A Dangerous Deceit (Thief-Takers) Page 27

  “Never made a difference before. Not without the scotch.” He waited for Gabriel to fix the problem. “There’s a spot on your shirt as well.”

  Gabriel glanced down and swore at the small stain near his waistcoat. When the devil had he spilled…whatever the hell that was. Its origins were a complete mystery to him.

  “And your hair,” Samuel added, “is just an embarrassment. Honestly, I am ashamed to know you.”

  “Go to hell, Brass.”

  Samuel was laughing when the ladies entered and took their seats. Jane looked a little confused as to why she was there, but while he saw the nerves in her eyes, he saw pleasure as well. The sight had him fighting back a smile. Things must have gone well in the parlor.

  She said very little as the group settled in to discuss their next move. Renderwell was of the opinion that a trap should be set for Kray and Jones in London, but Esther argued against it.

  “London is so chaotic, and there are too many unknown variables. The sheer number of people and level of activity creates challenges we could eliminate by bringing Mr. Jones here instead.” She scooted forward in her seat, apparently warming to the idea. “We’re not familiar with all the players in this scheme, are we? Or even how many players there might be. And there are so many people in London. We wouldn’t know if the well-heeled gentleman taking a stroll in front of your house is a neighbor’s guest or—”

  “Or just pretending to be,” Lottie finished for her.

  “Exactly. We’d have more control here.”

  Samuel shook his head. “We’d lose the element of surprise. He’ll plan ahead, bring men along— ”

  “We’ll do the same,” Esther returned. “Isn’t there anyone in London you can trust? Someone who can bring reinforcements of their own?”

  Gabriel looked down at his drink thoughtfully. “I sent word to the handful of men I trust most before all of this began. Only Fulberg managed to make it to Twillins. Either the messages to the others were intercepted, or the men were.”

  “So contact them again, or pick the next handful,” Esther responded with a shrug. “Surely there are more than a half dozen men in all of London we can be relatively certain aren’t traitors.”

  “There may be one or two,” he replied dryly.

  “Excellent. Bring them here. If Mr. Jones comes along and with good intentions, then no harm done. Plus, he can help us with Mr. Kray. If he doesn’t, or if Mr. Kray comes with his men, then we’ll be prepared.”

  Gabriel shook his head. Bringing more men—inviting potentially dangerous men—to the house put Lottie and Esther at increased risk of being recognized. “There are other considerations…”

  Renderwell threw him a meaningful glance. “They can be dealt with.”

  Understanding that to mean they would discuss the problem later, Gabriel shrugged. “It’s a sound plan, then.”

  He hated the idea of bringing danger right back to Jane, but there was no way to avoid it. He couldn’t very well send her off somewhere else while Kray was still searching for her.

  “Agreed,” Samuel said, then looked to Renderwell, who gave a single nod. Lottie and Jane followed suit.

  “Are we going to tell him we have the list?” Lottie enquired. “Or allow him to assume?”

  “Are we tosee the infamous list?” Esther asked. “Finally?”

  Gabriel tensed, waiting for Jane to ask why Esther had not been able to see it before. But she made no comment, perhaps assuming that Fulberg had kept the list to himself for the safety of the people on it.

  He gestured to the papers, which Renderwell had left on the edge of his desk. Esther rose and picked them up. The rest of the group followed suit, gathering around her to stare quietly at the long list of names, numbers, and notes.

  After a moment, Esther cocked her head to one side and said, “There’s something not quite…right about this.”

  Gabriel nodded in agreement. “I thought so as well.”

  “There’s no one on there of particular rank,” Jane offered, and shrugged a little nervously when all eyes in the room turned to her. “It seems odd, but I know little of espionage—”

  “You’reright,” Esther cut in. “It is odd. Stable hands and valets and the like, and from the amount Edgar paid them, their secrets weren’t worth much.” She tapped the paper. “This is what Kray has gone to such lengths to obtain?”

  “An informant is an informant,” Samuel said, “regardless of occupation or class.”

