Page 10 of King's Man

Struggling to maintain his blank mask, he rose and said, “Sir?”

“Write up an agreement to the effect of what we’ve discussed and bring it to me when you’re done. I expect it tonight, put into nobody’s hand but my own. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll be at…?” Farris glanced at MacLeod.

“Boodle’s,” he supplied. “Give my name at the door and they’ll admit you.”

Nate bowed in acknowledgment. “Of course, Lord Marlborough. It’ll be an honor.”

He sat for a moment after the other men had left, watching from the window as a coach bearing the Marlborough coat of arms pulled up and both men climbed inside. Had he really just witnessed a plot to incite insurrection in America? He could scarce believe it, but there were his notes before him in black and white.

After MacLeod’s coach lumbered away, Nate gathered his wits and his writing materials, tucked his notes into his coat pocket, and downed his cooling coffee. From the Rainbow, he made his way to Milk Street and Talmach’s modest lodgings.

It was after nine o’clock, but still light, by the time he’d scraped the mud from his shoes and knocked on the door. He was admitted by a silent pale-faced maid called Clara. She knew him and bobbed a curtsy, and Nate handed her a coin to compensate for the trouble of calling so late. Then he climbed the narrow stairs to Colonel Talmach’s rooms, rapped the requisite four times — two slow, two fast — and waited. After a moment he heard Talmach’s uneven tread approach, accompanied by the tap of his cane against the floor.

“Tanner.” Colonel Benjamin Talmach gave a slight bow as he opened the door. Formerly of the Continental Army and now, like Nate, an agent in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Talmach still wore his black hair pulled back into a military queue, accentuating the severity of his strong features. He was taller than Nate, which had the effect of making his gaze predatory, as if he were a great bird peering over his beak of a nose. “You received my note?”

“Yes, sir. I’ve just come from the Rainbow.” Nate stepped inside and closed the door. “I think we have him.”

Talmach’s eyes glittered. “Tell me.”

As succinctly as possible, Nate reported the conversation he’d witnessed, handing over his notes for Talmach to read. “The long and short of it is that they’re afraid Congress will attack the slave trade, so they’re planning to stir up armed revolt in the backcountry as a means of distraction.” He shook his head. “It’s difficult to believe Farris would get involved in such an overt plot against America; he called himself a Patriot.”

“Farris was never a Patriot,” Talmach said, still studying the notes, “simply an opportunist. And now a traitor.” He looked up. “And you’re to draft a contract that will put all this on paper?”

“I should be doing so as I speak. Farris is expecting me to deliver it tonight.”

“Excellent.” Talmach’s lips curled into a cold smile. “That’s evidence of treason no court could refute.”

“Finally.”

Talmach steepled his fingers, tapping his lips in thought. “But I'm more convinced than ever that we must have MacLeod's list of subversives. Tories to a man, no doubt. Still can’t accept that they lost the damned war.”

Nate doubted that. “They're more likely to be men like Farris — planters or slave merchants afraid that American liberty will spread too far. Most Loyalists have either had an abrupt change of heart or left the country entirely.”

The latter causing him a great deal of personal pain.

Talmach grunted but didn’t accept the point — his contempt of Tories was legendary. After a moment’s thought he said, “Either way, I want that list.”

Nate took a calming breath. Like a dog with a bone, Talmach had been obsessed with MacLeod's list of subversives since Nate had first reported it to him. “Colonel," he said, "it’s the conspiracy, not the list, that’s key. All we need to secure Farris's conviction is his contract with MacLeod, and that —”

“Yes, yes but if there are snakes in the grass at home, they must be rooted out. There’s nothing else to be done. I must have that list before we sail for Boston — and you must steal it.”

“Me?” Nate stared. “But I’m a lawyer, sir. I don’t know how to steal things.”

“I’m aware of your limitations, Tanner.” The colonel’s air was that of a disappointed father. “That’s why I’ve secured the services of someone with the requisite skills to help you break into MacLeod’s strongbox.”

It took some control for Nate not to reveal his alarm. He couldn’t waste time on this wild goose chase when he had more important things to do in London. “Colonel, are you sure that’s the best use of my time? Marlborough Castle is some distance north, I believe. Perhaps someone else — ?”

“What will you be doing otherwise, Tanner? Sitting on your thumbs while we wait for MacLeod to return and put his name to this contract?” His eyes narrowed. “Shopping for more novels?”

Nate was not ashamed of his penchant for novels, but that was not what he intended to do with his last few weeks in London. Trying a final gambit, he said, “How will I explain my absence to Farris? If he grows suspicious, he may not board the ship home. And we can’t arrest him on British soil.”

“Leave Farris to me. I’ll ensure he suspects nothing until we have his signature on that document and his person aboard ship.” Talmach curled his lips in something approaching a smile. “It’s a shame we can’t take MacLeod as well.”

“I think we’d be overreaching, Colonel, to arrest an English peer in London.”

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