There were a dozen or so clocks in the common rooms of Pencliff Towers, and Poppy felt like she was staring at one or more of them the whole evening, watching the hands on each face spin around, creeping toward ten. The hourly chimes mocked her, ringing out again and again, but never with the right number of bells.
She wore her red gown (with all the seed pearls now stitched on), and got several compliments on her appearance. Even Mrs. Ainsworth couldn’t help but say, “That is a striking outfit, Miss St George.” Then she had to spoil it with, “Of course, a spinster does have a great deal of time on her hands to do such fine beadwork.”
Well, Poppy did have time on her hands tonight, because as soon as the clock struck ten, she would go upstairs to give the message to the smugglers, while Elowen remained in full view of the houseguests. Poppy could barely wait for Carlos to leave, knowing that if he realized she’d volunteered as signaler, he’d be furious about it.
After dinner, when the gentlemen were just rejoining the ladies in the parlor, a servant gave Carlos a message. Carlos took the folded paper and read it. With only the barest side glance to Poppy, he casually headed back to the door. She silently wished him good luck, then decided that silently wasn’t good enough.
She got up and followed him into the foyer.
He looked back. “What are you doing?”
“You didn’t expect me to not see you off, did you? I know you’re going to change your evening wear for your pirating wear, and then go chase smugglers.”
“You can’t come, Poppy. You know it’s far too dangerous.”
“I understand that!” she said. “I only wanted to tell you to be careful.”
“And you have.”
“And to tell you yes,” she added impulsively.
“Yes what?”
“Yes to the marriage proposal. If it still stands.”
Carlos stood still for a moment, and then he swept her into his arms.
Poppy was lost in his kiss and his embrace and all they promised. She barely caught her breath when he kissed her again.
“You have a unique sense of timing, vida mía,” he murmured. “We’ll talk about this when I get back.”
“Yes, dear,” she said sweetly.
He looked at her with narrowed eyes, then laughed. “Soon,” he said. And he was gone.
Poppy took a few deep breaths, and then noticed a figure on the other side of the foyer. The maid Millie stood there, looking shocked.
“I accepted his proposal,” Poppy explained.
“Oh, miss.” Millie sighed at the news. “How romantic!”
“But please don’t tell anyone. We’ll announce it to everyone tomorrow.”
Millie nodded eagerly as she crossed her heart.
Poppy glanced at the grandfather clock in the foyer, and saw that it was about to strike ten. “Oh, no! I’ve got to get to the attic. Bye, Millie!”
She dashed up the staircase, leaving a very bewildered maid behind her.
In the attic, Poppy found everything in readiness. The lantern was there, along with a flint. It was very dark in the attic before she lit the lantern. The moon hadn’t yet risen, and when it did, it would be little more than a sliver—a thin, sly smile only criminals would welcome. In Poppy’s mind, this was the true smugglers’ moon, not the round fat one of two weeks ago. The sky was clear of clouds, and the stars twinkled madly in the hazy air above the sea.
The window didn’t have a curtain, so all Poppy had to do was stand in front of the glass and slowly move the lantern in the prescribed pattern. She lifted it up, then let it down, and repeated it several times with a minute between signals. That way, a watcher at sea had more than one chance to notice the message.
Finally, she stopped signaling and set the lantern on the floor. Her arm ached a bit, but she also felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Her part was done. She’d lured the smugglers out with her false message that it was safe. The rest was up to the force of men who’d gathered to capture Spargo and his gang.
She just hoped that Carlos wouldn’t do anything foolish and hurt himself in the process. After all, a lady should worry about her fiancé when he ran off to fight criminals.
Poppy smiled to herself, thinking that love did some silly things to a person. Here she was, in the dark attic of a home that wasn’t hers, and she was helping catch smugglers as a favor to a woman she’d only just got to know…and all she could think about was Carlos.
