Having discovered so many interesting facts in my missionary’s journal has led me to explore other Church records, and I have just learned some new information. In 1569, chocolate became widely popular in Catholic countries because Pope Pius V ruled that drinking the beverage did not break the fast, and so it could be taken as nourishment on Holy Days. However, I doubt such news will be of any interest to Sandro. He shows little reverence for organized religion. . . .
2 cups milk
2 ounces sweet chocolate
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 beaten egg yolks
1. Stir the milk with the chocolate and the cinnamon over low heat until the chocolate dissolves.
2. Add the egg yolks and beat the mixture until it becomes thick, taking care not to boil.
3. Serve in coffee mug.
“So that, in a nutshell, is what happened, Uncle.” Saybrook paused just long enough to chuff a mirthless laugh. “Thank you for drawing me back into the King’s service.” Raising his glass, he cocked a salute. “For God and country. Huzzah.”
Stealing closer to the library door, Arianna crouched down and eased it open a touch wider. Minutes earlier, the sound of footsteps and the low murmur of masculine voices in the corridor had drawn her attention from the book she had borrowed. Her curiosity piqued, she had given them time to settle in before following along.
The room was unlit, save a single argent lamp set on the sideboard next to a tray of crystal decanters. Appearing as stark silhouettes against the pale marble of the hearth, the two men were seated facing each other, their dark leather armchairs drawn close to the banked fire.
“I considered it my duty to pass on Grentham’s request,” said the earl’s companion.
De Quincy’s uncle? Arianna craned her neck for a better look. In contrast to her captor’s angular features and coal-black hair, the other man had a smooth patrician profile and silvery curls cut short in the latest à la Brutus style. His clothing was elegant and exquisitely tailored as well, the folds precise, the lines faultless.
Saybrook quaffed a long swallow of his drink and muttered something under his breath.
Damn. Arianna inched forward, straining to hear.
“But now that you have recounted the day’s events, I’m convinced that I should counsel you to wash your hands of the matter,” continued the other man.
There was a sliver of silence, save for the faint hiss of the burning wick.
“Oh, well done,” said Saybrook softly. “Holding out a temptation, and then taking it away is a very effective strategy. But then, the highly respected Right Honorable Mr. Mellon is known for his persuasive powers.” To Arianna, his voice sounded slightly slurred. “Tell me, did Whitehall ask you to make sure that I wouldn’t crawl away with my tail between my legs?”
Mellon’s face tightened and his mouth went white at the corners. “I shall assume it was the drug speaking, not you, and so will forgive that remark. However, if you dare insult my integrity again, I will thrash you to a pulp—wounded leg be damned.”
After draining the last bit of liquid from his glass, Saybrook pressed it to his brow. “Christ, forgive me. That was a rotten thing to imply.”
“Yes, it was,” growled Mellon. “As if I would throw my brother’s son to the proverbial wolves.”
“You would become the next earl if anything were to happen to me,” he pointed out. But as his uncle started to sputter anew, he held up a hand. “Cry pax. In Spain, one had to have a certain sense of gallows humor to survive with a modicum of sanity.”
Arianna could scarcely believe her ears. The dark-as-the-devil specter was an earl? She hadn’t paid any heed when he offered a second name, but she realized now that it must have been his title. Another slip on my part. She couldn’t afford to miss such details. All too often they could mean the difference between life and death.
Mellon exhaled a long breath, interrupting her mental monologue and drawing her gaze to his face. “Well, seeing as you escaped slaughter in the wilds of the Guadarrama Mountains, I should hate to see you come to grief here in the heart of civilized London.” His tone was light, but beneath the conciliatory smile he looked troubled.
Setting aside his empty glass, Saybrook gingerly shifted his outstretched leg. A spasm of pain pinched at his mouth, but he quickly covered it with a cynical grimace. “Death isn’t overly discriminating as to place or time, Uncle.” He smoothed out a wrinkle in his trousers. They were, noted Arianna, a new pair, fashioned out of dove gray superfine. “Just why do you advise me against remaining in charge of Whitehall’s investigation?”
