Alice pondered the current state of Pomeroy House, which was home to eight dogs, seventy-nine captive beetles, and approximately five hundred faux Greek sculptures in various stages of completion. “I would not describe the conditions as pacific, exactly.”
“I fear they’re in for something of a shock when they arrive in”—Tamsin squinted at the narrow handwriting—“about forty-four hours, apparently. Have you ever heard of the Baring Brotherhood of Naturists?”
“I can’t say that I have.” She gazed at Tamsin. “Are you... entirely certain they’re painters?”
Tamsin’s brows drew together. “It does sound rather...” She glanced back down at the letter. “Perhaps I’ve misread.”
“Maybe Ruby will have heard of them.”
Tamsin folded the sheet of paper and attempted to find somewhere on the sofa to place it that wasn’t occupied by Vanessa. “Let us hope. Have you seen Ruby this afternoon?”
Alice considered Ruby: her oldest, dearest friend, so radiantly happy these days that Alice’s heart squeezed to think of her.
“I believe,” she said, “that Captain and Mrs. Archer are spending the afternoon in their cove.”
* * *
There was sand all over them: their entangled legs, their arms, their clothes. Somehow, there was a smear of the stuff directly across Ruby’s cheek, and Archer pondered whether there was any chance he could brush it away without leaving an even larger trail in its wake.
No, he decided. Not a chance.
He wrapped his arms around her waist instead and pulled her even closer, rubbing his chin against the top of her head. He breathed her in: amber and cedar, brandied fruit and a fortune of gold.
“This,” she murmured, “is my favorite place.”
He grinned. “This cove?”
The viewwassuperlative—the sun was setting, and the sea was the exact blue-gray of Ruby’s eyes. From here, he could just see the harbor at St. Petroc’s; if he squinted, he thought perhaps he could make out theDelphinium.
It was a miracle beyond anything he could ever have dreamed of: to travel to London together in his ship, Ruby’s replicas lovingly crated on the decks and Gerry and Lamentation manning the sails.
He had told Princess Serafina the truth about himself and his crew right there in Surrey. It had been difficult, that raw vulnerability. It went against the habit of a lifetime to put himself—his people—in someone else’s power.
But it had been the right thing to do. And with Ruby at his side, nothing felt impossible. Not anymore.
The princess had taken in his revelations with a slow, cool nod. And when Archer had ended by asking for posts at Pomeroy House for all five of them, the princess had granted his request with a wave of her small hand.
Signor Neri had followed later with the paperwork.
The princess had been considerably more pleased by Gill Oliphant’s mercenary enthusiasm as her personal pirate. As promised, House di Sangro had given Oliphant a minor fortune to hunt down Verdura, though Oliphant had not thus far proven successful. The duke, it seemed, was devilishly slippery, on top of being a murderous, grasping coward. Archer suspected that Oliphant might have a very long future ahead of him as a Monfalcone privateer.
And while Archer had not taken any of the princess’s ransom money, he had willingly accepted a go-between fee from Oliphant, in exchange for putting Oliphant up for the job.
Archer’s choice of payment had been the return of his ownDelphinium.
The notion had been Ruby’s. His wife, he thought smugly, had considerable promise as a pirate queen.
“Not the cove,” she said. She leaned up and planted a kiss along his throat, then made a little humming noise as she rubbed her nose against his unshaven jaw. “Though I like that too. But no, I meant”—she wriggled in demonstration—“here. In your embrace.”
“Keep squirming like that,” he muttered, “and you’ll be in for something else.”
She grinned, and his heart leapt. It always did when she smiled at him like that. “Heavens,” she murmured. “Threats from the captain. Shall I be forced to walk the plank?”
“Bound to the mainmast, more like.”
“Goodness. Immobilized by a column of erected wood.” Her cheeks were pink with sunset, and her mouth was all mischief. “You sailors are positively depraved.”
He rolled her over in one swift move, and she laughed and pushed her fingers into his hair.
