Page 21 of The Risk of Rogues
“No,” he said, his gaze turning uneasy. “The truth is, I’m not at all sure of you. That’s why I haven’t said anything until now. Because my position with Fulkham is very odd.”
“I already figured that out.” And it worried her.
“All right.” He dragged in a deep breath. “There’s no easy way to say this. For the past four years, beginning while I was still in the army, I’ve been doing some spying for the undersecretary.”
Her jaw dropped. “What do you mean, spying?”
He gave a harsh laugh. “Come now, you know what spying is. Insinuating oneself into situations without revealing one’s actual purpose. Finding out the truth for the government. Taking risks. Discovering what the enemy is planning.”
Her heart faltered. “Oh.Thatspying.” She turned away from him, her mind reeling. “And... and you do this regularly?”
“As regularly as I can. The pay is good. As undersecretary, Fulkham was also rather informally spymaster of the foreign office.” He released a low curse. “I shouldn’t even be telling you this, but if you’re to be my wife, I figure you ought to know.”
“Of course,” she said mechanically, though this wasn’t atallwhat she’d expected. No wonder the two men had laughed at her for suggesting he was a law clerk.
“Anyway, now that Fulkham has moved into the position of foreign secretary, he’s training me to take his place as undersecretary so thatIcan become spymaster. It isn’t certain yet, though, so you can see why I was rather reluctant to speak of it.”
Hart as a spy—she could see it only too well. He had the smooth tongue to get past anyone’s suspicions; the sly way of questioning people that made them reveal their secrets before they even realized they were; and, after his years abroad, a knowledge of varying levels of society that would make him comfortable anywhere.
Come to think of it, those qualities would make him a good undersecretary as well, for politicians needed those, too. And if he married her, he would also have the perfect wife for such a position. An earl’s daughter.
Her heart sank. No, thatcouldn’tbe why he’d sought her out, could it? As a marquess’s son, he could easily find a wife with such connections. Why, he had plenty of connections of his own. He didn’t have to marryher. Second sons went into politics all the time. They ran for the House of Commons and took positions in the government.
Not wastrels. Not gamblers.
Yes, but he had Lord Fulkham on his side.
Did he? The man had fairly laughed at the idea of Hart working for him as a law clerk. Perhaps that was because he didn’t take Hart’s aspirations seriously. But he might if Hart married Lady Anne, an earl’s daughter.
Then something else occurred to her. “If you’re a spy, how could you not have found me before now?”
He looked flummoxed. “I wasn’t a spy six years ago when I was on leave, and I wasn’t in England for very long.”
“I’m not talking aboutthen. I’m talking about when you returned to England five months ago. Earlier this week, you were angry that I didn’t seek you out once I learned you were back from your cavalry post abroad. But you didn’t go looking for me, either, did you?”
A veiled look crossed his face. “Well, no. I assumed that you—”
“So you didn’t look for me at all. Even though by then, you were, according to you, an experienced spy and I was in London. You could have found me if you’d bothered to search. But you weren’t interested anymore. You’d moved on. And it was too much trouble.” Her throat felt raw. “As it apparently always is with you where it concerns me.”
“What the devil isthatsupposed to mean?” He crossed his arms over his chest, his jaw tight as a drum.
“That whenever things are difficult, you abandon ship, Hart. Can’t get my father or yours to approve the marriage? Oh, well. You’ll see if you can arrange it next time you’re in the country. Why bother to actually ride over to Stilford before you joined your regiment and tell me to wait for you? Or give me some way to reach you? No, you go off and hope for the best. Then, when you return, you can’t find me in Stilford. What a pity. You didn’t look anymore after that.”
His throat worked convulsively. “I’d assumed you were married by now.”
“But you didn’t actually try to determine that for yourself.”
Remorse filled his face. “No. I didn’t fight to find you, that’s true.” He set his shoulders. “But I’m fighting for you now.”
“Only because you practically stumbled over me here,” she said bitterly. “And because my rank as an earl’s daughter plays conveniently into your aims to become the next undersecretary. If you’d knownthatabout me before, you might have come hunting for me sooner, I dare say.”
The blood drained from his face. “How can you possibly think that?”
“How can I not? You’re a marquess’s son and a handsome, charming cavalry captain to boot. Women are always fawning over you, second son or no.” The pain of years spent being the odd one out cut through her. “Meanwhile, I’m the freckle-faced, ginger-haired hat lady. Being an earl’s daughter is theonlything I have to recommend me.”
She shifted her gaze from him. “U-usually I don’t mind that so much, because Mama and I have a nice enough life. But Iloveyou, so I can’t bear it if that’s howyousee me—as the peculiar woman you have to marry in order to ensure your fine career as undersecretary.”
“God, sweetheart, that is not remotely how I see—”
