Page 21 of Who Cries for the Lost

Victoria settled both hands atop her bulging belly with a smile. “And after that, young Master Jarvis may come with my blessings.”

Jarvis went to stand beside her, one hand resting companionably on her shoulder. “If he’s considerate, my son will wait at least one more week. I fear the next few days are going to be hectic, to say the least.”

Hero let her breath out in a hard sigh. “When will the news of the French movement be made public?”

“It should be in all the morning papers.”

“Will it create a panic, do you think?”

“I don’t see why it should,” said Jarvis. “We’ve known for weeks that a battle is coming; it’s simply a matter of where and when.”

“Except that up until now, Wellington has been confident it would be at a time and place of his own choosing.”

“His mistake,” said Jarvis. “Let’s hope it’s his last.”

“You will let me know when you hear more?”

“Of course.”

She took her leave soon after that, kissing them both again.

Victoria waited until they heard Grisham close the front door behind her, then said, “I assume she was here for the obvious reason?”

“Yes. But then, it was only a matter of time, was it not?” Draining his wineglass, he went to pull the bell, then said to the footman who appeared, “Send Major Drake to me.”

Chapter 13

Hero was coming down the front steps of her father’s house when a sporty curricle drawn by a pair of high-stepping matched chestnuts swept around the corner. It was driven by a down-the-road-looking man in a caped driving coat and a high-crowned hat; a diminutive, sharp-faced tiger perched on the seat at the rear.

The driver reined in behind her waiting carriage, his horses snorting and tossing their heads as Hero changed direction to walk toward him. “What are you doing here?” she asked, looking up at him.

“I came to see your father,” said Devlin.

She laughed. “I think I know why.”

He glanced back at Tom. “Hop down and meet us back at Brook Street—and tell her ladyship’s driver to do the same, if you would?” To Hero, he said, “Fancy a drive in Hyde Park, my lady?”

It was the fashionable hour for the promenade in the park, which meant that the roadways were clogged with a colorful medley of stylishly dressed young gentlewomen in barouches, turbaned dowagers in ponderous landaus, and gentlemen in high-perched phaetons, tilburies, or sporty curricles, all weaving their way through a crush of showy hacks controlled by riders with widely varying degrees of skill. They crawled up the crowded avenue.

“You think Jarvis was telling you the truth?” Devlin asked when she had finished telling him of her conversation with her formidable father.

“In part, at least,” said Hero, wishing she’d thought to bring a parasol. The sun was only just beginning to sink toward the western horizon, its mellow light filtering down through the leafy branches of the rows of stately chestnuts and plane trees to cast a dazzling pattern of light and shadow across the fashionable throng. “But only in part. He claims Sedgewick was not working with him.”

“In that, at least, I’m inclined to believe him.”

She turned her head to look at him. “Really? Why?”

“Because Sedgewick was a bit of a loose cannon, and Jarvis is generally very careful about the men he employs.”

“He has been known to make mistakes.”

“He has. But when I saw Bathurst, he let slip that he’s been discussing Sedgewick’s murder with Bow Street. And I can’t see him doing that unless the War Office’s interest in his murder extends beyond the simple death of a former Army captain.”

She thought about it a moment. “Yes, that does seem rather telling.”

“Of course, it’s possible Sedgewick was on a mission that involved both Bathurst and Castlereagh, but I haven’t managed to see Castle-reagh yet. They were all at sixes and sevens by the time I reached the Foreign Office.”

“I’m not surprised,” said Hero. “You were right when you said Napoléon wasn’t going to simply sit around waiting for Wellington to attack him in July. Jarvis says they’ve received word that he left Paris for the frontier more than two days ago.”

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