  “Yes, but…” Her eyes trailed down the list. “A baker? He’s not likely to be the keeper of significant state secrets, is he? And look, Mr. Ballenger rewarded him with a pittance. I can’t imagine anyone willing to pay a fortune for this. Not unlessthey were on the list.”

  “Or someone important to them was.”

  “There’s a mistress to a prince on the first page,” Samuel pointed out. “She might have been in a position to learn a secret or two.”

  “Maybe she’s the only one of importance,” Lottie mused aloud. “Perhaps Kray knows her. He could be after blackmail.”

  “Or he could be in love with her and trying to protect her,” Renderwell countered and threw his wife a pitying look. “Cynic.”

  Gabriel shook his head. “A woman who could afford to pay the sort of money Kray seems to be after could just as easily book passage out of Russia. Kray could certainly afford to get her out.”

  “She may not want to leave her home,” Jane said softly, causing a knot of tension to form between Gabriel’s shoulder blades.

  “If staying means living with the constant threat of exposure…” Lottie said with a shrug.

  Jane nodded just as Esther shook her head. “It still doesn’t fit. She’s just one woman ofpossible note. Her name might be worth something to someone, but how could she be worth enough to let loose a band of criminals and openly take on one of the Thief Takers?”

  “The likely reward doesn’t match the risk and effort,” Gabriel ventured. “But onlyif we’re right in assuming the individuals on the list are of no great importance.”

  “It’s not that much to assume. Although there are other explanations…” Esther turned to her sister. “Lottie, do you think there’s a chance—”

  Lottie had already scooped up the pages for a closer look. “Could be. There are several possible encryptions he might have used…” She trailed off to study the pages in silence.

  Jane glanced at Gabriel, looking entirely confused.

  “Lady Renderwell has a rare talent for cryptology,” he explained.

  “I…” She blinked twice and a faint blush crept across the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry, I didn’t…”

  “She’s looking to see if there might be a code hidden in the list. She’s quite good with ciphers.”

  “Oh,” she said, visibly relaxing. “That’s—”

  Ah!” Lady Renderwell said suddenly.

  Renderwell’s face lit with a small but very proud smile. “You’ve found a pattern, haven’t you?”

  “Possibly. Look.” She laid out the list on the desk, all three sheets in a row, and waited for the group to gather round. “See the left margin on the first column? It isn’t entirely even.”

  Samuel frowned a little. “So he didn’t use a straightedge.”

  “He was never all that tidy,” Jane commented.

  “But he was. He did.” Lottie placed her finger on the first letter of the first entry in the column of names and quickly drew it down the page. “You see?”

  To a man, they did not.

  “Oh, for—” Lottie held her hand out and wiggled her fingers at her husband. “May I have a straightedge, please? And a pencil?” As her husband fished in the desk, she looked to Gabriel. “May I mark on this?”

  “With pencil?” He shrugged. “If you think it will help.”

  Gabriel handed her the straightedge, which she carefully set against the very edge of the first letter in the first entry of the column. Then she used the tool to draw a perfect l
ine to the bottom of the page.

  When she pulled away, Gabriel could see that most, but not all, of the entries in the column fell perfectly along the line. Every third or fourth entry, however, shifted just a hair to the left. At first glance, it looked quite natural, as if Edgar had simply not been habitual in his use of the straightedge.

  Gabriel leaned closer, already beginning to see what Lottie had been talking about. Next to him, Jane gasped softly. She saw it, too.

  Moving to the first name that fell to the left, Lottie placed the straight edge up to the first letter and drew another line to the bottom of the page. It immediately became clear that Edgar’s entries weren’t just uneven, they wereperfectly uneven. Every single entry on the list fell either directly on the first line, or on the second. Edgar had, in effect, created two columns in one.

  “Now do you see?” Lottie asked, and the group nodded.

  “The other pages look to be the same,” Renderwell said. “It couldn’t have been done by accident.”

  “No,” Lottie agreed. “But the question remains,why was it done?”

  Esther leaned around her sister and drew her own finger down the offset line, listing off the first letter of each name. “R. D. P. C.” She looked up from the page. “Is this meaning anything to anyone?”

