A Heartless Design (28 page)

“I’m also having an affair,” she added after a moment.

He went cold. “With who?” he demanded furiously.

“With you, Sebastien.” Cordelia rolled her eyes. “How many covert affairs do you think I could manage with all those other secrets?”

He smiled, content again. “Your capacity for subterfuge never fails to amaze me.”

“Impressive, considering your own talent for living lies.” She ticked marks off on her fingers. “You are a spy for the crown. You pretend that you’re impoverished when you’re rich. You pretend to be seeking a bride in your role as heir…”

“That’s quite enough,” he cut her off, putting one hand on hers. “We both learned to live two lives, each hidden from the other.”

“Does your family know what you do?”

“Of course not. It would endanger them…and me.”

“Adele knows that when you vanish for weeks on end you’re not really in Cheshire when you tell her you are.”

“Adele is uncomfortably observant. I’ve done my best to misdirect her. She worries that I’m still gambling. Mother is occupied with many other matters, and she is easier to manage. But that’s why I acquired this house. I needed someplace to hide.”

“Yes, I can certainly understand that,” she agreed. “Nearly everyone wants to hide at some point…” That made her think of something.

Sebastien noticed her trail off. “What is it? What are you thinking?”

She said, “I was thinking that Hayden is also good at hiding. So we need to get him into the light.”

“And do you have plan for that?”

“I do.” Cordelia waited a moment, framing her next words. “You want to catch him, so you need bait. Which in fact, you already have.” 

“The plans you gave to me?” He shook his head. “It’s far too dangerous. Should Hayden manage to steal them, we’d give our enemies the means to destroy our ships.”

“Actually, the plans I gave you…”

“Yes?” He looked at her with narrowed eyes.

“They contain flaws. Very subtle ones—whoever tries to follow them will get quite far before he discovers that the ship’s steering simply won’t work.”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then, “Well. I guess you did say you weren’t sure who I worked for.”

“I’m sorry. Truly. But I thought it was for the best. I’d rather no one built the
Andraste
than to have the wrong person build her.”

“I can’t argue against that,” he admitted. “So you propose that we somehow get Hayden to steal these designs?”

“Or buy them.”

“Even if we could find him, Hayden would never believe that you would sell him plans, after what he did to you.”

Cordelia got excited by her idea. “He wouldn’t buy them from me, that’s true. If I came to him with plans, he’d suspect a trap. But he might be persuaded if the seller was someone who was close enough to me that he’d believe they could get them, especially if they had an axe to grind.”

“And who would that be?”

“A disreputable former servant, perhaps? One with a criminal past?”

He inhaled. “That is…perfect.”

Cordelia laughed. “Jem can do it. He’ll love it. And once Hayden gets the flawed plans, he’ll want nothing more to do with me!”

Sebastien suddenly shook his head. “No, wait. It won’t work.”

“Why not?”

“Because Hayden may sell them to someone else. Some person we don’t know. And he’ll just find someone familiar with the technology who can fix the plans.”

“The only person familiar with this technology is Lear,” Cordelia noted, smiling impishly.

Sebastien suddenly understood. “Whoever asks Lear for assistance will be the man we want!”

“Precisely.”

“You’re a genius!”

“How kind of you to notice.”

“Are you sure you can do this?”

“Of course. But only if you let me get dressed so I can get to work.”

“I knew there would be a flaw in this plan,” he said with a half-mocking frown.

Cordelia shook her head and winced dramatically. “That was absolutely
appalling.”

He grinned, unrepentant. “I thought you’d like it.”

It was time to return
to Quince Street and enlist Jem, but Sebastien refused to allow Cordelia to travel alone any longer. “You’re too valuable,” he said. He didn’t add that he also wanted to extend their time together.

He used his tricks to bring them both back to Cordelia’s home with no one the wiser. He even managed to slip past all of Cordelia’s household, allowing himself to be seen only when Bond entered Cordelia’s sitting room to attend her mistress.

Bond jumped when she saw him. “What is
he
doing here, my lady?”

“He is helping us, Bond,” Cordelia said firmly. “I am asking you to trust him.”

The maid looked hard at Thorne, then offered a resigned sigh. “Very well, my lord. What can I do for you?”

