“Exactly. Precisely.”
Aldingbourne didn’t say anything at all but merely proceeded to stare at her with this cold steel gaze of his, which unnerved her, and she didn’t know where to look.
“And if I don’t?”
“And if you don’t…what do you say, Your Grace? Shall we have her judged and tried right away according to the weight of the British law?”
“By all means,” he said pleasantly, not taking his eyes off Pippa.
Pippa started to sweat. Then she threw up her hands. “Oh. Very well! I’ll do it. I don’t know why you’d think I’d make a great spy when I so evidently bumbled this spying effort already, but there it is. What do you want me to do?”
“Her language is rather rude, wouldn’t you say?” Castlereagh said to Aldingbourne.
“Hm.” He traced a finger along his upper lip, deep in thought, as he kept observing her.
Frightful man!
“What we want you to do, Miss Braun, is to do exactly the same you are doing for Metternich. Relay to us all the information you can gather. I’m particularly interested in how many of your fellow maids are also spying for Metternich. That would be tremendously valuable to know.”
Pippa chewed on her lower lip. “Very well. But what, in return, will you give me?”
“She is quite a cheeky little maid, wouldn’t you say?”
“It is a reasonable request.” Aldingbourne said. “Very well. What is it you want? A financial reward? A better job? Come, tell us, Miss Braun.”
Pippa stepped forward, clasping her hands eagerly. “I need your help to find someone who is very dearto me. I am trapped here in the palace unable to go searching for him. If you help me, I’ll do anything you want from me. Anything at all.”
“Intriguing. Who is it you are looking for, Miss Braun?”
“My betrothed,” Pippa said eagerly. “Can you help me find him? The police claims they have no records on him whatsoever, which I find quite puzzling. He is a student, and his name is Klemens Lindenstein.”
“Dear me.” Aldingbourne’s gaze sharpened, as if seeing her anew.
“Has he gone missing in the wars?” Castlereagh enquired.
“No. I believe him to be here in Vienna, but he isn’t responding to my letters. I can’t find him. And since I am bound to this workplace, I don’t have the liberty to go out in the city to search for him.”
“My dear,” Castlereagh said heavily, “there may be all sorts of reasons as to why a fellow might not be writing any more.”
She looked at him with big eyes, as she attempted to decipher the meaning of his words.
“Hidden in plain sight,” Aldingbourne said lazily. “How extraordinary. My friend’s quest, it appears, is like a cat chasing its own tail, when the answer has been staring him in the face all along.”
“No idea what the deuce you’re talking about, Aldingbourne.” Castlereagh said testily.
“All the better for me. I need not lift a finger, then. Let him discover the treasure on his own doorstep.” A flicker of amusement crossedthrough his eyes.
But Pippa’s brow furrowed. “A cat chasing its tail? You mean he’s going in circles because—oh. You mean that he might be ill, or dead. Or worse.”
“Most certainly worse,” the duke muttered under his breath, but Pippa wasn’t entirely sure whether that was what he really said; if not, it must have been some other sarcastic remark.
“But he isn’t. I’m certain he isn’t. I simply know it! I would know it here,” she pressed her hand over her heart, “and here,” and then on her forehead. “Because I love him very dearly, and he loves me, because he told me so, and I would feel it if something were ever to happen to him.”
Castlereagh cleared his throat and looked away, and Aldingbourne gave her another one of those intensely quizzical looks. Truly, she would throw a vase at his head if he continued looking at her in this manner.
Superior. Patronising. Secretly amused. As if he knew something she did not.
Thankfully, he decided not to, for he nodded curtly. “Very well. Let this be our agreement, then. In return for information, we will assist you in finding your beloved. Although it must be said at this point that if you simply do your work thoroughly, you will reach your goal.” He paused meaningfully. “Sooner than you think, perhaps.”
