Pippa’s mouth dropped open.
He leaned forward, his eyes gleaming. “There are not many maids who are capable of understanding English and French. Your assignment is to report what they are doing. Each and every one of them. Where their rooms are. What they are eating, who they are meeting, what letters they are receiving and from whom. Everything, down to the colour of their slippers and stockings. Do you understand?”
Pippa felt a chill sweep through her body, as the truth of what he wanted from her finally sank in. “In other words, you want me to spy for you.”
A slow smile spread over his face. “I knew you were a clever girl.”
She crossed her arms. “It isn’t a good enough offer for me.”
August’s jaw dropped. “Are you bargaining with me?”
“Well, yes. If one calculates the value of my service, which has to be performed under highly precarious circumstances, and weighs it against the value that I am to receive—for the lack of my papers is moot if I decide not to remain in the city and go home—one must come to the conclusion that the two numbers don’t match up.”
He blinked at her, confused. “What numbers?”
“They are hypothetical. But it is an elementary calculation. By spying for you, you gain, let us say, the value of eighty-three. Possibly ninety-five. Whereas in return I gain, for merely being allowed to reside within the city,shall we say, a mere fifty-two. Three, maximum. Can you see how that is unequal?”
“What the devil are you talking about?”
“Hypothetical value. These two numbers don’t match up, you see. There has to be an equal give and take in any transaction.”
His brow cleared. “You are saying that you demand more payment in return for being a spy. Why not say so to begin with?”
“It is more or less what I said. I thought my argument would have more weight if I back it up with a calculation.”
“I can offer you—” he lifted a hand and weighed it back and forth “—four guilders?”
Pippa shook her head. “Ten. Then I believe the value would amount to the same.”
“Ten guilders! That is only as much as we pay our best informants. You have neither experience, nor value.”
“I might not have the experience, but I am not naïve. You yourself said my value lies in my ability to speak foreign languages. How many young ladies are there in my position who can do the same?”
“Hmpf.”
“Precisely.”
August stared at her with narrowed eyes. “You are quite a saucy young thing, aren’t you?”
“Now that we have established that fact, pray, will you tell me where exactly that position is?”
The man leaned back and folded his hands in front of him. “Ah yes, that is a crucial piece of information, is it not? I wonder whether you’ll be up to it?”
“Where is it?”
“In the emperor’s winter residence.”
“The winter residence?”
“Hofburg palace,” he said impatiently. “Where else?”
Pippa stared at him, her heart thudding. Hofburg Palace. The residence of the imperial family.
What in heaven’s name had she agreed to?
Chapter Four
The Schweizertor,or Swiss Gate, the entrance to the Hofburg Palace, was heavily guarded. It was a russet-coloured Renaissance gate, with a golden imperial eagle gracing the top, frowning down on everyone who passed beneath.
