“Does he tell you every time he’s accosted by men he believes are thieves?”

No, he actually wouldn’t. He’d just deal with it and go on his way as if nothing had happened.

She raised a brow. “How many died?”

He choked back a laugh this time. But a knock at the door drew him to open it, and a moment later he set the tray of food on the table. She moved over to the table to see if he’d lied about having a real cook this time. Apparently, he’d told the truth. The food on the two plates looked appetizing: fresh peas, roasted chicken with a caramelized sauce that smelled divine, rolls still steaming, even dessert.

She sat down and reached for a plate, the aromas reminding her that she was hungry. But when he started to do the same, she said adamantly, “I won’t dine with you as if I’m not your prisoner and you’re not a bloody pirate.” She pointed at his desk. “You eat over there if you want me to eat.”

“For now,” he allowed, and took one of the plates with him back to his desk. “But we will dine together, perhaps do much more than that, before this voyage ends, Jack. I may even invite your brother or rather the man who looks like your brother up here for a meal if you ask me nicely.”

Bloody smiling liar, she thought. He wouldn’t. He just liked to dangle carrots.

But as Jack took a bite of the roasted chicken, she thought about what Bastard had told her about his attempts to capture her father. Was that a lie, too? Or was he crazy and desperate enough to think he could take down James Malory? Her nemesis was more dangerous than she’d thought.

Chapter Fifteen

IN BERKELEY SQUARE, THE vehicles were lined up two deep at the curb outside James and Georgina Malory’s town house. The elders, as James and Anthony referred to their two older brothers, were there. Anthony and Roslynn were there, since he’d been the first one whom George had sent for when Jacqueline hadn’t come home for dinner. Danny was there, too, since her husband was also missing, and she knew that Percy was with him. And Amy had been fetched in case she had any out-of-the-ordinary insight into the situation.

They were gathered in the parlor. Edward was seated next to Georgina with his arm around her shoulders. She’d stopped crying for the moment. They’d already searched the house for a note Jacqueline might have left about where she’d gone and questioned all the servants. They knew only from Jacqueline’s maid that she’d decided not to attend the scheduled party that night and was going for a ride with Jeremy and expected to be home in time for dinner or shortly thereafter. And Artie had confirmed she’d left the house with Jeremy. But dinner had been hours ago.

“Would she elope?” Amy asked.

“With whom, all twelve of her suitors?” Georgina replied.

“She was interested in a new one she met at the recent masked ball you took her to,” Amy continued.

Georgina frowned, remembering. “James didn’t like that fellow because he refused to introduce himself when the young man returned Jack to us after a dance.”

Amy said, “She didn’t know his name when she told me about him yesterday, but she’s had time to find out.”

“I’ll be the first to admit Jack is impulsive, even reckless,” Georgina said. “But she’s not crazy. No one marries someone they’ve only just met, certainly not our Jack, who’s touted repeatedly that it’s not her goal to marry this year—much to James’s delight.”

“But she’s obviously enlisted Jeremy’s help with something,” Danny put in. “And both Jeremy and Jack are angry and hurt that James wouldn’t let them go with him. They talked a lot about this last night when we escorted Jack to the soirée.”

They all stared at Danny, which had her add, “No, Jeremy would not leave the country without telling me.”

Georgina sighed in agreement. “Jack might have wanted to follow her father, but she’d leave a damned note if she was going to do something that foolish. And they certainly wouldn’t take Percy with them.”

“Do you have any feelings about this, Amy?” Edward asked his daughter.

Amy sighed. “Nothing that will help.”

“Anything at all?” Georgina persisted.

But Jason added, “Jacqueline has Jeremy with her, and Percy, and her four-man escort. She must still be in the city and is just delayed for some reason. That she didn’t leave a note means she expected to be home before she was missed. She’s probably going to show up here any minute.”

They all stared at Jason for making that prediction, then immediately turned to Amy again. Amy rolled her eyes. “I’m not a bloody magic ball. I’m sensing nothing about this situation, which you should take to be a good sign, no harm, no danger, no disaster. I haven’t had any special feelings a’tall since yesterday when I shared with Jack that she’s found her man.”

“Her man?”

“The one for her. And she got quite angry at the suggestion, flatly denying it. But she was also excited about the masked man. But as I said, as of yesterday, she still didn’t know who he is—unless she lied to me.” Amy shook her head. “No, she wouldn’t do that. Maybe she found out who he is or figured out how to find him.”

“So you think she’s gone off to meet him and dragged Jeremy along as a chaperone?”

Amy shrugged. “As good a guess as any.”

“Now that sounds like something Jack would do,” Roslynn put in. “Especially if the man posed a mystery to her and she hasn’t solved it yet. But I do agree with Jason. They are probably just delayed in getting home.”

“We can’t depend on that,” Georgina said. “We need to start looking for her. I’ll make a list of Jack and Judy’s friends here in the city. The rest of you, figure out where an innocent rendezvous might take place in case she did run off to meet that man from the ball.”

“A restaurant, since she left near dinnertime.”

“It’s way past dinnertime, but that’s not a bad idea.”

“The man’s hotel if it has a restaurant. If he’s new to town, he might be staying in one and could have suggested they dine there. And Jeremy is chaperoning her.”

“But we don’t know his name.”