by Ann Chaney
“Yes, there is more, isn’t there. I can see it in your eyes. You are enjoying teasing me with tidbits just like an old tabby cat with a ball of yarn worrying the strand until it is knotted and frayed beyond any usefulness.”
Percy bowed his head to her and continued. “I returned from Lisbon on courier duty for the Home Secretary a month ago. A fact your friends can verify. While in the Portuguese capital, I was contacted and asked to deliver a list of French operatives in England. My associates were supposed to contact these covert operatives and join forces. The intent is to create disturbances…explosions, thefts, even murder to create a wave of fear among the populace. Such acts would overwhelm the government’s resources leading to inaction. A new government would be formed with others sympathetic to the French cause. A simple plan really, don’t you think?” He smirked at her.
No doubt he thought himself more intelligent than she and the others. That belief would be his downfall. She only hoped she was around to watch.
“The list?” she prompted. She refused to allow him to control their conversation.
He shrugged. “My orders were to retrieve the list from its hiding place in Lisbon and deliver the document to my associates. I failed to do so.”
“What happened?”
“I was interrupted during my search. The circumstances are of no concern to you and your friends. Retrieving that list would be quite the coup for Moreham’s little band of agents.” He looked away and drew a deep breath. “As I said I aid the hand with the most coin. I will tell you where the list is located after you deliver a thousand pounds to my mother. That dear lady has stood by me through good and bad times. Once I’m exposed as a traitor she’ll be ostracized. Your coin will enable her to go to America and live in peace.” He turned his head away and sniffed. Was he crying? Rather than call him out for his blatant attempt at manipulation, she waited for his next ploy.
“Don’t take this as a sign of weakness. I have no regrets. I have lived my life to the fullest and now I will pay the price. You and no one else must deliver the coin. From your hands to hers. A thousand pounds is a bargain for what I know. Not only do I know where the list is hidden but I have names, very important names.” He nodded towards the door. “Go. Talk with Moreham and the others. I’m not going anywhere.”
Serena could not speak. Richard took her elbow and eased her back from the center of the room. The last two days had been surreal. She knew the answer as well as Arnold did. They would pay any price to gain the information he dangled in front of their noses.
Serena and Richard returned to the now empty sitting room. Where were the others? Before she could ask the question, the three men entered the room with Moreham leading the way. Crossley made for the sideboard where he filled four glasses with brandy.
Richard drew her toward the chairs they’d sat in earlier. “I assume you three were listening to Serena’s conversation with Arnold?”
“Yes, Serena, I must say you acquitted yourself well in there.” Moreham smiled at her.
Crossley handed around the drinks while Moreham poured her a cup of tea. Richard growled when the spymaster tipped a bit of his brandy into her cup.
“As you’ve said in the past, I did cut my teeth on the tenets of Society. Arnold is an arrogant buffoon. By all appearances, all I had to do was ask the questions and he was more than ready to provide the answers.” She sat, while the others stood. Seemed silly to her for them to be so formal under the unusual circumstances they found themselves.
“By all appearances?” Crossley took Richard’s chair from before. “Are you saying he lied to you?”
“I’m saying he could’ve been lying. We should remain watchful for now. There’s something about his tale that feels untrue. He may be trying to delay his interrogation. We can all agree Arnold is a man who has managed to survive without discovery until now. Miss Browning told me he has been employed by the Quartermaster General’s office for over a year. That’s a long time to carry on a double life.”
“My lady, my apologies but your theory is ridiculous. Why would he buy time? No one knows where he is.” Sturmbridge opined as he sat on the other side of her.
The spymaster, ignoring the others, spoke softly, as if he were untangling Arnold’s words. “I agree. Arnold did not attract the attention of Whitney and his friends by being a dullard for the last six months. We play this his way for now.”
“I must admit something is not right. I can’t put my finger on it at the moment.”
Moreham frowned and raised his brandy glass to her in a silent toast. “You know I don’t like it when you talk about feelings. I need facts—”
“There is another way to get what we want. Give me a quarter hour with him and I’ll have him talking,” Crossley opined.
Moreham shook his head. “No, Serena’s right. If we play this out, we may gain more information.”
She sat her teacup on the table at her side and stood causing the others to stand as well. It was time for action. “I assume the matter is settled. I’ll go tell Arnold we are in agreement. I may manage to return home without being seen by anyone. Wouldn’t do for Richard and me to find ourselves compromised and married before sundown over this contretemps.”
She looked from one man to the other. Two earls, two viscounts, all friends of her brother’s. Of course, why had she not seen it before?
She forced her voice to be calm. A difficult feat since her heart was racing. “You are the schoolboys everyone whispers about, aren’t you?” she asked the question but meant it as a statement. “I have heard the tales about a group of young lords who are called upon occasionally to handle situations for the government. No one knows who you are.” She waited for one of them to deny her accusation. No one did.
“You all attended Eton with Thorne. All first-borns with titles and wealth just like Thorne.” She laughed. “Thorne is part of this, isn’t he? Before he joined Wellington. That was why you met Wellington last spring, wasn’t it?” She focused all her attention on Richard. Her heart stuttered when he nodded.
