Free One Week as Lovers by Victoria Dahl Page B

written by my great-uncle when he was a boy. He claimed to have come across a smuggler’s stash. Said he found a great chest of gold coin and hid it in a sea cave.”
    “Stolen pirate’s booty?” Lancaster crowed. “That’s even better.”
    “It’s not a joke, you insufferable lout.”
    She watched him try—and fail—to twitch his mouth into a serious line.
    “It’s real, Lancaster. And I mean to find it.”
    “Right. And why do you assume the gold is still there?”
    This she could answer with certainty. “My great-uncle died very young. Only two years after the journal was written.”
    He inclined his head in acknowledgment. “All right. What do you mean to do with this gold when you find it? Pay for Richmond to be quietly murdered?”
    Strange, but he sounded slightly hopeful at that. “Of course not! I mean to pay off my family’s debt and buy passage to America.”
    “Ah. Why pay off your stepfather’s debt?”
    “My sister. Mary will be fourteen next year. I don’t think Mother would let her be sent to Richmond, but…she’s never been able to stand up to her husband. I won’t see my little sister given in my stead.”
    All the amusement vanished from his face, leaving a mouth that looked as if it hadn’t smiled in years. “I see. So you honestly believe this treasure exists?”
    “I do.”
    “Then I’ll help you find it.”
    That seemed a bit too good to be true. “You’ll help me? And then you’ll send me off to America with well wishes?”
    “Er…We’ll have to discuss that later.”
    “No, we will not,” she said firmly.
    Mrs. Pell, still fiddling with the tray, set the teapot down hard. “The viscount is a traveled man, Cynthia Merrithorpe, and you’d do well to listen to him.”
    “I reach my majority in two weeks and I’ll do whatever I like.”
    “Spoken like a true adult,” Lancaster murmured, and she had to fight the urge to punch him in the ear.
    “What do you know about it?” she snapped. “Rumor has it that you’ll marry an heiress and your problems will be solved.”
    “Ha.” The smile he offered wasn’t as cold as the one she’d seen last night. It was bitter and rueful. Another revelation. “True. I will marry. And she is an heiress. And we’ll live happily ever after in a castle made of gold, so I may as well help you find your own pleasant ending.”
    Cynthia had thought it shocking to wake up and find Nicholas leaning over her as she slept. But that was nothing compared to this. “You’re engaged? You…You’ll marry soon? We hadn’t heard.”
    “I’m due back for the wedding in a few weeks. So let’s make this quick, shall we? Up for a fine bit of treasure hunting this morning?” His attempt at humor fell flat. He didn’t sound truly amused and Cynthia couldn’t have laughed if someone had offered her a thousand pounds.
    Nick would be a husband soon. And some other woman would be his wife.

Chapter 6
    Cynthia’s foot looked narrow and delicate before she pulled a woolen sock over it and stuffed it into a thick-soled boot. Lancaster slid his gaze to her other foot, studying the feminine shape before she could hide it. She might be dressed in servants’ garb, but her toes looked pale and fine.
    She wore no stockings today, as Mrs. Pell had whisked them away for mending.
    “Are you listening to me?” Cynthia snapped.
    “Yes…What?”
    “I said you’d best find a sturdier pair of gloves.”
    He glanced down at the gloves he held in his hands and shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure this is safe for a lady.”
    She heaved a deep sigh and tugged the second boot on. “I’ve been climbing the cliffs for weeks now. I daresay it’s safer for me than it is for you.”
    “Still, if you were to fall…No, I can’t allow it.”
    Her eyes blazed fire and her lips thinned. Lancaster braced himself for a tirade.
    “You…” she started.
    He waited a few seconds. “Yes?”
    “You…I can’t…Fine. I’ll split the treasure with you