Page 39 of How the Earl Entices

“As far as England knows, I stole this list to sell to the French. I’m certain that’s what the British ambassador has told the Court of St James’s, and that’s why they’ve put out a reward for me. If I’m caught in possession of that list, I’ll swing.” He paused, the silence grim. “I knew that when I took it.”

“Then why did you?” she whispered. Fear was winning against her confusion. “You’re an earl, for God’s sake! You don’t need the money.”

“I didn’t do it for money. I did it to save the lives of every man on that list.” Then he added quietly, “And to avenge the death of a friend.”

“So you’re a noble traitor?” She gave a short laugh of disbelief at the story he was spinning. As far as she knew, every word was a lie.

He didn’t answer that. Instead, he held up the papers. “On December 8th, 1821, a man named André Delacroix, a mid-ranking official in the court of King Louis, took a room in Le Chat Noir in Le Havre.” He traced his finger over the guest registry, circling the date at the top and then drawing a line down the page to the name.André Delacroix. “So did Charles Wentworth.” His finger moved lower, to a name at the bottom of the list, written in a distinctive, scrolling handwriting. “British Ambassador to France. The two men were in the same inn on the same date.”

“So two government officials had a meeting.” She shook her head, unable to fathom the importance of that. “They have meetings all the time. What does any of this have to do with your innocence?”Or your guilt? The question hung on the air as clearly as if she’d uttered it.

He held up the page torn from the embassy guest register and tapped his finger on the name…Charles Wentworth. “How can the same man be in two different places at once?”

“I don’t know.” At that moment, she didn’t care. All she knew was that she’d put Ethan’s life at risk by trusting in Ross.

“This name is a forgery. It doesn’t match the ambassador’s signature. He had a crony sign the register to make it appear as if he were in Paris that day, when he was actually two hundred miles away in Le Havre, negotiating the sale of that list of agents to the French.” He held up the letter. “By March, the French still hadn’t provided the money they’d agreed upon. So the ambassador sent this reminder. Wentworth kept the list of agents in his office, with all the other personal documents related to his housing and general living expenses so that it wouldn’t draw suspicion, waiting for payment so he could send it off to the French.”

“That’s why you were in Le Havre,” she mumbled as the pieces began to fit together. “To steal the inn’s guest register.”

“Yes. I already had the letter he was planning on sending to Delacroix. So I stole the list from the ambassador’s office and tore the page out of the embassy visitor log on my way out the door. His signature in the hotel register matches his official signature. He was there in Le Havre and arrogant enough to use his real name.”

“So you didn’t…” Her voice trailed off, almost too afraid to utter the words. “You didn’t do as they’re claiming?”

“I did exactly as they claim.” He tapped the list of names. “This one by itself makes me a traitor.” He refolded all the pages and slipped them beneath his waistcoat. “But all of them together shows treason by the ambassador.”

He eased back against the seat, stretched out his legs as far as possible in the cramped space, and fell silent. He watched her closely, waiting for her reaction.

Good God. Her mind spun with all he’d just revealed, with everything he’d told her since the moment he’d forced his way into her cottage. All of it seemed plausible.

Except… “Then why are you still running? You’re on English soil now, safe from the French. You could go to the authorities and show them the evidence. The ambassador would be arrested for treason, not you.”

“Because I don’t yet have everything I need. It’s all circumstantial at best, with no inarguable way to put Wentworth in Le Havre except for that signature in the guest registry.”

“What else do you need?” The question emerged as a breathless whisper. God help her, she was afraid of the answer.

“Wentworth’s personal diary. It will put him in Le Havre by his own admission and also reveal the other men who are working for him, because he isn’t doing this alone. That list of names had to have come from someone attached to the War Office. If I go to the authorities now, I catch only Wentworth, and only if I’m lucky. But I want to bring down every single one of them and make the bastards pay for what they’ve done.”

The venomous resolve in his voice played down her spine like icy fingers, eliciting a shudder. “How do you acquire the diary?”

“From the ambassador. Which is why it’s good to know that I’m wanted for treason.”

“That’sgood?” The man was mad!

He sent her a lazy smile. “That means Wentworth has made it to London before me and convinced the Court that I’ve turned, which proves that he’s worried about me and the evidence I have against him. He’ll be in London, his diary with him, and preparing for a fight.”

“Which is why you’re going there.” She pressed her hand against her chest, as if she could physically push down the frantic pounding of her heart. “For a fight.”

He turned toward the window. “There are names of over a dozen men on that list, all of them deep operatives hidden in France. They would have been murdered, their throats slit one by one, if that letter to Delacroix hadn’t been intercepted. I’m fighting for them.”

She wanted to believe him.Desperatelyso. But…“You’re also wanted for murder. Do you have papers that prove that away, too?”

His lips curled grimly, his attention still focused beyond the glass. “Doyouthink me a murderer, Grace?”

She simply didn’t know what to think. “Are you?”

He murmured, “As surely as if I put the knife to his throat myself.”

Her body flashed numb.Dear God,what had she gotten herself into?