Everything made sense. Her father purchased Thorne’s commission when her brother was his heir and should have remained in England as Richard and the others had. She’d never understood her father allowing Thorne to risk his life and the family lineage. Now, all was clear. Thorne was an aide to Wellington under the auspices of Whitehall.
Selfishly, she grieved for the family she would never have while England was at war and her brother fought deadly battles on the Peninsula. She looked from man to man. Dare she tell them? Whether they liked it or not, she was one of them now. No need to say the words, they’d all know soon enough.
There would be no going back. She had made the connection to Eton. He was sure Thorne would be cursing a blue streak when he learned of this complication.
“Serena, your appearance here tonight and introduction to these men is of no consequence once you depart,” he insisted.
She glared at him before returning her gaze to Moreham. “Let’s get on with it. What are we going to do?”
“I am sure you know how important that list is to Whitehall. The thought of Arnold’s society wreaking havoc is unfathomable. Another concern is the true identities of the members of the society. We must expose those men. They could be men like Arnold who have access to confidential information.” Moreham glanced around to the others and looked uncomfortable for a moment before he resumed speaking. “We’ll get the list. Have no fear. Richard will escort you home.”
He held his breath as Moreham rose from his seat, bowed to Serena, and moved toward the door.
As Moreham placed his hand on the door handle, the minx spoke up in a clear voice, “I do not think so, my lord. You should know better than anyone I’m not some milksop miss you can order back into Society. I am the daughter of the Earl of Burley. I am seeing this through to the end.”
Moreham stopped mid-step and turned around with mouth agape. “I beg your pardon?”
“You involved
me in this affair. I will see this business through to its conclusion. That despicable man and you are responsible for my participation. I am most certain that his mother has done nothing to deserve the treatment she will suffer when all and sundry know of her son’s perfidy. At least, she will have the means to emigrate to America or the Continent and start over without the stain of her son’s crime.”
Moreham started to move back into the room, stopped, and gave Richard a pointed look. “Very well, my lady, you will be Weatherington’s problem. I’ll arrange for the transfer of funds and the two of you can visit Arnold’s mother. Are we in agreement?” Moreham remained by the door.
“Yes, I believe we are. I’ll go tell Arnold about our plan and obtain her address. We can go in the morning. By this time tomorrow evening, one of you will be on your way to Lisbon to secure the list.” Serena walked past an open-mouthed Moreham.
Richard just shrugged as his friends looked at him, askance at her daring. “I don’t know why any of you are surprised. You have heard the stories of Thorne’s little sister for years. Did you think we exaggerated?”
No one realized what her words really said. He knew without a doubt, she would be part of this mission until the list was found. Knowing Serena, she would be on that ship when it sailed for Lisbon, even if she had to stowaway. Of that he had no doubt. Serena never did anything by half measure.
He found her standing in the former receiving room now jail cell. Arnold looked up and waited. A clock chimed somewhere in the house. She spoke first.
“I have talked to the gentlemen who are in control of your captivity. They do agree to provide the requested amount to your mother in the morning. My friend and I will act as couriers to deliver the payment.
“I’ll ensure she’s taken care of. Should she decide to immigrate to America, I will see to the details. I’ll return with a message from her verifying the receipt of funds. You will tell me the location of the list. Do we have an agreement?”
Arnold stared at her for a moment then nodded in the affirmative before jerking his head in a come here gesture.
She stepped forward and leaned closer. Richard wanted to pull her back. She should not be in such a vile man’s vicinity.
“Me mum’s house is not that far from here. In Staines-on-the-Thames, on Folkstone Lane, third house on the left after the Three Swans Pub.”
Arnold’s countrified upbringing won out as he spoke with Serena. Gone was the crisp diction of a London gentleman. Richard wondered if the entire encounter was a scheme that would have done Moreham proud.
Serena nodded before turning on her heels and leaving the room. All Richard could do was follow her. Her silence was not good. Once Serena reached the front entry, she spoke to the footman stationed at the door. Richard was too far away to hear what she said. He assumed she sent for Nettie. The servant handed her cloak to Richard. He draped it over her shoulders. Serena seemed lost in thought. A frown wrinkled her brow and her teeth peeped out to worry her bottom lip. What was she thinking?
“Serena, you are too quiet. I am not used to such silence. Never found your muteness to be a good thing,” he teased.
She did not answer but remained still with a frown wrinkling her brow. Nettie appeared with the footman. The woman started to speak, but Richard shook his head.
A gasp followed by Serena reaching for him catching him unawares.
“He’s lying! She died five years ago.” She ground out the words.
He blinked. What was the woman talking about?
“The man does not have a mother,” she insisted. “This, well, last evening now, in the receiving line, I heard Gillian comment to Aunt Philly that she was sharing her family with him. She said his last living relative, his mother, had died of a fever some five years past. It will be a trap. There may not even be a list in Lisbon.”
Richard took her hands in his and pulled her back into the morning room. All three gentlemen jumped to their feet. He swung her around in front of him and demanded, “tell them.”
