So! Jess thought, Alex told you about that night, did he? She kept smiling. “Yes, we do what we can to help the Raider. Since that raid the admiral has been punishing Warbrooke by seizing cargo. Once, a man’s ship was taken and I’m afraid that’s about to happen again. I need your help to find out.”
“Me?” Sophy asked. “What can I possibly do?”
“The admiral is boarding with Mrs. Wentworth and she has invited me to tea. Yesterday the admiral received a sealed document from England and I’d like to see what’s in that document.”
“But where do I fit in?”
“The admiral likes pretty women and you are beautiful. I want you to keep his attention on you while I search his office.”
Sophy smiled at Jess’s flattery, then her face changed. “What if you’re caught? What if this man realizes I was helping you?”
“We get hanged.”
“Oh.” Sophy took time to digest this.
“Sophy, if I may call you that, you can do it. Look at what you’re doing with Alex.”
“What could you possibly mean by that? Alex and I are old friends.”
“Yes, and I’m so glad he has you. Alex is my friend, too, and I like my friends to be happy.”
“You aren’t, perhaps, jealous?”
“Not at all. He deserves any happiness he can get. He has so little.”
“Maybe there’s another man you’d be jealous of,” Sophy said. This time, she was the one leaning forward.
“Alex is my husband.”
Sophy smiled. “What of this Raider I hear so much of? Is he really so virile and handsome as people say?”
“More so.” Jessica grinned. “Would you be willing to help us with the admiral?”
“The Raider isn’t at all like Alexander?”
“Not even remotely. If you’re frightened, say so. I’ll understand. If I’m caught, I
’d never tell on you.”
“Mmmm. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could combine Alexander’s intelligence with the Raider’s virility? You’d have yourself quite a man.”
“There is no such human. You either get brains or beauty. Not both. Do you want to help or not?”
Sophy gave Jess a critical look. “Only if we have a suitable gown made for you. What must that husband of yours be thinking? Haven’t you a single decent dress?”
“Alex gave me all his mother’s clothes.”
The countess said something emphatic in Italian.
“Alex did once promise me a red dress.”
“Did he? And you never got it? Come along, Jessica, we have work to do. We must find the six best seamstresses this town has to offer.”
“Six?”
“The better to get the work done quickly. When do we go to tea to meet this admiral of yours?”
“At four tomorrow afternoon.”