Page 86 of While You Were Spying

Francesca frowned. She knew the speaker wasn’t Ethan or her father, but there was something familiar about the man’s voice, the tenor and the cadence.

“It’s the leader that’s important, and that man is here in England.”

The last speaker was Ethan. She was sure of it. Clasping her hands together, she tried to temper her excitement.

Ethan was a spy. A spy! Why else would he be discussing suspects, France, and the Foreign Secretary? She’d actually guessed correctly. Now she had the proof.

“—and you don’t have the experience to go alone.” Ethan’s muffled voice pulled her attention back.

“The devil I don’t—” the other man began loudly.

There was a muted curse, and the voices lowered. Francesca huffed in frustration, pushing her ear so tightly to the door it ached.

“London!”

Francesca almost clunked her head against the wood when the voices rose again.

“What the hell am I to do in London, Ethan? Sit on my arse at Drury Lane?”

“I told you. I want a complete report on each of these men,” she heard Ethan answer, voice tinged with warning. “Begin with Ashton and work down the list.”

Francesca bit her lip. Ashton. He was a respected member of the House of Lords and had been to her family’s town house in London on occasion. Did Ethan suspect him of some wrongdoing? She’d heard the other man speak of traveling to France. Could Ashton be a traitor, aiding the French in the ongoing war? It was almost unthinkable that an Englishman, a peer, would stoop to such treachery.

“It’s a waste of time. I won’t do it.”

“Yes, you will.” The command in Ethan’s voice was undeniable. “You’ll do what I tell you to. And if I tell you to go to South Walk at Vauxhall and sit under the ruins of Palmyra from two to five each afternoon, humming ‘The Jolly Young Waterman,’ you damn well better do it.”

Francesca sucked in her breath. Whoever Ethan’s companion was, she could tell he wouldn’t like being ordered about.

“The South Walk,” the man answered, his voice tight.

“That’s right. Under Palmyra.” Ethan was definitely not backing down.

“The hell I will.”

Francesca winced, lifting her ear from the door a fraction of an inch to brace herself for the coming explosion.

“Now if you’d said the Dark Walk at Vauxhall, I might consider it.”

Francesca frowned and leaned in again. The tenseness in the other man’s voice was gone. She wouldn’t have called his tone affable, but he didn’t sound angry anymore. And what was he talking about? The Dark Walk? Where all the lovers met? Were the two menjoking?

“Oof!”

The door swung open, and Francesca tumbled inside. Two strong hands caught her before she skidded to the floor, and she looked up into Ethan’s molten eyes. “Miss Dashing.”

She winced as the blade of his voice cut her pride. “Ah—” She tried to remember the excuse she’d formulated for just such a moment, but her mind went blank when she glanced down and saw the gap in Ethan’s open robe, revealing his chest.

His bare chest.

He still wore his trousers and boots, but under that gaping robe he was bare to the waist. Heat, warm and fluid, rushed to her face, and for some reason she couldn’t explain, she yearned to run her fingers over that expanse of flesh.

And so much flesh! Her fantasies hadn’t accounted for the hard, flat planes of his abdomen or the line of dark, curling hair that disappeared into a V below his waistband. Like a hooked fish, she gulped great bursts of air in an effort to dispel the wave of dizziness threatening to overwhelm her.

“Is this she?” The voice came from behind her, and belatedly Francesca remembered they weren’t alone.

Still glowering at her, Ethan released her shoulders. “Who else?”

She heard a chuckle and turned to glimpse Ethan’s fellow spy. He wore a greatcoat, a bicorn hat, and a sensual half-smile on his lips. He removed his hat, and Francesca blinked. There was definitely something familiar about him. Something about the careless arrogance with which he held himself, the negligent tone of his voice, the shadowed eyes. With a start, she realized he reminded her of Ethan, and then knew why.

---