Page 34 of Who Cries for the Lost

“You told Hero that Sedgewick wasn’t working for you.”

“Of course he wasn’t. You knew the man. He was very good at what he did, up to a point. But I prefer to use the services of those with a bit more... discretion.”

“So he was working with either Castlereagh or Bathurst, was he?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, you didn’t.”

Jarvis pushed to his feet and went to pour himself a glass of brandy. He did not offer one to his visitor. “Just because I didn’t send Sedgewick to Vienna does not mean, however, that I was unaware of his mission.”

“Oh? And do you know the results of that mission?”

Jarvis took a slow sip of his brandy and swallowed before answering. “Seeing as how I was there when he reported, yes, I do.”

“On Saturday? When?”

“Late that morning.”

“In Downing Street?”

“Of course.”

“Exactly when did he leave?”

“Exactly? I couldn’t say. But probably somewhere around one.”

Sebastian studied his father-in-law’s bland, expressionless face. Jarvis never gave anything away that he didn’t want to. “Why are you telling me this?”

“You suspect me of having an ulterior motive?”

“Actually, yes.”

Jarvis smiled but said nothing.

Sebastian pushed away from the window, his arms dropping to his sides. “Sedgewick was last seen in Whitehall at ten o’clock the night he was killed. If he’d met with you, Bathurst, and Castlereagh earlier in the day, what was he doing there later that night?”

“I have no idea.”

“You would have me believe it had nothing to do with the list Sedgewick brought back from Vienna?”

“What list?”

“A list compiled by Fouché of people known to have passed information in the past to Napoléon—and who presumably might still be doing so.”

Setting aside his glass, Jarvis drew from his pocket a gold snuffbox decorated with an intricate inlay of mother-of-pearl, flicked it open with his thumb, and held a pinch to one nostril. “I fear your informant—whoever they might be—is misinformed. There was no such list.”

“You’re certain?”

“Of course I’m certain. Sedgewick was sent to Vienna to bring back correspondence from an allied state.”

“It must have been extraordinarily sensitive correspondence if the government didn’t want it going through the usual channels.”

“It was.”

“Sensitive enough to get Sedgewick killed?”

“Perhaps—if he’d been killed before delivering it. But since he was not, I fail to see how it’s relevant to your inquiry.”

---