“But, milady, I—”
Her hand pressed mine. “Take it. I trust you. Indeed, there is no other I can trust. Even you may fail me. But as you are alone and without family, so am I … Do for me what you can.
“This that you hold may seem much, though it is not enough for what I need. Not enough for what you need, either, although it is a step.
“Take this, and of the profits from the venture, you may keep half. That is all. Now go.”
Swinging down, I turned. I saw her face for a moment, but masked with a domino such as women sometimes wore at masquerades or when they wished not to be known. Her chin I saw, and her mouth. It was a firm little chin, and the lips were lovely. The eyes behind the mask seemed beautiful,
She waved, and then the carriage began to roll. In a moment it had whipped around a corner and was gone.
A moment I stared after it, then went into the inn and to my room. I put the sack upon the table, doffed my hat and coat, and bolted the door.
Then I drew the string on the sack and dumped the contents upon the table.
They fell in a dazzling heap, and one, rolling free of its companions, fell upon the floor.
For a moment I could only stare. Gems … rare and beautiful gems! Not less than a dozen of them. Stooping, I recovered the one from the floor. It proved to be a ruby, and a fine one, too.
With one finger I separated them. Three rubies, all of fair size, four diamonds, an emerald, three pink pearls, and a pendant of gold set with amber and onyx. I sat down on the bed. I was perspiring freely. For a few minutes I simply sat and stared, stunned by the enormity of it.
Nor was I mistaken. My father had owned a few fine gems and had begun teaching me about them when I was very young. These were, as nearly as I could see in the light I had, excellent stones. Several had obviously been removed from their settings, losing a part of their value, no doubt.
There were also three gold coins. They were all alike. Taking one, I examined it close to the light, but the inscription was in a language strange to me.
Again I stirred the gems with my fingers, slowly pushing them together. Ten thousand pounds? Closer to fifty. And I was to have half … of the profits!
28
When I had completed my account of the battle of Ivry and took it to Richard Field, he greeted me with the news that the Good Catherine had come up the Thames only hours before, and was even now about to discharge her cargo.
Taking my payment from him, I left at once. The Good Catherine lay but a short distance away.
The captain was a square, solid man and he watched me board. I went to him on the quarterdeck. “I am Tatton Chantry,” I explained.
“I know you. You’ve become a famous man.”
“It is not fame I seek, particularly that kind. Two things I need to know: the success of my venture and the whereabouts of Emma Delahay.”
“Your ventures,” he put emphasis on the plural, “have been successful. I am a cautious man, Captain Chantry, not a gambler as many in the trade have become. I trade in staples, in established items. I do not look for gold or gems, just profitable trade.
“I was instructed to continue to reinvest what you ventured, and have done so. Come below to my cabin and you shall see.”
We went below and he took from the grate a small pot. “Hot chocolate,” he said. “It is something learned from Mexico.”
“A habit I acquired in Spain,” I said. He glanced at me under his thick brows. “Spain, Captain?”
“I have been a prisoner there.” Briefly, I explained the circumstances of my capture.
“Good! You are a man after my own heart. There is a time to fight, and a time to talk. You saved your crew, and you saved yourself. The ship was already lost to you.”
From a drawer he took a small book. On the cover was pasted a small square of paper. Accounts of Captain Tatton Chantry.
Opening it, he showed me in neat columns of figures the sum and total of my investments and how each bit had been invested. I glanced at the total, then I had to look again from surprise. He noticed it and smiled complacently. “That is it, Captain, nine thousand four hundred and sixty-two pounds.
“I might add that having your money with which to work has made it easier for me. There is no need to seek more adventurers to include their bits. I hope you will not see fit to withdraw all you have here.”
“On the contrary. I wish to draw one hundred pounds now, and a bit more later. However,” here I paused for a moment, “I think you will have no need to look for other venturers. I have lately been asked to invest quite a large sum, more than enough to supply trade goods for several ventures.”
“You wish to venture my entire cargo?” He shook his head. “I would not advise it, Captain. You know the old saying about putting all one’s eggs in one basket. Much as I appreciate your confidence, I would suggest you place your investment in several ships. I can recommend—”
“I was coming to that. I wish at least four other good, substantial men, such as yourself. And,” I hesitated a moment, “although you may not approve, I would like one other, one who is daring, one who is shrewd, but one willing to take risks if they offer a substantial profit.”
Before him I placed the largest of the rubies. “Do you know gems, Captain?”
He picked up the stone and took it to the stern light, turning it slowly in his fingers. Coming back, he placed it on the table between us. “I know something of gems. My estimate would be around five thousand pounds.”
I sat back in my chair. “Several such stones were entrusted to me, Captain, and I am to invest them as I see fit. The lady who entrusted me professes to know nothing of ventures or the like.”
“But something of men,” the captain commented dryly. “You have known her long?”
“I do not know her at all.”
He shrugged. “I have been at sea all my life, Captain Chantry, and have been in many ports and foreign places. I am surprised at nothing.”
He got to his feet. “Very well. I shall make a list of the cargo I have in mind and will bring it to you. In the meanwhile I will think of other ships’ masters who might be the sort of whom you speak.”
We walked out on the deck, and at the rail he said, “These other ventures? Must they be to the New World?”
“Not at all. In fact, I have heard of the Levant Company, who will trade to the eastern Mediterranean, largely in raisins, currants, and such.”
“I had something of the kind in mind. This other man, the gambler. He has been wishing to chance a voyage around the cape to India. He has the vessel, he has the crew, and he is an excellent seaman. I will arrange a meeting.”
After a moment, he said, “This woman? Would she prefer you not to gamble?”
I shrugged. “With you and the others whom you will find the chances are much in our favor. I think she would be willing to take a flyer … she certainly took a chance on me.”
“Not so much of a chance, Captain Chantry. She was a good judge of men.”
I wondered afresh. Who could she be? I knew so few women, but obviously at least one knew me.
Could she have been Emma Delahay? This woman seemed much younger, and more slender. Moreover, Emma Delahay could make her own ventures.
“Captain,” I said, “who do you think she can be? I mean what kind of woman?”
He stared at the crowds along the river front. “I have been thinking on that. She may be a noble woman who wishes to be wealthier, or one who fears the future. She may be a mistress of some great man who has been given gems and is wise enough to know that beauty fades but gold does not. Or she may be a thief using this method of turning her stolen jewels into cash. She may also be some fashionable bawd who realizes that youth fades and with it her stock-in-trade.”
He paused a moment. “Or it may simply be someone who wishes to establish a tie with you. And there is another thought. It may be that some enemy of yours has deliberately given you stolen goods, planning to have you caught in their possession.”