Page 19 of Whiskers and Wiles

Instead, he stepped closer, glancing toward the doorway to be certain they were not in danger of anyone overhearing them, then asked, “Were you sent here to convince Lord Thistlewhite and Mr. Bowman to attend the Ryman ball as well?”

Waldorf relaxed by a hair once the truth was out. “I was not, as it happens,” he said. “I was invited to this supper purely by chance. But I grasped that there was a mission afoot and what it was fairly soon after the supper began.”

He kept to himself the fact that he realized the mission was Kat’s. He did not think Pollock had noticed that Kat was also aspy, and if the man hadn’t noticed, Waldorf would not be the one to reveal Kat’s identity.

Pollock nodded. “I believe we have succeeded, but I shall continue to press for the gentlemen’s attendance all the same.”

“If there is any way I can assist, do let me know,” Waldorf said.

He glanced toward the doorway, intending to be on his way, but Pollock caught his attention again with, “Everything depends upon those key gentlemen and the others attending the card games that will be held along with the dancing.”

Waldorf blinked and gave his full attention to Pollock. “I assume the games will be used to sway recalcitrant ministers to open debate on the Mercian Plan.”

“Precisely,” Pollock said with a nod. “We have some of our best orators lined up to make arguments in favor of the Mercian Plan as they play. Our commander has apparently gone through great lengths to train these men in the art of persuasion.”

Waldorf could not resist the opportunity to learn more about the organization he’d served for so long, so he asked, “You do not, by any chance, know who our grand commander is, do you?”

Pollock smiled. “Now, what would be the point of belonging to a secret organization of spies if we all knew who commanded us from behind the mask?”

Waldorf laughed despite himself. “Are we all mad for trusting in the unseen?”

Pollock shrugged. “Mankind has trusted in God or gods since the beginning of time without seeing any of them. I’ve been a Badger long enough to know that whoever is the power behind us, they are a force of benevolent good that can be trusted.”

Waldorf smirked and thumped Pollock’s arm. “You are more trusting than I am, then. I serve for the pay-packet.”

It wasn’t true. Like Pollock, he was a Badger because he believed in the cause of unity that underscored everything the organization did. But when it came to matters of trust, he always came up short.

He was on the verge of asking Pollock more when Kat marched swiftly past the doorway, radiating anger as she did. That was likely due to the presence of Headland, who was clearly following her and accosting her about something.

“Excuse me,” Waldorf said, his scowl from supper returning and the fire in his belly igniting once more.

“Ah, yes,” Pollock said, as if he did, indeed, see.

Waldorf marched out into the hall in time to hear Headland say, “You cannot walk all that distance alone in the dark, and finding a carriage to hire at this time of night will be nigh impossible.”

“I will manage,” Kat said, approaching Thistlewhite’s butler, who stood ready by the front door.

“I insist that you allow me to drive you home,” Headland continued, pressing his suit as fiercely as he seemed to want to press his person so close to Kat that he would have her cornered in no time. “I have my own carriage at the ready, after all.”

“I neither need nor want your assistance, sir,” Kat snapped at the bastard, though that did not seem to deter him at all. “Go back to your brandy and tobacco with the other men.”

“Katherine, you know I cannot leave you alone,” Headland said in far too intimate a voice.

“Step back, sir,” Waldorf said, pulling himself to his full height as he reached the front of the hall. “Did you not hear Lady Katherine say she does not want you?”

Headland stepped back, but mostly so that he could glare at Waldorf. “I do not believe this matter concerns you,” he said.

“It most definitely concerns me,” Waldorf said. He turned to Kat and said, “I have already made arrangements to drive Lady Katherine home this evening. Your assistance is not required.”

Kat stared at Waldorf as if she wanted to spit in his eye. She did not, though. She must have known as surely as Waldorf did that his offer to share his carriage was the only escape she had from Headland. She must also have known that Waldorf would not let up until she accepted his help, as much as she claimed she did not require assistance.

“Thank you, my lord,” she told Waldorf, jaw tense, with a fire in her eyes that said she would just as soon drive a dagger through his heart. “You are most kind.”

Waldorf smiled and asked the butler, “Could you call for my carriage and bring my and Lady Katherine’s coats?”

“Yes, my lord,” the butler said.

Waldorf turned to Headland. “Your presence is no longer required,” he said. “Go away.”

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