“Apparently Lord Brandon is writing his memoirs and my wife is assisting him.”
“How much does she know of our family affairs? Of our signal system? And what did she see when the two of you were in France?” Sir Thomas demanded.
“The signal system is not mentioned in George’s house, since he knows nothing of it. She met one of the men, Bertrand Vallois when we were in France, but she saw nothing of the system there, either. Still, she saw most of what I saw while we were in France and I cannot guess what she saw in Wellington’s camp,” Harry answered slowly. “She is the niece of a diplomat and has trained herself to notice whatever she can. Why? Tell me plainly, Sir Thomas, what do you suspect?”
But the other man only shook his head. “I cannot. I must speak to a few people first. Just tell your wife to be careful, will you? Ask her not to speak to him of your adventures.”
Harry nodded. He had a great many questions but Sir Thomas was too shrewd a man to berate for holding his counsel. The habit of trust was strong and Harry listened to it now. He rose to his feet as Sir Thomas did and held out his hand.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Don’t thank me yet, my boy. You may end up cursing me for what I may have to tell you. But mind you warn your wife. And Harry?”
“Yes, sir?”
“You might, perhaps, wish to guard your own tongue with her. Say nothing of what you see or hear at the Horse Guards, no matter how harmless it might seem.”
Harry nodded, and walked away, out of the club, with a strong sense of foreboding.
* * * *
Prudence had no notion of what was taking place between Harry and Sir Thomas. Instead all her attention was focused on Lord Brandon, who was speaking with sweeping gestures of his days posted to the court of Leopold the Second in Austria. And of the lovely lady with whom he carried on a liaison at the time.
“Beautiful, absolutely beautiful,” Lord Brandon said, a reminiscent smile on his lips. “And totally indiscreet. The things I learned from that woman! A pity she was later tried for treason by her own countrymen. Such a waste of beauty. But what can one do?”
He looked at Prudence expectantly and she murmured, “Nothing, I should guess.”
“Absolutely right!” he beamed at her. “Write down that I said one of the greatest lessons I learned was never to trust a woman with a secret. Impossible to hold their tongues, you know.”
“Indeed?” Prudence countered, a hint of frost in her voice.
He stared at her blankly, then chuckled. “Don’t mean you, m’dear. You’re not a typical woman. Recollect that I’ve seen you move about in diplomatic circles. Would’ve made a far better diplomat than your uncle, I’ll tell you that much. And a far prettier one.”
Prudence laughed then, her anger forgotten. How could one hold onto one’s temper with a man who made one laugh in such a way? “If I would, sir, it is because I watched and learned from men such as yourself,” she said.
He wagged a finger at her. “Spanish coin? Fie on you! But I must say, I do hope there is some truth to it. I should like to think so.”
“Oh, there is,” Prudence said earnestly. “I used to watch you speak to men in a room, knowing just what to say to each one to make them feel your friend. I am afraid I eavesdropped shamelessly.”
“Yes, well, it is a talent that takes years to polish,” Lord Brandon told her self-consciously. “Mind, you have an innate talent of that sort yourself, I should say. Perhaps we should devote a part of my memoirs to advice I should give to young diplomats aspiring to their first major post?”
“An excellent notion!” Prudence told him approvingly.
“Good. Good. I must think just what I want to say.”
“Would you like me to go through old correspondence, while you are thinking, and see if anything looks suitable for inclusion?” Prudence asked.
“No!”
The word was a snarl and Lord Brandon seemed to realize almost instantly just how odd he must sound. Prudence could see him fight for composure. Finally he managed to smooth back his hair as he took a deep breath and say, “That is very kind of you to offer, my child, but it will not be necessary. I shall go through my correspondence myself.”
“Oh, good!” Prudence exclaimed with what she hoped was convincing naiveté. “I do so dislike going through men’s correspondence. My uncle’s is always so deadly boring. Oh, but I didn’t mean to offend you! Yours, of course, would be much more interesting, I suppose.”
