Scoundrel (25 page)

She glanced around Remmington to look at her father. She’d forgotten he was in the room. Behind Remmington’s back, he frowned and shook his head, then pointed to his chair.

“Oh. Yes, of course. I’ll translate it immediately.” She carried the parchment to the desk than gathered the books she needed. The earl left the library and Remmington walked over to stand behind her chair. A blanket of papers soon layered the desk, all covered with her handwriting. Most of the words made no sense. The nonsensical words formed a large cross on every page, each word joined to the word beside or below it by a common letter. She’d circled the word in the center of each cross, one of the few words on the pages that did make sense.

“Good, Lord. How do you sort through all that?”

“It’s rather complex,” she admitted, without looking up. “I still haven’t managed to memorize the entire code. The system requires a thorough understanding of Mr. Webster’s
Compendious
.” She tapped the sizable dictionary that lay open beneath her left hand. Her finger rested on the word
dark
, but the word her pen scratched out began with a
w
.

“It looks like nothing but nonsense to me.”

“Uhm,” she muttered, unaware that her absorbed expression was identical to the one her father wore when he worked. “Ah, yes, of course. Wellington. I should have known that one.”

“
Dark
means
Wellington
?” he asked.

Lily glanced up, startled to find him still standing there. “What? No, of course not.
Dark Values Over Our Regal Manor Take Greatly Less Manners
means
Wellington
. But that is only the middle translation. Here is the coded word.”

She pointed to the message and a word that read
3K1RK4SAM3RUM
.

“I should have guessed.” Remmington could tell from her expression that the complex code made perfect sense to her. It occurred to him she was very likely a genius of some sort. This glimpse of her extraordinary talent also reminded him that there wasn’t another person in England who could decipher that message. Although he’d always considered his own work vital, the enormity of Lily’s importance to the war effort suddenly struck home. At any given time, this one slight girl could hold the fate of two nations in her hands.

“I think we should stop using the numbers,” she said, as she penned another row of code. “Eventually, they will give it away.”

He reached over her shoulder and pointed out the same coded word in another part of the message. “Ah, you’re right. Dead giveaway.”

“Really?” Lily turned her worried gaze his way. When he rolled his eyes, a small frown creased her brows and she turned back to her work. Her father returned a few minutes later, and she set her pen aside. “There. All done.” She blotted the final draft then folded the translation into a neat square. “Will you toss the working copies into the fire, Papa?”

Crofford nodded, a wary smile on his face as he looked from her to Remmington. “Lily’s trunk is loaded onto the back of your coach. You two should be on your way. Sir Malcolm will be waiting.”

The moment the coach door closed behind them, Lily knew the new status of their “friendship.” Remmington pointedly took the seat opposite hers, telling her without words that their more intimate relationship was at an end. He also looked displeased with her. She tried to think why.

“How do you communicate with the person who codes these messages?”

His question set her nerves on edge. Her brother held a much more precarious position than her own, and she’d promised Robert that she would never reveal his true identity to anyone. “In the messages themselves. Usually a line or two added to the bottom of the code.”

“Did he write to you in this last missive?”

“No.”

That answer seemed to satisfy him. He nodded then leaned back in his seat. “How well do you know him?”

“Who?”

“Your contact,” he said impatiently. “The one who writes your code.”

“How well do
you
know him?”

Remmington’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Well enough. I had dinner with him last night.”

Lily felt her mouth drop open, even as she realized that his revelation made perfect sense. “You are the one who smuggles the messages back and forth?”

“Most of the time.” He moved his hand, an impatient gesture of dismissal. “You still haven’t answered my question. How well do you know Lacroix?”

His use of Robert’s operative name answered a question of her own. Robert didn’t want Remmington to know his identity. Remmington said he didn’t want any secrets between them, but this one wasn’t hers to share.

“I’ve known him for years.” She tried to sound casual. “Why this sudden interest in my contact?”

“Let’s just call it intellectual curiosity.”

Lily studied him in silence. Could this be another of his games? Did he know that Sebastian Lacroix was actually her brother, Robert? If so, he also knew that she’d deceived him—again. She decided to face the issue head-on. “Is there some reason you are angry with me, Your Grace?”

He pressed his lips together in a tight line. “No, Lily. I am not angry with you. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression. To tell you the truth, it is this courtship of ours that has me on edge. I’ve thought a lot about our conversation the night of Lady Keaton’s dinner, and I see now that you were right. The time will come when we will go our separate ways, and it will do neither of us any good to grow too… friendly in the meantime.”

