Lisbon: Richard and Rose, Book 8 Read Online Free PDF Page B

danger receded.
    The babies were guarded closer than anyone knew, except us and the men we’d set to guard them. Although we had lost some enemies recently, some still existed, and we preferred not to take unnecessary chances. At the time we’d put the illness down to bad food given to the crew, or one of those inexplicable bouts of sickness that appeared from time to time.
    However, in light of the recent injury, it began to look as if there might, just might, be a pattern forming.
    I said the word first. “A saboteur?”
    “Too early to tell, ma’am.” Carier glanced at Richard, who continued to pace, his shoes hitting the boarded floor with a decided clunk. “On the whole, I think not. Such illnesses aren’t uncommon, particularly when the crew is relatively large. We have extra servants aboard, and the regular crew suffered quarters more cramped than usual.”
    “You’ve investigated already,” Richard said. “You suspected it too.”
    Carier shrugged. “I merely offered my help. It is as well to remain on the alert.” Very few people had the ability to put people at their ease like Carier. He could efface himself so people almost forgot his presence, or he could use his natural kindliness, which tended to unbalance people when they expected something sterner.
    “What did you discover?” Richard rapped out.
    “A lack of alarm, my lord. There have been no new cases, and nobody died of it.”
    “And the injury?” Richard snapped.
    “That could be cause for concern, my lord. It could have been accidental. However, I don’t recognise the man who was up in the rigging with him. And when you asked him to be caught and held, he got away. It indicates he didn’t want to be detained.”
    I gave an unladylike snort. “You don’t say. Not unlikely if he’d caused the accident, even if he did it by mistake. He’d probably rather take his chances than face us, especially if the boy had died.”
    “Ask the men. Discover who he was.” Richard fixed Carier with a penetrating stare. “I have to make sure.”
    Our enemies had sent assassins after us before. “But if it is someone sent for us, it’s a remarkably clumsy way of doing it,” I pointed out. “Why would he push the boy off the rigging? Attract attention before he’d done the job he was there for?” Which would be to kill us, if Richard’s suspicions were correct.
    I saw this as another attempt to swamp me, to overprotect me, but I also knew that we could not afford to ignore suspicious activity around us. He would have investigated this even had he not been worried about me.
    Richard frowned then jerked his head in a quick nod. “Yes, you have a point. So an inexperienced person, or a sailor with a vicious streak, perhaps. Even a lovers’ tiff. Or an attack on us that went wrong. I want to know which it is, and as quickly as possible. If you need me to exert a little pressure, let me know. If they sent someone for us, then they got through Thompson’s and all our other observances. I will not have my wife and children put in danger. I will not tolerate any carelessness.” I had thought us far away from the staff agency we’d founded in London, but domestic servants travelled all over the world, and we had some of Thompson’s special staff with us—the ones who also acted as bodyguards and even extra eyes when we required it.
    Carier bowed and left.
    Now we were alone, the tension in the room thickened. I wanted him to hold me, just hold me. No, that was a lie. I wanted to feel his body next to mine. I wanted to make love, feel him hot and naked over me, under me, by my side. But that wouldn’t happen for some time yet. I had to curb my eagerness, or I might make a foolish mistake and drive him even further away.
    His anger filled the room, and I wanted him to shout, to explode in fury. Anything to break this icy reserve, the calm I couldn’t bear anymore. Richard had a vicious temper, but he’d controlled it over the years, so now it