She allowed her voice to trail off so that this last sentence was said with an air of disbelief. Even as she spoke, Prudence could see Lord Brandon relax.
In a far milder voice than before he said, with a chuckle, “Well, of course, a lady, even such an exceptional lady as yourself, would no doubt think so. Best to leave it to men like myself and your uncle. As boring as it is, we know how to deal with it. Now come and pour me out a cup of this excellent tea my housekeeper has brought us.”
Prudence smiled and did so and all the while her mind was busy plotting how she would get her hands on those letters.
* * * *
Capitaine Jean Louis Dumont stared at the two men standing before him. “Are you certain?” he demanded.
“And as we were leaving the tunnels beneath the castle, we could see, up on the cliff, the light shining out to sea,” the first man said.
“Perhaps it is, as our agents have informed us, merely an attempt to lure smugglers to a spot where they can be easily taken,” Dumont objected.
The second man shook his head. “I overheard them talking myself, when I was being held outside the governor’s office,” he said. “It was a means to signal to someone here in France.”
“But that makes no sense,” the Capitaine countered. “Any signal seen by a British agent could be seen by our people as well.”
“But would it mean anything to us?” another man in the room asked quietly. “There have been reports of a light shining from a distance. But it was assumed the light came from a ship and we did not think it important.”
Capitaine Dumont considered the situation for several moments. Finally he shook his head. “It still makes no sense to me. But I shall send you on to Paris. And perhaps, just perhaps, it would explain the presence of an English colonel in our midst. Very well, be ready to leave for Paris in the morning.”
When the two men were gone, the other man looked at Dumont. “Do you believe them, sir?”
Capitaine Dumont looked at his aide-de-camp. “I don’t know,” he said. “Perhaps they will be able to sort out the matter in Paris. But I do not see what good it will do if they cannot tell us how the signals are to be read. Still, perhaps it would be as well if our men on patrol kept their eyes wide for Englishmen traveling from the coast south to Wellington’s lines. Or for someone who does not belong where they are. If these men are right, we ought to look for whomever is receiving the signals on this side.”
There was a moment’s pause as both men recalled the English colonel and the nun who had so briefly been their prisoners. And the account given of their escape by the men who were supposed to escort them back to Paris.
“I shall tell our patrols.”
“Yes. Tell them. And if we do capture an English spy, then this time there must be no mistakes, no escapes.”
Chapter 18
The ton was pleased to be kind. Perhaps it was because they had known Harry for years and he was accounted a war hero who could give them the latest news from Spain. Perhaps it was because Athenia took care to dress Prudence demurely in a new gown of white satin with a ribbon threaded through her hair, a style that made her look younger than her years and far more innocent than anyone seemed likely to otherwise believe.
For as Athenia said the night of the party, “In general I do not like military cant, however I believe that for once it applies. We must marshal our forces but attempt to appear to be weaker than we are so that the enemy does not wage a full-scale attack.”
“Are these peopl
e the enemy?” Prudence asked doubtfully. “I thought they were your friends.”
Athenia paused, as if surprised at the question. “These people are the ones you must win over if you are to be accepted in society. And accepted you must be if Harry is to have the opportunities for advancement that he deserves. Remember who I told you to defer to, which ones to make laugh, and with whom you should say nothing at all and simply cling to Harry’s arm lovingly.”
Prudence gave a shaky laugh. “And I thought myself to be the diplomat in the house. I had no notion you gave matters such thorough consideration.”
Athenia looked at Prudence then dismissed the maid from the room. When they were alone she drew her to a seat on the chaise longue.
“My dear,” Athenia said in a voice more gentle than any Prudence had heard her use thus far, “I understand the ton. If I choose to abide by its dictates it is because I understand the consequences so well for those who do not, rather than because I am so enamored of these precepts by nature. I do wish you well. You have brought more joy to Harry these past weeks than I have ever seen in him before. For that my husband and I shall always be very, very grateful. You have also given me much to think about with George. I know you think him a pompous fool and me little better, but I sincerely hope that, in time, we shall come to be friends.”
