Page 14 of A Dangerous Pursuit (Regency Spies & Secrets 1)

His mother frowned at Jane’s comment. “It is rather a pungent smell, but nothing a long soak wouldn’t cure.” She walked over to the door and stopped. “Jane and I will see to the bath, won’t we, dear?” she asked, giving Jane a pointed look.

Jane cast him an annoyed look before saying, “Yes, Mother.”

Baldwin watched as Jane kept her head high and followed his mother out of the room. His gaze remained on the open door. “It would appear Jane is not pleased that I returned home,” he observed.

“She will come around,” Oliver insisted.

“I hope so.”

“You must understand that it has been nearly three years since they have heard from you,” Oliver said. “Most of the ton speculated that you were dead.”

“Did you not receive my messages?”

Oliver nodded. “I received them, but they were quite vague.”

“They had to be,” he argued. “If they had gotten into the wrong hands, I would have been exposed.”

“I am well aware of that fact.” Oliver walked over to the door and closed it. “Did you already report to Corbyn?”

“I did,” Baldwin confirmed. “I was pleased to see that the location of our headquarters remained unchanged.”

“Was Corbyn pleased to see you?”

Baldwin walked over to a maroon velvet settee and sat down. “He appeared to be.”

“Was your mission successful?”

“It was,” Baldwin confirmed. “I did discover that a French spy intends to rendezvous with a group of radicals on English soil.”

“For what purpose?”

“That is what I intend to find out,” Baldwin stated.

Oliver came to sit across from him in an upholstered armchair. “You should take a break and let the other agents handle this case.”

“Like you?”

Oliver shrugged. “If Corbyn deems me worthy of the assignment, but I am currently working on another case.”

Baldwin leaned his head back and revealed, “Corbyn wants me to retire.”

“Would that be the worst thing?”

“It would,” Baldwin said. “The last thing I want to do is resume my place in Society.”

“Is being a marquess really that troublesome?” Oliver joked.

Baldwin huffed. “I never wanted to be a marquess, at least not at the expense of Father.”

“I am well aware of that, but it doesn’t change the fact that Father died,” Oliver reminded him.

“You don’t need to remind me of that,” Baldwin said in a sharper tone than he intended.

Oliver leaned forward in his seat. “Did Corbyn state why he wanted you to retire?”

“He did,” Baldwin confirmed. “He wants me to resume my seat in the House of Lords and vote down Lord Desmond’s bill.”

Oliver let out a low whistle. “Lord Desmond is quite influential in the House of Lords. Did Corbyn mention that he intends to run for Prime Minister?”

---