“Most French left their homes with nothing.” Kane stared at them both. “But one person can lay his hands on all the gold he wishes. And that man is the one these three take Giselle to meet. The man whose navy she has fooled.”
No one uttered the name Bonaparte.
Kane winced. “But there are a few agents in Dover and Hastings. Wily and devious. Two of them are very skilled, and we have not been able to identify them by face or form. Only by description of their actions.”
At that point, the butler knocked, entered, and set out his trays.
Kane’s jaw set with anxiety.
When his man left them alone, he said, “I know of one French agent who runs five or six others, and we are not able to discover them nor arrest them. However, we know from what we see that all tour the coastal towns and report back to this person.”
Clive had to know. “Who is this master agent?”
Once more, the doors opened, and on the threshold stood Kane’s wife. A gorgeous creature with huge curls of black hair piled on her head, she wore an at-home dinner gown of dark-rose muslin.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” she said with a small smile of welcome as she walked in to take her husband’s outstretched hand and sit by his side. “I caught that last. You discuss a master agent, do you?”
“Of the French. Operating on the south coast,” Kane filled in for her. “They wish to know what we do.”
She bit her lower lip. “It is not much, I am afraid.”
“We have tried so desperately,” said Kane. “We’ve laid traps. We get close, we think, but nothing.”
Lady Ashley met Edward’s and Clive’s gazes with sadness in her own verdant green eyes. “La Mère.”
“The mother?” Clive was stunned. “Who is that? A woman?”
“Yes,” admitted Kane with a grunt. “A French mother of spies. We’ve long known one person has to organize or at least try to collect all information going across the Channel. Scarlett knows it. So do I. Information about her comes, however, not from me. No, this comes from a special source. Mademoiselle Charmaine Massey.”
“The Drury Lane actress?” Clive needed to hear anything they might reveal about the notorious woman that many rumored had been a French agent. “She died recently.”
“Yes, in great pain and with a guilty conscience,” Lady Ashley said. “You see, her youngest sister, Vivienne Massey, who is now Lady Appleby, knows of the name of La Mère. But that is all she knows of this person. Charmaine acted as a French agent here for many years. None of us had any inkling of her actions here in London. When Viv learned of her sister’s treachery, she refused to see her ever again. Charmaine tried repeatedly to lure Viv back to her. So she sent her letters, filled with lists of names.”
“We have them,” said Kane. “We have investigated each as best we can. But, of course, many have fled inland or taken different names…”
Lady Ashley looked rueful. “Or Charmaine made up the names. She was, indeed, a hateful person. We have done the best we can to learn the truth behind those names. We’ve found a few of those agents. But La Mère? No, we do not know how to identify her.”
Clive sought to find strength in this maze. “Langley and I go to meet Halsey in Hastings. I’ll not rest until—” He paused, waiting for Kane to break the news of Giselle’s abduction to his wife.
The man tipped up her chin. “Sweetheart. Giselle has been takenfrom Lord Carlisle early this morning. We believe they go to Hastings. All of us must join together to find her.”
Tears dotted the lady’s dark lashes. “Oh, Kane. She is so dear to us. A friend for so many years, and what she did for all of us demands we find her.”
Kane gathered his wife closer to him. “We will. I promise you, my darling.”
Clive hastened to add, “I add my own vow to find Giselle. And after that, Kane, I believe we must share all we know in the Foreign and Home Offices and merge it with all you know through your network.”
“I agree.” Kane met his gaze with level severity. “Scarlett and I share every confidence. Gus and I have told you all we know. What’s more, Scarlett will approve of any method to arrest La Mère.”
Clive’s relief was boundless. “We leave here tonight. Will you come with us, Kane? Help us root out this La Mère?”
Lady Ashley smiled at her husband with a look of total understanding. “Of course he will.”
Kane lifted his wife’s hand to his lips and kissed her there. “Of course I will.”
Chapter Nineteen
Giselle’s three captorswere quick to action but slow to thought. Wise men they were not.
