him. “How macabre!”
“It’s a sight to behold.”
“I believe I’ll pass up the Stargazy pie.”
He laughed, tugging her hand to get her to moving again. “Don’t let any locals hear you say so.”
“By the by,” Mina told him as they neared the walkway up to the village. “Jeremy said he might be able to help us to some staff for the inn,” she said, pushing the hair away from her brow. She did not think her low bun was fully intact by this point as most of her brown hair seemed to be steaming along in the sea breeze.
“How’s that?” asked Nye skeptically.
“By all accounts, they have a high turnround of staff at Vance Park. Jeremy said just recently a local girl was given her marching orders and they have an ex footman who might be induced to work behind the bar.”
“Is that right?”
“You sound doubtful.”
“Let’s just say, I’ll believe it when I see it.”
She shook her head but did not argue as they made their way up the beach. She had expected him to drop her hand as soon as they stepped off the beach and onto the track that led to the road, but he pulled her arm through his instead. Several fishermen were sat on barrels with lobster pots and Nye nodded as they gazed at them with open curiosity, their pipes bobbing in their mouths as they wished them a good evening.
“Do any of the fishermen frequent The Merry Harlot?” Mina asked. Nye shook his head. “I seem to remember Edna told me they frequent The Ship instead.”
Nye nodded in the direction of a black and white inn on the seafront. “That’s it there.”
Mina looked at the rather shabby little whitewashed inn. “It’s not as grand as The Harlot,” she said critically. “It’s a shame we cannot poach some of their staff.”
He smiled at that and Mina eyed him curiously, thinking she had never seen him so agreeable. “Your knuckles look split and sore,” she observed. “Do they still hurt?”
He gave a small shake of his head. “Nothing to signify.” They were climbing the bank now up away from the village.
“You cannot have had long to recover this time between your fights this time,” she observed. “When we get back, I will bathe your cut eye in saltwater.”
He grunted. “Don’t fuss. I’m used to taking care of such things.” Then he shook his head.
“What?”
He looked rueful. “You did not even ask me who won my match.”
With surprise, Mina realized this was true. “I suppose I took it for granted that you did,” she admitted with some embarrassment.
Nye laughed at that. “Touching you have that much faith in me.” Catching her suddenly troubled expression, he asked, “What is it?”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” she replied evasively. “Just something Lady Faris said.”
Nye eyed her warily. “Oh yes?” he prompted. “And what was that?”
Mina hesitated, for the confidence she had felt only that morning when repudiating Lady Faris’s claims had faded, since she had noticed a loophole. “She seemed to think I must have very lax views about marriage,” she answered.
“Why?” he asked pointedly.
“Because she could not believe that you would tolerate anything else in a wife.”
He came to an abrupt halt in the road, pulling Mina to a stop also. “I thought we had already cleared this up this morning.”
“You said you were not interested in any married women save for your own,” Mina reiterated.
“So where does the confusion lie?”
She gazed over his shoulder. “You did not mention unmarried women.”
He gave a startled laugh. “Are you serious, Mina?” he asked, pulling her into his arms. He rested his chin on the top of her head. “You need have no worries on that score.”
“Are you sure?” she blurted, staring at the tanned skin that showed between his collarless shirt and necktie. “I saw how those women clamored around the fighters this past two days.”
“Aye, but did you see me paying any heed to them?” he answered lightly.
“I did not see much of you at all,” she mumbled.
One hand removed from her waist to tilt up her chin. “You do not need to trouble yourself about any women, wed or unwed,” he reiterated, his gaze capturing hers. “And my own marital views are far from lax. You might have noticed when I bawled everyone out in the bar, staking my claim? If you did not, then everyone else was sure to mark it, I promise you.”
Mina’s face reddened. “Well, yes,” she agreed evasively. “But sometimes gentlemen expect fidelity from their wives without the