“Because I don’t trust Grentham farther than I can spit. By all accounts, he’s a devious, duplicitous bastard,” replied Mellon. “There’s no question that he’s extremely effective as head of security, but he’s also scheming, manipulative—and utterly ruthless when it serves his purpose.”
“He would hardly be any good at his job if he weren’t,” observed Saybrook dryly.
“I suppose that’s true.” Mellon rubbed at his jaw. “But I have been thinking . . . there might well be another reason, aside from your military intelligence experience and your knowledge of chocolate, that Grentham is anxious to have you handle the investigation of this case.”
“Ah, yes.” Saybrook’s eyes fell half closed.
Probably due to the drowsying effects of the narcotic he had added to his wine, thought Arianna.
“Having a half-blood Spaniard in charge provides a convenient scapegoat if things go awry,” the earl went on. “It would be oh so easy to call my loyalties into question.”
Interesting. She held herself very still, intent on not missing a single word. The more she knew about her captor, the better her chances of outwitting him.
“I fear so,” admitted Mellon. “Not that anyone in his right mind could question your commitment to your country. Good God, you’re a decorated war hero who served as an officer of army intelligence in the most brutal campaign of the Peninsular War.” He rose and went to pour himself another brandy. “Not to speak of holding one of the most distinguished titles of the realm.”
“Some people consider that a sacrilege, rather than a mark in my favor.” Saybrook made a face. “Oh, yes, I’ve heard the murmurs—What a pity that the august earldom of Saybrook has fallen to an olive-skinned foreigner.”
Saybrook, she repeated to herself, trying to recall whether Lady Spencer and her dissolute friends had ever mentioned the name. But nothing came to mind.
“And while you are up, you may bring me another glass of port. With a generous splash from the vial beside it, if you please.”
Mellon frowned but did as he was asked. “The blood you spilled on the battlefield of Salamanca flows back to William the Conqueror.”
“All the more reason that many sticklers of the ton resent me.” He took a sip of the laudanum-laced spirits. “But never mind that. There is an old adage—sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”
“With Grentham, I would not be so sure,” said Mellon. “He wields them with all the skill of a Death’s Head Hussar.”
“Thank you for the warning, but I am familiar with the shadowy underworld in which he moves,” replied Saybrook. “Lies and innuendo. Deception and duplicity.”
Oh, yes, thought Arianna. I’m familiar with that world, too, milord.
Lifting the cut crystal glass to the candle, he spun it in his fingers. “Grentham may wish to maneuver me like a pawn on his chessboard, but he won’t find it quite so easy to control my every move.”
“You might not find it quite so simple to slip free from his iron-fisted control,” said his uncle.
“Perhaps not.” A hint of humor seemed to creep into the earl’s voice. “But as you pointed out when you first came to me with this proposal, maybe I need a challenge to rekindle a spark of life.”
“Just as long as you don’t end up being burned to a crisp.” Mellon grimaced. “Speaking of which, how is your leg? You said you suffered a fresh wound?”
“Naught but a scratch,” replied Saybrook. “Henning stitched it up for me. He’s quite clever with a needle, a skill that I trust he will put to good use on the late Major Crandall. Grentham has not yet sent round one of his lackeys to take a look at the corpse, but I daresay he will.”
“Do you trust this fellow?” asked his uncle in a near whisper.
“With my life,” responded Saybrook without hesitation. “Henning and I fought together during Wellington’s campaign to push Massena out of Portugal, as well as the attack on Ciudad Rodrigo.” Despite the low light, Arianna saw his body tense and a sheen of sweat lick across his brow. “A man shows his true mettle when he’s plunged into the very deepest pits of hell. There’s no comrade I would rather have watching my arse.”
