“Ah, dear Miss Jamieson, thank you so much for coming out promptly.” Moreau stood in the shadows of the tack room. A large man with a shaved head and several earrings down his left ear, held her arm tightly. He had a bushy, dirty beard.
“What the hell is going on?” she demanded.
“Miss Jamieson, I know someone who has been looking for you for a very long time.” He nodded to the bearded gentleman.
Suddenly, she was being dragged bodily toward the back of the stable. She couldn’t get her feet under herself long enough to kick out at her captor, but she sure as hell could scream bloody murder. As she let out an ear-piercing yell, Moreau grabbed her other arm. “Ah, no, we can’t have any of that.” He pressed a cloth over her face, and a sickeningly sweet smell invaded her nostrils. Then nothing.
****
Moreau picked up Vivian’s feet. His compatriot hauled her up under her arms. The two men moved quickly out the back door to a waiting carriage.
Inside the stable, several stalls down, a small boy cowered behind the door to his pony’s stall, hand on his mouth in shock as Miss Vivian screamed for help. He peeked again out the stall door, and when he saw the aisle was empty, he ran toward the house as fast as his small legs could carry him.
Chapter Thirty
Lord Winters rode up to Stoneleigh with a coach and several men behind him. Jack saw them arrive through the study window. As he strode into the hall, his mother was already greeting Lord Winters.
“Lord Winters, what a surprise. Were we expecting you?” she asked.
“Mother, I invited him. I’m sorry, I didn’t remember to tell you, and then I wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to make it,” Jack interjected.
“Please, excuse me, Lady Gilchrest. I have some business matters which could not wait. I hope I will not be intruding on your house party too much.”
“Nonsense, we are glad to have you,” his mother said. “Please, come in.”
“I’ll take Lord Winters into the study." Jack turned to the butler and asked. "Perhaps we could have some tea sent in?”
“Of course, my lord.”
“Thank you for your hospitality, Lady Gilchrest.” Lord Winters reached out and bowed gracefully over her hand, giving her a charming smile. Jack led the way to the study and shut the door behind them.
“Thanks for coming, Adam. I would like to get Moreau out of here with a minimum of fuss.”
“I came right away. Your note was brief. Fill me in on what you found out.” Winters sat down in one of the leather wingback chairs.
Jack sat in the chair across from him and outlined what he and Vivian had overheard in the gallery. “Vivian was the one who was able to get the list from him the other evening.”
“How?” Winters asked.
“She pinched it right out of his coat pocket.” He grinned. “Apparently pickpocketing is one of her many talents.”
Winters raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Maybe she should come work for me,” he joked.
“Not a chance, Winters. She has agreed to marry me.”
Adam frowned. “I guess my advice was for naught.”
“I love her. I will figure out how to make it work. I will keep her safe.”
Winters just shook his head. “So, who was on the list?”
Jack let him know which agents had almost been compromised. Winters cursed. “How could Granger be so careless?”
“The day after we took the list, I overheard Lady Granger and Moreau in the garden arguing about the missing list. Moreau sounded very angry. He insisted on her getting him the names again. She replied her reason for supplying the list with her husband’s seal on it was to implicate him as the traitor. She is besotted with Moreau, and he is using her to his full advantage.”
“But Moreau hadn’t opened the list?” Winters asked.
“No, the seal was unbroken when I opened it. I immediately threw it into the fire,” Jack said.
