Ann Lethbridge - Regency Society

‘What makes you think he might be?’ Richard’s gaze became hard, intent. ‘Do you know more than you are telling me? If so, confess it now, because it will not go well with you if I discover that you are in league with him later.’

‘In league with that odious man!’ Georgie was horrified. ‘I hate him! I would rather die than have anything to do with him. I swear it on my honour…’ She saw the look in his eyes and flushed. ‘Very well, on my father’s honour—and he was a good man.’

‘Very well, I shall believe you,’ Richard said. ‘So, we have a little problem. Monsieur Thierry is possibly following us, but for the moment we do not know whether he is after you—or me.’

Georgie shuddered. ‘Do you think he might have something to do with the attack on you?’

‘If he is involved with the people I am after, he may well have done.’ Richard frowned. ‘I had not expected to be followed. I think I may have exposed you to danger, Georgie. Should I find a respectable woman to escort you to your aunt’s house and let you continue alone?’

‘No! I want to stay with you until we get there,’ Georgie said, shivering as she turned cold. ‘When I saw him last night I realised that I cannot be safe until we reach my aunt’s home. If you abandoned me, I should be anxious every moment.’

‘You are certain?’ Richard accepted it as she nodded. ‘I think perhaps you are right, though if I thought it was me he wanted…’ He shook his head, his gaze narrowing. ‘So you discovered the riddle last night—what do you think it meant?’

‘I have no idea,’ Georgie confessed. ‘I thought perhaps the first part of it referred to the place where the plotters meet, but it was so strange that I could not make it out—and the bit about the fox in the hole…’

‘Perhaps it refers to their leader?’ Richard said. ‘The fox may be a name for the ringleader, and my informant is saying that he will not leave his lair until the right moment.’

‘Why did he not just say so?’ Georgie demanded, exasperated. ‘It makes no sense to get a message to you and then not say straight out what you need to know.’

‘I agree with you,’ Richard said. ‘Of course, had it fallen into the wrong hands it would have been safer. It may be that my informant is a member of the group who wishes to lay information without getting caught.’

‘I hadn’t thought of that,’ Georgie said, giving him an appraising look. ‘He must think that you are clever enough to work it out for yourself.’

‘Yes, perhaps,’ Richard said. ‘Or it might have been sent to mislead…if my informant had been turned or…’

‘Or murdered?’ Georgie felt cold all over. ‘Do you think that the first message was genuine and this one was false?’

‘I think that may be the case,’ Richard said. ‘Whoever is behind this needs time to complete his plans. He is afraid that I may have more clues than I actually do and he sent this message to lead me on a false trail.’

‘To force you to waste time trying to work out something that means nothing—is, in fact, nonsense?’

‘Yes, it could be that,’ Richard agreed, smiling oddly at her. ‘You are an intelligent girl, Georgie. Talking to you has made me see that I could have wasted a lot of precious time. I wondered when I was told the location for the meeting that night. I believe the attack on me was meant to happen only after I had delivered the new message to colleagues—because I am not the only one involved in this affair.’

‘So he wished to confuse you all,’ Georgie said. ‘Had you died in the attack, you would have been one less for him to deal with, but he knew you were not working alone.’

‘I am not alone, but perhaps I have some information others do not,’ Richard said. ‘The trouble is, if I have it, I do not know what it is…unless it is a name.’

‘Raoul Thierry,’ Georgie said, looking at him intently as a suspicion came to her. ‘You’ve heard his name before. You suspect him of being involved, do you not?’

‘Perhaps,’ Richard said. ‘His name has been mentioned by several people as being suspect, but I have no proof. We should go. Henderson will have the horses ready and my groom will be waiting for us.’

‘No, not yet,’ Georgie said. She looked angry, two spots of red colour in her cheeks. ‘You made me wait until you could travel because you thought I might be involved in this horrid affair, didn’t you?’

‘It crossed my mind,’ Richard admitted. ‘You did try to steal from me, Georgie. That package was important—or I thought it was at the time, though if it were a hoax he would not have sent you to steal it.’

‘No one sent me to steal it,’ she said indignantly. ‘I would never do such a thing!’ She blushed as she met his mocking stare. ‘Well, only if I was terribly hungry, which I was—and I didn’t know what it was!’

‘No, I am certain you did not,’ Richard said and laughed softly in his throat. She was magnificent when she was angry! Despite his determination to stay aloof, she was gradually worming her way under his defences. ‘Do not look so outraged, Georgie. I have acquitted you of all malice. You only stole from me because you were hungry, so naturally that makes you blameless.’

‘Oh…’ She threw him a wrathful glare. ‘Well, if you had ever been as hungry as I was, you might have done the same!’

‘I have been and I did—when in Spain with the army,’ he said. ‘Forgive me. I could not resist teasing you. You are very pretty when you are angry, you know.’

‘Please do not!’ Georgie said. His smile was teasing but she knew he must think her a ridiculous scamp. ‘I know I must look awful, not at all respectable.’

‘Well, there is that,’ he agreed, a sparkle in the depths of his teasing eyes. ‘But I must say that I find your disguise rather attractive—though of course I deplore the behaviour that brought you to this masquerade.’

Georgie understood that he was teasing her. She had finished eating her bread and ham and got up, walking out into the yard with dignity. He deserved that she should ignore him for the rest of the journey!

Chapter Four

Georgie’s spurt of temper lasted for the first mile or so, by which time she had realised that it merely made her seem childish, for he was determined to be a charming companion. He had allowed his young groom to drive and sat with her in a more comfortable seat.

‘Well, I suppose it does no good to fall out with you,’ she announced as they passed a pretty village. ‘I have to thank you for making it possible for me to complete my journey. Had we not met, I might have suffered a worse fate than to be teased.’

‘Very nicely said,’ Richard observed with a faint smile. ‘I was wondering when you would remember your society manners, for I dare say you were brought up to behave with decorum.’

‘Certainly I was,’ Georgie replied. ‘Mama would have been shocked if she knew what I had done these past days—though I believe she would understand I had no choice. My father would have thrashed my uncle, but of course had either of them been still living it could not have happened.’

‘Have you thought about your future?’ Richard inquired for all the world as if he were an uncle and they out for an afternoon drive. ‘You spoke of setting up your own establishment if your aunt did not wish for your company, but you are a little young for that, are you not?’

‘Yes, perhaps,’ she agreed. ‘But I dare say I might hire a respectable companion to keep me company. If I had no relations, I must have done so anyway.’

Richard nodded. He was thoughtful as he watched her, wondering how he could ever for a moment have been deceived into thinking her a youth. She was extremely pretty even dressed as she was; indeed, there was something fascinating about a young woman in a boy’s clothing, and he had to castigate himself severely for thinking that had she not been so well born he might have made her his mistress.