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“After we depart from the Blue Boar, I have no doubt that agents will raid the pub, and they will arrest all of the conspirators.”
“But not you?”
With a shake of her head, Miss Gaillard replied, “I intend to ride with your suitor to Fieldstone Square myself. We are to attend Lord Desmond’s rally, and I don’t dare miss it.”
“You are mistaken. I don’t have a suitor.”
“No?” Miss Gaillard asked. “You are not being courted by Lord Hawthorne?”
“I am not.”
Miss Gaillard tilted her head. “That is a shame, no? Not only is he handsome, but he is quite rich, as well.”
“He is handsome,” Madalene admitted, “but we aren’t courting.”
“Do you object to him being a spy?”
Madalene looked up at Miss Gaillard in confusion. “Pardon?”
Miss Gaillard gasped in delight and brought her hand up to cover her mouth. “You didn’t know he was an agent of the Crown, did you?”
“I did not.” Madalene felt like a fool that she hadn’t pieced that together sooner.
Lowering her hand, Miss Gaillard said, “When my partner first informed me of Baldwin, I had my own suspicions. I decided to follow him one night, and I saw him leaving the rookeries in ragged clothes and renting a hackney. You can only imagine my surprise when he pulled up in front of Hawthorne House and entered by way of the main door.”
A self-satisfied smile came to Miss Gaillard’s lips. “Lord Hawthorne wasn’t even aware that I continued to follow him over the course of a few days, including when he repeatedly met with you. If our circumstances were different, I would even be hoping that you two would marry.”
“Wonderful,” Madalene muttered.
“I take it that you are displeased, and I will inform him of that when I speak to him.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Madalene asserted. “I shall speak to him when I have the chance.”
Miss Gaillard’s lips dropped to a frown. “I’m afraid that is impossible,” she shared. “I intend to kill him in a few hours.”
Madalene felt her heart drop at Miss Gaillard’s remark. “Why would you kill him?”
“I know he has no intention of driving the wagon to the rally, so I am going to have to blackmail him to force his hand,” Miss Gaillard announced proudly. “That is where you come in.”
“Why me?”
Miss Gaillard gave her a concerned look. “I fear that my blow to your head has rattled your brain. I believe I have properly explained it, but I will explain it in more simple terms for you.” She paused. “Lord Hawthorne will drive the wagon to the rally because your life will depend on it.”
“Please don’t do this,” Madalene pleaded as she attempted to loosen her bonds.
“It is either your life, or he will detonate a bomb that will kill hundreds of people,” Miss Gaillard said. “Which one do you think he will pick?”
Madalene shook her head. “He won’t pick me.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Miss Gaillard remarked. “I have seen the way he looks at you. He looks like a man who is besotted.”
“Regardless, my life is not worth killing hundreds of innocent people.”
Miss Gaillard leaned down and patted her cheek. “I am wagering that Lord Hawthorne will think differently.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“My father was betrayed by British agents,” Miss Gaillard said. “Do you know who one of those agents was?”