“Just so long as he doesn’t stick a knife in your back. Grentham has ways of convincing a fellow to betray his friends.”
“I’m confident that my luck in dodging sharpened steel will hold.” He gestured at his thigh. “Don’t forget, you are the one who admonished me to crawl out of my cave of self-pity and stand on my feet again.”
“So I did. And while I don’t regret the spirit of my words, I fear that I was wrong in suggesting you get involved in this sordid mess.” Shadows hid his expression as Mellon shook his head. “This is too dangerous, Sandro. There is something havey-cavey going on here. Ask yourself, why did Crandall try to kill the Cook? If they wanted him—or her—dead, they had only to arrest her and do the deed quietly somewhere in the depths of Newgate.”
“Yes,” mused Saybrook. “I agree. It makes no sense.”
“All the more reason to distance yourself,” pressed Mellon. “Turn the woman over to Grentham and be done with it.”
Arianna shot an involuntary glance down the darkened corridor. How many guards did he have posted beyond the door? And were they armed? Her skill at picking locks was quite good, but dexterous hands—and quick feet—would be no match for loaded pistols.
Looking back, she saw Saybrook press his fingertips to his temples and begin a slow massaging. “Good God, you can imagine what they’ll do to her, knowing she stabbed the Major.”
Mellon stared into his brandy.
“She did it to save my life. I can hardly in good conscience hand her over to suffer for my own ineptitude.”
His uncle’s lips thinned. “What the devil is your alternative?”
There was a long silence. “I haven’t decided,” he admitted. “I will think about it tonight. And in the morning, I will have another talk with Miss Smith. Perhaps she will be more forthcoming after sleeping on the fact that right now she’s the most hunted criminal in England.”
“I wouldn’t count on it. From what you described, I’d say the woman has brass balls.”
A chuckle rumbled in Saybrook’s throat. “Actually, brass is far too soft a metal. I would say that her cojones are made of Toledo steel.”
“It’s nothing to laugh about.” Mellon rose. “Try to get some rest yourself, Sandro. You look like hell.”
Lost in thought, Arianna was slow to react.
“I’ll see myself out,” he added, seeing the earl awkwardly lever to his feet.
“I’m not so crippled that I can’t walk you to the door, Uncle,” muttered Saybrook.
Gathering her skirts, Arianna spun around and, after gauging the distance to her room, ran for the closest door.
The closing thud of the oak doors was echoed by the sharp metallic snick of a key turning in the lock. Arianna held her breath, waiting for the sound of the earl’s shuffling steps to recede. Surely he would lose no time in returning to the library. She had seen the hungry look in his eye as he had glanced at the sideboard. Pain must be gnawing at his leg—
He stopped, mere inches away from her hiding place, and in the stifling silence she could hear the soft whisper of wool as he shifted his stance.
“You can come out now.”
Arianna slipped out of the linen closet. “Whatever else is ailing you, it appears there is nothing wrong with your ears,” she muttered.
“Nor with yours,” he replied. “I assume you heard everything.”
She nodded.
Saybrook closed his eyes for an instant as a spasm of pain pinched at his mouth. Arianna felt a clench of guilt—then quickly shook it off.
Sympathy was a weakness she couldn’t afford.
Averting her gaze, she reminded herself to remain detached. Don’t allow it to get personal. The earl was just another obstacle blocking her road to redemption.
Or was it the path to perdition? She had been traveling for so long that perhaps she could no longer discern the difference.
“Come along,” he finally said. “We may as well have a talk now.”
“It can wait until morning, if you wish,” replied Arianna. “You look to be dead on your feet. And I daresay your uncle would have no qualms about handing me over to the government if you shuffle off this mortal coil.”
“Are you intending to sleep?” he demanded.
“No,” she admitted.
“Nerves still on edge? It’s a common reaction after the heat of battle. A drink can help dull the memory.” He turned away. “I intend to have another glass of port before I retire. . . .”
Liberally doused with opium, no doubt.
