A smile transformed his face. Heat infused her at his admiration, and she shook her head, focusing on the lines. The first numbers of the pair ranged from forty to one hundred and ninety, while the second didn’t surpass thirty-eight. She left the telegraph and flicked through the notebook's pages. "The Duke of Braganza was an abolitionist."
A pained look crossed Pedro's face. "Fernando fought for curbing illegal slave trading in the African colonies."
His unresolved grief pained her, but she controlled the impulse to place her hand above his, knowing he would not welcome her comfort. "Enough to die for it?"
"Do you think Braganza may have died for the cause?" Pedro rose from the table and paced to the hatch. He stared at the glass as if trying to find answers overboard. His chest expanded and contracted forcefully. Which shadow haunted him? Without warning, he whirled. "You are right. Braganza's killing was no accident. Fernando battled slavery by investigating illegal shipments from the colonies and pushing for harsher laws. This is the link we missed between the attack and Ulrich's involvement. The slave traderwantedto kill Fernando."
Cris frowned. "Why shoot the king, then? Why not simply eliminate his brother?"
"If Ulrich went directly to Fernando, it would shed light on his activities. Think, brother. He eliminated the single voice against slave trading and masked it with the gravest crime in a kingdom. Thecoup de manwould be brilliant if he did not use me as the scapegoat."
While they discussed, Anne forced her mind from the hateful subject, turning to the message.
"IdC," she said, gliding her finger over the curved letters. She cast her mind to what she had learned of Fernando, and her eyes widened. "The book! You told me your friend asked you to bring Inês’s story to the Douro. IdC must stand for Inês de Castro.”
Chapter 30
Pedropacedtheyacht'slibrary, forcing himself to keep away from his table where Anne wrestled with the code. He should leave her alone instead of hovering around her under this friendship disguise. If he had an ounce of character, he would be on the command bridge, overseeing the underwater canyon's cross, allowing her to forget her temporary attachment to him. But how could he keep away? Concentrating, Anne looked like Calliope, the muse of poetry. The afternoon sun reflected on the desk's travertine top and glinted off her skin, forgetting the rest of the library.
Through the glass panes, the sea rippled with shallow waves. The wind was behind them, and soon they would sail the underwater canyon. The captain was seasoned. He could manage without him.
Pedro yawned and leaned on the curved shelves. The code had not kept him awake all night, but Anne. Each time the clock had struck the hour, he had stared at her closed door, wanting to accept her invitation. Only his iron self-control had kept him outside.
Anne tapped the pen on a sheet of paper. "I think the first number of each pair stands for the page and the second for the line. It will take a while, but I believe I can translate Braganza's message."
Could she? After Pedro and Cris had failed? He had his doubts. But he would support her. The last thing he wanted was to discourage her. "Have you finished reading his book? Inês’s story?"
A pleat appeared on her forehead, and she caressed the page. "I've read until Dom Pedro left Inês alone in a cottage in the middle of nowhere. After he seduced her, he abandoned her there so her presence in court wouldn't offend his wife and father."
"He had his reasons for—"
"No reason justifies sacrificing her happiness."
Her vehemence struck him in the chest, the hurt of the night before shining in her eyes. He wanted to soothe her pain, to give her what she desired. But Dom Pedro's inability to stay away from Inês had doomed her. If he had resisted their attraction, Inês would have lived. Everything in Anne was delicate, hands made for caresses, not swords, her body made for nurturing, not fighting. Eyes that couldn't see evil, even when evil lay within her finger's reach. Her life was too fleeting. How had Dom Pedro survived after his Inês had been brutally stolen from him?
"Inês was not the only one who suffered from their impossible love. After his father sentenced her to death, the prince waged war against the old king. For months, he trod the line between lucidity and madness. Died alone. He had the worst side of the bargain."
"I find it hard to believe."
Pedro stared at her defiance, and the verses came tumbling out of his mouth.
"Cloud the air,
Stop guitar,
Die, heart,
Inês is dead,
Wretched spouse,
Cease the sorrow,
For your tomorrow,
Is no longer yours."
Their eyes locked. He could swear she saw right through him. As if the Gyges ring had given her the power to see invisible things. The lies, the fortress he had built around himself, the truth of why he had rejected her last night. He stopped breathing, waiting for her to call his bluff. He wouldn't be able to resist her a second time.