Prudence placed her hand over Lady Darton’s. “I should be a poor fool indeed if I did not appreciate what you have done for me. I, too, hope we shall be friends. And I hope you will see that I am not the impulsive fool I sometimes think you believe me to be.”
They smiled at each other and then, as though the sentimentality were more than she could bear, Athenia rose to her feet and said briskly, “Come along! They will be gathering downstairs by now and we must be there to greet our guests. Remember, not a word about your time in France!”
In answer, Prudence only gave a mock shudder and followed Lady Darton. Harry, Lord Darton, Philip, James, Sir Thomas, and the other wives were gathered in the drawing room. Small card tables had been set around the room and stood waiting. Servants applied the finishing touches to the arrangements and then discreetly disappeared.
But it was Harry who mattered. At the sight of him, both Athenia and Prudence froze. None of the others in the room looked entirely happy either. “You are wearing your Hussar’s uniform,” Prudence said unnecessarily.
His voice, when it came, held a biting edge to it. “So I am. As I have already informed my other concerned family members, I am still a soldier. I have not yet sold out my commission.”
Prudence stared at him. She felt her heart sink. Surely, she had told herself, he was coming to terms with no longer being a soldier. Now, looking at him, she knew she had been deceiving herself. Harry would never be resigned to being a civilian. Beside her she heard Athenia speak.
“But surely you mean to do so, to sell out shortly?”
Harry glared at Athenia. “Perhaps. But until that day, I am a soldier.”
Then he turned his angry, defensive eyes on Prudence, daring her to argue. Instead, she moved to his side and looked up at him, touching his sleeve gently as she did so.
“You look very handsome in your uniform, Harry. And I’ve no doubt all the women shall be looking daggers at me because you are no longer free to pursue them.” Her voice held a teasing note and a smile began to quirk at the corner’s of his mouth, almost in spite of himself, she thought. So she pressed on. “You don’t want anyone to look at you with pity, do you, Harry. You want them to see the man you have always been.”
He nodded, but she could see what the gesture cost him. She squeezed his arm once more then turned to Athenia and said, “Well, how soon do our guests arrive?”
Lady Darton took a deep breath and replied, “Why, right now I suppose.”
Then she gave the signal for Lord Darton to open the drawing room doors. Almost immediately the first of the guests was shown in to be announced. And from that moment on, Prudence had not a moment to herself all evening.
Everyone wanted to talk to her. And to Harry who stood at her side, his arm resting lightly on her waist. Athenia frowned every time she saw it, but Harry only mocked her with his eyes and by the end of the evening Prudence noticed that Lord Darton’s arm rested on his wife’s waist as well.
Lord Brandon was among the last to arrive and at the sight of him Lord Darton stiffened. Prudence saw him go over and it was clear the meeting was not amicable, though she could not overhear the words.
“What the devil is he doing here?” Harry whispered under his breath beside her. “I cannot believe Lady Darton would have been so foolish as to send him an invitation!”
“I did so,” Prudence said, looking up at Harry. “Why? I thought that since I am helping him with his memoirs he would make a useful ally.”
Harry’s expression was grim, his voice deadly, as he said, “You guessed wrong.”
Prudence wanted to ask what he knew about the man that would cause her husband, the most amiable of men, to stiffen up in such a way, but she dared not. There were too many interested ears nearby and besides Lord Brandon was coming their way. She felt Harry’s arm tighten on her waist.
“Colonel Langford,” Lord Brandon greeted them with a bow. “And of course the lovely Mrs. Langford. May I take this opportunity to wish you both happy?”
“You are too kind,” Harry said through gritted teeth.
“How nice of you,” Prudence countered warmly.
