Bride for a Night(146)

“You do not intend to expose them?”

“Actually, it will be my suggestion that the traitors are used to send false information to the French.”

She pressed herself to a seated position, her hand clutching the blanket. Not that she was entirely successful in keeping the abundant temptation of her breasts covered, he was pleased to note, taking full pleasure in the glimpse of alabaster skin and a rosy nipple.

“What would be the purpose?” she asked.

Gabriel swallowed a groan. He wanted to ignore her question and press her back onto the bed. It was surely a sin to waste this precious time alone discussing spies and traitors and devious politicians.

However, Gabriel suspected that Talia would not be prepared to respond to his touch until she was fully satisfied that he had shared his every thought and feeling.

She was like the ocean tide. A relentless force that could wear away the most rigid stone.

“If we can deceive Napoleon into wasting his efforts in preparing for attacks that will never occur or plotting futile ambushes on British troops that will never arrive, then he will be left vulnerable to Wellesley’s true battle plan.”


“Ah.” A sudden smile lit her face. “Of course. Brilliant.”

Gabriel resisted the embarrassing urge to preen beneath her feminine admiration.

It was not precisely brilliant. Indeed it was a simple enough scheme in theory. Unfortunately, it depended upon the ability of war officials to offer the various traitors false information that they could pass on to the French, while managing to keep the genuine battle plans a secret from them.

Still, he intended to keep his doubt of those in command to himself. He would have need of them if he were to keep Harry from the gallows.

“Let us hope that the Home Office considers it equally brilliant.”

“How could they not?”

He snorted at her naivety. “Politicians are rarely sensible, even when it comes to organizing a war. They are far too busy battling one another to actually concentrate on the true enemy.”

She looked as if she desired to argue, but she simply gave a faint shake of her head.

“I still do not comprehend how you intend to prevent Harry from being revealed as a traitor,” she instead admitted.

“I intend to barter for his future.”

“With the list?”

“Yes.” He shifted to return the precious sheet of parchment to his jacket pocket before leaning back and running a slender finger down the bare skin of her shoulder. “If they desire to keep the names of the remaining traitors a secret, then they must agree that Harry’s connection to Jacques Gerard will never be revealed.”

She shivered beneath his touch, her eyes darkening with a heated anticipation.

“What if they refuse to follow your suggestions?” she managed to demand.

His finger continued down her arm and toward the hand that so desperately clutched the blanket to her bosom.

“They will still be willing to sacrifice whatever necessary to keep the betrayal of these men from society.”

“I do not know how you can be so certain.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Because I am well aware of the hysteria that would explode throughout Britain once it was revealed that such powerful gentlemen were in secret contact with a French spy.” He grimaced at the mere thought. “It would not matter if the men on this list had offered nothing more tangible than the name of Wellesley’s boot-maker to Jacques Gerard. It would be assumed that the war is on the brink of failure and that all of parliament has been purchased by Napoleon.”