“Nothing.” Tony sat forward, then froze. To Jack and Kit, who knew him well, both his tone and that movement had betrayed him. “Oh, all right.” He slumped back. “The widow is Mrs. Alicia Carrington, and she is, as you’ve guessed, of more than passable charms, and…”
When he didn’t go on, Jack pointedly prompted, “And…?”
Kit was grinning.
Tony grimaced at them both. “And it’s possible, perhaps, that…” He waved the question aside. “That’s beside the point. The first thing”—he fixed Kit with a narrow-eyed look—“indeed, the only thing I need from you both is help with this shipping business. We need to make some headway on how the ships were involved.”
Kit continued grinning. “And later?”
She wasn’t going to give up. Tony closed his eyes. “And later you can dance at my wedding.” Opening his eyes, he glared at her. “Good enough?”
She beamed. “Excellent.” She looked at Jack. “Now what could be the crucial thing about those ships?”
Jack studied the list Tony had given him. “If I had information like this…”He looked up, met Tony’s gaze. “These are all merchant ships. If the dates are convoy dates, the dates on which these ships were due to join convoys to come up the Channel, or alternatively the dates on which they left the protection of the convoy to turn aside to their respective home ports…”
“You think the information might have been used to take the ships?”
“As prizes?” Jack thought, then grimaced. “That’s one possibility. Another is deliberate sinking to lay hands on the insurance—I won’t tell you how frequent that is. Wrecking is another option.”
Tony pointed at the list. “All those ships are still registered.” That was the first thing he’d checked.
“That makes sinking or wrecking unlikely.” Jack looked again at the list. “The next thing to determine is who owns these vessels and from where they were coming.”
“Can you do that?”
“Easily.” Jack looked at Tony. “It’ll take a few days.”
“Is there anything else we can pursue in the meantime?”
Jack pulled a face. “I can ask, quietly, as to whether there’s anything noteworthy about one particular ship, and perhaps put out feelers about a few others, but until we know something more specific…” He grimaced. “We don’t want to tip our quarry the wink.”
“Indeed not. Anything I can do?”
Jack shook his head. “Lloyd’s Coffee House is the obvious place to ask, but it’s a closed group. I’m one of them, so I can ask nosy questions, but the instant you walk in…”He looked at Tony. “You’d have to make it official to get any word out of anyone there.”
Tony grimaced, then drained his glass. “Very well, I’ll leave it to you.”
Kit rose in a rustle of skirts. “I’ll tell Minchin you’ll stay to luncheon.”
“Ah—no.” With a charming smile, Tony stood. “Much as I would love to grace any board presided over by your fair self, I’ve other engagements I must keep.”
Taking Kit’s hand, he bowed with consummate grace.
As he straightened, she arched a brow at him. “I must be sure to make Mrs. Carrington’s acquaintance.”
He grinned and tapped her nose. “I’ll warn her to keep a weather eye out for you.”
Coming up behind Kit, Jack wrapped his arms around her waist. “Well, you’ve one night’s grace—we’re staying in tonight.”
Kit leaned back against her husband’s broad chest. “It was a wrench to part from the boys. It’s the first time we’ve left them.”
Tony noted her misty-eyed expression as she thought of her two sons. Last time he’d seen them, they were robust and active—the sort to run their keepers ragged.
Jack snorted and glanced down at her face. “God knows, by the time we get home, they’ll have exhausted everyone and be lording it over all and sundry.”
Tony saw the pride in Jack’s face, heard it in his voice. He smiled, kissed Kit’s hand, saluted Jack, and left them.
TEN