Page 57 of The Viscount's Code
Ferrington was right. She had been involved in everything else up until this point. Anthony didn’t see why it would matter if she learned even more about him.
“Very well,” he said as the library terrace doors opened and women in all shades of pastels descended the stairs. There was only one he was interested in, however – the vision in blue who was practically floating down toward him, her smile wide, tendrils of her blond hair peeking out from beneath her bonnet. Then he caught sight of her father behind her, and Anthony’s small smile faded altogether. For even if Ferrington was able to help, it didn’t matter.
Not anymore.
* * *
Cassandra and Devon’swedding was absolutely beautiful. Hope had to wipe away a few tears at the way in which they stared at one another so lovingly. All that they said to one another, all of the wishes they had for a life together echoed those that Hope envisioned for herself – and now there was a face on the man standing at the altar with her in her dreams. And his face was Anthony’s.
She stole a glance at him now across the chapel, saw him look back over to her, but it wasn’t loving tenderness that filled his expression. Instead, his jaw was tight, his brow pinched, and she wondered just what was causing him such discord.
She discovered the reason during the wedding breakfast afterward. The dining room table had been extended to seat them all, the glass chandelier reflecting sunlight so that it danced around the room. The table had been covered in white, while a rainbow of flowers that Hope recognized from the garden were spread over top of it. They had now finished their meal but were all taking their time rising from the table to move to the drawing room. There were so many of them that small conversations were taking place, scattered between one room and the other.
“Lady Hope, would you accompany me for a moment?” Anthony asked, and she nodded, surprised when they were joined by Lord Ferrington and his mother in a corner of the dining room, which had quieted as others had moved on to the next room.
“Mother, you know Lady Hope?” Lord Ferrington asked.
“Of course, dear,” she said with a warm smile. Hope didn’t know her well, but her impressions were that she was a kind woman. “It was such a beautiful wedding, was it not?”
“Very much so,” Hope responded, although she was distracted by Anthony, who seemed to be trying to silently communicate something to Lord Ferrington.
“Mother,” Lord Ferrington began, “we wanted to ask you about Lieutenant George Johnson.”
The countess’ pleasant expression fell. “Now just why would you want to know about him? Your father couldn’t stand the man.” She looked around at the three of them. “My apologies if he is an acquaintance of yours.”
“My father knew him as well,” Anthony said, leaning in slightly. “My father was a codebreaker and Lieutenant Johnson was the man who coordinated with him, until my father was labelled a traitor.”
“Was he working with Lieutenant Johnson and the French?” Lady Ferrington asked, surprising Hope. She wondered why she had been asked to be present for this conversation, but now she was too intrigued to ask for fear she would be asked to leave before all was revealed.
“My father was no traitor,” Anthony said fiercely. “But I would like to know why you think Johnson was.”
“Because my husband told me so,” Lady Ferrington said. “He had proof, but he died before he could do anything with it.”
It was Lord Ferrington’s turn to look shocked, as his mouth dropped open. “Why did you not tell me about this?”
His mother shrugged. “I assumed that if your father had wanted you to pursue it, he’d have asked you to or left you instructions,” she said. “I thought that perhaps he didn’t want to put you in any danger.”
“I’ll take on the danger,” Anthony said. “What is it that he knew?”
“He said that he had seen Johnson exchanging information with the French, and that he had documents proving it. They are back at Hollingworth, as far as I am aware.”
Lord Ferrington turned to Anthony. “I will look straightaway, as soon as I return.”
“Thank you,” Anthony said. “I would certainly appreciate anything you can do. Thank you, Lady Ferrington. Thank you very much.”
As Lady Ferrington walked away, he turned to Hope, obviously so excited that he had forgotten others were watching them.
“Did you hear that, Hope? This is exactly what I need.”
Her heart lifted, for even though she wanted this for Anthony and his mother, she also couldn’t help her selfish wish that it could mean a future for the two of them, one that even her father couldn’t deny.
The glimmer of hope for her happy ending was in sight. She just had to make sure nothing prevented it.
“That is good news,” she said, smiling up at him. “In the meantime, what do you plan to do?”
“Well,” he said, running his hand through his hair. “We can continue to try to solve the riddle of this song, although I’m not sure what else I should have to do with it. It’s Gideon’s treasure to find, and my role was to break the code. Which I did. Gideon asked if I could look over the books one more time to see if I missed anything, but I don’t see how that could be.”
“Do you have the books here?” Hope asked.
