Page 97 of The Viscount's Seduction
He’d had to bring in more servants this year, all well screened. But new, and Sirena’s questions a few nights earlier nagged at him.
The newness worried him.
“What of Donegal?” Shaldon interrupted his thoughts.
Farnsworth tapped the table. “He’s not been seen since the O’Brians set the meeting with Lady Sirena.”
“Has he set sail?” Bakeley asked.
“Not under that name, anyway. We’ve checked all the lists. We’ve had our people about in the taverns and gin houses.”
“How did the O’Brians find him the first time?” Bink asked.
“He made the first contact with them,” Kincaid said, “after he heard they were asking about the Glenmorrow traitor.”
“I would bet he was somewhere at the docks when she was attacked, watching for a trap.” Bakeley drummed his fingers on the table. “I wonder if he’s someone she might actually know.”
“A Donegal man? We never settled he was actually from Ireland,” Farnsworth said.
“Did you send the O’Brians to London after Sirena?” Bink asked.
Shaldon looked at Farnsworth, communicating permission to speak in that silent way he had.
“No. The O’Brians were already here. Her meeting them was pure chance. Sometimes, pure chance does happen.”
Bink exchanged a glance with him. “That’s true enough in battle. But where our father is concerned, I’m not a great believer in pure chance.”
Charley smirked. Shaldon’s lips firmed.
“For the love of God,” Kincaid said. “They at first withheld from us their contact with her, did they not, Farnsworth?”
“Yes. She’d been kind to them and their mother. Turned a blind eye to their poaching on the estate, brought them extra food when times were lean. It’s all mixed up when Donegal first made contact with them and how they came to arrange the meeting.”
“And we won’t be talking to them any day soon,” Bink said, sounding smug.
His brother had felt a clear sympathy for the Irishmen.
“Unreliable operatives,” Shaldon said.
The O’Brians had left Little Norwick soon after Bink’s return to London, and whether they feared Shaldon more or Donegal, Bakeley couldn’t guess.
“The fight upon the road unnerved them,” Bink said.
“So, perhaps your man will come to the ball also disguised as a musician or a waiter.” Charley lolled in his chair. A paternal glare brought him up straight in his seat.
“Then we’ll have two rogues to contain,” Kincaid said.
“We’ve sent Hollister the invitation,” Bakeley said. “We haven’t heard from him yet. His injured men slipped away after the apothecary saw to them.” The groom Bakeley had sent, Johnny, had lost sight of them.
“Johnny should have stopped them.” Kincaid sighed. “But aye, it’s easy enough in a busy innyard to be distracted.”
“I spoke to the innkeeper and the apothecary myself,” Bink said. “Their descriptions, and what they said of their injuries, makes me believe it was them who attacked me.”
Charley leaned forward looking suddenly sober. “So if Hollister sent men to attack you and the O’Brians, why? What possible reason could he have?”
A throbbing started up in Bakeley’s head. “He thought Sirena might be on that wagon.”
“Or might he have thought they betrayed Donegal?” Bink said. “Is Donegal tied up with Hollister?”
