Kate Pearce - Educating Elizabeth

Nicholas sat down his eyes alight with interest. "Then what do you wish of me?"

"I'm still unsure as to where Mrs. Waterstone's loyalties lie. I want you to shadow her every move-- especially when she goes to meet her family."

"Now that will be a pleasure. Mrs. Waterstone is a charming companion and easy on the eyes as well."

Gervase used his rolled up newspaper to clout Nicholas on the head. "Leave her alone, Nick. She is recently widowed."

Nicholas retreated to the door and then turned and grinned. "It's all right, Your Grace. I've seen the way she looks at you. As far as she is concerned, there is only one man in the house."

Pleased by the observation, Gervase returned to his perusal of the documents whilst he waited for Elizabeth. He had labored over the code for days. The sureness of Elizabeth's deductions and the speed of her conclusions took him by surprise. But had she broken the code because she already had the key? Was she now preparing to pass the information onto her stepfather and thus to the French?

"Your Grace? You wished to speak to me?"

Elizabeth appeared in the doorway, a half-eaten piece of toast in one hand. Gervase had never seen a more unlikely looking spy. He got to his feet and waved her into a chair as Sir John came in and closed the doors behind him. Elizabeth seemed unperturbed by her summons, her face reflecting only her usual intelligent interest. Gervase's experience told him that she was either unaware of her supposed crime, or a liar of extraordinary cleverness.

"Mrs. Waterstone, you told me that you were working on a puzzle last night." He passed her the two pages of parchment. "Is this the one?"

"Yes, indeed, Your Grace," she said promptly. "I don't understand why the person who attempted to solve it before was so mutton-headed." She glanced up as Sir John coughed loudly. "It was quite easy once I worked out the key. Although I found the solution almost as incomprehensible as the puzzle."

Gervase fought to repress a smile as she handed the parchment back. "You did not understand the message?" he said, all his attention focused on her face.

She raised her eyebrows as though humoring a child. "What message? The puzzle is obviously the work of some lunatic." She leaned forward and jabbed her piece of toast at the papers in his hand. "An assassin named Le Fleur is planning to kill a member of the Royal family?" She laughed. "Would you have me run down to Carlton House and alert the Horse Guards?"

Gervase slowly shook his head. "No, my dear, that would be a shocking waste of your resourcefulness. You would be thought quite foolish, if not insane. I've a much better idea. I would much rather you help me catch him."

Elizabeth's mouth dropped open and her toast fell from her fingers to the carpet. Gervase nodded to Sir John and he left them alone. He allowed the silence to stretch for another few moments.

"Please excuse my self-congratulatory expression, Mrs. Waterstone, but I believe this is the first time I've managed to render you speechless. I confess to enjoying the moment."

To his surprise, Elizabeth ignored him. "How could I have been so stupid?" She shot to her feet and under his fascinated gaze began to pace the carpet, her hands clasped together. "I knew this wasn't right." She made an all-encompassing gesture that took in his desk and the library. "I knew that a supposed libertine wouldn't need a secretary or have a desk piled high with important-looking documents."

She came to an abrupt halt in front of him, her expression fierce, her gray eyes shooting sparks. "And I should have known that a rake would never ever try to seduce me whilst wearing his spectacles!"

"Elizabeth..." Gervase tried to intervene but hesitated, intrigued by the withering scorn on her face and the quickness of her deductions. He relaxed, sat back, and crossed his booted feet at the ankles. Elizabeth let out another moan, as a further revelation appeared to strike her, and resumed pacing.

"That is why your staff are so discreet and my presence here did not raise an eyebrow." She nodded as if to herself. "That is why no one waits up for you despite the fact that your rank and natural arrogance should demand it."

She clutched at her hair. "You received a message from the Foreign Office in the middle of the night and I didn't even think it odd until now."

Gervase suppressed a smile and stared down at his fingernails. "Perhaps, my dear," he suggested gently, "You were thinking of other things."

"Yes." She rounded on him. "I was so busy waiting to see if you would kiss me that I behaved like an idiot!" Her breasts rose and fell in time to her agitated breathing and Gervase cocked his head to one side to observe the effect to its fullest advantage.

"You work for the government, don't you, Your Grace, yet you masquerade as a rake." She seemed to run out of breath, then gathered herself and faced him again. "Do I have this correctly?"

"Yes, my dear, but I must stress that I enjoy both parts of my life."

He strolled over to her, took her hand in his and bent to kiss her fingers. They smelled faintly of buttered toast and he had to resist the urge to lick them clean. "It seems as if we have discovered another way you can please me." He maneuvered her toward a chair. "Do you think we might sit and discuss this rationally? I know it must be confusing for you and there are several things you need to understand."

Elizabeth allowed the duke to persuade her into a chair. She used the excuse of arranging her skirts to look away and seek her composure. She had behaved like a witless debutante and missed the obvious.

With a deep, steadying breath, she turned to face him. To her dismay, he looked exactly the same. She blushed as she remembered how he looked without his shirt and reluctantly acknowledged that his remarks about enjoying his role as a rake might just be true.

The duke cleared his throat. "If we may return to our discussion about the code? I'm sure you have much more to say, but any further observations as to my character and lack of breeding can be left for another time, preferably in bed." He shrugged. "Passion can add a certain something to one's lovemaking."

Elizabeth took the hint and concentrated on the documents. "Your Grace, do you seriously believe that someone is trying to kill a member of the Royal family?"

"Yes, I do. We have known of this man, Le Fleur , for over a year through other channels. The message you decoded is the first that mentions him directly in conjunction with the assassination attempt."

Elizabeth reached into her pocket to retrieve her spectacles and resumed her perusal of the puzzle. "I'm glad I was able to help in this instance. But surely the person who wrote this message will alter the code when he discovers it has fallen into the wrong hands?"

"That is a possibility, but in my experience, once a code is broken, the person who broke it always stands a better chance of deciphering the new one." He paused. "You might think me mad, but I believe even the best code writers leave traces of themselves behind in the way they construct their puzzles."

Elizabeth could only nod, enthralled by this glimpse into a darker parallel world she had never known existed. "Do you wish me to look at other samples of code and try and decipher those as well?"

Her offer seemed to shake the duke out of his reverie. "If you have no objection, I will send this off to the Foreign Office and have your suppositions checked by another expert. If they prove to be accurate, I would appreciate your help in this matter."

Elizabeth gave the documents back to the duke and he hesitated.

"Elizabeth, the Foreign Office will probably offer to pay you for your services to the country." He shrugged but his gaze remained fixed on her. "I will be a pittance, but I wonder if it is not time for you to reconsider your position here."