The Tavistock Plot
Page 42
Julien pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. "For a sensible woman, you can take some surprising ideas into your head, Kitkat."
"You've been free for a long time, Julien. You valued your freedom so much you stayed away from home for a quarter century."
"That was a bit more because I valued my life."
"If you really wanted to come back, you could have found a way to do it. Especially of late."
"Perhaps. I think you may be overrating my abilities. But it's true I was quite convinced I preferred not to have ties. No risk of anyone's getting hurt. But I wouldn't say I was a martyr. I couldn't see what all the fuss was about."
"My point precisely."
"I was already weakening by Argentina, my love. I'd seen enough real moments between people—even Hortense and Flahaut, who didn't last—to have a sense of what it might be worth. When something seems to make so many people happy, one has to wonder."
"It also makes people unhappy."
"A fair point." Julien scanned his wife's face. So familiar, yet it would always challenge him, he thought. "I have doubts, Kitkat. About the sort of father and husband I'll make. About managing the Carfax heritage without letting it consume me. About not letting Uncle Hubert control me. But I don't doubt my feelings for you. And I don't worry I'll want to go back into the shadows. I know too well how happy I am to have escaped them." He hesitated a moment, gaze locked on her own. "Of course, you could be pardoned for having all manner of doubts."
"Oh, I do. About being Lady Carfax. About trying to navigate that world. About what on earth we're going to do with Carfax House. About your Uncle Hubert, and perhaps even more about your Aunt Amelia. About my own abilities to be a partner in a relationship. Two words which sound rather laughable, given my history—well, relationship more than partner. A fellow agent can be partner, and I've managed that well enough. But my romantic history is undoubtedly a sad tangle. But I don't have doubts about you, Julien. I don't have doubts about my feelings for you. Which is why I'm willing to risk this. And absurdly happy to have the chance to try." She shook her head. "We sound rather solemn, don't we?"
"We sound like two people rather confounded by our good fortune. Which is entirely logical in my case, and quite inexplicable in yours."
She slid her hands up his chest and linked them behind his neck. "I meant it, Julien. I trust you. And I'm not worried you'll change your mind anymore."
"I should hope not. The truth is, my darling, anything less than what we have sounds hopelessly drab and lacking in excitement." He gave her a crooked smile, then kissed her. The kiss of a partner to a partner, a parent to a parent. Of someone coming home.
After updating Nerezza and Ben on the events of the evening, Malcolm and Mélanie, Raoul and Laura looked in on the children, whom Blanca and Addison had brought home long since, and then said goodnight outside the night nursery door. Given that she couldn't remember when she'd last slept more than five hours, Mélanie knew she should be exhausted, but between the play and the investigation, every nerve in her body thrummed with energy.
"Tonight leaves a lot of interesting avenues to explore," Raoul said.
"So it does." Malcolm met his father's gaze, then looked at Laura. "With everything else, have I thanked you for working out Edith Simmons' past and at the same time gaining her confidence?"
"I simply followed the facts to a logical conclusion," Laura said. "But I confess it was quite satisfying to turn what I learned about the League against them. And I think Edith Simmons may prove an interesting ally."
"So do I," Mélanie said. "I quite like her."
Laura nodded. "I was so relieved she turned on the League, and then so worried I'd put her in danger."
"The life of a spymaster," Raoul said.
Laura turned to him. "I'm not—"
"You turned an agent and had her reporting to you sweetheart." Raoul kissed her hand. "And you managed it far more ably than I did at the start."
They turned to go, but Raoul looked back, hand on the door. "It was a memorable night for a number of reasons, but not least because of the play. I don't think you've ever impressed me more, Mélanie. Which is saying a lot."
Mélanie looked at her former spymaster and felt a smile break across her face. "I'm glad you were all there."
In their bedchamber, Malcolm stripped off his cravat and stared at the crumpled linen. "I can't believe I missed half the last act."
Mélanie unfastened the pendant he'd given her before they left for the theatre—it seemed so much longer ago than the few hours it in fact was. "You've seen plenty of rehearsals. And there'll be another performance tomorrow night."
"I know. But tonight was special." Malcolm walked to her side and took her in his arms. "Raoul was right. There was magic in the air."
"Is that what they're calling assassination plots these days?"
