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Her eyes flicked back. “Not until the duchess came running to me with the news that your mother’s hand was at work, not just her henchman, though the incident had been sticking in my mind.

It had been quite the peculiar coincidence, after all.

Two plans to poison William just happened to occur on the same day, at the same event. ”

Peregrine agreed.

“The piece of information that had not seemed relevant to tell you—at least, not until it was too late—was that Pembroke had suggested a poison to me already. They did not know that I had decided to enlist your aid to find something suitable.” She gave him a mirthless smile.

“I considered you more of an expert on such matters.”

Feeling a twinge of premonition, he sat forward. “And that poison was?”

“Henbane.” She paused for a moment, studying his face. “Do you know it? ”

“I do. I am nearly certain that is what was used to poison William. If you had given him even more…” Perry forced himself to recall his more medical knowledge of his mother’s herb lore. “He would probably have gone into fits. Far more likely, he would have died.”

Selina rubbed her nails lightly over her temple, her eyes shadowed. “Then it seems I have to be grateful I sought your opinion. And to thank you twice over, this time for keeping me from accidentally assassinating the Dutch prince.”

Peregrine could feel his eyelid twitch ever so slightly. “It was nothing.”

“There is more you are not saying,” she accused him. “Let me guess. That poison has some particular meaning for you—and furthermore, I am guessing that would be somehow related to your mother.”

“Such a difficult guess to make,” he said, sarcasm heavy. “All things considered equal.”

“You know, neither of you did mention to me whose hand Cameron used to do the other poisoning. It would not happen to be someone who lives at the palace, would it?” she commented silkily.

“You are right. We did not.” The marchioness was fishing, and he had no intention of rising to her bait.

So he changed the topic. “Pembroke made the suggestion of henbane? Rather hamfisted for one of yours, unless he was ignorant or a dupe. But either way, that does make it sound as though he—or possibly another—was in contact with Cameron. Would it be likely for him to know the man?”

“His role within the Tribune might have rubbed up against Cameron’s business.”

“Explain. And how many of you are there in the Order?”

At the lower levels, he knew the Order was much like any society— little more than a drinking club with some lofty ideals.

Above that, the Order of the Centuriate tried to keep a guiding hand on the reins of Parliament, national prosperity, and commerce.

But Peregrine did not know the intricacies of their internal structure beyond knowing that a handful of powerful people sat somewhere near their pinnacle.

“Oh, dozens,” she said dismissively. “But the leadership is composed of five of us. The Tribune. We vote upon courses of action together, and an odd number keeps voting decisive,” she began.

“And each member of the Tribune has a sphere of influence. You already know that I curry with the lords and the politicians. Goldbourne knows the financiers, Chandros with the military men. Pembroke is connected with the industrialists and tradesmen.”

Peregrine hadn’t known he had both seen and spoken with most or all of the Tribune members of the Order. But Selina was correct; if Pembroke worked with capitalists and men of enterprise, he certainly could cross Cameron’s path. “And the fifth man?”

A small smirk. “Do you know Mr Xavier?”

He cast around in his memory for the name, wondering why Selina was amused. “I do not believe so.”

“You would remember him if you had. The son of a British East India Company officer, now on the Board of Trade. But his distinctive characteristic is not so much his mother’s darker complexion as that he has six fingers on one hand.”

“Well, I think I would remember in any case if he had been at your home,” Perry said, slouching back slightly. “But it rather sounds like Xavier conducts a great deal of business on the continent.” Where my mother is currently hiding , he thought to himself.

“I assume there would be easier ways to retire you if they no longer wanted a woman on the Tribune.” He gave her a toothy grin. “Or if they wanted simply to vacate your seat for some other toad-eater.”

She gave him a shark-like smile in return. “A majority vote could remove me, but this does not feel like an effort of the Tribune. It feels like one hand.”

“I concur. Do you believe Pembroke is your enemy? Or did he simply take a suggestion to the Order?”

“Who can be certain? All I know is that he may not be an ally. One of the others might have been using him to speak their words. Or Pembroke might not bother concealing it, believing I would assume an enemy would never do something so blatantly.”

“Guessing and second guessing? That way lies madness, Sina.”

“Do you think? We excel in playing subtle games.” She gave him an ironic look.

“I am far more afraid, especially given the way your mother’s mind works, that this scheme was contrived to hinder my ability to detect or react to some other course of action.

As it stands right now, I cannot trust my allies; the shadow of suspicion has touched every one of my confederates.

My hands are tied, my reach curtailed, and my sight obscured.

I have been rendered nearly as helpless now as you are. ”

Peregrine sat forward, letting his face rest in his hands as he thought about the men that had been missing. The businesses that had been sold.

