My Lord Rogue (4 page)

“
Marquess
,” he said with a bow,
curbing the urge not to laugh at the absurdity of
their covert
endeavor
.
Enough speculation.
“What business
w
o
uld
a man like you
have with
that chit
?”

“
E
gad!
” he exclaimed as though Simon had read more into his interest than acceptable.
“
Damned if I know
, old man
.
Odd’s fish, are
you
implying
something positively scandalous
?
”

Jealousy raged within Simon at the thought of
Percy
and Gillian alone in box three. “You and
a mysterious woman
—”

“Aha!” he exclaimed, pointing his quizzing glass.
“You—”

“
A
re
tantamount to
trouble
,” Simon finished.

“Trouble?”
Percy
cocked his brow and
winked
, slanting his gaze to an invisible bystander before arrowing his attention back on Simon
.
“Do tell.”

Percy
didn’t have an indelicate bone in his body. In reality,
the man was
a rogue of
shocking
means, a methodic man with a penchant for protecting those unable to protect themselves.
Which meant Gillian
was
in trouble.
Simon’s
blasted heart stirred
like a flipping
trout
perilously out of water
.
Why hadn’t she confided in him?
Her distrust stung.

“Odd’s fish
,” Percy said drawing him back to the conversation at hand. “
You are quite confused.
Trouble seeks me out,
my dear man,
not the other way around.”

“
Only you would
dare
suggest such a thing
. Which leads me to believe the baroness
is
in trouble. Is she?”
Simon
asked
,
coming to the point
, setting aside all caution
, admitting the obvious. That he knew who Gillian was
.

Percy picked a
gilded
snuff box out of his waistcoat,
opened the lid, fingered
a pinch, and
delicately
sniffed
the tobacco
into each nostril
, making Simon all the more suspicious
.
“I’ve
just
received her summons
.
I couldn’t possibly
say
.”

Simon
and
Percy
had worked together
for
many years. They were, in fact,
in league with Nelson, responsible for
putting together a
n
extraordinary
group
, first sons from every walk of life,
eager to serve
England
in any capacity imagined
— Nelson’s Tea — named thusly for the admiral’s penchant for the beverage
.
Many
of their prospective agents had agreed to participate in want of
a steady income. Others sought a quick rise in
military rank, a political engine known for agonizing delay
.
Their
clandestine group was the fastest way to rise to the top
because of its
association to Admiral Nelson
.

He knew Percy enough to know he was lying. “Or do you mean you won’t say?”

A
mbition mattered not to
Simon
.
Nelson’s Tea
was a dream hatched out of desperation.
It was what Admiral Nelson had come to London to
organize
, an advanced force
able to
match
Fouché and
Napoleon’s secret service
blow for blow.
Each man had been preselected for
their
specific talents with the caveat that no o
ne else would ever
learn
of the
sacrifices they made
.
And now Simon wanted to
understand
everything there was to know about Gillian Chauncey, damn the consequences.

Leaning closer, Percy said,
“
I’m forced to admit, her
message revealed
very little.
”

“
In any case,
I expect a full report
.
You of all people know what that entails.”
He knew that Percy had spent a great deal of time with Lucien and Gillian. If anyone knew how to reach Gillian, it was Percy.

Percy raised his quizzing glass and shifted his attention to Simon’s cravat
, giving
the crisply-tied fabric
,
garnished off with an emerald pin, a tap
. “Been to
Weston’s
, I see.”

Simon opened his
mouth to speak but held his tongue.
Two men
with suspiciously shifty eyes
drew near and would easily overhear their conversation if he
didn’t play along
. He flexed his shoulders, desperate
to know
why
Gilli
an had sought Percy’s help over his. But in keeping with their public sham, he said,
“’
Twas a good suggestion
,
marquess
.” He made an effort to
straighten his cuffs as
the
two men nodded
and passed on their way to
box four.

Percy’s brow crooked
and his gaze followed
the men until they disappeared
.
“Spare nothing when it comes to fashion, my good man.” He spun his quizzing glass around and settled it in
to
his waistcoat. “Never forget o
ne’s attire
has more power
than words. Now,” he said, “where did that
mysterious woman
veer off to
, eh
?”

“Bedford’s box,” Simon reminded him
.

“Obliged.”
Percy dipped his head in a mock bow,
straightened,
and then eyed box four.

