Page 41 of Murder at Somerset House (A Wrexford & Sloane Mystery #9)
“Herr von Münch!” Charlotte rushed down to the drawing room on hearing the news of his arrival from McClellan. Unlike the earl, she had confidence that his show of friendship and loyalty in the past were not a sham.
But still …
“Where the devil have you been?” she demanded, after giving his hand a welcoming squeeze.
He winced but quickly covered it with a smile. “My abject apologies, milady. I truly meant to be here sooner but was detained by circumstances that were out of my control.”
It was only then that she noticed the half-healed burn marks on his palms.
“Elba?” she guessed. In their last meeting with von Münch in the previous autumn, he had admitted that he was not the Royal Librarian to the King of Württemberg—his claimed persona when she and Wrexford had first crossed paths with him—but was actually a clandestine operative for the kingdom’s crown prince, tasked with working with other like-minded allies to preserve the hard-won stability of Europe after years of war.
A nod confirmed her surmise. “The night of Napoleon’s escape—” he began, but paused as Wrexford joined them.
“Eddy appears unrattled by the attack in the park,” he announced. “Indeed, she’s far too curious about how we’re going to pursue the dastard and bring him to justice.” Wrexford made a face. “However, I think I managed to put off further questions, at least for now.”
Turning to von Münch, he added, “ You have a lot of explaining to do. How did you know—”
“Let us discuss that later,” counseled Charlotte.
“I’ve asked Mac to send a note to Alison, asking her to come immediately and keep Eddy occupied with an afternoon of shopping and a visit to Gunter’s for ices.
” She turned to their friend. “Herr von Münch was just beginning to tell me about Elba. We need to hear what happened.”
The earl gave a curt nod.
“The night of Napoleon’s escape, Grentham’s lieutenant, George Pierson, attempted to prevent the brig Inconstant from leaving the island with the former emperor and a force of his Imperial Guards.”
Dropping his gaze, von Münch appeared to be studying the pattern of the Axminster carpet beneath his boots for a moment or two before continuing.
“In the confusion and mayhem that occurred on the docks that night, there was an explosion on one of the other ships,” he recounted before turning to the earl.
“I’m aware that you’re acquainted with Pierson, milord.
I regret to inform you that it appears he perished in the flames. ”
“I’m sorry to hear it,” said Wrexford. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say we were friends, but we had a mutual respect for each other.”
“He was a good and honorable fellow. He will be missed,” intoned von Münch. “ In absentia luci, tenebrae vincunt .”
“In the absence of light darkness prevails,” murmured Charlotte, translating the Latin aphorism.
“Our flames are still flickering,” pointed out the earl. “Dare I hope that you’ve brought some good news to go along with the bad?”
Charlotte suddenly noted that beneath the stubble of unshaven whiskers on von Münch’s face were more scrapes and burns.
She took his arm. “Come, sit.”
He allowed himself to be led to the sofa and sank into the pillows with a grateful sigh.
“In answer to your question, milord, I know you are concerned about whether the French have a working electrical telegraph, and I can assure you that they do not. After the disaster on Elba, I headed straight to Paris. Pierson had told me of your government’s grave concern over whether the French possess such a messaging system—”
“I already know that they don’t,” interrupted Wrexford.
“How did you come to be so certain?” asked von Münch.
“One of my contacts in Paris has firsthand knowledge of the experiments that Ampère, France’s leading scientific luminary in electricity, is conducting and confirmed that the development of an electrical telegraph is still in the theoretical stages.
But as far as I know, nobody here in London knows that. ”
“Actually, we, too, found someone with firsthand knowledge of experiments in creating an electrical telegraph,” said Charlotte, and proceeded to explain about Francis Ronalds.
“Extraordinary,” exclaimed von Münch. “Think of how that technology will revolutionize the world when its time comes!”
“In good and bad ways,” remarked the earl. “As with all momentous inventions, progress can be a two-edged sword.”
“Which is why all responsible citizens must be vigilant to ensure that the wonders of science are not used for evil purposes,” responded von Münch.
“Human nature is such that the battle between Good and Evil is never-ending,” observed Wrexford.
“Let us hope we can find a way to win this particular clash, because while we’ve dodged the bullet concerning an electrical telegraph, we suspect that there’s an even bigger plot to throw Britain into chaos. ”
“So that’s why Le Loup is in London,” mused von Münch.
Wrexford’s brows rose in question. “Le Loup?”
“The fellow who just attacked you,” said von Münch. “Le Loup—which translates to The Wolf—is Napoleon’s most cunning operative and is only used for the most important assignments.”
“We’re aware of his ruthlessness, but we didn’t know his actual name,” said the earl. “He tried to kill us during our visit with Francis Ronalds—”
“We also know that he murdered an agent of the French king and a leader of the French émigré community here in London,” added Charlotte.
“Hmmph.” The information caused von Münch to frown.
“From what I have heard, he is not normally used as an assassin. Indeed, it surprised me that he tried to attack you just now in broad daylight. His skills are in orchestrating treachery and deception. But then, Napoleon’s top henchmen are spread rather thin these days, what with all the chaos they are intent on creating. ”
He lapsed into a long moment of thought. “Have you any idea as to what his ultimate objective is here in London?”
“Money,” replied Wrexford. “As an old adage says, Money is the root of all evil .”
“What Wrex means is that the man you call Le Loup is part of a French plan to manipulate prices on the London Stock Exchange and destroy our government’s ability to raise funds to rebuild our army, leaving us at the mercy of Napoleon,” explained Charlotte in a rush.
“He’s been creating diversions to keep our government’s attention elsewhere while Napoleon’s former finance minister—a man by the name of Gaudin—creates financial havoc. ”
“Bloody hell, that’s very bad news,” whispered von Münch. “Gaudin is considered brilliant.”
“Yes, but the renowned financier David Ricardo is considered even more of a financial genius,” replied Charlotte. “And as he’s serving as the general for our side in this battle, I’m not ready to concede defeat.”