Leaning his shoulder against the door, Caleb said, “You were wise to come to me. I will take care of this.”
Anette didn’t quite see how, but she trusted her brother.
Roswell sat at the dining table as he ate his breakfast. He was still stewing with the fact that Mr. Barnard would be taking Octavia on a carriage ride through Hyde Park today. He would need to follow them to ensure his sister was protected.
Why couldn’t his sister see reason? It should be enough that he didn’t like the man. But it wasn’t. Octavia was far too trusting.
Carson stepped into the room with a silver tray in his hand. “A message was just delivered for you, my lord.”
“Bring it here, please,” he ordered.
The butler stepped closer to him and extended the tray.
Roswell retrieved the folded piece of paper and opened it. He tensed as he read the message:
Headquarters compromised. Be vigilant.
-K
He crumpled the paper in his hand and dropped it onto the table. How in the blazes had headquarters been compromised?
The image of Mr. Barnard came to his mind. He had gone to the bakery that was the front for the headquarters. Did he have something to do with this breach? Had he been spying on the place, looking for the perfect time to strike?
It only confirmed to him that he needed to keep a closer watch on Mr. Barnard.
As he reached for his teacup, Caleb walked into the dining room with a solemn look on his face. “We need to talk,” his friend said.
“Yes, we do,” Roswell agreed. “I must assume that you heard the news then.”
Caleb sat down to the right of him. “What news?” he asked with a baffled look on his face.
“About headquarters being compromised,” Roswell replied.
His friend’s eyebrows shot up. “I had not received word yet. What happened?”
Roswell picked up the crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Caleb. “Read it for yourself.”
Caleb uncrumpled the paper and read the message. Then he brought his head up. “Kendrick is a man of few words.”
“He is,” Roswell agreed. “I must assume that he will make contact when it is safe.”
“Until then, we have a problem.” Caleb leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Anette overheard a conversation last night between my father and a man that was threatening him.”
“Did they see her?”
Caleb shook his head. “No, but she told me that the man threatened to kill her if my father didn’t produce information,” he revealed. “Fortunately, she came to me right away.”
“That was most fortunate. Was she able to get a good look at the man who was threatening your father?”
“No, his back was turned to her. But she did say that he had a distinctive French accent,” Caleb said. “I went down at once to see if I could confront the man, but he was already gone. And my father lied to me. He said he was working on the accounts all evening, alone.”
Roswell had an uneasy feeling about that. “Why would he lie to you?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I intend to find out,” Caleb replied. “I just fear that my father is in over his head and he is floundering.”
“That still doesn’t explain why he lied to you, especially since we had come to an agreement only a few days ago.”
Caleb leaned back in his seat and sighed. “I don’t rightly know what my father is thinking, but I need to get him to confide in me.”