“Cameron’s man suggested my mother had more than one pair of hands at work. That concern has merit. Someone is scrubbing every sign of my mother’s underworld from existence. For a week, I have been chasing ghosts, and that person is working very hard to stay ahead of me.”

The unflappable marchioness actually fidgeted.

“Blast it. Then it was no coincidence that Cameron was ready with his trap for you after I reached out to the Tribune, either. The Order is not concealing a dupe. It is concealing an accomplice to your mother. Cameron’s business with Bow Street disappeared so quickly that I knew someone powerful was aiding him.

I just never supposed that it might be one of us . ”

The situation was so troubling, Peregrine almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. “You know,” he said conversationally, “the deal you had the Duchess Atholl strike with the Queen for my protection? She tasked me to deliver all of your names to her on a platter.”

She whitened around the mouth. “You would sacrifice four of us to catch the spy within our midst? After I warned you tonight? And especially after last year, when someone fought me tooth and nail to make sure you met your maker, and I had to stick my neck out so far to save you from a trial that your mother may have asked someone to cut it?”

“You know I would not,” he rebuked her mildly, with some amusement.

“Which I think is a far better deal than I might have gotten if the role was reversed. Pray, convince me that you would not have decided to let me hang if you had any idea how expensive it might be to fight Vanessa Cresswell’s wish for vengeance. ”

“Of course, I would have—” He got a great deal of satisfaction from seeing Selina’s jaw drop. “The duchess’s mother is the one who arranged for the orders to send you to the front? Are you quite certain?”

“Quite,” he said succinctly. “Lady Cresswell wanted her pound of flesh. Destroying Lady Fitzroy’s son in return for the harm done to her daughter felt like poetic justice, I am sure.

She made certain to crow about it to me herself just before I was shipped out.

Just so that I would know to whom I owed my… discomfort. You did not know?”

“Good Lord, Perry. No, I did not know. Now I’m perishing with curiosity to know if the duchess herself played a part in that, or if your two families are even more vicious than the Montagues and Capulets.”

“I thought she played a part. At first.” In fact, that belief had added much of the fuel to his rage the night he had climbed into Charity’s window, when he was prepared to accuse her of poisoning William simply to frame him for the crime.

“But… now I am of the opinion that she does not know what her mother did. Is Lady Cresswell likely to pose you a problem?”

“Her? Doubtful. She would most likely have had to prevail upon her brothers for that favour. Not one of them is clever enough to play the game at this level. They wouldn’t even know whose board they are standing upon.”

She scowled as she considered it further. “That pretentious shrew. Will Hodges was not easy to send along with you. At least now I know with whom that account should be settled.”

“Do not bother with Lady Cresswell; she is not our greatest problem right now. We need to figure out what happens next. Do I tell the duchess? The Crown?”

Selina considered that, touching her lip.

“I cannot see any way we can tell the Crown yet. Even if you somehow convince them not to fling us all into the Tower, it is likely they will tip our hand. We have but one advantage: whichever one of the Tribune is likely responsible for working with Lady Fitzroy does not yet know we are marking them for a traitor.”

“You mean to continue to play your role, hoping that Pembroke—or whoever it is—does not spot you looking for them.”

“I do not know if there is any other choice, really. We do not have enough information to guess who it is or what they are about. It could be any one of them; there hasn’t been a change in the roster of the Tribune since I joined seven years ago.

I will seek the clues within; you should keep looking for other signs on the outside. ”

Peregrine held his breath for a long moment before exhaling with a nod. “And the duchess?”

“Would you trust her with this?” Selina asked him with frank curiosity. “In spite of the fact that she was manipulated to go to the Queen?”

Yes.

His thoughts nearly had him speaking the word aloud before he clawed them back.

When he said nothing, Selina gave a small shrug.

“You know what we hazard. I leave it in your hands whether or not you feel she is trustworthy. I believe she would not be compelled to act against your safety. Her own is a different matter entirely.”

He lifted his eyes to hers. “And what of your own safety? Even if all of your friends were not conspiring against you, you have likely earned my mother’s enmity.”

“In for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose. So would you think on that, perhaps, instead of casting off your loyal allies? You already have far too few for my peace of mind. And now, unfortunately, so do I. I would appreciate knowing we can put aside petty differences and be united in our shared time of need.”

Peregrine considered that, and nodded. Even if Selina was untrustworthy in the long run, while his mother lived, it seemed they had an enemy in common. “Shall I send you back Will Hodges?”

She laughed shortly. “Keep him. I am not sure he would come, not even if you ordered him to. By the by, when you make the slightest bit of effort, you seem to inspire a most peculiar and stubborn sort of loyalty from people around you, Perry. One you cannot buy with money or threats.” The corner of her mouth lifted in a sort of wry grimace. “That does make me jealous.”