She glanced at him, saw the seriousness in his eyes. “What arrangements?”
Gervase drew breath, swiftly reviewing the list that had formed in his head. He didn’t want to tell Madeline, let alone Harry and Edmond, what a ‘flash cove’ was. Old Eddie had been a London gentleman’s gentleman until he’d become too fond of the bottle; to Eddie, as to Gervase and anyone with knowledge of London’s underworld, a ‘flash cove’ meant a swindler or trickster usually based in London who made a living by leading others astray—usually into the clutches of some more powerful and nasty villain.
No matter how inebriated Old Eddie had been, if he’d said a flash cove, that was what he’d meant. But what such a person was doing in Helston, let alone why he’d approached Ben…despite all the possibilities, instinct screamed that Ben’s disappearance had something to do with the other inexplicable thing that had recently come into his young life. The brooch.
Gervase met Madeline’s eyes. “We need to assemble a search party, one big enough to scour the town more or less in one fell swoop. You need to gather the men on the estate, all those you can mount. Also send a note in my name to Sitwell at the castle asking him to do the same with my people and send them to Helston to wait for us there.” He paused, thinking, then nodded. “That should give us enough men.”
Madeline blinked, then nodded; rising from the desk, she moved around it to her chair. She frowned. “Should we—”
He held up a hand. “While you write those notes, I’ll send one of your grooms to Falmouth. I was there earlier today and ran into a friend—another member of my club—Charles St. Austell, Earl of Lostwithiel. I’ll ask Charles to do two things. First, to talk to the mayor and the governor of Pendennis Castle and get a roadblock set up on the London road.” When alarm crossed her face, he forced a reassuring smile. “A precaution. Let’s hope there’s no need for it, but it won’t hurt to have that in place just in case.”
That he was considering “just in case” seemed to calm her; she nodded and sank into her chair.
He held her gaze. “The other thing I’m going to ask is for Charles to meet us in Helston. He has his dogs, two wolfhounds, with him, and I recall him mentioning that they’re excellent trackers.”
And Penny would accompany Charles; nothing was more likely. Gervase hoped the arrival of another lady of similar standing would help distract Madeline, and stop her from imagining the worst.
&nbs
p; He was able to imagine far worse scenarios than she, but he knew it was pointless and likely self-defeating. Neither he nor she could afford to allow panic to deflect them, not if they wanted Ben back, safe.
To her, he said, “I’ll leave you to write those notes.” Then he looked at Harry and Edmond. “I’ll need a groom to take my message to Falmouth—you two can help me with that.”
He glanced back at Madeline.
She was reaching for paper and pen. “Send Fanning—he’s reliable under pressure.” She looked at Harry. “Send all the other grooms to me—I’ll have notes ready for them soon.”
“Milsom can stay and assist you.” Gervase locked his gaze on the boys. “Come on—let’s get my message off.”
With last glances at Madeline—who already had her head bowed over a note—Harry and Edmond rose and followed Gervase into the corridor.
They found Fanning in the stables; Gervase recited his message to Charles, had Fanning repeat it, then sent him off. Leaving the other grooms saddling up to take Madeline’s notes to the castle and surrounding farms, Gervase beckoned the two boys to accompany him and headed back to the house.
Pausing outside the side door, he turned to them. “Where’s a safe place to talk?”
Harry exchanged a look with Edmond, then volunteered, “The library.”
Gervase waved them ahead of him; he followed them along a corridor and into the library.
Closing the doors behind him, he faced them. They’d turned and fixed big eyes on him.
“What is it?” Harry asked.
“Does Ben know where you found the brooch? Was he with you when you found it?”
Both nodded. “It was he who tripped over it in the sand,” Edmond said.
Harry’s eyes had widened. “Do you think he’s been kidnapped over the brooch? By the wreckers?”
“No.” Gervase spoke quickly to dispel the looming horror. “Not the wreckers, that much seems certain. However, I told you I’d check again in Falmouth to see if there was any missing ship listed—that’s why I was there today. I learned there definitely isn’t any legitimate ship missing.”
He caught Harry’s gaze. “As we discussed before, that leaves only two reasonable explanations for that brooch. Either it’s from a long-ago wreck—or from a smugglers’ vessel that went down on the Manacles in that bad blow two weeks ago.” He felt his lips thin. “As there have been no local smugglers’ vessels lost, until half an hour ago I was tending to the ancient wreck as explanation. Now…” He paused, then looked at them. “I can’t imagine any other reason for someone to grab Ben—can you?”
Both boys’ eyes had grown round. Both thought, then shook their heads.
“You think—” Harry’s voice squeaked; he cleared his throat and tried again. “You think someone wants the brooch and…” He frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“No—not if they’re after the brooch. But…” He’d never used two schoolboys to test his reasoning before, but he had enough respect for their mental acuity, and their involvement, to try. He moved to sit on the arm of a nearby chair, bringing his face down to Edmond’s level.