Free Silence of Scandal by Jackie Williams

the week running up to the wreck. My father and Phillip both wrote new wills which seems odd in the circumstances whatever Carter says. Neither of them could be upheld anyway as there appears to be no way to raise money to cover the debt and that has to be paid before any other gifts made.” He downed the last of the brandy and rang for another bottle. They waited until Bethany scuttled in and back out again before continuing.
    Geoffrey breathed in the dark scent of the brandy in his glass and stared into the fire.
    “Phillip confided in me that he was expecting a huge shipment of spirits and some unspecified articles. I assumed he wanted to keep the transaction quiet and away from the ears of the Crown. The ship was to arrive well over a month ago but it never docked. Your brother was frantic, literally walking the cliff tops with his eye glass watching for her every day. I know he went to your father at the end of that week and they immediately called their solicitor. I can only assume that this is when their new wills were written, but then after another five days I heard from down in the village that a ship had been sighted floundering off the coast. Something was clearly wrong and with the weather rising there was concern for the crew. I took the news to your brother and he raced to the coast. The storm blew up that afternoon. The swell was higher than I had ever seen before and the ship came crashing in with the tide. It was clear that they had no means to steer the ship. It hit the rocks at the end of Bluff Cove and started to split but your brother and father insisted on taking out their fishing boat regardless of the danger. They had already made two trips, saving nearly twenty men and I was on the beach hauling in the crew when the ship rolled off the rock with the high tide, but there was nothing that could save it. Your father and brother were too close. They had gone back for a third time and pulled in a dozen more crewmen but they were overloaded as it was. A wave engulfed them and the ship tipped at the same moment.” He looked away from the blaze in the hearth and up at Alexander with glassy eyes. “There were only three survivors who were thrown out of the boat before it was crushed against the rocks. The surviving men came up on the shore half drowned by the waves.”
    Alexander thumped his glass onto the table. He didn’t want to think about the way his father and brother had perished. It was too horrible to bear.
    “What happened to Phillip’s precious cargo?” His voice was hollow and he had trouble even forming the words.
    Geoffrey shrugged.
    “What happens to all cargo after a wreck? There were hundreds of people on the beach watching the proceedings or helping with the rescue. Any cargo that washed up disappeared within hours. Barrels of brandy, bales of silks, jars of spices, all washed up and gone in the blink of an eye. I was so tied up with identifying your father and brother and arranging lodgings for the surviving sailors along with consoling your mother and sister in law that I confess that it never crossed my mind to guard any cargo that had washed up on the shore. I assumed that it was all insured, but I have since discovered that there was no cargo to insure according to the ship’s manifest that was discovered washed up in a locked box a few days later.”
    Alexander groaned in despair and threw up his hands in resignation.
    “So my family were involved in smuggling too…well, at least they appear to have tried to assist with the rescue of crew members lives over saving their own reputations.”
    Geoffrey nodded quickly.
    “No question about it. They had been to and from the ship twice previously and taken several men on board. The captain refused to leave before all his men were safe and that cost him his life too but I can attest to the deeds of both your father and your brother. Even if that hadn’t been their original intention there was no question that they died