Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

I beg your pardon? You cannot be serious!" Patience was incredulous.

Major Stuart had the grace to look sheepish. He and Fielding had beat them back to the house since they had to return in the carriage. When she entered the house, he surprised her by asking to speak with her. Now they were closeted in the study.

She paced with fury.

"But I am. I need you to woo Rupert."

"I think I am going to be sick."

"You are always wanting to help, and now you can."

"You mean to tell me this is part of the mission?" The glare she cast at him would have frozen a fiery furnace. "Surely there is some other way to help."

"We have a hunch that his speculation might be related to the missing arms. We need to keep him close."

She stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Surely you cannot believe he could orchestrate any such thing."

"No, but he could certainly be the mastermind's pawn. For the location alone, he would prove useful."

"Why can you not befriend him?"

"I have done so, but his interest is you," he pointed out a bit too gleefully.

"My, how you must be laughing at me!"

"Not at all."

"And what happens when he compromises me?"

"I would never let that happen."

She raised her brows doubtfully. "You intend to shadow us everywhere? He is already like a parasite without any encouragement. Then, if Lady Fagge gets wind of any possible connection to the house of Westwood, she will facilitate the matter by any means possible." Patience resumed pacing as her fury gained momentum. "He does not listen to any repulsion, and I am certain any objections I make will be excused as maidenly modesty and that he would be happy to guide me."

She looked up to see Major Stuart's surprised face. "What is it?"

"I will swear on my life that I will not let him harm you."

"That's a mighty big promise, Major, but I will hold you to it."

"Then you agree to help?"

She held her hand out to shake on it like she'd seen gentlemen do before, but she wasn't quite prepared for the sensation she felt when he took her hand. Neither of them wore gloves and the skin-to-skin contact was intense. His hands were nothing like Rupert's—whereas Rupert's were chubby and clammy, Major Stuart's were warm, firm, and slightly callused. He was no idle gentleman. The sensations went beyond her hands. She felt his touch pulse throughout her entire body.

Instead of shaking her hand, he held it and began to play with it, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles and fingers. She could only stare at the motion, afraid to look into his eyes.

They stood thus for some time—it was probably only seconds but felt as though time had suspended. He cleared his throat and dropped her hand.

"I should inform you that he asked for my assistance in courting you in exchange for information on the scheme that made him rich."

"Now this makes more sense."

"Indeed. By allowing him to come here under the guise of courting you, we may draw him out. I will send him a note in the morning encouraging him to call."

"I will await my fate with bated breath." Only a slightly sarcastic tone laced her response.

"Good girl," he said as he chucked her under the chin as if she were a young child, then bid her goodnight.

Patience made her way to her chambers and went through her evening ablutions in complete dismay over the task before her. "Be careful what you wish for," she whispered to her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her hair out.

She should be grateful for any sort of adventure, and she knew they couldn't all be glamorous and exciting. But to allow Rupert to woo her? An involuntary shudder of disgust ran through her body. Major Stuart expected her to fail, which only made her more determined. He never would have allowed her to assist if he didn't think it would provide him more access to extract the information from Rupert himself. She would prove she could do it without him.

How could the man both annoy and attract her in the same breath?

And the attraction was strong. She'd made a complete and utter fool of herself earlier with her reaction to him. She'd been so transparent, but at least he did not seem disgusted by her, even if he had stepped away and left her quickly thereafter. When was her infatuation with him going to end? She thought that being around him more would surely cease the fantasy by nature of reality, but in fact, quite the opposite was true.

But ridding herself of her infatuation could only happen if she was separated from Stuart. The sooner he left the better.

What needed to happen was for her to draw Rupert out quickly and efficiently without further engaging his affections. Patience was capable of patience, was she not?

Then she could prove to Major Stuart and even Westwood that she was proficient in handling delicate situations. Moreover, when she later approached Westwood to aid her in her quest to be a spy, she would be able to cite her experience in this matter.

Climbing in bed, she quickly fell asleep after having reassured herself that Rupert was no more than an assignment.

In the morning, the prospect looked no more pleasant than it had the night before. She gathered Xander for a reassuring cuddle, then dressed and took him outside.

By the time they returned to the house, there was still no one in the breakfast room. How odd. She drank her coffee then filled her plate, sneaking kippers and bacon to Xander under the table. "It's not really sneaking them if no one is here to watch, is it?" she remarked.

Where could everyone be? Was everyone exceptionally lazy today? The dinner party had not been very fatiguing, except mentally. It certainly did not compare to an evening out in London when they would not have reached their beds until dawn.

She ate very slowly, but still there was no one—not even her sisters or the other gentlemen. Perhaps all of them had gone for a ride?

It would be odd of them not to inform her. She rose from the table and decided to check the barn. Grace and Joy were very likely there fawning over the kittens.

