Lady Hawk's Folly (28 page)

“What about that business about his French mother last night at supper, and what about his conversation with d’Épier at the Argyle Rooms?” she demanded.

He thought about her words, as he always did, but finally he shrugged. “I don’t know that there is any great importance in his mother’s origin, and his conversation with d’Épier might just as well have been innocent as not. I do know that the leak might as easily have come from Carlton House or the War Ministry as from the Russian embassy.”

They had drawn away from the others, and at that moment Sir James indicated that he was ready to leave. He called to Ramsay, desiring to know if the young man meant to accompany them. Mollie stared hard at her brother-in-law, willing him to remain.

“Look here, Mollie,” he said, biting his lip, “I cannot remain behind. Only think how it would look if I did. I am Hawk’s brother, after all.”

“But I may need your assistance,” she pleaded. “Please, Ramsay.”

He paused indecisively, but finally he shook his head. “It would look too odd, Moll. Think about it. If I remain behind, and Prince Nicolai
is
involved in the business, we shall only succeed in putting his guard up. He cannot do anything in broad daylight, after all, and there will be light for some hours yet. You must do your possible to keep your eye on him, just in case. I own, it is odd he has not offered to assist in the search.” He thought for a moment, then gave his head another shake. “If he is behind all this business, it stands to reason that the abductors will want to keep Hawk alive until he can speak with him. That much
is
part of the plan.”

“I wish you will not be so cryptic,” she complained, watching the others begin to file out of the room. “Tell me, Ramsay. You must.”

“Only this much then,” he replied quickly. “It has been put about that Wellington sent Hawk to help Bathurst and the others firm up plans for a massive offensive strike against Napoleon’s forces, and that that was the chief reason for this house party—so they could meet without putting a lot of other backs up.”

“But how could anyone believe that secret military plans would be discussed in such a situation?” Mollie demanded.

“There’s no time for a long explanation,” Ramsay told her. “I must go. Just believe me when I say that sufficient foundation was laid to make the spies believe it. That was part and parcel of the information I passed along to d’Épier. Since the victory at Vitoria, they are desperate for whatever information they can get, and are correspondingly, we hope, more gullible.” He was already crossing the room to follow the others, but he looked back over his shoulder. “I shall send Harry back to you just as soon as he points out the trail. Perhaps he can help you keep watch over your prince.”

Mollie bit back words of reproach. Clearly he did not put much faith in Prince Nicolai Stefanovich as a villain, no doubt because Hawk had bent over backward to avoid accusing the man just because he feared his suspicions had been prompted by his jealousy. She sighed, turning to go back to the front hall. She was still the hostess of a house party, and the first she had to do was to arrange for the Regent’s entertainment. He certainly would not expect his visit to be disarranged by the mere fact of his host’s abduction. She found the Countess de Lieven.

“Madame, may I ask a favor of you?”

“But, of course, Mollie dear. I know you must be well nigh distracted, poor child. What is it?”

“Everything has been arranged for the Regent’s comfort, of course,” Mollie began, “and Lady Bridget will make certain he finds his suite satisfactory. But I would be grateful if you would take it upon yourself to see that he is not bored. I know you are great friends with him, and it would be such a help to know I can depend upon your good offices.”

“You need not bother your head any longer, my dear. Consider the matter attended to. My husband has business with his highness, and so does Lord Bathurst. Among the three of us, I think I can promise he will not be bored.”

“Thank you, madame.”

“Call me Dasha, Mollie. All my friends do so. And do not worry. Your husband has a knack, so I am told, for landing upon his feet. It will be well.”

The slender young countess turned away, and Mollie smiled. She had long thought Madame de Lieven to be the haughtiest lady in London, and she knew the woman had a penchant for mischief and intrigue, but she had never expected such kindness from her.

It was a simple matter for her to watch Prince Nicolai until dinnertime, for he remained in the main hall with most of the other company. Their principal guests had withdrawn together to speak privately in one of the small saloons, but everyone else who had not joined the search party seemed perfectly content to converse or play card games in the hall. Harry returned about an hour after the searchers had departed, saying Ramsay had told him to help her keep an eye on Prince Nicolai. Mollie suspected that Ramsay had meant only to make the boy feel useful, but she quickly accepted his offer of assistance, telling him that she wanted to know the moment Prince Nicolai even looked like he might be leaving the castle.

