Villefranche hesitated, his wide gaze shifting back and forth between Nick and Percy. His chin jutted toward Percy. “He was your agent all this time?”
“Oui,” Nick replied. A watchful Percy remained silent.
A humorless chortle escaped Villefranche. “Your wife was correct about my espionage skills.”
“Leave Mariana out of this,” Nick said, his body suddenly tensed for battle. Percy’s fingers discreetly closed around his upper arm.
“Is there more we need to know?” Percy asked.
“I told Bertrand Montfort to leave France with no delay, or he would be charged as an enemy of the state for plotting the death of the king.” Villefranche drummed impatient fingers on his thigh. “My part in the plot is done, but it is the Englishman who will decide if it is truly finished.”
Nick switched his attention to Percy. “You know where you’re taking him?”
Percy nodded, and Villefranche began to protest, “I refuse to be told what—”
Percy’s gaze shot toward Villefranche. “You will follow me. And you will not leave my side until I allow it. Understood?”
Villefranche remained stubbornly silent.
“Or will force be necessary?” Percy asked in a voice at once eerily calm and utterly capable, leaving no doubt that the man behind the words could carry out the implicit threat.
A wary Villefranche shifted on his feet before assenting with a single nod. Percy threw a farewell glance Nick’s way before striding down the stone passageway, Villefranche close at his heels. Nick pointed himself in the opposite direction and stepped out of the shadows as he scanned the interior grounds for Bertrand Montfort.
His gaze landed on the massive and imposing man . . . already watching him. Montfort was the perfect spider, and spiders didn’t appreciate having their webs destroyed. He would be out for revenge over tonight’s destruction of his carefully laid plans.
Bertrand Montfort was now his enemy, a fact Nick understood with crystal clarity. He also understood what was needed in this situation: proof linking Montfort to the plot to assassinate the new king of France. It was his best, and only, insurance policy.
But where did such proof exist?
As his gaze held Montfort’s patient one, it came to Nick. Villefranche’s rooms. He must find the proof before one of Montfort’s agents did. Montfort never left a job unfinished. But, then, neither did Nick.
He tipped an ironic nod toward the man before setting his feet into motion. First, he must lose the agent surely tailing him on Montfort’s orders. Then he could finally finish this mission.
And Mariana?
As if pulled by a magnet, his gaze once again locked onto her. Even from this distance he could see her skillfully handling a visibly charmed King Charles. Again, pride surged. The woman standing there with a king wrapped around her pinky was his wife. He would make her so again.
The time had long passed for him to allow the specter of his parents’ doomed union to fade away. He should have spoken the words this afternoon, but he’d wanted to give her time to reflect on the whirlwind of the last few days.
The hard glint in her eyes returned to him, and he experienced a note of portent. He shook it off. All would come out all right. It had to. The universe had given him another chance with her. Just a few minutes more and they would start planning the rest of their lives together.
But there was no future until this last piece of business was settled.
Then he would finally be free to speak the words to her he’d never had the courage to speak.
Chapter 24
Knot: A crew, gang, or fraternity. He has tied a knot with his tongue, that he cannot untie with his teeth; i.e. he is married.
A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
Francis Grose
Nick slid open yet another desk drawer and blindly groped inside.
Empty. Not even the smallest scrap of paper that would give him leverage against Montfort could be found.Blast.
A frustrated breath escaped him. Then he heard it: the quick pick of a lock followed by the low moan of hinges turning. An agent working for Montfort must have tracked him. He ducked down and waited, expecting lanterns to be lit and exposure to follow.
