Page 3 of Masquerading with the Duke
‘God forbid,’ Amos muttered, amused.
‘Braden reckoned he’s had enough of the cut and thrust and wants to retire to a life of gentlemanly respectability.’
Amos shrugged. ‘Sounds reasonable enough. Why can’t you accept it and leave the poor man alone?’
‘He isn’t yet thirty,’ Clarence replied, his airy explanation failing to convince Zach. As always, Clarence was holding something back.
‘Taking on Musgrove Manor hardly equates to a life of idle dissipation,’ Zach pointed out. ‘Managing an estate of that size will require a lot of ruthless supervision on his part. Unless he proves himself to be awake on all suits, he’ll be robbed blind.’
‘You’ve got a leak somewhere,’ Amos said slowly. ‘Someone’s been feeding our secrets to the French. You think it’s Braden and that he was rewarded with enough blunt to purchase Musgrove Manor outright.’ He sat forward. ‘But even if that’s true, how are we humble country bumpkins, who know nothing about the back-stabbing world of politics, supposed to get him to admit it?’
‘Feed some false information to your agents, and if it gets passed onto the French then you will know where to look for your traitor,’ Zach said, shrugging. ‘I don’t mean to tell you your business, but surely it’s obvious.’
‘If it was that easy,’ Clarence replied sheepishly, ‘we’d have trapped the guilty party long since.’
Zach could see that it had taken an effort of will for Clarence to admit to his department’s failings. If Braden had been Clarence’s responsibility and it was he who had been unable to either condemn the young man or clear his name, Zach knew that he would take it personally. He understood now why Clarence had been required to swallow his pride and lay the problem at Zach’s door.
‘That’s what you want us to do, isn’t it?’ Zach said, frowning. ‘He will know of your relationship to me and you expect me to drop some snippet into conversation that could only have come from him if it finds its way to French ears.’ He shook his head, unsure whether he admired Clarence’s deviousness or resented being used by him. ‘What do you say, Amos? Shall we help rid the government of its nest of vipers?’
Amos shrugged. ‘I suppose we better had, otherwise Clarence might set Anna on us.’
The brothers shuddered simultaneously. ‘His not so secret weapon,’ Zach said, legs splayed in the futile hope of feeling a little less overheated. ‘You, Anna and the children will be here with us in a couple of weeks. I suppose you expect us to have cultivated Braden’s friendship by then.’
‘I rather thought that Frankie might invite him to her masquerade,’ Clarence said casually.
‘Hold on.’ Zach sat forward and his feet hit the floor with a resounding thud. ‘I will not have my duchess associating with the man if there’s anything the least bit suspect about his character or his intentions.’
‘Easy, Zach,’ Amos said, waving a placating hand. ‘Even if he has worked against British interests, it doesn’t follow that he means any of us harm. Besides, I still can’t help wondering why Clarence recruited him if he thinks him as amoral as his father.’
Clarence chuckled. ‘Amoral men make the best diplomats.’
‘There speaks the voice of experience,’ Amos added, grinning.
‘I personally rather like Braden, and I certainly don’t hold his father’s…shall we say, lack of patriotism against him. Not that it was ever actually proven that Braden senior worked against us. And for what it’s worth, I don’t think the son does either, but my opinion is seldom taken into account by my superiors without solid facts to back it up.’
‘But you think the old man was actually disloyal?’ Amos asked, scowling when he thought of the manner in which Crista’s father had been manipulated by him.
‘What I think is of no consequence.’ Clarence shrugged. ‘As I say, no one listens to me. And as for Braden, I wouldn’t have suggested inviting him to the masquerade it if I even suspected him of being anything other than a gentleman. He is one of several men who could be working against us. I like him and I hope he isn’t the guilty party. He’s charming and popular. I dare say Frankie will appreciate another single man to balance her numbers. There always seems to be a surplus of ladies.’
‘We shall see,’ Zach said, refusing to commit Frankie’s exposure to a man with a hidden agenda.
‘He will be living on our doorstep, Zach,’ Amos pointed out. ‘We can’t shun him without good reason. That would be akin to judging him without a trial. And if you don’t invite him, others will follow your example and he will become a pariah. It seems unfair.’
Zach nodded, thinking about the damned masquerade he’d been talked into holding, wondering why he’d capitulated—especially at this time of year. Well aware of what, or more to the point, who had made him give in to the idea without putting up too much of a fight. His wife could make him do absolutely anything she set her heart upon. Gentle coercion through the deployment of her feminine wiles was a speciality of hers. Zach knew that she still mourned the loss of Crista and felt guilty because she herself had been the target of the attack, but had survived at Crista’s expense. He pretended to be put out by the request to open up his ballroom for a grand charity masquerade. In actual fact, he hadn’t seen Frankie so animated, so enthusiastic about anything since before Crista’s death. That in itself had been enough to convince him.
His mother’s birthday was fast approaching, and it had become an established custom to throw the grounds of Winchester Park open to the residents of both Shawford and Compton villages for the day. A grand feast and organised amusements abounded, culminating in a fiercely-contested cricket match between Zach’s team and the villagers. His mother was now dead but there wasn’t the slightest possibility of Zach stopping the tradition without offending the locals. This year there would also be a masquerade for the gentry the following evening, with proceeds going to the orphanage in Winchester that Frankie—and more especially Sara, his cousin Max’s wife—were actively involved in supporting. It was at the orphanage that Crista had been shot, which made the occasion especially poignant. Zach had been worried that Amos would find the idea of celebrating distasteful, but he’d surprised Zach by supporting Frankie’s proposal wholeheartedly.
And so, in less than two weeks, his house would be full to bursting point. All of his five siblings and their spouses would be in attendance, as would his five cousins. The nursery would be overflowing with the next generation of Sheridans and Zach looked forward to them all being together again. Whether he wanted the occasion marred by the presence of a possible double-agent was something he was less sure about. But Amos didn’t seem to have any doubts about helping Clarence prove Braden’s guilt or otherwise. Besides, Clarence would wear him down eventually. He always did. He might as well capitulate now and save himself the ear-bashing.
‘You will be here yourself in less than a fortnight. Why can’t you confront Braden when you get here?’ he asked. ‘You don’t need to involve us.’
Clarence sent Zach a look that implied the question had been ridiculous. ‘Confront him about what? If he’s been leaking secrets, he’s hardly likely to admit it to me just because we meet in a social setting and I ask him politely.’
‘True, I suppose,’ Zach conceded. ‘But then he’s hardly likely to tell us either.’
‘I’ve heard it said that he’s in the market for a decent horseandthathe’s followed in his father’s footsteps and collects rare pieces of jewellery.’
‘Where the devil do you hear these things?’ Zach asked, watching Amos carefully for signs of unease, glad when the mention of jewellery didn’t produce any.