Half of the search party returned with Lord Ramsay shortly after the guests in the castle had risen from the dinner table. Ramsay reported that Sir James had sent them back to eat and rest, having decided that since Hawk had not been found immediately, it would be best to work in shifts.

“We found a trail, all right,” Ramsay said, “but the devil’s in it, because it looks as if they expected us to follow and meant to confuse us. We followed it for miles through the woods, but we never saw so much as a horse, let alone the abductors, and eventually we ended up near where we had first found the trail. That was when Sir James split us up and sent my lot back here to get something to eat.”

“Well, I am very glad to see you,” Mollie told him. “Do you remain long?”

“We are to meet the others at midnight. There should be a full moon by then, which will be a help, but I sent two of the lads back to Sir James with torches. I only hope they don’t set the woods afire. I’m going to bed just as soon as I get a bite to eat. My man will wake me in time to join the others.”

Mollie nodded, making no attempt this time to talk him into staying behind. Most of the guests would retire soon after the tea tray was brought in at ten o’clock. If Prince Nicolai meant to stir from the castle that would be his best time. And if he tried to leave, she would have no difficulty persuading Ramsay to follow him. If he did not leave until the others had gone, she would follow him herself.

The party became gayer after dinner, when the Regent condescended to tell several of his favorite anecdotes. Several guests offered to sing or play the pianoforte, and the time passed swiftly for most, until tea was brought in. Mollie had sent Harry up to eat his dinner in the schoolroom with Mr. Bates and had told him he might as well go to bed afterward, but he had informed her indignantly that he had no intention of sleeping until he could be perfectly sure the prince would not leave the castle.

“But you cannot stay up until he goes to bed, Harry. He might very well stay up past midnight.”

“Pooh,” scoffed the boy. “I daresay he will begin yawning about nine and then make a thing about retiring as early as he can without drawing attention to the matter. That is what I should do if I meant to creep out of the castle.”

“How will he get a horse?”

“Nothing simpler. The lads in the stable all go to bed early, because they must be up betimes.”

“But the search party will be leaving at midnight. The grooms who attend those gentlemen will have been told to stay up.”

Her words brought a frown to Harry’s face. But even as he pondered, Mollie realized what Nicolai’s best course would be.

“Harry, he will let the grooms think he means to go with the search party. It will be a simple matter then for him to lose himself in the woods. He could not have done so in daylight, of course, and he could not have known that some of the gentlemen would return.” Mollie paused, looking at him. “What do you think?”

Harry drew himself up to a greater height, so gratified was he to have his opinion sought in the matter. He did not speak hastily, but weighed his thoughts. Then, finally, he said, “I say, Mollie, what shall we do?”

“Well, you’ve got to look as if you’re going up to bed. Even with Hawk missing, it would be taken as an odd thing if I were to allow you to stay up so late. However, you may do as you think best about keeping an eye on Prince Nicolai. He certainly won’t wish to ride out in the clothes he wears to dinner. But don’t let him catch you watching him. It would be as well, I think, if he doesn’t see you at all. I believe he is a very dangerous man, Harry, and your brothers wouldn’t thank me if I let anything happen to you. One thing you can do,” she added, thinking aloud, “is to go out to the stables and warn Teddy to have my horse saddled and ready to go with the others. Tell him also to put my bow and quiver close by. I wish to be well prepared.”

“The men will never allow you to go with them, Mollie,” Harry warned.

“They will not know about it,” she assured him. “I’ve no intention of letting the prince get away while I stand arguing about whether he is the master spy or not.”

“Oh, famous!” Harry said approvingly. “Shall you tell Ramsay?”

She thought about it. “I don’t think I shall say anything until we know for certain that the prince is our man. If he says straight out that he means to join the search, I shall begin to have my doubts, for the others would miss his presence rather quickly. But if he means only to use the activity that must attend their departure as a cover for his own business, then he will say nothing. When you speak to Teddy, ask him to watch out for the prince’s man. If he saddles his horse, and the prince says nothing about joining the others, we shall have our answer.”

“I want to go, too,” Harry said, his eyes alight.