There certainly was no sleeping in the barn. It was teeming with activity and Patience found Freddy with her kittens. Patience could only get near to pet them if she left Xander outside the stall they were in, so she left him whining on the other side of the door. After snuggling one to her face, she could no longer stand Xander's whimpers so she put the kitten down and took the puppy back outside.

Immediately, Xander began running towards the stables.

"You are determined to get me into trouble, are you not?" she scolded as she took off after him. Thankfully, he did not run inside but stopped to sniff something of interest near one of the water troughs. That should be harmless enough.

She leaned against the wall while Xander circled and sniffed. Then her ears immediately perked up when she heard a familiar voice. Looking upward, there was a window open, and she smiled. In all honesty, she could say she had not been snooping this time. Moreover, she was hardly going to leave when the ripe fruit was dangling before her very eyes.

"Time is running out, Devil." Major Stuart's voice.

There was no apparent response. Surely, the prisoner must be reacting. If only she could see! She stretched up on her tiptoes and tried to pull herself up, but the window was just a few inches too high. She put her foot on the nearby water trough and boosted herself up. With a little grunt, she managed to get both of her forearms onto the sill and could see Major Stuart leaning over Devil, who was tied to a wooden chair. She could see the boots of someone else in the room, but no one else.

"You must know we cannot delay longer. Either the person delivering messages is going to realize you are gone, or you will not show up for your rendezvous. Surely there is more you can tell us without being too specific."

The man shuffled a bit in the chair he was tied to. "Not all is as it appears to be."

"Tell me something I was unaware of," Stuart drawled.

"I don't know the real toff, only the middleman. I don't even know his real name, but he is an actor if I've ever seen one."

Stuart looked up and caught her eyes before she could duck down again. Unfortunately, the quick movement caused her to lose her balance and her arms circled in the air and a squeal escaped her as she fell backwards, straight into the water trough.

Patience closed her eyes in exasperation, knowing what she must look like. She had to hurry away before anyone found her like this—not that she expected Stuart to run out to her rescue.

Opening her eyes, she looked up to find him standing over her with a raised brow and a knowing smirk. How did he get outside so quickly?

"Do not say a word," she growled. As if she were not already humiliated enough, to hear scolding words right now from him might be enough for her to pull him into the trough with her.

"May I at least help you up?" He held out a hand to her.

She stared at the hand as though it were a viperous snake, and she was just tempted to take it and pull him in.

"You could never manage it." His eyes twinkled at her as though he knew exactly what she was contemplating.

Realizing what she must look like with her pale gown soaking wet and stuck to her skin, she only wanted him to leave. "I think it best if you will just return to the stables. It would be hard enough to return to the house without putting on a show for the servants."

"Very well." For once, he behaved as a gentleman, turning his back and walking away.

She climbed from the trough, then attempted to wring the water from her gown before she took off running for the house.

Apparently, Ashley was no gentleman. He watched Patience run back to the house, unable to look away. Part of him rationalized that he wanted to make sure no one accosted her, but the other part knew he was likely the biggest threat to her. He wanted her badly and he knew that was not what was best for Patience.

He had to clear his head so he could concentrate on resolving this matter and leaving. As he made to return inside the stables, he saw Rupert riding up. Never would he say he was glad to see the man, but perhaps it would give them a clue as to whether he and Devil knew each other. Thankfully, Baines was there and they could each watch one of them.

"Well met, Stuart!" Rupert called as he rode near and dismounted. One thing he could say for the man, at least he seemed to know his way about a horse, despite his garish outfit. Today he was in hues of pink and puce, with a bright green neckcloth.

"Coming a courting?" Ashley asked with a wave up and down at the man's attire.

"Indeed, I have." He beamed. He pulled a bouquet of pink roses from his saddlebag. "Do you think she'll like them? I do not know what her favourite flower is, but roses are universally well liked."

"Yes, they are. How can she not approve?"

Rupert smiled as one of the grooms took his horse.

"Do you think I could trouble you to assist me in the matter we spoke about? Miss Whitford may be a little while. She had a little mishap when walking the dog this morning and went in to change into a fresh gown." Ashley barely said that with a straight face as he recalled the incident fondly.

"If it will not delay my courting, then by all means," he said with a smile that sickened Ashley. He did not think the buffoon would harm Patience, but neither did he intend to give him the opportunity.

"Where is this man? The sooner he is away from the ladies, the better."

"We have arranged transport for today," Ashley assured him. "But if you think you can pry any information from him more the better." If nothing else, it would be amusing to see Rupert make the effort.

"Yes, of course."

Ashley led him through the stables to the master's office. Ashley opened the door and paused to signal Baines before Devil was able to get a glimpse of him.

Baines gave a slight nod of understanding and turned his eyes on the person behind Ashley while he kept his eyes fixed upon Devil.

"I brought someone new for you today, Devil. A guest if you will."

