“I’m confused,” Nick said, deliberately ignoring the question. “If you gambled away your map to Hornsby, and he and Ruford sailed to Spain to look for the treasure,” he turned to Harry, “who broke into your cottage and stole your copy of the map?”
She froze with her glass halfway to her mouth, which was open in a silent “Oh.”
“Half the treasure rightfully belongs to Harry here.” Nick swallowed a mouthful of wine, his mind racing.
Zach leaned forward, elbows on the table, resting his chin on interlaced fingers. “Do tell.”
“Adam and his chum Giles were partners on the bet. Giles was Harry’s father.”
“The gunner’s mate who saved Adam’s sorry arse.” Zach looked at Harry with renewed interest. “I never met your father but heard many things about him from my brother. A man of good character.”
Harry nodded her thanks. She still hadn’t spoken a word, helping to hide her gender. Nick had been careful about pronouns so as not to give Zach any improper ideas about his traveling companion. She hid a yawn behind one hand.
“And you’re here at this particular inn because you think you figured out where the priest went?”
“Same as you, Nicky.”
Nick folded his hands on the table. “What made you even think I was looking for the priest?”
Zach shrugged. “A couple places I stopped to make inquiries, someone had already been there asking the same questions. Someone who looked like a younger version of me.” He flipped over the deck of cards and shuffled them again. “Did Adam send a copy of the map to you?”
“No.” Nick tried to keep the anger out of his voice. “I knew nothing about the treasure until Harry asked me for a ride to Spain to fetch it.”
The serving girl came over to clear their dishes and offered to show Nick and Harry to their room. Their saddlebags had already been sent up.
“Come back for a nightcap, Nicky.”
Nick followed Harry up the staircase, to a door at the end of the hall. As expected, the room was hardly bigger than his cabin on the Wind Dancer, dominated by a bed in the center that was much larger than his bunk. A dressing table and chair were against the wall near the window, next to a clothes press and a nightstand with washbasin and chamber pot. Two armchairs flanked the river rock fireplace, which had a freshly built crackling fire trying to dispel the chill. It could be a room at any inn anywhere in England or on the Continent, if not for the brightly colored, woven cotton blanket on the bed in the style popular in Spain and Portugal.
He gave the woman a coin and requested an extra blanket before she left.
Harry was standing at the foot of the bed, staring at it.
“Too bad there are no hooks for a hammock,” he said.
“Ha,” she replied without a trace of humor, still eyeing the bed and not him.
“I’m going to sleep by the fire,” he said to put her at ease. “That’s why I asked for the extra blanket.”
She finally looked at him, tension leaving her body, and she hung her coat and cap on the hook by the door. “Fancy meeting your uncle here,” she said, crossing to the fire. She put her hands toward the flames. “I couldn’t help noticing you refer to your father by his given name.”
A soft knock at the door precluded his need to reply. He accepted the blanket and tossed it onto the nearest armchair but didn’t shut the door. “I’m going to see what else Zach knows.”
She nodded and added another stick to the fire.
* * *
“Harry settling in all right?” Zach said as Nick sat down, in the chair next to him instead of across the table, so they could converse with more privacy. The dining room held fewer patrons now, but there was still a low hum of conversation and the clatter of utensils on dishes.
Nick nodded. “Going to turn in, I expect. We had a long ride yesterday and again today.” He refilled his glass with more vinho verde. He anticipated needing a clear head to deal with his relative.
Zach stared at him in disbelief. “Good lord, lad, you really are inept if they’re not throwing themselves at you.”
Nick stared back blankly.
“How long has Harry been making do with cold water in a wash basin, on the ship and while you’ve been traipsing about the countryside? Have a hot bath sent up for the girl, you nodcock.”
Nick buried his face in his hands.
