Page 28 of Waiting for Love

“Eeesht, Olivia,” Crispin winced. “Why would you play a knave when I just played a queen?”

“Sorry.” Her cheeks warmed.

“You can take it back,” Benjamin offered.

“Watch out.” Jasper laughed. “She gets angry if you condescend.”

To prove Jasper wrong, she snatched back her card and laid down a three.

“Oh!” Georgiana gasped. They turned to see her flip over her paper and begin scratching away upon it, a strange look in her eyes. Then she said, “no,” several times. Then “yes!” Then she blurted, “Oh, but it is in French.”

Crispin laughed. “One would hope so. What does it say?”

She pushed back a loosened lock of hair with the end of the pen. “In English it would read ‘The leopard is at Vera watch the Nivelle.’” She glanced up. “Does that mean anything?”

Crispin dropped his cards and beamed so hard it gave Olivia a chill.

“The French call Wellington the leopard. We were at Vera. We took it. And then, Nivelle. I imagine this missive was supposed to have made it to Soult before we did.”

Benjamin set his cards, then his arms, on the table. His left arm rested so close to her right arm that she could feel his heat.

Crispin rose and went to Georgiana. “Show me.” He bent over her to see what she’d done.

“It is simple, really,” she said. “There are far too many numbers here for an alphabetical substitution. So I had to get rid of some. If you look,” she pointed to something with her pen, “there are various strings of numbers that add up to eight. Cross those out,” she flipped over the paper, “and you are left with these numbers and these stops. Then you run the numbers up and down the fence.”

Olivia had no idea what Georgiana was saying, but Crispin must have understood some of it because his frown was intent. “L is the twelfth number in the alphabet. That is a seventeen.”

“Yes, but three Q’s? No message would have three Q’s. And there are not three U’s. So you have to subtract five. Or add two or three, but it didn’t work with three S’s or three T’s, which I also considered.”

Crispin laughed, a peeved sort of laugh. “Of course. Eliminate strings of eight. Subtract five. How on earth did you come up with this?”

Olivia glanced at Benjamin to see if he, too, was awed, but found him looking at her. He blinked and shifted his attention to Georgiana, but did not move his arm away and neither did she.

Georgiana was flushed. “It is just seeing the patterns. And a little trial and error.”

Crispin gaped a moment, then he dropped into a nearby chair, stretched his legs in front of him, and said, “You are a marvel. Reg, may I take her back with me?”

“No. And because I suspect you are serious, I will say again, no.”

“Wellington will be pleased. He might even deign to say so.” Crispin’s smile was so broad, Olivia could see a mouthful of teeth. Then it faltered. “But the next string could be different. Adding to six instead of eight. Or there will not be three Q’s.” He frowned, rubbing his chin. “I suppose now that we know what type of cipher we are trying to decode…but I don’t know anyone who would see the patterns as quickly as you do.”

Georgiana shook her head. “It was actually quite simple. Whoever constructed it must have been in a hurry.”

Crispin laughed. He stood again, took up Georgiana’s hand, and planted a kiss on the back of it. With an earnestness that was unlike him, he said, “Your country thanks you.”

“Don’t be silly.”

“I am not.” He turned around, letting his gaze pass over them all. “None of this is to leave this room. If it turns up in the London Times, as these things are wont to do, all Georgiana’s efforts are for naught.” He paused a moment, as if suddenly noticing Miss Jamison, whom he did not know. “Please,” he said, eyes darkening. “Not a word to anyone.”

Despite the “please,” Olivia thought he sounded threatening. Everyone else must have thought so also because they all murmured assurances, either staring at him wide-eyed or looking down at their feet.

Crispin nodded briskly, then said, “Now I must go down to the kitchen and forage. I haven’t eaten since daybreak.”

“Sit,” Mama said. “We will send for a plate.”

He grimaced. “No. My way is better.” He took a few steps for the door. “And then I am off to find my bed.”

Jasper rose and stepped into his path. “Will you be kind enough to assure us you will still be here in the morning?”