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“Of course, I’m just girding my loins as it were. It’s how I came upon this information that will make you unhappy. Well, that and the information itself, of course. You see, there has been smugglers in the area. And they’re smuggling cotton.”
“Oh sweet, merciful heavens! Are you sure? Tell me what you know.”
“Don’t get too upset, Flor. The good news is that Gilbert Northcott is supposed to be arriving today or tomorrow, I wasn’t too clear on that detail, and he’ll have customs agents with him. They are intent on shutting it down. But there’s currently no way of knowing if they’ve been active for long or what sort of damage they might have done in the meantime. And I think there’s really no way of knowing if the customs agents will actually be able to shut it all down.” She nearly stumbled over her words now in her haste to get the entire tale told. “Since you’ve started trying cotton in some of your fields, and I’m certain others have, too, I feel like it’s more important for us to make sure it’s completely taken care of. But I’m afraid Gilbert might just be concerned about Everleigh lands.”
Florent frowned, pleased with his sister’s wisdom and sharing her concern. But then he thought of other details. “Gilbert Northcott is a good man, and I have reason to suspect his interests in the matter might go deeper than just protecting his own family’s lands. For one thing, how does he know where to find himself customs officers?”
He was pleased to see that Daisy was paying heed to his words as she puzzled over what he had said. “I suppose I can see your point. Although, I cannot begin to fathom why he would have knowledge of such things. Even Frost didn’t know where to start to find the local magistrate when we first discovered the smugglers.”
Frost’s gaze narrowed on his sister’s face. “That brings us to the other matter of concern that you referenced – how do you know about these matters?”
He watched with a grin as colour flooded her face. “Keep in mind I’m not your responsibility anymore, Florent,” Daisy said pertly.
“You are until the settlements are signed, so you’d better get talking.”
She must have been able to tell there was little heat in his words as she laughed again.
“Very well, Flor, but you did promise not to ring a peal, don’t forget.” She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. “I saw them. The smugglers. Arriving with a shipment in the middle of the night in the cove out behind the moors.”
“In the middle of the night? What in heavens were you doing on the moors in the middle of the night? Have you lost your mind? I’m going to wring Foster’s neck for him.”
“No, you aren’t, Florent Alcott. You promised not to get angry.”
“I promised not to get angry with you, Daisy, not your swain. How can I entrust you to him if he cannot prove to be trustworthy?”
To his shock, Daisy laughed. “I love you my dearest brother. And I love that you want to protect me. But use your head a little more and you’ll realize it wasn’t Frost’s fault. I followed him. He certainly didn’t invite me.”
Florent’s jaw dropped open. “Keep talking. I want to hear the entire story.”
As Daisy’s tale unfolded, Florent found it harder and harder to grasp what she was saying. There were smugglers in Kent County. And somehow his young sister was having a hand in apprehending them. Of course, she wasn’t so young anymore if she was getting married that week. And it wasn’t so very strange for Kent to have smugglers, he supposed. But he would never have expected them in their part of the county, despite their being so close to the mouth of the river. It was just too far to be convenient for the criminal element. But he supposed it also made it inconvenient for those tasked with the assignment of apprehending said criminals.
“So, you have to keep it a secret for now,” Daisy concluded her explanation.
“A secret? How am I supposed to do that while I question our staff and tenants?”
Daisy laughed. “That’s how, you don’t do that. You stay here at the party for a few more days, until I wed, in fact. And then you can carry on with whatever you’d like to do. But for now, you’ll have to leave it in the agents’ hands.”
“You know leaving my concerns for someone else to care for is not very much in keeping with my traits.”
“I do realize that, Flor, but just this time, you’re going to have to. If you go about questioning people without really knowing what is involved, you could end up warning the criminals we are hoping to apprehend.”
“I do hope you are using the wordwemetaphorically. I do not want you anywhere near this.”
Daisy’s smile tightened with his words, but Florent couldn’t retract them. This was his sister. He could not bear for anything to happen to her. It would be hard enough allowing her to set sail across the Atlantic with her husband. Until they were wed, she was still very much Florent’s responsibility, and he would not allow her to mix herself up with criminals.
“I do not see how you think to stop me, for one thing, Florent, my dearest brother. For another, I shan’t actually be doing anything. I was very much usingweas a collective term. Meaning all of us, really. Gilbert will be arriving with the agents, and they will do whatever agents do. While I don’t know much, I do know that just as you do not want me involved, you cannot involve yourself either. We need to leave it to them. For now, at least.”
Grudgingly, Florent could see the wisdom of her words. The day passed surprisingly easily despite the worries that had piled onto his mind. Lady Adelaide carried on with her planned entertainments, and most of the guests were none the wiser about the investigation underway around them. They rode into the village for some shopping and took luncheon at the local inn, thus bringing needed business to the area. Florent had to admire their hostess’ wisdom. It also allowed time for the agents to arrive and get themselves set up in the servants’ quarters and the loft of one of the barns. One who appeared to be higher ranking than his fellows, joined the guests for supper that night. To balance out her numbers, Lady Adelaide invited Miss Alwin back to join her guests.
The murmur in the receiving room rose to a crescendo when it was revealed why Officer Cordon was present. Florent watched everyone as attentively as possible. Of course, most of the guests were from other parts of the country and were merely curious about the increased numbers, but Miss Alwin was from these parts in addition to him, his sister, and their mother. She also appeared as surprised and curious as everyone else, but what surprised Florent the most was Henry Wagner’s reaction.
The man gasped dramatically. Flor would have thought it was fake if not for the immediate absence of any other reaction. If he hadn’t been watching for people’s response, if he hadn’t been warned by his sister, he might not have even noticed Mr. Wagner’s odd behavior. Florent tried to keep his balance; he recognized that he was already looking for reasons to distrust the man, but this felt like genuine reason to be distrustful.
Flor’s sharpened gaze also took in Lady Constance’s lack of reaction to the entire thing. Her face merely displayed a very minor interest, as though the entire situation was a mere spectacle laid out to amuse the assembled guests. That would have been amusing if it were not so very distressful.