Something about the two men had plucked
Percy’s
curiosity.
But what
?
Simon had
seen the men milling about downstairs and
had
not noticed
anything
out of the ordinary
— yet
.

“Remember
, dear sir,
” Percy said, tapping his cravat, “
you will never
look the
aristocrat without a crisply-tied cravat.”

Simon
snarled and
put
fashion and
box four out of his mind
, concentrating
on
Gillian
.
The man
had a way of wooing
the female sex or
seducing information from the most unsuspecting
dolt
. His tactics were legendary
.
Which made him an asset to Nelson’s Tea.

“Report to me when you are finished with the lady.”

Without a by your leave, Percy sauntered off,
pe
e
k
ing
in every curtained doorway
as if he hadn’t been told exactly where Gillian was waiting
. “Ah!
” Simon heard him say elatedly. “T
here you are, good lady.
Let the games
begin
.
”

Music faded
as Percy disappeared inside Bedford’s
box.
The man
prided himself in knowing what went on
about him, to include listening to rampant gossip. For in every rumor a tad of truth could be ferreted out.

Percy’s laughter drifted through the curtain.

Deuce it all!
What was going on
?

“
Sighing like furnace, with woeful ballad

Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then the soldier,

Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard
…
”

~
William Shakespeare’s
All The World
’
s a Stage

Gillian Chauncey sat beside
Percival Avery,
Marques
s
Stanton
,
as
finely
tuned instruments
accompanied
each
actor
breaking
into
operatic
song
and choreographed dance
.
Holcroft’s
Deaf and Dumb
performance
had been advertised as the year’s most
anticipated
spectacle. Acoustics
at
the new amphitheat
e
r
of the Theatre Royal at Drury Lane
, however,
lacked the
ideal
effect
the builder
had hoped
to create when he reconstructed the opera house after the previous building
had
burned
in ninety-one
. The
new design,
implemented in ninety-four by Henry Holland,
a wilderness of the
elegant, regal
stage
,
catapulted
the Theatre Royal
into a new age that
both
astounded and
disappoint
ed
ticket holders.
Its
advantageous
monstrous size
,
candlelit
stage, tiered boxes
,
and galleries
with a capacity
to seat
over three thousand
souls
, lacked the intimacy afforded “Old Drury” with its warm close observant seats
, a major complaint
.

The same could not be said of the personal boxes as
Percy leaned close
to Gillian, the intimate confines hammering home the reminder
that
in any one of these boxes assassins could be
collaborating
with murder in mind
.

“
I thought I’d never get rid of him
,” he confided.

Gillian
closed her eyes and inhaled.
“
Simon is
not
the worst of our problems
.”

“
What is
?” he asked
.

“I
-I
—”
She
chok
ed
on the word
s
.

Percy’s eyes
flashed a hint of amusement
.
Did he think
Simon was what her urgent need to meet him was all about
? She let him believe what he would, taking
a moment to collect herself.

“Do you like what Holland has done with the place?”
he
asked, changing
the subject.

Astute
man
.
Gillian
breathed a sigh of relief
,
which set her
thoughts to rights
.

“The acoustics can be an annoyance if you’re inclined to hear the actors speak.”
Percy
’s lips twitched
with amusement
. His long, half-covered laced fingers
pointed to the
silver-washed
iron pillars supporting the beams of the upper horseshoe-shaped boxes. “Drury Lane is bigger than any other place in Europe now
.”

Gillian
turned to stare at him. “I am not here to enjoy the theat
e
r.”

“Perhaps it would do your sour disposition
a bit of
good.”

“Do you honestly believe I am that shallow?”

How
could
she
applaud
Percy’s
boastful
musings on
the iconic establishment
when ruthless men planned to attack Admiral Nelson
?

Undeterred, he said,
“You should be here when a performance involves
actual
boating.
Quite a
technological marvel I never would have thought possible.
And yet
…
it exists.
”
He stared at
center
stage
and the lone portrait of a boy hanging there
,
a puzzled expression distorting his
handsome,
powdered features
.

“Is that supposed to be Darlemont’s son, the
mute
child he left for dead on a Parisian street?”

Was he thinking that their lives, what they sought to achieve, paralleled
Darlemont’s palace of secrets, suspicion
,
and deceit
?
They were both playing parts in a charade.
His momentary pause
hinted that was the case. The irony wasn’t lost on her, but
gave her the time she needed to compose herself.

