Page 41 of The Wordsworth Key (Regency Secrets #3)

‘We’ll see you in the morning,’ she said.

‘Don’t go anywhere alone, Miss Fitz-Pennington!’ Moss reiterated, as he set off up the hill to his lodgings.

Jacob gave Dora a boost onto Nero’s back so they could ride together. It felt good to have her back in his arms after the risks they had both taken today.

‘What do you think of Mr Moss?’ she asked, leaning back so the top of her head tickled his chin. He rested it briefly on her crown then adjusted their position so she sat sideways.

‘He’s too damn glib with you.’

She chuckled. ‘You mean the hand kissing? He does have a devilish charm to him. Being what he is, I’ve no doubt he’s as talented an actor as many I’ve performed alongside.’ She looked up at him, her deep brown eyes serious. ‘But you agree that we can trust him?’

‘We can trust him to aid us in getting to the bottom of this mystery, but beyond that, I’d say it would be prudent to keep him at arm’s length.

The spying game is an ugly one. I saw it in the Peninsula.

It takes a certain breed of men– and I’m not talking here about his family background; I’m talking about someone who is happy to work alone and live his life as a solitary. ’

‘I was surprised he told us so much about himself.’

His Dora was no fool. ‘So was I, which made me suspicious.’

‘Do you not believe him?’

‘I think he made a whole cloth out of the patches of truth he cobbled together for us. There’s more to him and more to this than we know.’

‘I’ve been thinking about Mr Barton and what Mr Moss didn’t tell us about him.’ Dora rubbed his forearm affectionately. He liked it all the more that she didn’t seem aware she was doing it.

‘You’re right– he said barely anything about our missing man. What were you thinking?’

‘If Mr Barton is part of a radical group plotting trouble, then why did he bring us into the investigation? Wouldn’t that risk exposure?’

‘You make a good point. If they were already in each other’s confidence, a cabal of revolutionary young men talking treason, why did Barton not confront his friends and ask who’s been stirring up unnecessary trouble by taking the poem?

He could argue it must be returned so the Wordsworths don’t get too interested in them and their doings. ’

‘That hadn’t crossed his mind and he gave me their names and their addresses without blinking.

The only explanation that makes sense to me is that he genuinely believed they were a group of friends on summer holiday.

His only concern was that I didn’t break the gentlemanly code and accuse them of stealing. ’

‘Then, if I follow you correctly, you’re thinking that Barton, by asking us to investigate, proves his lack of involvement in anything more nefarious?’

‘Exactly. I see him rather like you.’ She patted his chest.

He put his hand over hers to keep it there. ‘Like me?’

‘You’re a reformer. You like this new poetry that puts the ordinary person at its heart, labourers with work-roughened hands and not Arcadian shepherds and shepherdesses.

You read Godwin, Paine, Wollstonecraft and probably others I’ve not heard about.

You want society to change, but you don’t want to blow it up. ’

He chuckled. ‘That’s a fair enough summary of my position. Someone’s been paying attention.’

She smiled. ‘Of course– you are my favourite character to study. And I think Mr Barton was likely that kind of man too, fashionably progressive. I would wager he thinks Wordsworth is on the right path wanting to make change through philosophical poetry.’

‘And yet you and Moss laughed at the idea.’ He still felt a little bruised by their mockery.

‘Yes, we did, as both of us are horrible cynics, but imagine how it would strike a hot-blooded revolutionary who really thinks the time is nigh to change society. It’s urgent.

We must strike now! Barton’s attitude would be annoying to someone who thinks such incremental steps frustrating or useless. ’

‘Then Moss might be looking for the one firebrand in a pile of gently smouldering progressives?’

‘It could be a couple, I don’t know, but there’s another person who I think is no firebrand.’

‘Wright?’

‘Thomas Wright. What does Wright have in common with Barton? He also seems less inclined to action than the others. He’s here to drink away his summer and play at being a poet with reforming ideas. If someone asked him to screw his courage to the sticking point and take action…’

‘You mean like murder a magistrate?’

‘Maybe not even as much as that, but yes, anything along those lines. He’d likely think it a joke and propose another round of drinks.’

‘Would that be annoying enough for someone to take a swipe at him with a skate?’

‘I don’t know. It was just a thought based on what we’ve heard so far of their characters.’

‘A good thought. I agree with you about Wright and Barton– the two moderates who have been put out of action. That leaves us with the two military men– Cooper will be the one making the running there with Crawford as the follower– but so far they’ve not done anything to awake deeper suspicions.

