Marek shook his head. “They are friends of mine, the four soldiers. Weslorian, like me.”
Douglas stared at Marek. Then at Hollis. “Who is this man?” he asked, and instead of waiting for her to answer, he looked again at Marek. “Are you one of the king’s men?”
“Not me,” Marek said, as if that offended him. “I’m a clerk in the trade minister’s office. I’m here to tell him he’s right.” He grinned.
So did Douglas.
“I’ve heard tell that your ship is the best.”
Douglas leaned against the doorframe as another round of Chairs began. “Aye, that she is. Steam-powered. Best on the seas now, if you ask me. You say they were friends of yours?” Douglas asked, then glanced at Hollis. “What’s she to do with it?”
“I told him I’d help him find his friends,” Hollis said.
“You wouldn’t be cooking up something for your ladies’ gazette, would you?” Douglas asked.
“Why not?” Hollis said. “Ladies appreciate a man in uniform.”
“Ah, lass, ladies appreciate aman.Too many of them don’t have a proper one. But you’ll no’ want to write about those four soldiers. They weren’t in uniform, for one. And they seemed a bit rough for proper ladies.”
Hollis worked very hard to keep her expression neutral, but inside she was shouting—William Douglas had just confirmed the existence of the four soldiers.
“Je,that’s Wesloria for you,” Marek said. “Who was it again who brought them here?” he asked as if he should know the answer but couldn’t quite recall. “It wasn’t the king, was it?”
Douglas’s attention had shifted to the game of Chairs. “That wee princess very nearly pushed the gentleman from the chair. Did you see?”
“Was it the king?” Hollis asked.
Douglas shook his head. “Not that I know. Another Weslorian. Like you, aye?”
“Do you recall his name?” Marek asked. “Might be acquainted with him, as well.”
Douglas laughed. “What I recall is his purse, lad. He paid well enough for it. What else is there to remember?”
“What, you sailed all the way to Wesloria and took some man’s money to put four men on your ship?” Hollis laughed. “You’re teasing poor Mr. Brendan, Douglas. Tell him you are.”
“What are you talking about?” Douglas asked. “I’ve never been to Wesloria. I met the gentleman here. My maiden voyage was to France and back.”
“I don’t understand,” Hollis said.
Lord Douglas, whose attention was firmly on the game of Chairs, sighed with impatience. “Listen carefully, Mrs. Honeycutt. A Weslorian gentleman in London engaged my services a fortnight ago when I planned my first voyage. Asked me kindly if I’d pick up the lads for the journey back and gave me a fat purse. Do you understand now?”
Hollis could tell by the way Marek was looking at Douglas that he couldn’t make sense of this tale, either. What gentleman? And why were the four soldiers in France? “Well, no matter,” Hollis said lightly, as if she accepted this explanation completely. “Do you know where they’ve gone?”
“No,” Douglas said. “They disembarked and disappeared into the docks. Did you see that, then? She pushed Walters out of the way.”
Hollis looked over her shoulder. They were down to four chairs.
“I want to see this,” Douglas said. “Pardon.” He stepped around Hollis and Marek and walked through the crowd to see the end of the game.
Hollis and Marek looked at each other. “Theydoexist, those soldiers. But I can’t say that I’m entirely happy to hear it,” Hollis said.
“Agreed,” Marek said. “Something is not right with it. I need to find them.”
“Yes, I really think we must,” Hollis said.
Marek frowned. “Notwe.I mean to go to the docks. That’s no place for a lady.”
“I’m not delicate china, sir. I mean to go with you and you’ll need Donovan’s help. He’ll know where to look, and really, Marek, are you not yet convinced that you need me?”