  “A puzzle within a puzzle,” Lottie murmured when everyone shook their head. She scooped up the pages again for a closer study.

  “How long will it take you to decipher it?” Gabriel enquired, momentarily forgetting how much Lottie disliked being pressured for time.

  “Well, if you had given Mr. Fulberg the list as you made him believe,” she said smartly, and Jane stiffened next to him, “I might have been done already. As it is, you’ll just have to wait. In the meantime, I suggest you send to London for your men. And Mr. Jones.”

  “Gabriel and I will see to it,” Samuel announced.

  Gabriel opened his mouth to argue. He didn’t want to see to it. He wanted to speak with Jane, but she’d already turned away from him to address Esther.

  “If it’s not too much trouble, might I be shown to a room? It’s been a very long day, and—”

  “Of course.” Esther took her arm and began leading her from the room with Lottie close behind. “You must be exhausted. The Harmons are already settled, and they’ve had all day to rest. If you’ll excuse us, gentlemen?”

  Gabriel took a step toward their retreating backs. “Jane—”

  Although both Lottie and Esther threw a questioning look over their shoulders, Jane didn’t respond. She didn’t even acknowledge him as she walked out the door. Possibly because she’d not heard him. But probably not.

  Bloody hell.

  “She didn’t know you kept the list,” he heard Renderwell say from behind him.

  Gabriel turned and scowled. “No.”

  “For the best, I’d say. But you’ll pay for the deceit.”

  Because it was true, Gabriel shoved his hands in his pockets and said nothing.

  “I’d suggest you wait until her temper cools before you attempt to explain yourself. In the meantime, I believe you have concerns about bringing the fight here rather than to London?”

  Gabriel flicked one last glance at the empty doorway before forcing his attention back to the matter at hand. “I do. I can send for men we know have no connection to Lottie and Esther’s past, but that won’t completely mitigate the risk to them.

  “They’ll stay out of sight.”

  “Easy enough if everything goes well, but if Jones brings trouble, Esther won’t hesitate to jump in the middle of it. There’s no telling if he might recognize—”

  Renderwell shared a look with Samuel. “Jones is fully aware of our wives’ identities. His help was instrumental in relocating the family after Will Walker died, and he’s been kept apprised of their whereabouts since.”

  “You trust him?”

  “I’ve required his assistance in the past, and trusted in his discretion. The man can keep a secret. Before this business with Kray, I’d have said Jones kept his mouth shut on principle, or at least out of a sense of duty to the Crown. But now…” His expression darkened. “We need to know where his loyalties lie.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jane didn’t come down for dinner. Nor did Gabriel see her at breakfast the next morning. Nor did she respond when he finally managed to slip away from Samuel and Renderwell that afternoon to knock on her door. Loudly.

  Her disappearance made him nervous. He’d always known it was only a matter of time before she learned how much he’d been keeping from her. But he had hoped her delight in seeing the Harmons safe and sound would dampen the worst of her anger. And he had planned to tell her about the list during a moment of privacy. He could apologize, explain, and reassure her. She would probably yell at him. Then he would apologize, explain, and reassure her some more. Eventually, she would come to forgive him.

  It was a sound plan. Unfortunately, it was entirely dependent on Jane agreeing to speak with him to begin with.

  He pounded on the door again, uncaring of the egregious breach of etiquette he was committing. Heneeded to speak with her. “Jane, I know you’re in there. You can’t—”

  “She’s not, actually,” Esther interrupted, opening a door behind him. “She’s in the library with Mrs. Harmon.”

  Damn it. “Excuse me.”

  “Not quite yet.” Esther waved him closer. “Come in. I wish to have a word with you.”

  “I don’t have time—”

  “It will only take a minute.”

  He gave her a bland look. “If I step one foot in your bedchamber, your husband will eviscerate me.”

  “It’s not my bedchamber, it’s my sitting room.” She swung the door open wide. “And Lottie will protect you.”

  Esther’s sister gave a little wave from her seat by the window.

  “Fine. A minute,” he grumbled and followed Esther into the room. He took a chair across from Lottie as Esther settled next to her sister.