She
surveyed
t
he crowd below
.
The audience
’s attention
centered
on
the lead
actress.
The woman’s name escaped
Gillian
,
and she
chastised herself for not paying attention to
introductions
, especially when, as a former actress, she understood their importance
. If she’d had
the
time and
,
if
,
she’d been on an errand of amusement, she’d ha
ve
researched the playbook more thoroughly.
Drury Lane
was well-known for employing
a talented crop. What she didn’t miss
now
,
however,
was the
perfectly clear
singing
voice, though
seemingly
distant
on the massive stage
,
that held
the audience’s rapt attention
.
Or, for that matter, that
her
performance would be put to the test.

Hair rose on the back of Gillian’s neck as she
searched
the theat
e
r
for any hint of
criminal
behavior.
E
very seat
in the house
was
occupied
save for
a few
inattentive
patrons
mulling
about
, refusing to
wait
until intermission to speculate
on the particulars
of
the crowd
.
The entire setting
was
perfect
ly tuned
for a malicious attack by Napoleon’s
gens d’armes
.

Gillian bit her lip
to stifle a maddening scream
.
The tell must have activated Percy’s interest.

“
Out with it.
Wh
at emergency has brought you here
?
”

Hideous images and possibilities crossed Gillian’s mind. Not only was Nelson at risk, but an entire theat
e
r of unsuspecting souls.
B
ile r
o
se in
the back of
her
throat
.

T
ears
misted her vision
.
She swallowed the
hysterical
shriek rising in her throat.
“
Lucien is dead
.
”

Percy
turned, gave her his full attention, and
grabbed her wrist none
too
gently. “
Devil you say!
”
A muscle flexed in
his jaw
,
and
she
feared his teeth would crack by the force.
“
I
mpossible.”

“
Possible and
true
,” she said
,
veiling
any
emotion
a
grieving
widow
should exhibit
. “I would
never
lie
about
a matter such as this
.”

Percy’s fingers tightened
cruelly
.

S
he
winced,
looked down at her arm
,
then back at Percy
. “You
’
re
hurting me.”

Percy
let her go
quickly
,
as if he’d been stung
. “
I do not believe it
.
” His eyes narrowed.
“
H
ow?”

Gillian
raised her shaking hand to
wipe an errant tear off her cheek. She
couldn’t meet his gaze
.
“
You know
Lucien
never believed
King George’s
would-be
assassins worked alone
.
”
She peered at him through her lashes, curious if he understood the implications
that
brought them
back
to
Drury Lane
.

“I
do
. We discussed the probability
at length
,” he said
, sober as a priest
.

“Then you already know he suspected
the
new order in France was responsible
.”

“He made that very clear
at
our last meeting
.”

She nodded
, remembering Lucien had
met with
Percy along the Cornish Coast,
and then replied,
“To his added misfortune.”

She and Lucien had worked closely wi
th Percy
for nigh on a year
. They had, in a sense, taken Percy under
their
wing, schooled him in espionage tactics
French
revolutionaries employed
, taught him the art of disguise, worked within and without the law
, helping Percy recruit o
ther means of establishing a dua
l identity
.
He owed her his loyalty
just as much as she
was beholden to
him.

“Lucien would not be deterred
from his suspicions
. H
e
snuck
back
into France
in order to dig
to the heart of
Napoleon’s
conspiracy.”
She paused
. Astounded
by her husband’s pursuits
, proud, and very shaken, she struggled to hold
her raw emotions in check
by intertwining her fingers
before continuing
.
“
I
’
m here because of what Lucien
dis
covered
.”

When she didn’t elaborate further, Percy’s eyes darkened.
“What did he discover?”

“
Napoleon’s
quest for
an empire has led to desire
d
dominion over England
.
He
was at the heart of King George’s assassination attempt.”

“
Tell me something I
don’t
know.”

She stared
,
aghast. Percy
’s
prowess at reconnaissance
never ceased to amaze her.

“
You haven’t answered my question,” he
said, challenging her
.

Nothing could stop
the purging of her story
now. She’d
ridden night and day to save the Baron of the Nile’s life, stopping
only
long enough to procure a disguise.
“Lucien had every intention of coming to you with this news
. It is unseemly that I should be the one to bring it to you.
He was the tactician, not I.
”