Lily bowed her head and stared at her hands. “I see.”

“No, you don’t.” He didn’t give her a chance to wonder over the strange reply. “Your notion that we should keep our relationship no more than cordial is a sound one. In my eagerness to make my interest in you obvious to others, I did and said things at Lady Keaton’s that would not be considered proper behavior. My reputation with women is such that some might even mistake the nature of our relationship. I would not like to see your reputation tarnished as a result. Therefore I believe it best to do as you suggest. From now on we must avoid being alone together whenever possible, and in public you know the rules of courtship as well as I. You have my word that I will endeavor to follow them more closely in the future.”

He’d just agreed to everything she’d suggested two nights ago. Surely she should feel some small sense of triumph over the fact. Instead, she felt numb, completely empty inside. “Yes, that does seem the wisest course. We must endeavor to appear no more than cordial.”

He nodded, then seemed to dismiss the matter of their courtship from his mind. “I hope Lord Allen wasn’t too much of a bother.”

Lily frowned. “Papa said he was disappointed.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“I can tell there is more. He was disappointed and what else?”

“There is nothing more, Your Grace.” Her voice sounded amazingly calm. Yesterday she’d wanted to talk to him about Lord Allen. She’d wanted to admit that she’d peered through the lace curtains of an upstairs window when Lord Allen departed, that he’d turned near the street to look back at the house with the most intense expression of hatred she’d ever seen. Now the incident seemed inconsequential. She wouldn’t burden Remmington with her unfounded fears and fancies. She wouldn’t show him any weakness or insecurity. “Nothing at all.”

They arrived at the Bainbridge town house moments later. A butler ushered them into the foyer to greet Sophie and Sir Malcolm. A silent exchange passed between Remmington and Sir Malcolm, then Bainbridge turned to his niece. “Why don’t you and Lily go upstairs for a little while? We’ll call you when it’s time to depart.”

The men retired to the library while Sophie led Lily upstairs. Sophie closed the door to her bedroom behind them and leaned against the solid oak, her hands at her back as she studied Lily’s face. “I heard about your attack. Are you all right?”

“Never better,” Lily lied. “It is over with and I try not to think about it any more than I must.”

Sophie pushed away from the door and began an agitated, directionless pace around the room. “Uncle Malcolm told me everything that happened to you after the Ashlands’ ball. It is too fantastic! And Remmington! Whatever are we doing going off to the country with him?”

“What did your uncle tell you?” Lily asked cautiously.

“That Remmington came to your rescue on the night you were attacked, and you inadvertently ended up at his town house for several nights thereafter.” Sophie paused to give her a dubious look. “And now he is courting you, supposedly to lend his protection while you are about in society. Uncle Malcolm says Remmington works for him on occasion, and that we must trust him.” She gave a delicate sniff. “I am reserving judgment until I hear your side of this tale.”

“We can trust him,” Lily murmured.

Sophie stopped pacing, her expression intent. “Did he try to take advantage of you?”

“Quite the opposite.” Lily tried to force a smile then gave up the effort. “He doesn’t want anything to do with me, Sophie. We have both agreed to behave properly for the duration of our sham courtship, to do nothing that will give anyone the idea we are anything more than casual acquaintances.” She released a small sigh. “Including ourselves.”

Sophie opened her mouth to ask another question, but a knock at the door interrupted her. A maid poked her head through the doorway to tell them the gentlemen were waiting downstairs.

Lord Holybrook was clearly beside himself at having a personage as important as Remmington at his gathering. Upon arrival at Holybrook Hall, the trio were shown to suites normally reserved for visiting royalty. Lily rolled her eyes over the lavish white and gold-gilt bedchamber she shared with Sophie. The Queen’s Chamber was nearly the size of a ballroom.

“I have never endured a longer carriage ride in my life!” Sophie said, as she and Lily changed into their evening clothes. She presented her back to Lily. “Undo my buttons, will you?” She kept talking as Lily worked at the small buttons at the back of her traveling gown. “Four hours with nothing but the sound of my own voice to keep me company. I think the two of you are carrying this proper courtship business a bit too far. And where you came up with the idea that he doesn’t care for you, I’m sure I will never know.”

“What do you mean?” Lily asked.

“He stares at you constantly, as if he is afraid you will disappear if he looks away. Didn’t you notice? I’ve never been ignored so thoroughly. Neither one of you paid the least attention to a single word I said. I was almost thankful when you both pretended to drift off to sleep.”