“Well, you cannot. And don’t argue the point, young man. Your brothers would both have my head if I were to allow such a thing. Ramsay would only send you back again, and that might well warn someone that something unusual is afoot. We cannot know that there is only the one spy in our midst, after all. Perhaps there are henchmen right here within the castle walls. Surely the prince’s man, at least, must be party to his master’s plots, if indeed the prince is our man.”

Harry agreed to do as she suggested, and Mollie was able to rejoin her company, feeling that she had done all she could do for the moment. The rest of the evening passed quickly enough, and she was almost amused to see Prince Nicolai cover a yawn once or twice before the tea tray was brought in. The Regent made it plain that he, for one, had no intention of retiring at such an unseasonable hour and was much gratified when Lord Bathurst, Monsieur de Lieven, and Lord Worthing agreed to engage him in a game of whist. These four gentlemen adjourned to a smaller saloon, and the rest of the party began to drift off to their bedchambers. Prince Nicolai was indeed one of the first to go up.

Lady Bridget confessed that she was exhausted. “All this chatter, my dear, gives me the headache. No doubt that is because we are all worried about Gavin, of course. I cannot conceive of what may have befallen the dear boy.”

Lady Gwendolyn came up in time to hear her last words. She shot Mollie a speaking look. “Have you any notion, Mollie, of what goes forward? Is Gavin truly in danger or not?”

“I don’t know, Gwen, but I fear he may be. The fact that Sir James and the others have not been able to find him, and Lord Breckin leads me to fear that there is more at hand than a mere attack by footpads.”

“They say he was abducted,” Lady Gwendolyn reminded her.

“I know. At first I hoped that was merely Harry’s imagination gone mad. But I’m afraid he may have seen exactly what he says he did.”

They chatted for some moments more, and then Mollie suggested that their best course was to retire with the others.

Lady Gwendolyn chuckled. “I believe I might just as well. Worthing will be playing at whist into the small hours. And for pound points, no doubt. It makes me almost long for the next time he chooses to read me a scold for outrunning the constable.”

Mollie shook her head, grinning. “You know perfectly well that gentlemen never remember their own peccadilloes when they choose to discuss ours.”

“I see you have experience in the matter,” Lady Gwendolyn said. Then, as Mollie’s expression changed sharply, she put a quick hand to her shoulder. “I apologize for that,” she said quietly. “I should not tease you when I know you must be alarmed for his safety. In point of fact, I am certain he will be all right. I just cannot make myself believe anything dreadful might happen to him. He is so…so capable. You know what I am saying, Mollie.”

Mollie nodded, but her thoughts would not be silenced, and as she went slowly up to her bedchamber, the situation seemed to impress itself more solidly upon her mind than it had done before now. Cathe and Mathilde du Bois were both waiting to attend to her, but she sent them away and sat down at her dressing table, staring at her reflection in the glass, while she attempted to arrange her thoughts in some sort of order.

What if they could not find Hawk? What if he were already dead? From what Ramsay had told her, that did not seem likely. Surely, if they thought he had secret information that could be readily gained from no other source, they would at least keep him alive until he had told them whatever it was they wished to know. And surely, they would not begin questioning him until their principal arrived. But what if Prince Nicolai was not the principal? What if she had made his participation in the plot up out of whole cloth? After all, the only evidence she had against him was based upon intuition and a couple of odd occurrences. Perhaps there was no legitimate reason to doubt his integrity.

She remembered Hawk’s attention stirring when she had mentioned Madame de Staël’s comments about Prince Nicolai’s French heritage, but she could not imagine how that could have anything to do with the matter at hand. Madame had not even mentioned that he still had relatives in France. Surely they had either emigrated or been killed. So what possible connection could there be? Nevertheless, Hawk had clearly seen one. And there had also been the odd look she had seen on her husband’s face the previous evening when everyone had been discussing Wellington. And the person speaking loudest just before that moment had been Prince Nicolai. Surely he must have said something he ought not to have said. The more she thought, the more she came to believe she had not been imagining things. Prince Nicolai was involved, and he was not simply investigating matters on his own, as she had once thought possible. It stood to reason that he was the most likely person to be the principal. Surely he would lead them to Hawk.