You are right, Jermyn went on implacably. I would do almost anything to keep that network of agents in France intact and unknown, to keep them from being hunted down and killed. Those are my men out there, Benedict, and it is my responsibility to keep them safe, just as it was your responsibility to bring your comrades back to safety. You didnt let your wounds stop you, and I am afraid I cannot allow the prospect of some minimal danger to one woman stop me.
He stopped and sighed. I know that sounds callous. But what would you have us do? Lose this chance? Benedict, this is a golden opportunity. You can get inside Chevington Park. You will be accepted as an insider, one of the family. They will talk to you.
Yes, but it hardly seems likely that anyone in the Earls family is connected with the smuggling.
When Jermyn set up the spy ring, smuggling had seemed the logical way of bringing messages and people into and out of England. With trade with France barred legally, only the illegal trade in French brandy and tobacco from the United States offered an opportunity for passage in and out of France. The smugglers had been operating for centuries quite successfully, and it required only paying the smugglers to get them to bring in a few letters or human cargo, as well. Richard Winslow, one of Jermyns friends and coworkers, had been their connection to the smugglers who operated in the area of Edgecombe. Unfortunately, to keep news of the operation from getting out of the notoriously leaky Home Office, only Winslow had known who his contact among the smugglers was.
The flaw in this scheme had become obvious a few weeks ago, however, when Winslow had died, apparently by his own hand, taking the secret of the smugglers to his grave. Both Jermyn and Benedict had been astonished that the serious, dedicated Winslow had killed himself, thereby endangering the spy ring, but they had not been suspicious until a week later, when the messenger they were awaiting from France did not arrive. They did not know whom to contact in Edgecombe, so they could only wait and worry as weeks passed without word from him.
Growing ever more suspicious, they began to look into Winslows death again. On closer inspection, they had realized that the suicide note did not exactly match Winslows handwriting, though it had been a very good copy. In the face of that, certain inconsistencies about his death that they had dismissed before now loomed large, and they became convinced that Winslow had been murdered, rather than being the victim of his own melancholy.
They continued to receive no messages from France, and they became even more convinced that their messengers were being killed, as Winslow had been. There was a traitor working against the network. Their fears were further heightened by a message from a known French spy that had been intercepted on its way to France. One terse line in the message had conveyed the fact that we have a man in place in Edgecombe, and we will pick them off one by one. It was clear that Gideon was in danger.
Unfortunately, they were still in the dark about the identity of the French agent at work in Edgecombe. The Frenchman who had sent the messages fled before he could be arrested, and his whereabouts were unknown. Moreover, they did not even know how to get to their friend among the smugglers to warn him about the danger. Only Winslow had sent the messages or directed the agents where to go. Only Winslow knew the identity of the man with whom he had dealt.
It was for this reason that they had come to Edgecombe over a week ago: to gather information about the smugglers and hopefully discover not only whom they should contact, but also what had happened to their agent and who was trying to harm Gideon. Unfortunately, in the time they had been here, they had learned almost nothing. Jermyn had tried mingling with the villagers, but none of the locals would talk to him about the smugglers. However law-abiding the citizens were, the smugglers were, after all, their own, and they protected their own. Benedict, on the other hand, had kept a low profile, wandering the heath and shore for signs of the smugglers or their contraband, investigating caves and trails and spending every evening for a week lying in wait for them in the likeliest-looking places. He had discovered as little as Jermyn.
No one in Chevingtons family is likely to be one of the smugglers, thats true, Sedgewick admitted now. However, you know we have discussed the possibility that Winslows killer was someone he was at least acquainted with, another gentleman, perhaps.
Their suspicions had been aroused by the fact that the murder took place in Winslows study late at night. The doors and windows of the house had been locked, none of them forced, and there had been no sign of a struggle. The servants had heard nothing except the gunshot and had admitted no one into the house that evening. Lord Winslow, in fact, had not even been at home until late in the evening, and no one was sure when he had come in, as he had told the servants not to wait up for him.
Sedgewick and Benedict surmised that the killer must have entered the house with Winslow or been admitted by him. It would seem likely, therefore, that the killer was someone he knewor at least someone who had appeared sufficiently like a gentleman that Winslow had had no suspicions about letting him into his house.
Yes, I know. Benedict sighed. They had been over this ground many times since the mans death. Stillthe Earl of Chevington?
It could be someone connected with the family, or someone who would come into contact with them. The social life of Edgecombe must revolve around the Earl. Anyone with any pretensions of gentility must call on them. Besides, if you are engaged to the Earls granddaughter, you will have entrée to everyone, not just the gentry and the family. The servants will talk to you, the villagers. Youre bound to be able to find out something about the smugglers.
You cant be sure of that. Benedict sighed. They are the most closemouthed group I have ever met.
Not once they have accepted you as one of their own, Sedgewick pointed out. The Earl is regarded with love and respect by the people around here. Ive found that much out. They have a tremendous loyalty to the Chevingtons. Why, Id lay you odds that that young woman in there could find out in a few well-chosen questions what you and I have been idling here trying to discover for over a week. At his companions dark look, he waved a quieting hand. No, no, dont worry, I am not suggesting that you enlist her help in asking the questions. I am merely saying that if you are known to be her fiancé, they will answer you, toonot as readily, perhaps, but far more quickly and easily than they have answered me so far.
That would not be difficult, since you and I have learned virtually nothing. Otherwise I wouldnt have been out on that damnable heath again this evening. And I would have found them tonight, too, he burst out irritably, if it hadnt been for that blasted girl! They were right there. They fired at me.
Trust me. Once you reflect on it calmly, you will see that running into Miss Ferrand was a godsend.
His companion snorted derisively. This is absurd. This time your scheme simply will not work.
Why not? At the moment, you are the only obstacle.
Well, to begin with, what if one of these people recognizes me? I mean, we do move in the same circles. I might have seen them at parties. What if one of them says, Hallo, Rawdon, when my name is supposed to be Mr. Emerson, or whatever it was she made up.