Page 25 of A Swirl of Shadows
“No, that’s not what I meant,” interrupted Sophia. “I’m coming with you to Russia.”
Chapter8
“I suspectthat the minister would prefer brandy or whisky to a cup of your special hot chocolate,” said Saybrook as Grentham shrugged off his overcoat and tossed it on the table beside the parlor doorway. It was just past midnight, and the flutter of mist-damp wool stirred a momentary chill.
“Correct,” said Grentham. Without pausing to offer a greeting to Arianna and Sophia, he took a seat in one of the well-padded armchairs and closed his eyes for an instant before adding, “What’s so damnably important that it couldn’t wait until morning?”
Arianna held back a caustic retort on seeing the lamplight flicker over his face. He looked exhausted. The flesh was stretched taut over his cheekbones, making them appear as sharp as knife blades, and the dark shadows beneath his eyes accentuated the sallow hue of his skin.
“The fact that you’re nursing a viper at your breast seemed a rather urgent fact to convey,” said Saybrook as he handed the minister a glass of whisky.
Grentham straightened from his slouch. “Explain yourself,” he said after taking a swallow of the amber malt.
“I’ll leave that to Arianna. It was she who discovered the snake.”
“Like the Garden of Eden,” she observed, “Lady Cruft‘s carefully cultivated grounds had a devilish serpent—more than one, in fact—slithering through the grass.”
The minister took another swallow and then slowly rolled the glass between his palms. “Might you dispense with the flowery biblical allusions and simply tell me what you saw?”
“And heard,” said Arianna. “What I saw was a Russian attaché and a liaison officer from Horse Guards sneak away to a deserted part of the gardens to have a clandestine conversation. What I heard was even more damning. It quickly became clear that the Englishman is conspiring with Russians loyal to the Orlov family, and that their objective is to topple Tsar Alexander from his throne through the scandal of the missing medallion.” She paused. “And replace him with Prince Dmitri Orlov.”
Grentham’s mouth tightened.
“They were both involved in the murder of Madame Gruzinsky—not in wielding the knife but in planning the attack—”
“For what reason?” interjected the minister.
“The Russian said that he feared she might be carrying the missing medallion to London in order to keep it safe from the warring factions within the Russian Imperial Court.”
“So, the baroness was not working for the Orlov family,” murmured Saybrook.
“Apparently not.” Arianna looked to Grentham. “And I would like to assume she wasn’t working for you.”
“If she was, I wouldn’t have bungled keeping her safe.”
“You haven’t asked about the traitor,” said Sophia, finally breaking her silence. “Aren’t you at all curious as to who it is?”
Grentham released a long-suffering sigh. “I don’t need to ask. You’re going to tell me it’s Major Andrei Prescott.”
“You already know about his perfidy?” replied Arianna.
“In a manner of speaking.” The minister rose and went to refill his glass. “Thank God you didn’t make a scene and accuse him of treachery at the party. It would have ruined months of painstaking work to infiltrate the Orlov faction.”
“Prescott works foryou?” asked the earl.
“Yes. And he’s quite good at what he does.”
Sophia made a small sound. Arianna couldn’t tell whether it was prompted by surprise . . . or a warmer emotion.
Men!she thought, and added a silent oath. Was Grentham deliberately trying to destroy his relationship with Sophia? His aloofness was bad enough, but to involve a handsome, charming gentleman in the intrigue . . .
Saybrook didn’t look pleased by the revelation, but for other reasons. “I thought we had agreed that keeping secrets from each other in the middle of an investigation was dangerous.”
“I don’t share secrets lightly. I had no reason to believe that your paths would cross with his,” responded Grentham.
Arianna didn’t need to ask why. “Be that as it may, our pathshavecrossed, and we’ll need to know everything—everything—about the situation . . .” She paused. “Before we leave for St. Petersburg.”
That finally provoked a twitch in his Sphinx-like expression. “You’ve changed your mind?”
