Amy beamed. “Oh, yes, I would love for you to have it! And anything else you want,” she added, gesturing at the pile on the bed.
He laughed at that, pleased with her generosity, for he didn’t know what he’d have said had she refused him.
He really wanted the cameo.
“No, this will do nicely. I thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
The underlying warmth in her voice enchanted him. She seemed genuinely happy to give him the trinket. He wondered if she had any idea how much it meant to him.
The cameo was but one piece from a virtual treasure trove of jewelry. Looking over the pile on the bed, mentally adding it to the amount littering the floor and left in the trunk, he came to the conclusion the trunk had been nearly full. Why, it was a cache any pirate wouldn’t hesitate to kill for!
He shook his head, chiding himself for not realizing the contents of the trunk, and at the same time amazed at her deft concealment of it. The more he learned about her, the more he admired her. She had a streak of self-preservation that ran deep.
He set aside the cameo and sifted through the jewelry on the bed until something caught his eye—a brooch in the shape of a bow, encrusted with tiny rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds. “This is a pretty piece. Did you make it also?”
Amy nodded. “There are many similar pieces here. Galants, they’re called, and very popular. I think we could all make them in our sleep.” She smiled at the memory. “Shall I give it to Kendra, do you think? And we should choose something for Jason and Ford, too.” Her face lit up at the idea. “Everyone was so kind to me—why didn’t I think of this before?”
“Because you would have shocked us silly.” When she laughed, Colin joined in. “Regardless, it’s not necessary,” he assured her. Chances were Amy would be living off this jewelry in the months and years to come; she shouldn’t be giving things away.
“I want to do it.” She dropped to the floor, already delving into the trunk for the perfect gifts.
“No.” He put a hand on her arm.
She shook it off. “I insist.” Gems flashed as she rummaged around, her attention wholly focused on the jewelry. “It was a terrible lack of manners on my part; I must thank them for their hospitality.”
He gave up. She rivaled the Chases for stubbornness; he’d give her that.
After much searching and good-natured bickering, they settled on an aigrette for Ford. Of all the brothers, he liked to dandy-up a bit, and the fancy pin would make a smart statement on his hat.
Jason was another story. Amy insisted on giving him a large pocket watch with an enamelled face and an open-work lid set with one enormous oval sapphire and eight smaller ones.
“It’s too much,” Colin protested. “Besides, he has a pocket watch.”
“I’ve seen it. It’s small and has no lid. The Marquess of Cainewood should pull out an impressive watch to check the time. Papa had someone just like Jason in mind when he made this.”
“Here’s a nice, large watch.” Colin pointed out a likely specimen with a solid, simply engraved lid.
“No. I want him to have this one. He opened up his home to me, Colin—”
“I didn’t leave him much of a choice,” he interrupted wryly.
“That doesn’t signify. He was perfectly wonderful to me, and this is the least I can do. Besides, Robert made that one. I want him to have one my father made.”
“Robert?”
“Robert Stanley. Our apprentice.”
“Your apprentice?” Twisting his ring, he had a sudden vision of an insolent blunt-featured young man leaning against the archway to Goldsmith & Son’s back room. “You mean the red-haired fellow?”
She shot him an appraising glance. “You remember him?”
Distrustful pale blue eyes. He remembered, all right.
That settled it. Not only was Amy intractable, but Colin didn’t want anyone in his family to own anything made by that apprentice. He felt uneasy just thinking about the man.
Amy was already wrapping up the remaining jewelry. He set the pocket watch with their other choices and began to help her. “Whatever happened to him? Do you know?”
“Who?”
“The apprentice. Robert.” He disliked even saying his name.
Her hands stilled for a moment. “I have no idea. He went off to help fight the fire, and I never saw him again.” She toyed with a flannel square. “I was supposed to marry him.”
“Were you, now?” No wonder Robert had acted so hostile. An imagined scenario popped into Colin’s mind, of Amy kissing the freckled, carrot-topped apprentice. It made him sick in his gut, and the question came out of his mouth before he could catch himself. “Do you love him?”
“No.” Amy tensed visibly as she folded the flannel around a bracelet. “My father arranged the marriage when I was born. It had taken my parents many years to have a child, and he suspected they’d never have another. Lacking a son, he needed someone to run the shop, and he’d known the Stanleys forever.” She moved to the trunk to set the bracelet inside, then returned to the bed. “My betrothal papers burned in the fire. It was the only good thing that came of it.”
Colin released his breath, which he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Just because he couldn’t have Amy didn’t mean he wanted some dolt like Robert to get her.
Yet she had to marry…all girls had to marry. “Isn’t he still expecting you to wed him?”
“That matters not.” She slipped a topaz ring on her finger and pulled it off again. “I would never have wed him of my own free will.”
“What of the church records?” he reminded her. “He may think to use those to hold you to the betrothal.”
She shrugged, still gazing at the ring. “We were betrothed during the Commonwealth.”
Colin nodded. The Puritans considered marriage solely a matter between the couple and the state, not a pledge before God. During Cromwell’s rule, weddings had
