“What makes you say that?” the master inquired.
“When I fired at them, the man sought to protect both ladies, but he covered this other woman more, shielding her completely from me. I wonder if she might be the one with the message and Lady Edwards is but a decoy.”
“Interesting. I hadn’t considered that. Avery Russell might be clever enough to try that. It’s entirely possible. I simply hadn’t thought to give Averyenough credit for it. Maybe he is surpassing his own master in talent. Waverly was distracted in his later days by his own personal vendettas. Russell won’t have that same problem. In time, he might become even more cunning than Waverly.”
Camille listened to her mastertalk as her thoughts drifted to the League of Rogues, the group Hugo Waverly had had a vendetta against. She had seen them many times in the last few months. They were handsome, reckless, and seductive, each of them—though none of them were spies. It puzzled her and her master that the previous English spymaster had spent so much of his time chasing them from the shadows. Worse threats faced England. Threats like her and her master.
“Did you recognize the woman? The one with Lady Edwards?”
“Yes. She is the sister of Lord Pembroke.”
“Oh, yes. I recall the fellow,” her master said and stopped pacing. “Let’s leave Lady Edwards for now. I can have someone else deal with her. This other woman, Pembroke’s sister, warrants closer scrutiny. I need to get her away from her brother and find out what she knows. Then we can arrange an accident.”
“Yes, monsieur,” Camille agreed. “What must I do?”
“Come closer, my dear,and I will tell you.” Her master beckoned her to join him in the shadows.
It was well after midnight when Adam returned to his townhouse on Half Moon Street. But as he expected, Caroline had waited up for him. She rushed down the steps toward him, wearing a robe over her nightgown.
“Oh, Adam, thank God,” she said, embracing him.
He held his sister in his arms for a moment before letting go. Like his trusted butler, Caroline knew of his secret work—he couldn’t keep that from her.
“What happened?” she asked.
It never ceased to amaze him that she could so easily read him, whereas so few others ever could. Perhaps it was because they had both grown up relying upon each other while looking after their mother when they were so young. Other men might have pushed their sisters off on governesses and eventually husbands, but he couldn’t do that to Caroline, not after all she had been through.
“Russell was waylaid, unable to make his rendezvous.”
“How is Lady Edwards?”
“Safe. He found her in the gardens after she made her escape. I’ll never know how that man always ends up in the right place at the right time.” He shrugged out of his cloak and handed it to the butler, Mr. Sturges. The man was a former infantry officer and not much older than Adam. He was as capable as he was trustworthy.
“Avery’s like a cat with nine lives,” Caroline said. “But never mind about him—tell me what happened.”
Adam headed for the drawing room. Caroline followed, after asking Sturges to send in some food and a bit of wine. Collapsing into a chair by the fire, Adam rubbed his face, feeling the weight of all that had happened tonight starting to settle more heavily about him.
“Everything was a bloody mess. I followed Lady Edwards, thinking a French spy had discovered her importance to Avery’s ring, but when I grabbed the woman with her, it turned out to be Pembroke’s sister.”
“Letty was with Lady Edwards?”
“Yes, and that was where everything went wrong. She was merely trying to help the woman fix her hair. I held the poor girlat knifepoint.” He still couldn’t erase from his mind the look of terror he’d seen in Letty’s eyes.
“Oh, Adam, you didn’t,” Caroline sighed. “She must’ve been very frightened.”
“I’m afraid it gets worse. The real spy was also there and fired upon us, so I tackled both women to the ground. And then I gave chase but couldn’t catch the spy. When I returned, Lady Edwards had to escape, and I had to keep my cover.”
“Oh, heavens. What did you do?” Caroline asked.
Adam didn’t immediately reply, knowing that what he said next would change his life—and in some ways, Caroline’s as well.
“Congratulate me, sister. It seems I am to be married in two days.” Adam tried to smile, but his sister simply stared at him.
“Married? To whom? Lady Edwards is already married.”
He shook his head. “To Letty. I had to kiss her as some men from the ball heard the gunshot and burst into the room.”
“Had to?”
“To throw off suspicion as to what was truly happening.”
Caroline raised an eyebrow.
“But . . . I do admit that perhaps I wasn’t thinking as clearly as I should have been when I made my decision.”
“Oh, Adam,” she sighed. “Are you very unhappy?”
“Unhappy? No, not exactly. Worried is what I am.” He smiled ruefully. “The fact is, I do like Letty, have since the moment I met her when we were searching for Gillian.”
“You like her?” Caroline’s eyes brightened with a glimmer of joy.
“I do. She is so sweet, so innocent. Yet she is also intelligent and brave. She is what I would have sought in a bride, had it been safe to marry after I started working for the Home Office. But after . . .”
“After John died, you couldn’t put a woman in danger,” Caroline finished, stark pain clear in her eyes. “And now in order to protect a woman, you must marry her.”
“It’s quite the irony, isn’t it?” He sighed heavily.
Adam’s quest for vengeance was not only due to the loss of his dear friend, but also for his sister, who’d been in love with John. The two had planned to marry, but he’d died two months before the ceremony. The shadow of John’s death had turned Caroline into a ghost herself in some ways, and Adam wished he could do something to give his sister her life back. But Caroline’s broken heart would either mend on its own or it would not, and Adam was helpless to do anything but watch.
“If you are to marry Letty, then she must be told . . .”
“She knows part of it already. I will pay a call on her tomorrow, and after I speak with James, I will tell her the rest. I will have no secrets from my wife.”
Caroline bit her lip. “But what if she isn’t strong enough to know about your secret life?”
“I know she is. There were no hysterics after that shot was fired.”
“Well, she may have been a bit shocked. Not everyone reacts the same wayto such things. I think when you see her tomorrow, you should ask her if she was well the rest of the night.”
“I suppose you are right. I’ve lived the last two years in such relative danger that I forget how it can be for those unused to it.”He rubbed his temples and let out a long, weary breath.
“You ought to go to bed,” Caroline said. “We have a busy day tomorrow.”
“We do.” He needed to be up early to obtain a special license, and then he ought to see to the wedding arrangements.