Brandon bowed again. In a voice soft enough only to carry to their ears he said, “You may rest assured Colonel Langford that I do not plan to stay long. I confess I was surprised to receive the invitation and thought that it meant your family had, after all this time, decided to reconcile with mine. Patently I was mistaken.”
“It was I who sent the invitation,” Prudence confessed.
“That explains everything,” Lord Brandon told her. To Harry he added, “I shall take my leave as soon as I may do so without causing too great an amount of gossip. Nor shall I make such a mistake again.”
“You are very good,” Harry answered, but his voice was strained.
“Not at all,” Brandon said with a nasty smile. “It is your wife who is very good to help me. I wonder, seeing your hostility now, that you let her.”
Harry also smiled and his smile was equally unpleasant. “You should have realized, even upon such a short acquaintance, that my wife has a very strong will. Can you imagine anyone succeeding in telling her what she may or may not do?”
That surprised a bark of laughter out of Lord Brandon and he grinned at Harry. “I don’t want to like you, Langford. But I confess that despite myself I do. And I shall therefore remove myself with all due speed. Good night. Mrs. Langford, I shall see you tomorrow. Or shall I?”
Prudence could feel Harry’s hand on her waist. The tension in his body as he waited for her answer. She wanted to please him, but she could not. Not when so much was at stake. So in a voice that shook just a trifle, she said, “You shall see me tomorrow.”
Lord Brandon bowed again and then moved away. Prudence could feel Harry beside her wanting to ring a peal over her head. No doubt he would do so later. But for now she refused to meet his gaze and instead pulled free to speak to someone she knew from before, someone who had known her uncle. Harry perforce had to follow.
She could feel his disapproval, and that of his brothers, without even looking at their faces. All of them seemed pointedly to ignore her from that point on. All except Sir Thomas Levenger, who managed to neatly cut her away from the other guests and draw her to one side.
“Here, my dear,” he said handing her a glass of wine. “I should think you could use a restorative.”
She looked up at him, a question in her eyes and he nodded. “Quite right,” he said. “I do know what’s wrong. And I am probably the only one in this room willing to tell you. But not here, not tonight. Come tomorrow and call upon my wife. I shall make it a point to stay home until noon. If you can manage to com
e before then I shall tell you all about it. Meanwhile, may I reassure you that otherwise you and Harry are doing very well tonight? You have both managed to carry the matter of your wedding off with great aplomb.”
Prudence thanked him in a voice that was not altogether steady. He merely waved away her thanks with another smile and then managed to adroitly introduce her to someone who, as he put it, was likely to be quite sympathetic to a young woman with spirit and a taste for adventure. He was, as usual, absolutely correct.
Eventually the evening ended and everyone, including family, took their leave. The moment the last of the guests was gone, Lord and Lady Darton turned to Prudence.
“How dare you invite that man into our house?” Lord Darton demanded.
“I did not know how you would feel,” Prudence said, surprised but pleased to hear that her voice did not tremble.
“Even if he were not who he is, why did you add a guest to the list without consulting me?” Athenia added, plainly puzzled.
Prudence blinked at her. “But you said I might invite a friend or two if I wished and that I need not trouble you with such details.”
“You. Were. Mistaken.” Lord Darton said, biting off each word.
Lady Darton, however, was more generous. “I did tell her so,” she told her husband.
“Patently you should not have done so!”
“Surely we can discuss this in the morning?” Athenia asked, trying once more to divert his anger. “I am certain we are all tired and should seek our beds.”
“Nonsense!” Lord Darton countered. “I wish to have this settled now.”
Athenia bit her lower lip. She looked at Prudence, standing with so pale a complexion in the middle of the room, and she looked at the anger on her husband’s face. She made up her mind.
“George,” she said, running a finger down his arm, “our bed. Don’t you think we ought to seek our bed?”
As her meaning penetrated his angry temper, Lord Darton paused. He looked at Prudence. He looked at Athenia who smiled up at him winsomely. He looked back at Prudence and swallowed.
The Sentimental Soldier Page 13