A Spy's Devotion (The Regency Spies of London #1)(56)

The roaring in Julia’s head suddenly grew too loud. I will never marry Edgerton. Never, she railed inwardly, her stomach churning. Compliant. Has not the spirit to defy. Wouldn’t he be surprised?

She had to calm herself and listen for something more important.

Mr. Edgerton mumbled something that Julia didn’t quite hear. She clenched her eyes shut, focusing on easing the slight cramp in her ankle by shifting her weight to her other foot.

“Now what do you have for me?” she heard her uncle say.

“We have the final man in place,” Edgerton said.

What did he mean by that? A rustle of paper and a brief silence, as if a document had been exchanged and her uncle was looking it over.

“The four of them will need money to bribe a few officials to get them to the front lines, to Wellington,” Edgerton said.

Wellington. “Mm, yes, I have it here. And each of them knows what to do?”

“They have their forged documents, and once the deed is done, they will scatter over the Continent, at least for a year or two.”

“Good.”

Once the deed is done. He must mean once they assassinate Wellington. Julia had to get their names! If she could get the names of these four men and get them to Mr. Langdon and the War Office, they could capture them before they set sail, thereby foiling the plot to kill Wellington. Were they named on the paper Edgerton had given her uncle?

Julia leaned her body slightly forward, trying to see through the tiny crack in the wardrobe door. There. Her uncle was folding a piece of paper and placing it on his desk.

“There’s extra money there for their ship passage. If everything else goes as planned, it should all be over very soon, and you’ll have your coinage. Still have your eye on that estate in Warwickshire?”

A mumbled reply.

“Julia and Phoebe will want to be settled near each other. It’s a good choice.” Her uncle affably slapped Mr. Edgerton on the back. “Come. Miss Grey is waiting for you in the drawing room. Remember, smile and be pleasant.”

As the two men walked toward the door, moving out of her line of vision, Julia eyed her uncle’s desk. She waited until she could no longer hear their footsteps and then pushed the wardrobe door open. She stepped out with one foot but tripped as she tried to pull her other foot out.

The floor came rushing up, but she caught herself with her hands just before her knees hit the polished wood floor. She sprang upright.

She hurried to her uncle’s desk, her knees cramped and her ankles burning. She grasped the paper and folded it smaller. Having no reticule or even a pocket in her skirt, she stuffed it into her bodice and down the left side and then rushed out of the room to meet her uncle and Mr. Edgerton in the drawing room.

She slowed her pace. How must she look? Was her hair out of place after crouching in the wardrobe? No time to repair it. She must try to slow her breathing. She touched her hot cheek with the back of her hand, keenly aware of the paper stuffed down her bodice.

Her uncle was just walking out of the drawing room when she arrived.

“Julia, there you are. I thought you would be waiting for us.”

“Forgive me, I had to . . . retrieve something.”

“Never mind. Mr. Edgerton is here to see you.”

Julia forced a smile, but it trembled on her lips. She ducked her head demurely as Mr. Edgerton reached for her hand. Just as he kissed her gloved hand, she heard the slight rustle of the paper in her bodice.

“How nice to see you, Mr. Edgerton,” she said quickly. “I trust you are well today.”

“Yes, I am very well.” He did smile, but almost as an afterthought, no doubt remembering her uncle’s words to him. “And you, Miss Grey? Are you well?” He looked at her curiously, his forehead suddenly wrinkling as he studied her.

“Oh yes, of course, I am very well. I have had my morning walk already and feel very well. But you look as though you don’t believe me.”

“Forgive me, Miss Grey. Of course I believe you. You only look a bit . . . flushed.”

“Oh no, I am well, I assure you. I perhaps got a bit heated as I was rushing back to the drawing room just now. A lady always prefers a bit of color in her cheeks to being too pale, don’t you think?” She was coming across as almost giddy and enthusiastic—too enthusiastic.

“Indeed.” Mr. Edgerton’s smile was quite genuine now. “You look very beautiful, Miss Grey, with a bit of color in your cheeks. In fact, I don’t believe I have ever seen you looking so well.”

Or paying so much attention to you either. But it seemed necessary to put on this show. She did not want them suspicious that she had taken the paper. But what would her uncle do when he discovered it missing? It was a terrifying thought. Perhaps she could read it quickly and deliver it back to his desk before he realized it was missing. But she had folded it two more times. He would surely notice that.

Mr. Edgerton was saying something about her playing and singing. “. . . sounded just like an angel. My mother’s very words.”

“Oh, how very kind,” Julia said, again looking down, trying to appear modest. “But you mustn’t flatter me. Phoebe does enough of that, but she is the dearest girl in the world and I could never do without her.” It was the kind of thing ladies often said to make themselves appear kind and flirtatious at the same time, but it was simply the first thing that came into Julia’s distracted mind. “I do love my cousin Phoebe. We are quite devoted to one another.”