“Whether you choose to join me is entirely up to you.”
After a slight hesitation, she followed along. Why refuse when the drug might further weaken his defenses?
“Sherry?” His voice was muffled by the clink of the crystal.
“I would prefer brandy, assuming it’s a decent vintage.”
“It is.” More sharp-edged sounds seemed to betray an unsteady hand. Yet somehow he managed to cross the carpet without spilling a drop.
“Thank you,” she said, accepting her drink. Eyeing the viscous, garnet-colored liquid in his glass, she said, “Did you pick up your dependence on opium in the Peninsula?”
Saybrook settled himself and propped his leg up on the hassock before answering. “You know a good deal more about me than I know about you.”
She took a sip of her brandy. “You’re right. It’s superb.”
“That’s not quite sporting,” he went on, ignoring her comment.
Arianna shrugged. “I don’t believe in playing by the rules. Especially as they have been made by gentlemen—highborn hypocrites whose notion of honor is conveniently twisted to suit their own games.”
“True.”
She had expected an earl to take umbrage at the unflattering assessment, so his concession took her somewhat by surprise. Damn. Her intention was to push him off balance, not loose her own equilibrium. Lifting her glass to her lips, she let the burn of the brandy steady her thoughts.
“You have an impressive collection of books here,” she said, trying another way to goad him into a temper. “I took your advice and came here earlier to find some reading material.” Lowering her lashes, she added, “I happened to see your grandmother’s journals on your desk.”
Saybrook darted a glance to the shadowed interior and frowned.
“I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed them?”
“Would it bother you if I do?”
“Not really.”
He let out a low bark of laughter. “In that, at least, you are honest.”
“They contain some interesting material.” “Fascinating” was more the word, but she was careful to mask her enthusiasm. “Dona Maria Castellano appears to have been a singular lady.”
“Yes,” he said tightly. “She was.”
Had she succeeded in striking a sore point? Arianna probed a little deeper. “I take it she’s no longer alive?”
“No.” The reply was clipped.
“Was her death recent?”
The question stirred an odd gleam in his eyes. The amber hue seemed to brighten, as if a tiny flame had sparked to life somewhere in their depths. “Why do you ask?”
She curled a lock of her loosened hair around her finger. “Just curious.”
Saybrook rose and limped back to the sideboard.
“You know, there are better ways of controlling pain than to make your body a slave to opium,” she said without looking around.
“Thank you for your concern,” he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Your grandmother would be tossing in her grave if she could see you now.”
A bottle slammed down, rattling the silver tray. “Enough, Miss Smith. I’m in no mood for your needling.”
“You saved my life, so I’m simply trying to return the favor.” She gestured at the vial of laudanum. “That drug will end up killing you.”
“We’re even,” he said curtly.
“Not really.” Arianna wasn’t sure why she was pursuing the matter. Let him cross over the River Styx if that’s what he wants. Still, she found herself saying, “You’ve held off turning me over to Whitehall, which would mean a certain death. So the scales are tipped in your favor.”
He returned to his chair—empty-handed, she noted. “And you appear to be doing your damnedest to make me change the balance.”
At that, Arianna smiled. “True,” she said, echoing his earlier comment. “But actually, I’d rather you hold off until I have a chance to finish reading Dona Maria’s chocolate notes.”
“Delicious, aren’t they? Especially for someone interested in nuances of cuisine.” He steepled his fingers. “A temporary truce might be negotiated. Assuming you are willing to offer something in return.”
She took a long swallow. “I didn’t poison the Prince, for I imagine that is your first question.”
“An astute guess, Miss Smith. Yes, it makes sense to start there.” He tapped his fingertips together. “If you didn’t do it, who else might have had the opportunity?”
Arianna meditated on the question for several moments, trying to decide just how much to reveal. She would have to feed him a few tidbits—he was too sharp to be fobbed off with nothing.