“You can go find Jem and bring him back here, Bond. We have a task for him if he’s amenable.”

Soon after, the footman appeared at Bond’s heels. She must have told him everything, because he didn’t bat an eyelash at finding the gentleman in Cordelia’s rooms. “Put the bars on the windows for nothing, I see,” was his only comment.

Thorne’s lip quirked. “Not for nothing. You are protecting something quite precious.” He glanced at Cordelia, who blushed.

She faced her servant then. “Jem, I need to ask you a very great favor. Not just for me, but for our country.”

Jem’s eyebrows rose. “What is it, my lady?”

“Hayden, the man behind the burglary, is still convinced that I have something he wants.”

“And is he right?” the young man asked.

“I want him to think he is.” Cordelia pulled out the papers that had been in Sebastien’s custody. “These plans contain what appears to be the necessary information to complete a ship. Hayden wants them. Tell him that you stole these from me, and that you’ll sell to him for the right price.”

“Why would he believe me?”

“Let it slip out that I sacked you after learning of your criminal past. Out of spite and greed, you took something you knew to be valuable.”

Jem was already nodding. “An easy story. He’ll believe me when I’m done,” he said. “But this is all to cut a sham, right?”

“Cut a sham?”

Jem said, “Trick him.”

“Oh. Yes. I’ve drawn them just a bit wrong. But he’ll have most of the ship built before he realizes that it won’t work.” She knew she didn’t have to go into specifics. Both servants trusted her.

Jem’s only question was, “How much should I ask for, my lady?”

Cordelia glanced at Sebastien, wondering what amount Hayden would believe.

“Five hundred pounds,” he declared.

Bond’s eyes widened when she heard the number. “He’ll pay that?”

“Oh, he’d pay far more, I expect. But not to a servant like Jem. Ask a higher price and he’ll get suspicious. You could live for a decade on that.”

“If no one stole it from me first!” Jem nodded. “All right, my lady. I’ll do it.”

“You must be very careful, Jem.”

“Aye. Don’t you worry about me.”

Sebastien paced in a square. “The only problem is finding him. I’ve put a watch on his rooms, but he must be living elsewhere. He could be anywhere in London.”

Bond grinned suddenly. “If he’s in London, we know folk who can find him.”

“Who?” Cordelia asked.

Jem shook his head. “No one whose name we’ll tell you, my lady. But trust me, we know that, for a bit of coin,
anyone
can be found if you ask in the right places.”

“I’ve tried that already,” Sebastien warned.

“Begging your pardon, my lord, but you don’t know the sort of people I know.” Jem cast a significant look at Sebastien’s fine clothes.

“Point taken,” Sebastien said. “I’ll cover the cost of your work.”

“Might take a few days,” Jem said. “But I’ll sell Hayden these plans, never fear.”

* * * *

It did take a few days. To keep up appearances, the supposedly sacked Jem temporarily moved out of the house, just in case Hayden was keeping tabs on the household. In the meantime, Sebastien funded the search for Hayden by the shady contacts Cordelia’s servants still had.

While they waited to hear from Jem, Cordelia and Sebastien agreed to remain apart. She attended a few minor functions, maintaining a demeanor of placid spinsterhood, and he focused on his duties as earl. Days dribbled by, leaving Cordelia with the sense that some sort of storm was building. To be at the mercy of events was not a new sensation—she was a woman, after all—but the waiting made her anxious. She found herself thinking again and again of her time with Sebastien. Was that part of her distress? The knowledge that, once Hayden was appeased with the false plans, her link to Sebastien would also be severed?

She attended a musicale with Elly one evening, and was restless all night. While she waited for Elly to return from the retiring room before they left the event, she was sighted by another woman.

“Miss Bering,” a feminine voice called. “I saw you earlier, but didn’t have the chance to speak to you!”

Cordelia turned and saw one of her old school friends approaching, accompanied by a taller man in a dark coat. “Sabine!” Cordelia greeted her. “Mrs Delamater,” she amended, looking at the man, who she knew was Sabine’s husband.

“It’s been too long, dear.” Sabine swept up to her and held out her arms to fold Cordelia in a quick embrace. “You are not in society enough, and yet you still live here in London!”

