Page 108 of The Smuggler’s Escape

“For Sir Frederick, more properly.”

“You mean he’s not an Exciseman at all?”

“Not since this morning.”

“Getting information from you is like pulling teeth,” she said. “Why won’t you explain properly?”

“For one thing,” Richard said, “this is confidential information. Hale will be working in espionage from now on.”

She digested that. “What will happen to Lady Ariadne?”

“I assume the whole matter will be hushed up. Sir William Luttrow will be obliged to resign his post. He is not suspected of treason, merely of indiscretion. I expect he will retire with his lady to Scotland, where he will rule her with an iron hand. And fist, if necessary.”

She slewed in his arm. “Richard! How can you suggest such a thing?”

“Better than being hanged for treason,” Richard said savagely, his profile fierce against the night sky. “Not so long ago, she would have burned at the stake.”

Never had Noelle heard such rage in Richard’s voice. She faced front again, saying nothing, and after a few tense minutes he went on.

“Lady Darsington believes Dot has run off with Johnny Magee.”

“What?”

“To escape Harry’s advances. I expect Lady Darsington will keep silent rather than insist that Dot marry a tinker. The information you were meant to carry this evening was false, as has been other recent information—cooked up by Sir Frederick to tempt the traitor. I believe he asked his wife to drop it in casual conversation before as many people as possible, but she became rather too eager in her desire to implicate you.”

Oh. “That’s why you played piquet with Lady Ariadne tonight. To make her desperate for money.”

“So that she would be forced to send information to France.” His voice erupted into savagery again. “Not to give her the opportunity to use you as a scapegoat.”

Noelle said in a small voice, “I suppose I had best keep my revolutionary opinions to myself.”

“In the current climate, that would be wise,” Richard said coolly. “It is unfortunate that you cannot express yourself freely, but you will doubtless find other ways to further the reformation of society.”

Noelle twisted around and scowled up at him in the pale moonlight. “I wish you had told me. I wish you had trusted me. Had I known the information was false, I would never have gone with Jackson.”

“As a spy, one learns to trust as little as possible, even those in whom one has faith.”

“And yet you expected me to trust you.”

“Because I meant to make sure you came to no harm, even if I had to take you out of England myself.”

That was why he’d agreed to leave with her? How could she have known that?

Richard set his lips and said nothing, and for some strange reason, Noelle felt compelled to remain silent as well. For several long minutes they rode slowly through the blustery night. She ventured a hand to grip Richard’s forearm and hold him closer. She felt a shudder run through him.

Harshly, he said, “Noelle, when I heard those shots, I thought you were dead.”

Ah, mon Dieu.

“Didn’t you believe I would keep you safe?”

She squirmed in his hold. “All I knew was that if I didn’t agree to take the letter to France, Jackson would find another courier. As long as I held the letter, I could seek an opportunity to destroy it.” A gust of chill wind sent a shiver through her. “It wasn’t until I saw Jackson with Snowflake, and realized that there were two identical letters, one to be found on me and one to be sent to France, that I knew he intended to kill me before I reached the boat.”

Richard’s arm tightened around her. In a gruff voice, he said, “Never run away like that again, sweetheart. Nothing is worth more to me than you.”

He pulled up before the gatehouse and dismounted, then swung her lightly down. “The house is still full of people. I want to read these documents in privacy.”

Noelle followed him into the cottage. The lamp, to her surprise, was already lit. “Holmes is one of the world’s wonders,” Richard said. He led her into the tiny bedchamber. The fire was already burning, and an ewer of water, a basin, and two towels stood on the dresser. “He was put out with me for not asking his assistance last night. See, now, how he anticipates our every need.”