and patted her stomach. “May knew of my dilemma. I didn’t want to take the position because it would mean that I’d have to leave London, but my benefactor . . . he told me to take the role and report back to him.”

“I assume the benefactor was Mr. Barnell.”

“He’s a good man,” Eva protested. “He’s a parliamentarian. He told me that there’s a plan afoot to gain the Americans’ support of home rule and that you would stop it, if you could.”

“A plan afoot for the Americans?” Rafferty felt his forehead furl. “I’m going to find a killer and bring him to justice. I don’t know about some American plan.” Although the comment made him reaffirm his belief that Lord Weston’s death was tied to Fenian efforts. That was the only reason one could possibly believe he’d be thwarting some unknown scheme.

“What do we do now?” Phineas asked Rafferty. “You can’t very well hunt a murderer if your movements are reported right back to the man responsible.”

“Lord Barnell is not a murderer,” Eva protested. “He’s a kind man.”

Rafferty ignored her. “We’ll just have to proceed without a hostess. But that does not resolve the problem of what to do with these two.”

“What to do with us? What do you mean?” Barings asked.

“I can’t allow you to jeopardize my investigation. I’m sending Eva back to England. As you followed her this far, I presume you’ll be inclined to follow her back again.”

“You’re not sending her back to England on this death trap,” Barings insisted. “It’s a miracle we survived last night. I won’t chance her life on a return crossing.”

Rafferty hated to appear influenced by Barings, but the man was correct. Rafferty had already come to a similar conclusion. “When the time comes, I’ll send Eva back on the first large liner leaving for England, provided she stays in seclusion until then.”

“What of Mr. Barings?” Eva asked. “Will he be in seclusion with me?”

“Only if he’s your husband,” Rafferty answered with a twisted smile. “We want to be proper about this.”

“Lady Arianne has had quite an influence on you if you’re concerned about what is proper,” Phineas observed once they left the other two to discuss their future plans.

“That could be,” Rafferty conceded. “Or it could be that I consider marriage to be the best revenge for those two.” He smiled. “At least we no longer have to worry about a spy in our midst.”