  “Any word from London?” Esther inquired.

  “Nothing new.” The men he’d reached out to in London had arrived late that morning, and were now strategically placed about the grounds to guard the house. Mr. Jones had not replied to his telegram.

  “Well, we’ll learn the truth of Mr. Jones one way or another.So—” Esther scooted forward in her chair, obviously eager to discuss something entirely different. “Your Miss Ballenger. Is she like you, or like us?”

  What Esther wanted to know was whether or not Jane had a criminal past as she and Lottie did.

  “She’s never broken the law.” Aside from briefly hiding national secrets, but she hadn’t really been aware of it at the time, so he didn’t think that counted.

  “Hmm.”

  “She’s not wanted for a crime.”

  “Oh, I believe you. She doesn’t have that”—Esther waved her hand around—“criminal air about her.”

  “You don’t sound as if you believe me.”

  Lottie shrugged. “We just think there’s more going on than what you’re telling us.”

  “More what, exactly?”

  Lottie cocked her head at him. “You’re taken with her, aren’t you?”

  “Oh, for… Am I wearing a sign?”

  “Near enough,” Lottie replied with a glance at his shirt, which he only then noticed was unforgivably wrinkled. “Also, our husbands are terrible gossips. Can she be trusted?”

  “With your secrets? Yes.” He scowled down at his shirt for a second. When had he stopped noticing such flaws in his appearance? “Unequivocally, yes. You’ll not find a more loyal friend than Jane. But whether she learns of them or not is obviously up to you.”

  “She’s not a friend yet,” Lottie said simply.

  “I quite like her,” Esther commented. “She’s an interesting mix of traits, isn’t she? Shy and plainspoken, a little lost and rather bold all at once.” She tapped her finger against her leg and her expression turned sharp—much,
much too sharp. “She has secrets of her own, I think. Something to do with her hearing, perhaps?”

  “Esther,” Gabriel said coolly. “Take care.”

  Something flashed in Esther’s blue eyes, though whether it was insult or challenge, he couldn’t say. But almost as quickly as it came, it was gone again. Her features softened into a mix of pity and humor. “Youare smitten, aren’t you? Poor lamb.”

  “Esther—”

  She held up a hand. “I mean her no harm. As I said, I quite like her. Miss Ballenger’s secrets are her own to keep. I’ll not go in search of them. I give you my word.”

  Gabriel immediately relaxed. Esther could be a damned sneaky creature, but her word was good.

  “Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, there is something I need to do in the library.”

  ***

  “You can’t avoid Sir Gabriel forever, Jane.”

  Settled in a comfortably oversized chair in the library, Jane stifled a sigh at Mrs. Harmon’s unwelcome, albeit not unexpected, comment. Her friend had been making similar remarks all day.

  “I don’t wish to avoid him forever. I simply do not want to speak with him this very moment.” She carefully flipped to the next page of her book. “I am otherwise occupied.”

  Mrs. Harmon huffed, reached over, and snatched the book right out of her hand. “Give me that.”

  Jane made a grab for it but missed. The woman was damned quick. “Mrs. Harmon—”

  “You’ve not read a single word on these pages. You’re not occupied with anything other than a good self-indulgent pout.”

  “I’m not…” Oh, what was the use, Jane thought, and slumped back into the chair. “Very well, I am, and I have every right to be. Gabriel lied to me. He’s lied to me a great deal. Do you know that the only reason I boarded the train in Ardbaile is because he led me to believe you were on it? The only reason I jumped off was because he lied again and told me Mr. Kray would be waiting for us at the next stop and he would use me against you.” She straightened up again, her mounting anger making her restless. “And he told me you were on your way to Edinburgh. I believed that until the moment I saw you here. And he made it look as if Mr. Fulberg had taken that blasted list with him. And he never told me he was expecting to see Lord Renderwell here. He slept in our stable that first night when he should have been at the inn, and I’m not actually angry about that, but it was another deception. And…” Her voice cracked, startling her. “And…” Her hand flew to her lips. “Oh, Mrs. Harmon, I’m afraid I may have made a terrible mistake.”