"The magic was there long before we knew about the plot." He touched her face. "You created something. A world that seemed more real than our own. Despite everything else we were going through."
She scanned his face, scarcely able to articulate how much his words meant to her. "Darling—thank you."
He nodded and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"What are we going to do next?" she asked. "About Lady Shroppington?"
"Gather information. Fortunately, as spies we're all quite well suited to that. We've learned a great deal in the past few days. But in many ways, it's just pointed up how much we don't yet know."
"I asked Harry and Cordy and Frances and Archie and Julien and Kitty to come round in the morning," she said. "I'll ask Rupert and Bertrand as well. And I think we should include David and Simon."
"So do I," Malcolm said without hesitation. She didn't remark on it, but she took note of how much his relationship with David had shifted.
"And Carfax?" she asked.
"Not until the rest of us have made a plan of action."
Mélanie rested her hands on his chest. "I don't think any of us need fear being bored."
He looked at her for a moment. "I don't want to delay your starting on your next play."
She smiled at him, the different parts of her world shifting in her brain. It was a juggling act. But then, when had her life ever been anything else? "I think I can do both, dearest."
Malcolm grinned and pulled her closer. "Yes," he said. "So do I."
A Reading Group Guide
The Tavistock Plot
About This Guide
The suggested questions are included
to enhance your group's reading of
Tracy Grant's The Tavistock Plot.
How do you think Mélanie managed balancing being a playwright and an investigator?
Who do you think has changed more in the eight years between the Prologue and Chapter 1, Julien or Mélanie?
Malcolm is concerned that the investigation will put Mélanie and him and Raoul and him on opposite sides because they will disagree about which tactics to support to bring about change. Do you think this is a dilemma they will face in the future?
Do you feel differently about Lord Carfax by the end of the book?
How you think Mélanie's becoming a playwright has impacted the Rannochs' marriage? How was this investigation different from others they have undertaken?
Malcolm wonders if he'd be happier fighting outside the system as a Leveller than inside it as an MP. What do you think?
What do the choices faced by Lewis and Letty and Thomas and Edith say about the role economics played in marriage in the Regency era?
What do you think of Julien's actions in the Unicorn rebellion? How do they relate to Malcolm's debate with Will about what steps to take to bring about political change?
What do you think lies ahead for Kitty and Julien? Do you think Kitty will be happier with Julien than she would have been with Malcolm? Why?
Compare and contrast Will and Julien.
What do you think lies ahead for Letty and Will?
What
do you think lies ahead for Edith and Thomas?
How do you think Alexander Radford is connected to Lady Shroppington?
Also by Tracy Grant
Traditional Regencies
WIDOW’S GAMBIT
FRIVOLOUS PRETENCE
THE COURTING OF PHILIPPA
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Lescaut Quartet
DARK ANGEL
SHORES OF DESIRE
SHADOWS OF THE HEART
RIGHTFULLY HIS
* * *
The Rannoch Fraser Mysteries
* * *
HIS SPANISH BRIDE
LONDON INTERLUDE
VIENNA WALTZ
IMPERIAL SCANDAL
THE PARIS AFFAIR
THE PARIS PLOT
BENEATH A SILENT MOON
THE BERKELEY SQUARE AFFAIR
THE MAYFAIR AFFAIR
INCIDENT IN BERKELEY SQUARE
LONDON GAMBIT
MISSION FOR A QUEEN
GILDED DECEIT
MIDWINTER INTRIGUE
THE DUKE'S GAMBIT
SECRETS OF A LADY
THE MASK OF NIGHT
THE DARLINGTON LETTERS
THE GLENISTER PAPERS
A MIDWINTER’S MASQUERADE
THE TAVISTOCK PLOT
About the Author
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Tracy Grant studied British history at Stanford University and received the Firestone Award for Excellence in Research for her honors thesis on shifting conceptions of honor in late-fifteenth-century England. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her young daughter and three cats. In addition to writing, Tracy works for the Merola Opera Program, a professional training program for opera singers, pianists, and stage directors. Her real life heroine is her daughter Mélanie, who is very cooperative about Mummy's writing time. She is currently at work on her next book chronicling the adventures of Malcolm and Mélanie Suzanne Rannoch. Visit her on the Web at www.tracygrant.org
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Cover photo by Kristen Loken.