Knotte we’ve already discussed, and he remains our chief concern. ’

‘We shouldn’t forget Langhorne. He was one of the original circle with Barton and Knotte.’

‘He strikes me as a rake and a lover in the Byron mould.’ Jacob thought of the scene outside the inn at Grasmere, the girl on his lap and his face in her cleavage.

‘Agreed, but that doesn’t stop him also being committed to his cause.’

‘Let’s keep those four in mind then, with Knotte uppermost.’

They passed Ambleside and headed through Clappersgate. Nero picked up his hooves as he sensed his home stable was close.

‘Will your brother be there?’ asked Dora with a yawn.

Jacob had successfully put Arthur’s machinations to the back of his mind but now they crept back in annoying detail. ‘I expect he’s still with Lord Furness.’

‘Plotting your future?’

‘I would imagine that is part of what they are discussing. When they’re together, those two are like old women gossiping over their knitting about their fellow peers.’

‘Why malign old ladies? Men are as bad at gossiping as women, but they call it political intrigue or sporting talk.’

‘You have a point. I apologise to old women.’

‘If he’s away, all we will have to face is a bored Ruby. I must expect my wardrobe to be ransacked and my favourite gowns altered to fit her.’

‘Would she go so far?’

‘She absolutely would. She is magnificent in her selfishness. It is part of her charm. I had a year of finding it intensely annoying and now I find I no longer care. I’m not that attached to things and she instinctively knows which lines not to cross.’

‘Do you think she could be bribed to amuse herself elsewhere so I can make love to you in our bed? Hillsides are all very well for a change, but it’s a little chilly now.’

She laughed. ‘Probably.’

He nuzzled her neck, already imagining how long it would take them both to divest themselves of their clothes. Not long if he had anything to do with it.

They turned the corner to see the tarn and the cottage on the far side of the valley. Jacob’s sense of homecoming was spoiled by seeing an unfamiliar horse tethered to the fence.

‘Were we expecting visitors?’ asked Dora.

‘No. You don’t suppose Ruby invited someone in to entertain her?’

‘That is very possible. Any passing gentlemen to stave off boredom.’ Dora slid down from Nero and gave the horse a pat in thanks. ‘Shall I go evict them?’

Jacob dismounted and tied Nero alongside the stranger horse. ‘Let’s go in together. I’ll stable Nero when we see exactly who is with her.’

Before they got any further, the door opened, and their employee, Alex Smith, came out. ‘Dora, Sandys, you’re back! Thank God.’

Their man from London, the former lieutenant colonel, sounded relieved to see them, like General Sir John Moore hearing that reinforcements had arrived from England.

The explanation was swiftly made apparent when Ruby appeared at his side and lay hold of his arm, demanding his support as she took hesitant steps out into the sunshine.

‘Do help me, sir,’ she said in her breathless manner. ‘The ground is so slippery round here, don’t you find?’

Dora marched up and unhooked Ruby’s claws from Alex’s sleeves. ‘Unhand the poor man, Ruby. He’s not for you.’

Ruby pouted. ‘You can’t have two– though I would be very interested to hear the details if you’ve tried it.’ She batted her eyelashes at a very embarrassed Alex.

‘He was my brother’s friend,’ said Dora, guiding Ruby inside. ‘His special friend.’

Ruby gave a growl of frustration. ‘Why are all the good-looking ones no good at all?’

‘Yes, yes, life is unfair. I know. Now stop tormenting him. He hasn’t come all this way to fall into your lures. He’ll be here because he has business with Jacob and me.’

‘Business, business: you two do nothing but ride about on your searches and your investigations. Don’t you realise how tedious it is for your guests?’

‘You’re a guest? Well now, remind me exactly when I sent out the invitation?’ The women’s voices faded as Dora took Ruby into the kitchen. From the clatter of metallic objects, Jacob guessed Dora was setting about supper. It wouldn’t be Ruby making the effort.

‘Let me see to our horses and you can tell me what brought you here,’ said Jacob. ‘All well in London?’

‘All well. Ren, Susan and Hugo send their regards.’

‘How are they?’ Jacob thought fondly of their theatrical recruits who had taken to investigations like the proverbial ducks to water. They made excellent undercover operatives, able to change their appearance in a trice.

‘Flourishing. I’ve left Susan in charge in my absence– I hope you approve? She has the steadiest head of the three. Kir wrote you both a note. He is enjoying his role as understudy butler at Lady Tolworth’s.’