The prisoner grunted, unimpressed.

Ashley stepped aside to allow Rupert to enter. Devil narrowed his gaze when he saw the sight before him. Was it because of recognition or was it because of the outlandish attire?

Ashley could only pray they gave something away if there was anything to give.

It seemed Rupert was not going to speak. "Any recognition?" Ashley prompted.

"None at all, I am afraid." He lifted his chin and his eyes darted towards the prisoner. He was lying.

"I was hoping you might have seen him with someone in the village that might lead us to his associates."

"Why would you think I associate with his sort?"

Was he nervous, or was he just not used to being around criminals?

"Thank you for trying, my man. Perhaps Miss Whitford is prepared to receive you by now."

Rupert seemed to snap back to his normal affectious self.

"I will walk you out."

Rupert hurried through the stables. Ashley needed to determine why.

When they reached the door, Rupert took a deep breath. "I know the way from here."

"I suppose you do."

"I'll say, I wish you would remove that man from here. It's not seemly to have him around."

"I assure you, he will be gone today. My apologies if taking you in there offended your sensibilities. I only thought you might be able to help. We want to ensure he was not working with anyone else that might continue where he left off."

"I was obliged to do my duty, but unfortunately, I cannot help you, nor can I imagine anyone that I associate with having any dealings with his kind."

"You misunderstand, my friend, we only wish to see if you'd seen him around with anyone else."

Rupert shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I had best be on my way. I would not wish to keep Miss Whitford waiting."

Ashley gave him a mock salute and watched as Rupert scurried away towards the house, waiting until he entered the doors, wanting to ensure he did not side-track to the clearing. He turned and went back to see Baines and Devil.

"Well?" Ashley asked as he entered and leaned on the desk.

"That popinjay makes my skin crawl," Baines said.

Devil snorted.

"Anything useful?"

"He's lying."

"Agreed, but will our distinguished guest enlighten us as to how they know each other?"

"I've never seen that clown in my life," Devil spat.

He was being truthful. "You are certain he's not the toff that gives you messages?"

Devil shook his head. "We've only met in the dark. He's very careful, but I've heard his voice and it's not nasally and whiney."

"If he disguises it?"

Devil closed his eyes as if trying to imagine the sound. "I s'pose."

"He was delivering messages to you at the clearing at night?"

Devil nodded. "Then I'd signal the others."

"Since I am in a generous mood, I'll have some of Cook's dinner sent to you if you tell us what happened when the signal was three flashes."

He shrugged. "It meant we picked up the crates as what he told us to do."

"But how did he tell you which ones and where?" Baines asked.

"Some bloke named Hocks knew that bit. He meets us at the Company and tells us what to swap."

It was much as they suspected, but frustrating not to have more to go on.

"Does this Hocks work at the shipyard with the others?"

Devil shrugged.

Ashley sighed. It was clear he was not going to get anything more from Devil at the moment. He believed what he said about the toff, but how else could they find the man?

He and Baines returned back to the house, leaving Chauncy to guard Devil. It was time they all sat down together and exchanged what they knew. Hopefully, Renforth would have received word back from London on Layton.

They gathered in Westwood's study, the viscount himself present as well.

Ashley was beginning to feel like they were running in circles, but such was often common in an investigation until they found the one missing link.

"Let us go around the room and share what we found." The methodical approach Renforth employed was soothing and gave structure to the otherwise chaotic nature of looking for a needle in a haystack.

"Manners and Chum, begin." Renforth directed the two who had just returned for this purpose.

"We've been following the gang, but they seem to be wholly dependent upon what Devil tells them. They work at the shipyard by day then wait at the docks until dark for a signal."

"Baines?"

"I do not believe Devil has more to share. I think he's told us what he knows."

"Stuart?"

"I agree with Baines. It's hard to credit, but it's possible Rupert is the messenger, but impossible to credit that he could orchestrate such a campaign. He's come upon some scheme that has put him flush in the pocket. He's made a deal with me that if I assist his courtship with Miss Whitford, he will let me in on it."

"Why would Rupert bring a military officer in on a probably illegal scheme?" Renforth questioned.

"Rupert is an idiot and only focusing on Patience. He may not even realize what he is doing is illegal."

Renforth raised his brows and shook his head as though he could not fathom such idiocy. "Fielding?"

"I cannot believe Miss Whitford would agree to that, but I suppose it is worth a try. I have little else to add."

"And I have seen nothing else from keeping watch. While there is a nice view, my rump is heartily sick of sitting in a tree. I expect a report today from my contact about Layton's son, which I hope will be the key to unlocking this once and for all. It seems we have gleaned as much as we are going to from Devil. Even if Rupert is delivering the messages, he knows we are waiting to pounce."

"I think we need to set a trap. There is a little else for us to do here without any messages being delivered," Baines recommended.

"It will need to be very enticing," Ashley warned.