“The guests had gathered early that evening, and Lady Spencer made no secret of the fact that I was preparing a special delicacy for His Royal Highness,” she replied carefully. “One of the ladies—I don’t know her name—did come to the kitchen and ask what it was, but I chased her away. For reasons that should be obvious, I did not encourage anyone to enter my bailiwick.”
“The persona of temperamental chef helped disguise your secret,” he mused.
She nodded. “My impression was that she merely wanted to tease the Prince with hints of what was coming.”
“What about the kitchen help? Could one of the girls who helped you prepare the meal have slipped some substance into the chocolate?”
She shook her head. “As you saw, Lady Spencer isn’t plump in the pocket. One of the reasons she valued me was that I didn’t complain about working alone. As for the footmen who served the guests, I handed them the platters at the door.”
Tipping back his head, Saybrook stared up at the ornate plaster ceiling, apparently lost in contemplation of the carved rosettes. As the silence stretched on for what felt like an age, she began to fidget.
“Feel free to refill your glass,” he murmured, answering her unspoken question of whether he had fallen asleep with his eyes open.
As Arianna rose, he added, “You’ve stated that no one entered the kitchen while you were there. But did you perchance leave it untended at any time during the evening?”
Truth or lies? She watched the swirling pattern of the thick Turkey carpet ripple beneath her stocking-clad toes. Could she slide by with a fib?
She looked up to find him watching her intently. “I was gone for a short while.”
“Why?”
“The reason is not relevant to your investigation, Mr. De Quincy—or, should I say, Lord Saybrook?”
“Call me whatever you wish. I’m not a stickler for propriety,” he replied. “However, as to the other matter, I’m afraid that I shall be the judge of that.”
Her jaw tightened. “All you need to know is that I was absent for maybe a quarter hour. In returning, I did see two of the gentlemen guests in the back corridor, near the door to the scullery. One I did not see well enough to recognize, but the other was Lord Concord.”
“You know his name?” It was half question, half statement.
“Yes,” she replied, but did not elaborate.
“Hmm.” Saybrook ran a hand over his thigh, kneading his palm against the injured flesh. A shock of his shoulder-length hair had fallen over his face, making it impossible to see his expression.
“You know, it would make things a good deal easier if you would tell me why you were working for Lady Spencer,” he said, easing back in his chair. “It doesn’t make sense, for a number of reasons. To begin with, you claim to have come to London in order to make a profit from its riches—and yet you sold yourself quite cheaply. A chef of your skills could have commanded far more money, not to speak of more comfortable working conditions.”
“It’s not my business to make things easier for you, Lord Saybrook. I overheard enough to know that your reasons for undertaking this investigation have nothing to do with me or my motivations.”
“Save when it comes to keeping your neck off the chopping block.”
“Why do you care about me?” challenged Arianna.
“I don’t, per se. I care about the principle of justice, even when it means defending a willful wench hell-bent on self-destruction.”
The set-down brought a faint rush of heat to her cheeks. “You are one to talk,” she countered. “And speaking of withholding information, Lord Saybrook, I heard you tell your uncle that man who attacked us was Major Crandall, a top aide to the Minister of State Security. Why was an officer of the Horse Guards trying to kill me? And you?”
The earl responded with a sardonic smile. “The reason is not relevant to your concerns. I am not at liberty to reveal any more than that.”
A chill snaked down her spine. Cupping her hands around her glass, Arianna wished that she could draw a touch of warmth from the amber spirits.
“Touché,” she murmured, unable to muster a sharper retort.
“I would prefer not to always be at daggers drawn with you.” Saybrook sighed as he ran a hand through his unruly hair. “Too bloody dangerous.”
The movement caused a momentary flicker of lamplight to play over his face. If anything, the bruised shadows under his eyes seemed to have grown deeper. Darker. He looked tired, and most of all, frustrated.
Not that she blamed him.
Swearing under his breath, the earl rose and made his way to the sideboard. It was only then that Arianna realized how badly his hands were shaking.
