Page 51 of Souvenir of Love

“Did he come for Elizabeth’s hand?”

“But a few months married, and already the light of romance has vanished from your eyes.” Rafe heaved a mock sigh.

“You shall see the light of murder in them, if you do not tell me everything that went on in your study this very moment.”

His eyebrows rose. “And some people say the French are a bloodthirsty race.”

She scowled at him.

“Very well.” Rafe dropped into a chair by the bed. “He didn’t come for my sister. James Dinsmore wishes my assistance in traveling through France.”

“Cease teasing me,” she said impatiently. “What did he really want from you?”

“I am quite serious.” The tone of his voice made it clear that he was. “Dinsmore intends to go to France.”

“Has he lost his mind?”

“He seemed quite sane.”

Alix, who had been standing, slipped into a chair next to Rafe. “Why on earth would a sane man go to France now? Some misplaced sense of adventure?” She frowned. “Or perhaps he is driven by a death wish?”

“I cannot tell you his purpose.” Rafe’s fingers drummed on the arm of the chair.

Alix’s frown deepened. “When I agreed to marry you, you swore not to keep any secrets from me.”

“This is different…it’s not my secret. It has to do with politics. Lives are at stake.”

“And to whom do you believe I might pass this sensitive information? The downstairs maid, the gardener’s assistant?” She paused, searching for an even more incredible candidate. “Anne Dinsmore?”

“Indeed, I know how well you can keep secrets, my love.” He sighed. “I will tell you everything. It is a fool’s errand, an attempt to smuggle out of France a man of great importance to the British government, Amaury de Joley.”

“Comte Verignac?” Her expression was incredulous.

He nodded. “Do you know him?”

“I knowofhim. Who in France does not? I have never met him, though I believe Madeleine has…” Her voice trailed off, then took another path. “But I do not understand. How does James Dinsmore come to be involved in such a plot?”

“Connections. Connections to certain people in Whitehall, whose knowledge of our connections in France brings him round again to us. It appears, try as we might, we cannot be shed of the Dinsmores.”

“You do not think James would tell his sister about your connections in France?”

Rafe shook his head. “However tempting it might be to expose our involvement in trade, such gossip would put his own life at risk.”

Alix reached out her hand, touching his. He looked down at it and then at her, and for a long moment her gray eyes searched the depths of his hazel ones. “Would you…” She paused, searching for the appropriate verb. “Would you bedisturbedif he should die in France?”

“If you had asked me that question before this afternoon, I would have said my only regret upon hearing of James Dinsmore’s death would be that it had not been at my hand. But now, after speaking with him, hearing what he plans and why, I find myself feeling he might not be totally devoid of honor…”

“Elizabeth would be glad to hear you say so,” she said, adding softly. “Thank heavens she does not know that he was here.”

“But she does. They met this morning by the bridge.”

“But how do you know? I have been with her for over an hour. She said nothing to me.”

“Apparently, my love, you are not the only woman in this house who knows how to keep secrets.” Rafe grimaced. “I set Jervis to follow her. He didn’t have a chance to tell me until after James had left that he’d seen them together.”

“Was it arranged, do you think?”

“I asked Jervis that same question. He said from what he observed, they both seemed surprised…and that their parting looked rather final.”