Page 80 of Exile's Return

‘Colonel —’ Leah protested.

Tobias fixed his gaze on Agnes and she returned it without blinking, grateful he could not see how her stomach churned.

‘Very well. I don’t anticipate your visit here will be protracted. Leah—’ he held up his hand, forestalling any further protest.

Agnes bent and kissed the children. ‘I just have to talk with Cousin Tobias. I will be up presently,’ she said. ‘Go now with Mistress Turner.’

Lizzie took Henry by the hand, and with dragging footsteps, the two children crossed to Leah. The door slammed shut behind them and Agnes turned once again to face Tobias.

He gestured at a chair. Agnes glanced at Septimus Turner, who had not moved from his position by the window. Ashby followed her gaze and said, ‘You may leave us too, Turner.’

Turner looked from one to the other, his brow furrowed. Meeting the impassive face of his superior, he inclined his head. ‘Of course.’

Tobias waited until they were alone before he took a seat in the chair by the fire. He ran a hand down his face as he said, ‘Forgive me, I am a little weary. It was a long journey from London in this atrocious weather. These are uncertain times and I do not wish us to be enemies, Agnes. You must understand, I am bound to obey the letter of the Committee’s order.’

‘No one can accuse you of failure to exercise diligence in your duty, Tobias, but may I remind you the directive of that Committee may not outlive the King’s return?’

He gave her a sharp glance. In his younger days he had been quite a good-looking man, she recalled. They had met at James’s wedding to Anne in the early years of the war. James’s avowed neutrality, and the fact Tobias was his heir until a son was born to James, ensured regular invitations to Charvaley in the following years.

He had even, and she shuddered at the thought, made overtures through James for her hand in marriage. Her obvious revulsion at the suggestion, and the fact that beyond her connection to James’s wife she brought nothing to the marriage, had quickly dissuaded him.

‘You may be right, Agnes,’ he said. ‘But until the order changes, the children are in my care and custody. I shall do all in my power to ensure their health and happiness, but children take ill and sometimes there is nothing to be done except pray.’

Something in his tone made her skin crawl.

He straightened in his chair and tapped the note again. ‘Enough of this. What is it that you have to tell me?’

She took a steadying breath. ‘I have been thinking much on our conversation in London,’ she said, ‘and I may have recalled something of use to you about the valuable property you mentioned.’

‘Mayhave recalled something?’ Tobias’s lip curled back in derision, showing yellowing teeth beneath the straggly hairs of his moustache.

Agnes ploughed on. ‘This is an old house, Tobias, riddled with hiding places. What exactly is it you seek? If I knew then I may have a better recollection of hints James may have dropped.’

Pulling at the ends of his moustache, Tobias narrowed his eyes. ‘Your paramour,’ he said with a snarl, ‘was responsible forthe theft of a shipment of gold. We believe the gold may be hidden here.’

Agnes made a pretence of surprise. ‘Gold? What makes you think it is still here and not already with the K…Charles Stuart?’

‘Because our agents at the court of Charles Stuart report that someone has been dispatched to recover it.’

This genuinely surprised Agnes. Did he mean Daniel?

‘You have spies at the exiled court?’

He waved a hand. ‘Of course, we do. Charles Stuart does not sneeze without us knowing.’

‘Who is this man who has been sent?’

Tobias shook his head. ‘Unfortunately, our informant did not have that information. A stranger at court was all he could tell us.’

So Daniel’s identity was safe for the moment.

‘You had James in custody for months; why did you not ask him directly?’

‘Oh, we did — even showed him how he could be persuaded if we had a mind.’

A sick knot of fear and revulsion gathered in Agnes’s stomach. ‘James said nothing of being tortured.’

Tobias gave a huff of humourless laughter. ‘It is not politic to torture Earls,’ he replied. ‘Now, let us stop this prevaricating, Agnes. You have my word that you can spend time with the children. Just tell me where the gold is hidden.’