Cordelia smiled wryly, reflecting that it was likely that she’d be in society not at all if her affair with Lord Thorne ever became common knowledge. “Society doesn’t need a spinster like myself hanging about,” she demurred.

“You are not yet married?” Sabine asked, in a tone of astonishment that Cordelia sensed was feigned. “But I heard a duke had proposed to you!”

“So has a prince,” Cordelia admitted with absolute honesty. “But I have not accepted any proposal.”

Sabine put on a puzzled face, while her husband noted coolly, “Not everyone has your good sense, Sabine.” His eyes raked over Cordelia in an appraising way, so frankly that she felt soiled by it. “Perhaps Miss Bering has her reasons.”

Though the words were neutral, the tone was not, and Cordelia had no suitable response. If she agreed, she would be in some way confirming his innuendo. If she disagreed, she would look like a fool.

Elly’s reappearance saved her from further embarrassment. “Let’s go, my dear. I am exhausted.”

Cordelia was never so glad. She nodded to the Delamaters. “Goodnight.” If Sabine caught the cold tone, she didn’t reveal it, and Delamater’s insinuating expression never changed. Cordelia followed Elly out the door and into the dark summer night.

The exchange worried her, though she didn’t share her concerns with Elly. She had played with fire in pursuing any association with Sebastien. For herself, she might reconcile with the idea of being frozen out. But she was not alone. She had family and a household to care for.

The answer came to her as she drifted off to sleep that night. She must leave London as soon as possible. She would go to Bristol, to the cottage by the sea. She must get clear of gossip, but also of any possibility of running into Sebastien again. She doubted she could resist temptation if it arose.  

She mentioned her plan casually to the household. Bond thought it such a fine idea that she started packing almost immediately. Even Leona approved the decision, though she did not understand Cordelia’s true reason for it. She said, “The cottage ought to be opened up again. And the city air has not been good for your health, dear. You’ve gotten shadows under your eyes.”

The next day, though, Jem appeared in the kitchen, flush with cash and the success of having gulled Hayden, who had bought the story and the designs all at once. Cordelia sent Jem to the Thorne townhouse, so he could report the news to Sebastien directly.

Mr Jay called the same afternoon. “I’ve heard you have plans to leave London,” he said after exchanging pleasantries for a few minutes. He seemed out of sorts, a mood Cordelia could sympathize with.

“In time. Perhaps by the end of this Season,” Cordelia said, trying to keep her voice calm. “As you know, my father long maintained a house in Bristol. I plan to go there soon to open it up again. If all is well, I may move there permanently.”

“London will miss you.”

“London will not even notice my absence,” she said.

“More people will notice than you seem to think,” he disagreed.

“It is kind of you to say.”

“Kindness has nothing to do with it. I mean to say…” Jay cleared his throat. “Miss Bering,” he said quite formally. “It would gratify me considerably, and be a satisfactory arrangement for you, if we, that is…I am asking for…well, your hand in marriage.”

Cordelia felt a moment of pure shock, then a wash of emotions poured over her. Jay’s sincere proposal stabbed her through the heart. “Oh, Mr Jay,” she began, appalled at how events could have led to this. “You are a dear friend…”

“I would continue to be that, I hope.”

“I cannot marry you!”

He looked upset. “I am quite well set up in life, Miss Bering. I have about five thousand a year, which is more than enough to live comfortably. I know I will never be my older brother, whom you loved. But I thought you would welcome a certain level of protection, and…”

Protection! As if the darling boy could protect her from anything that threatened her right now. Not the
ton
, not Hayden, not the host of powers of Europe. “I do appreciate your desire to provide me a buffer against the world. But it is quite impossible.”

“Why? I don’t care about your age.”

“That’s not what I mean, though you do deserve a young lady by your side. You think marrying me would offer me protection. In fact, it would only bring pain to you. You must trust me. Believe me, turning down your kind proposal gives me no joy.”

Mr Jay held still for a moment, as if frozen in place. “Has Lord Thorne proposed to you?” he asked in a low voice.

She blinked. “Lord Thorne has not asked me to marry him, nor would I accept if he did,” she assured him.

“I wonder,” said the young man, speaking to the floor.