She recounted to the men exactly what she had said in the corridor. They listened until she finished. Moreham was the first to recover.
“It would appear we owe you a debt of gratitude. We must go about this visit in a different manner it would seem.” Moreham turned to Sturmbridge. “Fetch Alice. The evening’s performance will be ending within the hour. She can take Lady Serena’s place for the trip.”
“No.”
Richard could not believe his ears. The woman was hardheaded to a fault. No one ever challenged Moreham’s directives.
He reached for Serena. He had to explain. “Serena, Moreham is summoning Alice Maynard, an actress. She has done some work for us in the past.”
Moreham’s cold voice rained down on the pair. “Miss Maynard is my natural sister.” His voice caught. “She has worked with each of us. Many times, in fact.”
His father’s reputation for siring babes all over England gave Moreham the perfect ruse for giving a person some consequence when needed. His word gave a maid or chimney sweep elevated status to do work for him. No one would ever challenge Moreham’s claim of a sibling, hopefully not even Serena. Richard almost laughed at the empathetic look on her face. He felt a little guilty—Serena’s concern for the earl’s feelings was very much misplaced. Moreham used the natural sibling ruse whenever it suited him, as it did now.
She pulled her shoulders back and drew in a deep breath. “I am going to keep that appointment in the morning not Miss Maynard. I gave my word. You gentlemen are welcome to try to thwart me. Your efforts will be fruitless. Besides, I have Mrs. Arnold’s address. You do not.”
He could not stop the groan at the sight of her grin. She looked like a cat with a bowl of fresh cream.
Richard bit back his own confession. He knew the uproar that would ensue if he told them he also knew the address. Moreham would shout while Serena would dig her heels in and demand she be the one to visit whoever was living in that house.
Richard grabbed her arm and propelled her out into the hall. With a backward wave in his friends’ direction, he led her to the front door. Nettie was nowhere to be seen. He hoped the maid was in the carriage. If she wasn’t, she’d be spending more time in Moreham’s dower house. He lifted Serena into the vehicle and found Nettie waiting. He followed Serena inside and slapped his hand on the side of the carriage signaling for them to be away.
Once the lady was safely inside her home with the doors locked and barred, he’d return to his townhouse. He wished it were possible for him to seek his bed, but there was no time. He needed a plan for their trip. Another night with little sleep.
Chapter 8
Not even six hours later, Serena stood hidden in the folds of Weatherington’s library drapes. Gray clouds filled the sky portending a dreary day. She hoped there would be no rain. Travel could be unpredictable in the best of conditions, but muddy roads increased the chance for disaster. Leaning forward for the umpteenth time, she looked down Park Street. Serena held her breath as she watched a lone rider approach.
The rider reined his horse in at the front steps beneath where she stood. Taking a quick step backwards to avoid detection, she pulled in a deep breath to calm herself, but her curiosity got the better of her and she peeked around the drapery once more.
Richard.
He dismounted. His groom appeared at his side with an apple in his hand. Serena smiled at the sight of Richard petting his horse while the stead ate the apple. Richard gave the horse a quick rub across his nose before handing the reins over. For a moment, he looked so carefree. She wished she’d been by his side. With that thought she watched him run up the front steps and disappeared from view.
Serena turned away from the window and waited for him to appear. At dawn, her logic for coming to Richard’s townhouse had sounded rational. Now, as she waited to hear his voice, she fretted how Richard would react to her forwardness.
The drone of the butler's voice followed by a deep rumble broke the silence. Rapi
d footfalls headed in the direction of the library. The louder the clicking of his boots on the marble floor, the more nervous she became.
Her blood raced through her veins. Her decision to circumvent any chance of Richard abandoning their plan for her to accompany him had seemed so simple. The truth was she did not trust him. He could have returned to the safe house and found a way to get the address from Arnold. With the address in his possession, she served no purpose. He could leave her behind. She knew all too well, if that opportunity had presented itself, Richard would have done so.
She grimaced and consciously stiffened her body as the sound of boot heels clicking on the marble floor echoed louder and louder. She raised her chin, drew her shoulders back, and forced herself to look at the door and wait.
Richard walked through the doorway and kept coming toward her until his boots disappeared under her skirts. “What are you doing here?”
Serena froze in place at the coldness in his voice. She buried her fisted hands into the tightened her hands into folds of her dress. She could not remember one word of her carefully crafted reasoning for breaking the most basic rule of proper behavior for a lady. Calling on an unmarried gentleman in his home. Her presence in his house if discovered would lead to a wedding by special license and complete ruination and rejection by Polite Society for both of them, and their families, including any children they may bring into this world. A horrible thought to be sure.
Serena refused to give an inch on the subject. “My lord.” She cringed at the rusty tone of her voice. She did not sound like the self-assured noblewoman she knew herself to be. She cleared her throat but did not speak. She reached out to touch Weatherington’s arm. He jerked away from her touch and glared at her.
She bit her bottom lip and tried again. “I could not take the risk that you would proceed without me. Nettie is with me. She’s in the kitchen waiting for us. We can leave at once.” She lifted her chin and refused to cower in the face of his displeasure.