Her eyes narrowed. “If you are truly so concerned about solving this case, I’ll repeat what I said earlier—you ought not dose yourself with that vile drug. For now it might dull the pain, but it’s also dulling your senses, and creating a pernicious dependence that will eventually rot your mind.”
“Thank you,” he snapped, after returning to his seat. “In one subject, at least, you are a veritable font of information.”
Coals crackled in the banked fire, sending up a spurt of sparks.
“There are other ways to deal with pain. I have some knowledge of healing arts. I can give your cook a list of the ingredients, and if you allow me in your kitchen I’ll show her how to brew it.”
He made a face.
“Stubborn arse,” she muttered.
A glint of amusement lit for an instant in his eyes. “That’s rather like the pot calling the kettle black.”
She repressed an answering smile. “We seem compelled to thrust and parry tonight. Perhaps we ought to withdraw from the fray and lick our wounds.”
Saybrook set aside the drug untasted, and levered out of his chair. “Right. Let us both get some sleep. Perhaps in the morning we can come together with a fresh perspective and negotiate a meeting of minds.”
Sleep? The idea seemed impossible. Her body was heavy with fatigue, as if it had seeped into the very marrow of her bones, and yet Arianna felt too restless to seek the comfort of the splendid bed. Cupping the glass of brandy that she had carried from the library, she moved to the diamond-paned window and stood staring out through the misted glass. The blackness of night was far preferable to the vivid images imprinted in her mind’s eye.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire. She had heard the expression often enough, but it took on new meaning when one’s own flesh was hovering a hairsbreadth from the flames.
The liquor began to burn her throat—or perhaps it was only the sudden memory of black powder smoke, sharp and sour as it mingled with her scream. Setting aside the glass, Arianna turned abruptly and went to the armoire, where the contents of her valise sat folded on a single shelf. She had not called the maid to unpack her meager belongings. Her secrets were fast being stripped away, making it imperative to keep those she still had hidden for as long as possible.
Taking the pasteboard folder from inside the frayed pair of men’s breeches, Arianna carried it to the dressing table and drew the candle closer. Shadows danced over the age-worn top page, making the spidery writing even more difficult to make out. She wasn’t quite sure what had impelled her to add the papers she had stolen from Lady Spencer’s desk to her hastily collected jumble of clothing and face paints.
An intuitive flight of fancy?
No, more likely an utter waste of effort, she thought wryly.
It was the numbers. They intrigued her.
They always had.
Tracing a finger over the first equation, Arianna was reminded of her father and the idyllic games they had played throughout her childhood.
What’s seven times twelve, divided by four, poppet?
“Twenty-one, Papa,” she whispered, blinking away the sting of salt against her lids. There was something wonderfully pure about numbers and the abstract concepts they created. They were not intrinsically good or evil—they simply . . . were.
Arianna turned the first page, and then the second, and the third, losing herself in the intricacy of the equations. Intriguing. She wasn’t quite sure what they meant, but following the progression of logic had provided a welcome diversion from her own tangled emotions.
Oddly enough, numbers had always been a source of solace. She had come to think of them as friends, playmates for a lonely childhood that helped keep the pinch of poverty at bay. That her father had encouraged the games, and had taken great pleasure at her skills, only added to the allure. The connection—the time together working out mathematical puzzles—was the one thing that could keep him from seeking escape in a bottle. He had tried to stay lucid for their nightly games.
But those precious moments had become rarer and rarer, and as she got older, Arianna had become desperate to keep him from drowning in drink. The games turned into arguments. Bitter ones at times. . . .
Snapping the pasteboard covers shut, she rose and returned the folder to its hiding place. As the candle sputtered and died, throwing the room into darkness, she found her glass and quickly swallowed the last splash of amber spirits.
Don’t stir up painful memories of the past, she chided herself.
To survive, she must focus all her thoughts on the problems of the present.