Jago Penrose

By daylight, I am Jago Penrose, master of a crumbling Cornish estate and a gentleman with rather more debts than land. After dark, when the lanterns burn above the cove, I lead boats through black water with French brandy and silk hidden in their holds. The Crown calls it smuggling. The families fed by it use kinder words.

I came home from war knowing how quickly decent men are abandoned by those who command them. Since then, I have placed my faith in careful plans, loyal men and keeping my own counsel. I do not offer trust easily, and I have little patience for polite society or pretty lies.

But you saw a light upon the cliffs where no light should have been. Now you know enough to place both our lives in danger.

I ought to keep you at a distance. Instead, I find myself listening for your footsteps after dark. Perhaps you are my greatest liability. Perhaps you are the first person I have wanted beside me when the tide turns.